Washington Territory

Established in 1853, Washington remained a Territory until admitted into the Union thirty-six years later in 1889. Few other territories in the American West languished longer in dependent status. Because of a dividing geographical barrier (the Cases Range) and the lack of an adequate internal transportation system, Washington Territory made little practical sense as social and economic entity. Western Washington actually was a satellite of San Francisco and Eastern Washington at Portland, until railroads were completed along the Columbia River and, especially, over the Cascades in the mid-1880s. Essentially, Washington was not qualified for statehood until very late in its territorial period when railway tracks finally unified the region. Washington Territory is the first comprehensive one-volume history of its type to appear since 1890. It will long serve as the definitive economic and political history of territorial Washington.