Washington Territory

Oregon Territory and Washington Territory in 1853.

Newly formed state of Oregon Washington Territory in 1859.


Oregon State Washington Territory Idaho Territory in 1863.



The Washington Territory (English: Washington Territory ) was a historical territory in the northwestern United States , which existed between 1853 and 1889. It is the forerunner of today's Washington state . The Washington Territory was created on February 8, 1853 from the northern part of the Oregon Territory . According to the first bill, the area should be named "Columbia Territory"; however, in honor of the first president, George Washington , his name was provided for the designation. This proposal came from Congressman Richard H. Stanton ofKentucky .

The capital of the territory became Olympia and Isaac Stevens became the first governor .

The original boundaries of the territory included the entire present-day US state of Washington as well as the northern part of Idaho and the parts of Montana west of the continental divide (English: continental divide ). After Oregon was admitted as a state into the Union in 1859, the eastern parts of the Oregon Territory including southern Idaho, parts of Wyoming west of the continental divide (then Nebraska Territory ), and a small part of what is now Ravalli County in Montana became the Washington Territory attached.

In 1863, eastern areas were separated and assigned to the Idaho Territory . The boundary was set in the extreme southeast of the state on the Snake River. North of the confluence with the Clearwater River, the boundary was defined as the meridian that runs north from this confluence of the Snake and Clearwater. This meridian is not - as is often assumed - exactly the 117th degree of longitude, but is about three kilometers further to the west.

The remaining territory corresponds to the current borders of Washington State, which was accepted into the Union on November 11, 1889 as the 42nd state.

See also

• History of Washington
• Historic territories on United States soil

Web links

Commons : Washington Territory  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Historical Timeline of Events Leading to the formation of Washington State. Washington State University (English). 
• COLUMBIA : Fall 1988; Vol. 2, No. 3, The Long Wait for Statehood, Why it took Washington 36 years and Idaho 26 years to achieve their goals. ( Memento from July 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive )