Editing West Coast of the United States (section)

==History==
{{See also|Settlement of the Americas|History of Mesoamerica|Native Americans in the United States}}
The [[History of the west coast of North America|history of the West Coast]] begins with the arrival of the earliest known humans of the Americas, [[Paleo-Indians]], crossing the [[Bering Strait]] from [[Eurasia]] into North America over a land bridge, [[Beringia]], that existed between 45,000 BCE and 12,000 BCE (47,000–14,000 years ago). Small isolated groups of [[hunter-gatherer]]s migrated alongside herds of large [[herbivores]] far into [[Alaska]]. Between 16,500 BCE and 13,500 BCE (18,500–15,500 years ago), ice-free corridors developed along the [[Pacific coast]] and valleys of North America and possibly by sea.<ref>{{cite web |title=First Americans Endured 20,000-Year Layover – Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News |url=http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/02/13/beringia-native-american.html |access-date=November 18, 2009 |quote=Archaeological evidence, in fact, recognizes that people started to leave Beringia for the New World around 40,000 years ago, but rapid expansion into North America did not occur until about 15,000 years ago, when the ice had literally broken.}}</ref>

[[Alaska Natives]], [[Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast]], and [[Classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas#California|California indigenous peoples]] eventually descended from the [[Paleo-Indians]]. They developed various languages and established [[:Category:Native American trails in the United States|trade routes]].{{citation needed|date=September 2013}}

Later, Spanish, British, French, Russian, and American explorers and settlers [[European colonization of the Americas|began colonizing the area]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}}
[[File:Climaxing A Century Of Progress In Transportation (NBY 415278).jpg|thumb]]
On May 10, 1869, the [[first transcontinental railroad]] was completed joining the West Coast to the East of the United States.