life in washington territory
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Life In Washington Territory. Oregon Territory. Created in August of 1848 by President James Polk Abraham Lincoln was offered the job of Governor of the territory but declined the offer Residents could elect representatives Reps could not vote in Congress, but only try to persuade others - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
LIFE IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY
Oregon Territory Created in August of 1848 by President James Polk
Abraham Lincoln was offered the job of Governor of the territory but declined the offer
Residents could elect representatives Reps could not vote in Congress, but only try to persuade
others Due to “Territorial” status as opposed to “State” status
Congress passed the “Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 Every White male over the age of 18 could claim 320 Acres
of land for FREE! That mans wife could claim an additional 320 acres! 640 Acres per couple!
All they had to do was live on the land and grow crops for 4 years
Washington Territory Washington Territory was created in
1853 Early settlers wanted the area called
“Columbia” but congress didn’t want it confused with the District of Columbia
At first, only 4,000 settlers and 17,000 Native Americans lived here
Isaac Stevens was the first governor Wanted to connect the territory to the East by
rail bringing more settlers to the region
Property Lines Washington began as part of Oregon
Territory Areas were separated by gridlines marked
by surveyors A township was 36 square miles and was
divided up into 36 sections Each section was 1 square mile, or 640 acres Each section was numbered Each section was divided in quarters of 160
acres
Homesteaders Homesteaders checked with the land
office and selected a quarter that they wanted They marked their land with stakes or by
marking a witness tree A tree close to a corner of the land
They then went back to the land office to claim it They also had to advertise their choice in the
newspaper
Everyday Life People came west seeking clean air
People thought that disease was caused by bad odors Doctors had no idea about germs
There were no supermarkets or means of storing perishable food for too long Near constant hunting and gathering were
commonplace for rural inhabitants Farming and purchasing goods in town also
News The first newspaper in Washington was the
“Columbian”, which was published in 1852 Still, news traveled very slowly Took up to a year for stories from the east and
Europe to be published Mail was not delivered to rural
homesteaders until the 1900’s Letters traveled by boat, horse, boat again and
then by train or stage coach to reach the east
New Towns Walla Walla
Wheat farming community that grew as a supply point for miners
Olympia Started out as Smithfield Named Olympia because of the stunning
views of the Olympia mountains Tacoma was named after Mt. Tahoma, the
Indian word for Mt. Rainier
Seattle Seattle began as a shipping port for sending lumber
to San Francisco They had to rebuild that city after its great fire Seattle’s protected harbor and location nearby great
forests was perfect A steam sawmill was built and the city took off
The city really grew when gold was discovered in the Klondike Seattle became the main departure point for the gold fields
of the north People became incredibly wealthy by selling goods to
prospectors