Establishing the
Territorial Government  
(The Organic Act)

Territorial Time Line
Visit the Secretary of State's
web site to learn more about
the history of Washington Territory

Laws, Memorials and Resolutions  - PDF
Index to the laws, memorials and resolutions passed by the Washington Territorial Legislature from 1853-1887

Index to Territorial Laws  - PDF
Alphabetical list of territorial laws

Memorials and Resolutions of Territorial Legislature  - PDF
Listed by year and document number

Index to Memorials  - PDF
Alphabetical list of territorial memorials

Territorial Members  - PDF
A list of all the representatives serving from the first session in 1854 to the eleventh biennial session in 1887. During this time, those serving represented different counties in Washington Territory.

Photos of Territorial Assemblies  Including photo and roster from the 1889 Constitutional Convention

Territorial Seal
"Al-ki" or "Alki" Al-ki or Alki is an Indian word meaning "bye and bye." This motto first appeared on the territorial seal designed by Lt. J.K. Duncan of Gov. Steven's surveying expedition. On one side it pictures a log cabin and an immigrant wagon with a fir forest in the background; on the other side, a sheet of water being traversed by a steamer and sailing vessel, a city in perspective; the Goddess of Hope and an anchor is in the center. The figure points at the significant word "Alki." Settlers from the schooner "Exact" named their settlement on Alki Point, New York. The new settlement was slower to grow than its East Coast counterpart however, so the name was changed to New York-Alki, meaning "into the future" -- the 1850s version of the term "bye and bye" or, "I will see you, bye and bye."