Prior to the 1840s when Euro-Americans settled the area, the Atfalati band of the Kalapuya Native American tribe lived on the Tualatin Plains in what is now Forest Grove.

Prior to the locks being completed on the St. Lawrence in the late 1840s, the Rideau served as the main travel route for immigrants heading westward into Upper Canada and for heavy goods ( timber, minerals, grain ) from Canada's hinterland heading east to Montreal.

Prior to the construction of the JLC during an archaeological assessment of the property, the skeletal remains of an infant, believed to be from the 1830s or 1840s, were found in the soil at the site.

Prior to the 1840s the River Severn was tidal up to Worcester.

Prior to the construction of the Eden Valley Railway, in the 1840s, several schemes had been proposed which would have run to the Eden Valley ; one was the York & Carlisle Junction Railway, backed by the Great North of England Railway, which would have run from Northallerton to Barnard Castle then across the Pennines to Kirkby Stephen, after which two branches would have been formed to connect with the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway ; one to Tebay and the other to Clifton.

Prior to the 1950s, Alberta was a primarily agricultural economy, based on the export of wheat, beef, and a few other commodities.

Prior lists of gun safety rules included as few as three basic safety rules or as many as ten rules including gun safety and sporting etiquette rules.

Prior to this, few doctors or their assistants practiced these procedures.

Prior to the civil war, Internet filtering under the Gaddafi regime had become more selective, focusing on a few political opposition Web sites.

Prior to its conception, laparoscopy was a surgical approach with very few applications, mainly for purposes of diagnosis and performance of simple procedures in gynecologic applications.

Prior to legislative changes, very few Canadian women had access to midwifery care, in part because it was not funded by the health care system.

Prior to that, education was limited to monastic teachings in monasteries, except for a few privileged people who went to Darjeeling to receive western-type education.

Prior to Franklin D. Roosevelt, few Presidents attempted to serve for more than two terms.

Prior to Biot's thorough investigation of the meteorites that fell near l ’ Aigle, France in 1803, very few truly believed that rocks found on Earth could have extraterrestrial origins.

Prior to that, the headquarters was in Philadelphia, within a few miles of three member schools ( Temple, Saint Joseph's, and La Salle ).

Prior to the intervention, few non-Pashtuns possessed firearms.

Prior to this demand so outstripped supply, Citroën did not need to spend money on marketing, apart from a few dealer leaflets, at all.

Prior to 2001, Marcos ' writings were frequently published in some Mexican and a few international newspapers.

Prior to the early 1990s, it was common practice for the physician performing the procedure to prescribe an antibiotic to take for a few days to prevent an infection.

Prior to the 19th century the area now forming the Borough was practically unoccupied: very few of the present settlements were mentioned in the Domesday Book, although the village of Bexley has a charter dated 814CE.

Prior to this merger, the head of local government was the County Judge / Executive, a post that still exists but now has few powers.

Prior to 1821, the Creeks and a few trappers and traders were the only residents of this area.

Prior to the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the only persons who came to the area were a few French and Spanish settlers.

Prior to Raedts ' 1977 study, there had only been a few historical publications researching the Children's Crusade.

Prior to the American Civil War, area roads were few and undeveloped.

Prior to its development as a small craft harbor, the land occupied by Marina del Rey was a salt-marsh fed by freshwater from the Ballona Creek, frequented by duck hunters and few others.

Spring Lake, with 290 acres, but being a few minutes further out from the metro area offers similar recreational opportunities as Upper Prior Lake with a more rural character and less traffic.

Prior to 1845 and the founding of the Natchez Institute, the city's elite were the few who could pay for formal education.

Prior to 1820 there were but few inhabitants.

Prior to 1899, the area was primarily a few ranches and a stagecoach crossing with limited permanent settlement.

Prior to the Meiji Period, the date of the Japanese New Year was based on the Chinese lunar calendar, as are the contemporary Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese New Years.

Prior to the trip the young George Staunton had begun to learn Chinese ( the only member of the mission to bother ) and for the duration was therefore given the role of Page to Lord Macartney.

Prior to his launch almost nothing was made public about the Chinese astronaut candidates ; his selection for the Shenzhou 5 launch was only leaked to the media one day before the launch.

Prior to the signing of the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965, which allowed new waves of Chinese immigrants, Taishanese was the dominant dialect spoken in Chinatowns across North America.

Prior to the advent of Chinese civilization and world religions in the region generally known today as East Asia including the territorial boundaries of modern-day China ; tribal totemistic and animistic religious practices were the way in which prayers, sacrifices or offerings were communicated to the spiritual world by groups or mediatory individuals such as shamans.

Prior to the introduction of JUPAS in 1990, the admission process of tertiary education institutes were independent of each other, and two separate entrance examinations, the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination ( HKALE ) which was designed for a three years tertiary education curriculum ( mainly used by University of Hong Kong ), and Hong Kong Higher Level Examination ( HKHLE ), which was designed for a four years tertiary education curriculum ( mainly used by Chinese University of Hong Kong ) were provided for students.

Prior to 1997, it also included all persons who had an ethnic Fijian mother but a non-Fijian father, as ethnic identity was defined according to the male line, a fact which caused considerable resentment among the large numbers of " Part Europeans " ( who had a European father or paternal grandfather ) and " Chinese Fijians " ( whose father or paternal grandfather was Chinese ).

Prior to his life the Chinese were confused by the enormous number of bends and detours of the Lunan Mountains ( 鲁南山 ) south of Ningnan to the point where they believed the Jinsha Jiang was a separate river from the Yangtze River.

Prior to him Islam was named by the Tang and Song Chinese as Dashi fa (" law of the Arabs ").

Prior to the Chinese attack on Tibetan army positions in Kham on October 5, 1950 the Tibetan government contacted the Chinese government privately through the Dalai Lama's older brother's father in law and received a reply from China agreeing to meet with the Tibetan delegation in Hong Kong.

Prior to 2007, the Legislative Yuan ( Lifa Yuan 立法院 ) had 225 members, 168 members elected for a three year term in multi-seat constituencies, 8 members representing the aboriginals, 41 members elected by proportional representation and 8 members representing the overseas Chinese elected by proportional representation.

Prior to 1923, Chinese immigration was already heavily controlled by the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885, which imposed a hefty head tax on all immigrants from China.

Prior to contact with Han Chinese, the Taiwanese aborigines named themselves according to each tribe's tradition.

Prior to the formation of the Communist Party of Siam, the Communist Party of China had an active exile branch working amongst the ethnically Chinese in the country.

Prior to Japan's adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1873, the dates of holidays were based on the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar.

Prior to this, Chinese planters had also worked the forested land for timber and the cultivation of crops like gambier, pepper and rubber was not planted commercially in Singapore before the 20th century.

Prior to this, other America traders, such as Robert Morris, had sent ships to trade with China, notably the Empress of China in 1784, but had had trouble finding goods for which the Chinese would trade.

Prior to the formation of the Chinese Super League, Jia League was known as Jia B League.

In Chinese astronomy, Tejat Prior is called 钺, Pinyin: Yuè, meaning Battle Axe, because this star is marking itself and stand alone in Battle Axe asterism, Well mansion ( see: Chinese constellation )