Colonial Despatches

Washington Territory was a fallout region of the Oregon Treaty of 1846, which saw the creation, on paper, at least, of Oregon Territory. Soon after the treaty, settlers north of the Columbia pushed for a separate territory, which came to pass in the US Congress in 1853, first on a February bill as “Columbia Territory”, and then amended to “Washington Territory” in March, in honour of the first US president, George Washington.1

Washington Territory became the state it is today in 1889.2

• 1. Junius Rochester, Washington Territory and Washington State, Founding of, The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History.
• 2. Ibid.