The Constitutional Crisis of 1878
Before Washington was a state, Governor Elisha P. Ferry issued a desperate call for a convention to define its future.
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.
WHEREAS, the Legislative Assembly of the Territory, by an act approved the 30th day of January, A.D. 1878, provided that a special election be held in said territory on the 9th day of April, 1878, for the purpose of choosing delegates to a convention to assemble at Walla Walla, in said territory, on the 11th day of June, A.D. 1878, to form a state constitution. NOW, THEREFORE, I, ELISHA P. FERRY, Governor of the Territory of Washington, by virtue of the power vested in me by said act, do hereby order a special election to be held in all counties in this Territory on the Ninth Day of April, A.D. 1878, for the purpose of electing the delegates hereinbefore mentioned. Said election to be conducted and the returns thereof made and transmitted in the manner required by law in cases of general elections for delegate to Congress, Prosecuting Attorneys and members of the Legislative Council of the Territory.
“For the purpose of choosing delegates to a convention to assemble... to form a state constitution.”
This proclamation marks the messy, local beginnings of Washington's path to statehood. Much like today’s heated debates over regional representation and civic power, the 1878 convention was a scramble to balance rural and urban interests, a struggle that remains at the heart of Washington politics.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.