...using documents, images, maps and online tools
I chose this map of Washington State because of my personal life experience. I was born in Washington in Cowlitz County. Cowlitz County is on the boarder of Washington and Oregon. I only lived there for two years after I was born, but about two years ago I spent two months in Seattle working as an intern for a non-profit. I learned a lot about the demographics and landscape of this beautiful state, but I wanted to learn more about the history of the state.
Created in July of 1865, this map outlines the supposed assets of the territory before it became a state in November of 1889. There are lines to identify sources of gold, lead, silver, coal, and projected railroad routes. It is clear, according to the map, that railroads, trails, and mines had begun to develop the territory several years prior to official statehood. But why and how? If we did not have legal control over the territory, why were we outlining its assets? And how did we justify doing so?
As it is widely known, Washington has a large (in comparison to the rest of the country) Native American population. This map outlines some U.S. reservations in the territory, but makes no mention of the Native Americans who lived in the areas. Political meaning and purpose can sometimes be identified by the omission of details, especially, as we have seen and studied, with maps. The U.S. reservations outlined in red on the map are seemingly small compared to the rest of the territory, but we know that over twenty years after this map was created, Washington became part of the Union.
This transition from small U.S. reservations to statehood, could have happened for many reasons, but one seems to be most likely. This reason could have been an attempt to procure the riches and natural resources that seemed to be available in Washington at the expense of Native American lives and culture. This reason is politic and it almost seems as if the absence of the social demographics on the map could be an attempt to remove moral implications from the addition of Washington into the Union. As the Civil War was winding down at the time of this map's creation, an attempt to remove moral implications would have made both political and economic sense.