Seattle enjoys perhaps the most magnificent setting of any city in America, if not the world. On the shores of Puget Sound, surrounded by lush forests and towering mountains, Seattle packs a lot of scenic value into a small area. Its history is similarly small and packed. Seattle wasn't permanently settled until 1851, and wasn't incorporated as a town until 1869. From that point on, though, it boomed: first the timber boom, then the business boom that accompanied the Klondike Gold Rush, then the shipbuilding boom of World War I. The Great Depression and the ensuing labor strife seriously damaged Seattle's shipping business; so after World War II, the city promptly reinvented itself through manufacturing and, later, digital and biomedical technologies. Throughout its history, Seattle and its sister cities of Bellevue and Tacoma have benefitted from the great natural beauty of their setting. Mt. Rainier (originally Mt. Tacoma), the tallest mountain in the Cascades Range, is situated only 60 miles from Seattle, and is visible throughout the region. Other mountains provide not only recreation for climbers, hikers, and skiers, but also the setting for numerous small communities such as Enumclaw and Eatonville. Mt. Rainier National Park takes up 368 square miles in the extreme southeast of the region. Puget Sound adds to the great beauty of the region, and is well known for its rich wildlife, including orcas and other whales, sea lions, and salmon. It is important as a shipping lane and also as a recreational resource for boaters and fishermen. [Less...]