Washington Territory

The Washington Territory (English: Washington Territory ) was a historical territory in the northwest of the United States, which existed 1853-1889. It is the forerunner of today's state of Washington. The Washington Territory was created from the northern part of the Oregon Territory, on February 8, 1853. After the first bill, the area should get the name " Columbia Territory ", but was named in honor of the first president, George Washington, whose name is provided for the designation. This proposal came from Congressman Richard H. Stanton of Kentucky.

The capital of the territory was first Olympics and was Governor Isaac Stevens.

The original boundaries of the territory included the entire present-day U.S. state of Washington, and the northern part of Idaho and parts of Montana west of the Continental Divide (English: continental divide) a. After recording of Oregon as a state in 1859 in the Union, the eastern parts of Oregon Territory were, including the southern Idaho, parts of Wyoming west of the Continental Divide (then Nebraska Territory ), and a small part of today's Ravalli County in Montana the attached to Washington territory.

1863 east -lying areas separated and assigned to the Idaho Territory. The limit was set in the extreme southeast of the state on the Snake River. To the north of the confluence with the Clearwater River, the border than that Meridian was defined, which runs from this confluence of the Snake and Clearwater to the north. This meridian is not - as often assumed - exactly the 117th longitude, but is about three kilometers to the west.

The remaining territory corresponds to the present boundaries of the State of Washington, who was admitted as the 42nd state in the Union on 11 November 1889.