Washington Territory

Ficken, Robert E.

ISBN 10: 0874222494 / ISBN 13: 9780874222494

Published by Washington State University Pres, 2002

About this Item

Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!

Seller Inventory # S_472911193

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Washington Territory
• Publisher: Washington State University Pres
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0874222494
• ISBN 13: 9780874222494
• Binding: hardcover
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Established in 1853, Washington remained a territory for 36 years, until admitted into the Union in 1889. Only three other territories created in the American West after 1850 languished longer in dependent status. Because of a dividing geographical barrier (the Cascade Range) and the lack of adequate internal transportation and communication systems, Washington Territory made no practical sense as a political and economic entity. Western Washington was actually a satellite of San Francisco and Eastern Washington of Portland, until railroads finally were completed along the Columbia River and across the Cascades in the mid 1880s. Essentially, Washington was not “eligible” for statehood until very late in its territorial period when railways unified the region.

Though modern scholars have produced worthy biographies and specialized studies for this intriguing period, until now only one previous attempt at a comprehensive history has appeared--H.H. Bancroft’s imperfect all-in-one volume, History of Washington, Idaho and Montana (1890). Robert E. Ficken’s Washington Territory will long serve as the definitive economic and political history of territorial Washington.

About the Author

Robert E. Ficken is the author of Washington: A Centennial History (with Charles LeWarne), The Forested Land: A History of Lumbering in Western Washington, and Lumber and Politics: The Career of Mark E. Reed. He has won the F.K. Weyerhaeuser Award from the Forest History Society and the Charles M. Gates Memorial Award and the Robert Gray Medal from the Washington State Historical Society, as well as the Pacific Northwest History Award from the Pacific Northwest Historians Guild.