Statehood Arrives in Dignified Yakima
While other cities celebrated with gunpowder and drink, Yakima marked the transition to statehood with composure.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
We are now a state and our name is Washington, with the abbreviation of Wash. The transition took place at 6:27 o’clock Monday afternoon, November 11, 1889. The emancipation from territorial vassalage was received in some giddy cities with the horning of powder, patriotic speeches and champagne for the rich—whisky and beer for the poor. Here in dignified Yakima we smiled a smile of satisfaction and moved along the even tenor of our way, building three-story brick business blocks, handsome residences and projecting new and greater enterprises for the coming year.
“Here in dignified Yakima we smiled a smile of satisfaction and moved along the even tenor of our way.”
The transition from territory to statehood in 1889 was a defining moment of political identity for Washington. Yakima’s self-perception as a 'dignified' and industrious city reflects the booster culture that dominated the state's founding era.
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