Washington Territory - History

History

Agitation in favor of self-government developed in the regions of the Oregon Territory north of the Columbia River in 1851–1852. A group of prominent settlers from the Cowlitz and Puget Sound regions met on November 25, 1852, at the "Monticello Convention", 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.

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. Representative Richard H. Stanton argued that the proposed name—the "Territory of Columbia"—might be confused for the District of Columbia, and suggested a name honoring George Washington instead. The bill was thus amended with the name "Washington", though not without some debate, 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.

Isaac Stevens, who was appointed the territory's first governor, declared Olympia to be the territorial capital. A territorial legislature was elected and first met in February 1854, and the territorial supreme court issued its first decision later in the year. 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. The southeastern tip of the territory (in present day Wyoming) was sent to Nebraska Territory on March 2, 1861.

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 US state.

• Washington Territory (green) and Oregon Territory (blue) in 1853.

• Washington Territory (green) and State of Oregon in 1859.

• Portions ceded to the Nebraska and Idaho Territories in 1861 and 1863.