sign along I-90 constructed 1950, removed in 2014. Snoqualmie Pass was well known to the
Native Americans of the region.
Hudson's Bay Company trappers and traders were active in the Snoqualmie and Yakima valleys during the early 19th century. They knew about Snoqualmie Pass but information about their use of it is vague. A possible early use of the pass was that of A.C. Anderson, who drove cattle across the Cascades in 1841, via a pass he called "Sinahomish Pass". Captain
George B. McClellan and his lieutenant Abiel W. Tinkham explored the Snoqualmie Pass region in 1853 and 1854. Their goal was to find a pass better suited for a railroad than
Naches Pass, where the Naches Trail crossed the Cascade Mountains. They explored from the east side of the mountains, reaching the vicinity of
Yakima Pass (). Tinkham continued down the west side via the
Cedar River. McClellan decided not to examine Snoqualmie Pass itself because of unfavorable reports from Natives. During tunnel construction, an improved wagon road was built over the pass. Near the original rail line, the
Sunset Highway was opened through the pass in 1915. In 1927, the road over the pass became
U.S. Route 10; it began to be plowed and kept open during winter in 1931. By 1933, the first alpine ski hill was cleared at Snoqualmie Pass, and U.S. 10 was finally paved in 1934. In 1946, tunnel engineer
Ole Singstad proposed the construction of a tunnel under Snoqualmie Pass to avoid the most treacherous section of the route. On June 24, 1946, seven players on the
Spokane Indians minor league baseball team, and their manager, were killed when their bus veered through a guard rail on the Snoqualmie Pass Highway and plunged down a 500-foot embankment and into a ravine. In 1969, construction of U.S. 10's replacement,
Interstate 90, began across the pass. Since 1991, the
Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust has acted to protect the scenic value of the I-90 corridor over Snoqualmie Pass. ==See also==