Organized incorporated territory of the United States from 1853 to 1889
The
Territory of Washington
was an
organized incorporated territory of the United States
that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the
Union
as the
State of Washington
. It was created from the portion of the
Oregon Territory
north of the lower
Columbia River
and north of the
46th parallel
east of the Columbia. At its largest extent, it also included the entirety of modern
Idaho
and parts of
Montana
and
Wyoming
, before attaining its final boundaries in 1863.
History
[
edit
]
Historical population
Year
| Pop.
| ±%
|
---|
1860
| 11,594
| ?
|
---|
1870
| 23,955
| +106.6%
|
---|
1880
| 75,116
| +213.6%
|
---|
Source: 1860?1880;
[2]
|
Agitation in favor of self-government developed in the regions of the
Oregon Territory
north of the
Columbia River
in 1851?1852.
[3]
A group of prominent settlers from the
Cowlitz
and
Puget Sound
regions met on November 25, 1852, at the "
Monticello Convention
" in present-day
Longview
, to draft a petition to the
United States Congress
calling for a separate territory north of the Columbia River. After gaining approval from the Oregon territorial government, the proposal was sent to the federal government.
[4]
The bill to establish the territory, H.R. 348, was reported in the
U.S. House of Representatives
by Representative
Charles E. Stuart
on January 25, 1853.
[5]
Representative
Richard H. Stanton
argued that the proposed name?the
Territory of Columbia
?might be confused for the country's capital's Territory of Columbia (now
District of Columbia
), and suggested a name honoring
George Washington
instead.
[6]
The bill was thus amended with the name
Washington
, though not without some debate,
[7]
and passed in the House on February 10, passed in the
Senate
on March 2, and signed by President
Millard Fillmore
on the same day.
[8]
The argument against naming the territory Washington came from Representative
Alexander Evans
of Maryland, who countered that there were no states named Washington, but multiple counties, cities, and towns were named such and so could be the source of confusion itself. Evans felt that the proposed new territory's name should reflect local native terminology. He stated it would be more appropriate to give the territory "some beautiful Indian name."
[9]
The decision was contrary to the wishes of residents, and local papers reported mixed feeling from citizens,
[10]
though the general reception of the renaming was positive.
Isaac Stevens
, who was appointed the territory's first governor, declared
Olympia
to be the territorial capital. Stevens was also integral in the drafting and negotiation of treaties with native bands in the Washington Territory.
[11]
A territorial legislature was elected and first met in February 1854,
[12]
and the territorial
supreme court
issued its first decision later in the year.
[13]
Columbia Lancaster
was elected as the first
delegate
to U.S. Congress.
The original boundaries of the territory included all of the present day
State of Washington
, as well as northern
Idaho
and
Montana
west of the
continental divide
. On the admission of the
State of Oregon
to the union in 1859, the eastern portions of the Oregon Territory, including southern Idaho, portions of
Wyoming
west of the continental divide, and a small portion of present-day
Ravalli County, Montana
were annexed to the Washington Territory.
[14]
The southeastern tip of the territory (in present-day Wyoming) was sent to
Nebraska Territory
on March 2, 1861.
[15]
[16]
In 1863, the area of Washington Territory east of the
Snake River
and the
117th meridian
was reorganized as part of the newly created
Idaho Territory
, leaving the territory within the current boundaries of Washington State, which was admitted to the Union on November 11, 1889, as the 42nd U.S. state.
Prior to statehood, multiple settlements in the territory were contending for the title of capital. Among the top contenders for the title, besides Olympia, were
Steilacoom
,
Vancouver
,
Port Townsend
, and
Ellensburg
, which was devastated in a major fire shortly before statehood. Even after Olympia had been chosen as the capital, contention truly ended only after the completion of the capitol.
[17]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
10
Stat.
172
- ^
Forstall, Richard L. (ed.).
Population of the States and Counties of the United States: 1790?1990
(PDF)
(Report).
United States Census Bureau
. p. 3
. Retrieved
May 18,
2020
.
- ^
Weber, Dennis P. (Fall 2003).
"The Creation of Washington: Securing Democracy North of the Columbia"
.
Columbia Magazine
.
17
(3): 23?34. Archived from
the original
on July 25, 2011
. Retrieved
February 11,
2012
.
- ^
"Settlers met at Monticello to sign a petition asking Congress to create a separate territory north of the Columbia River"
.
Washington History
. Washington Secretary of State
. Retrieved
July 19,
2011
.
- ^
Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States
, Volume 48, p. 185, January 25., 1853
- ^
McClelland, John M. Jr. (Summer 1988).
"Almost Columbia, Triumphantly Washington"
.
Columbia Magazine
.
2
(2): 3?11. Archived from
the original
on April 26, 2012
. Retrieved
December 17,
2011
.
- ^
The Congressional Globe
, 32nd Congress, 2nd Session, p. 555. Rep.
Alexander Evans
argued that the name "Washington" was as confusing as "Columbia". In a later
amendment to H.R. 348
, a senator offered the name "Washingtonia".
- ^
Journal of the House of Representatives of the United States
, Volume 48, p. 397, March 3, 1853.
- ^
Brier J, Warren. "How the Washington Territory Got Its Name." The Pacific Northwest Quarterly 51(1960): 13-15.
JSTOR
40487423
- ^
McClellan, John. "Almost Columbia, Triumphantly Washington". Columbia The Magazine of Northwest History 2(1988).
- ^
Kluger, Richard. The Bitter Waters of Medicine Creek. New York: Random House Inc, 2011
- ^
Oldham, Kit (January 15, 2003).
"Governor Isaac Stevens selects Olympia as capital of Washington Territory on November 28, 1853"
. HistoryLink.
- ^
Fuller, Tim.
"
"The Most Accurate and Useful Law Books Possible": Milestones of Official Case Reporting in Washington"
. Washington State Courts.
- ^
"Act of Congress Admitting Oregon to the Union"
. Oregon Blue Book. February 14, 1859.
- ^
"The Statistician and Economist"
.
The Statistician and Economist
.
19
. San Francisco: L.P. McCarty: 59. 1897?1898.
- ^
Johnson, Harrison (1880).
"Chapter I: Historical"
.
Johnson's History of Nebraska
. Omaha: Henry Gibson. p. 41.
- ^
Beardsley, Arthur S. (1941). "Later Attempts to Relocate the Capital of Washington".
The Pacific Northwest Quarterly
.
32
(4): 401?407.
JSTOR
40486492.
External links
[
edit
]
- Historical Timeline of Events Leading to the formation of Washington State
Archived
February 7, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine
, from Washington State University
- Early Washington Maps
, more than 925 maps hosted by WSU
- "
The Long Wait for Statehood, Why it took Washington 36 years and Idaho 26 years to achieve their goals
",
Columbia
: Fall 1988; Vol. 2, No. 3
- Map of Oregon, Washington, and part of British Columbia, 1860
, David Rumsey Collection. Oregon, Washington Territory, western Nebraska Territory, southern British Columbia, in 1860. Showing political divisions, counties and Emigrant Trail.
- General Map of the North Pacific States and Territories Belonging to the United States and of British Columbia, Extending from Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean, 1865
, David Rumsey Collection
- Hawes, J. W. (1879).
"Washington, a territory of the United States"
.
The American Cyclopædia
.