The Republican Territorial Convention Meets in Olympia
With the shadow of the Civil War looming, Washington Territory Republicans gathered at the Capitol to pledge support for the Union and nominate a delegate to Congress.
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Pursuant to the call of the Territorial Central Committee, the Territorial Republican Convention convened at the Capitol in Olympia on Monday, May 20, 1861. John F. Damon was chosen President and H. C. Wilson and T. M. Coffee were chosen Secretaries. The convention passed resolutions pledging 'unswerving fidelity' to the National Administration and the preservation of the Union, while denouncing any efforts to form a 'Pacific Confederacy.' Following an afternoon of balloting, Col. W. H. Wallace was unanimously declared the nominee for Delegate to Congress. The convention also expressed thanks to Acting Gov. McGill for the use of the Capitol building before adjourning.
“We conceive the preservation of our existing National Union, the first of all patriotic duties.”
This meeting was held in the infancy of Washington's territorial government, just weeks after the attack on Fort Sumter. Today, the site of the original territorial capitol near Olympia's downtown remains a nexus for the state's political identity, where the same questions of federal loyalty and regional autonomy are still navigated.
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