The Proclamation That Never Was: How Seattle Almost Became a State in 1889
While Congress debated the fate of Dakota and New Mexico, a radical proposal to admit Washington Territory by presidential decree revealed the deep political fractures over statehood.
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.
A BETTER OUTLOOK The House Position on the Territories Changed. SO CHANCE FOR NOW OF A STATE. The Confederates Are Our Remnants — A Proposal to Admit Washington by Proclamation.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 — In the house the senate bill was passed providing for writs of error to the United States supreme court in all cases involving the question of jurisdiction of the court below.
The senate amendments were non-concurred in to the legislative and executive appropriation bill.
The committee on appropriations reported back the fortifications appropriation bill with senate amendments; referred to the committee of the whole.
The conference report on the senate bill for admission of the state of South Dakota, which is total disagreement, was adopted and a new conference ordered.
Baker of New York offered a resolution giving the house conferees the following instructions: First, to exclude the territory of New Mexico from the bill; second, to amend the bill so as to provide for admission of South Dakota by proclamation of the president, under the Sioux Falls constitution; third, that the proposed states of North Dakota, Montana and Washington be admitted on the same basis, all by proclamation of the president or by formal acts of admission.
Cox of New York offered a substitute differing only from Baker's proposition in that it provides for admission of North Dakota, Montana and Washington by proclamation of the president.
In 1889, Washington Territory was on the brink of statehood, but the path was blocked by partisan gridlock in Congress. This article highlights a bizarre legislative maneuver where Northern Democrats tried to force statehood for Western territories via presidential proclamation rather than the standard congressional act—a tactic that ultimately failed. It mirrors modern debates over D.C. and Puerto Rico's status, where local populations seek representation through executive or judicial means when legislative avenues stall.
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