A Report on Washington State

A REPORT ON WASHINGTON STATE

BY KATRINA SCHOLD

The State of Washington is located in the far northwest corner of the United States. It has 66,582 square miles between the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Idaho boarder to the east. Washington borders Canada on the north and Oregon on the south along the Columbia River.

Washington is the 20th largest state and has very different western and eastern natural environments, which are divided by the Cascade Range. It is home to 6 million residents (2001 census estimate) who are employed in a diverse economy dominated by aviation; software and other technological enterprises; wheat, apples, beans, and other agriculture; forest products; and fishing. The state is a major exporter of manufactured goods, foodstuffs, raw materials, and hydroelectricity, and it is a popular tourist destination.

Today Washington is home to numerous Native American tribes and has been for at least 10,000 years. The first European explorers and traders visited in the late 1700s. Lewis and Clark followed the Snake River and Columbia River to arrive at the Pacific Ocean by what is known as Long Beach today, in November 1805. The Hudson's Bay Company had major forts and trading stations in the early 1800s, along with American fur traders, settlers, and missionaries.

Great Britain and the United States together occupied the area between 1818 and 1846. Then Britain gave the Pacific Northwest below the 49th parallel to the U.S. Two years later, the U.S. created Oregon Territory, which included the future states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho and part of Montana. Washington Territory, which included Idaho and western Montana until 1863 was separated from Oregon on March 2,1853, and gained statehood on November 11, 1889.

Olympia has been the capital of Washington Territory and State since 1853. Seattle is the state's most populous city with a population of 563,000 in 2000, followed in rank by Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, Bellevue, and Everett.

Political History

The federal government created Oregon Territory on August 14, 1848. The area of the new jurisdiction included what we know as Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and western Montana today. Finding gold in California in 1848 started a large migration westward of people, and the settlement of Oregon Territory was promoted by the passage of the Donation Land Claims Act of 1850, which gave 160 acres to any U.S. citizen who agreed to stay on his or her land for five years.

On August 29, 1851, 27 male settlers met at Cowlitz Landing to ask Congress for a separate "Columbia Territory" that would cover the area between the Columbia River and 49th parallel. 44 delegates who met in Monticello on November 25, 1852 reaffirmed the petition. Congress approved the new territory on February 10, 1853, but changed the name to "Washington."

President Millard Fillmore signed the bill on March 2, 1853, and Olympia was became the Territorial Capital. President Frankly Pierce named Isaac I. Stevens to be the first governor of the area that included northern Idaho and western Montana until President Abraham Lincoln established Idaho Territory on March 4, 1863.

Washington's non-native population grew steadily to more than 300,000 over the following decades. The residents began petitioning for statehood in 1881, and President Benjamin Harris admitted Washington to the Union on November 11, 1889.

Political Organization

Thirty federally recognized sovereign Indian tribes and reservations occupy substantial areas in Washington, plus an additional seven unrecognized but culturally distinct tribes.

Washington has a two chamber Legislature and is divided into 49 Legislative Districts, each of which elects one Senator to a four-year term, and two Representatives to two-year terms. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Auditor, Treasurer, Commissioner of Public Lands, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Insurance Commissioner are elected statewide to four-year terms. The nine members of the State Supreme Court are elected statewide to six-year terms. Washington's State Constitution has been substantially amended since 1889, and has authorized citizen initiatives and referenda since 1912.

Washington currently has 39 counties, and hundreds of incorporated cities and other special districts responsible for local government and services. Voters elect Members of Congress from nine districts as well as two United States Senators representing the entire state.

State Emblems and Anthems

State Motto: The word "Alki," pronounced "AL-kee," means "by and by" in the Chinook trading jargon