Category:Washington Territory

The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from 1853 until 1889, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington.

The Washington Territory was created from the portion of the Oregon Territory north of the lower Columbia River and north of the 46th parallel east of the Columbia, that had been ceded by Britain in the 1846 Oregon Treaty as settlement of the Oregon Boundary Dispute.

The original boundaries of the territory included all of the present day State of Washington, as well as northern Idaho and Montana west of the continental divide. Upon the admission of the State of Oregon to the union in 1859, the eastern portions of the Oregon Territory, including southern Idaho, portions of Wyoming west of the continental divide (then Nebraska Territory), and a small portion of present-day Ravalli County, Montana were annexed to the Washington Territory.

In 1863, the area of Washington Territory east of the Snake River and the 117th meridian was reorganized as part of the newly created Idaho Territory, leaving the territory within the current boundaries of the State of Washington, which was admitted to the Union in 1889.

See also Category:Washington and Jefferson Territory.