The Seattle Times

13 of 20
THE SEATTLE TIMES FILE, 1916
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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The tale of Boeing's high-risk flight into the jet age

Bill Boeing, a timber and mining magnate, launched an aircraft company in Seattle because there was so much good wood in the area. When aluminum replaced wood as the preferred material, the Pacific Northwest proved an excellent location for this commodity as well, due to cheap hydropower from the dammed rivers of the region.