The Name Debate: Why Seattle Nearly Became 'Tacoma'

On the 15th of December, in the United States Senate, the bill for the admission of Dakota as a State was under consideration—Senator Platt gave notice that when it should be disposed of, he would move to take up his bill for the admission of Washington Territory as a State, under the name of Tacoma. This was a decided surprise to the people of the Territory. It is questioned if the existence of such a bill was known to anybody in this Territory, unless perhaps to a few composed of officials of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company and their interior ring, known as the 'Tacoma Company.' The effort of Senator Platt to procure the passage of a bill making this Territory the State of Tacoma will unquestionably fail. The people of this Territory are intelligent enough to know what they want without an appeal to a Connecticut Senator or his client, the Tacoma Land Company. The very suggestion is an insult to the Territory. It has no popular backing whatever. The electors of Washington Territory demand admission as a State under the name of Washington. If, as is freely charged, the Southern Pacific is using its power and lobby influence to delay or prevent our admission, it has chosen a very effective method of doing so, for even should the Platt bill become a law, Washington Territory, we venture to predict, will never become the State of Tacoma.