(Courtesy of Washington State Archives)

With Washington’s 125th birthday celebration on Nov. 11 just days away, we’re always looking to highlight key documents that led to our becoming the 42nd state.

This letter certainly qualifies. It was sent on Oct. 23, 1889, by Washington Territorial Gov.  Miles C. Moore to President Benjamin Harrison, requesting “to be admitted to the Union on an Equal Footing with the Original States…” Apparently, Harrison liked what Moore wrote. On Nov. 11 of that year, a telegram was to Moore’s gubernatorial successor, Elisha P. Ferry (the first governor of the state of Washington), saying that Harrison signed the proclamation declaring Washington a state.

Our State Archives has both Moore’s letter to Harrison and the telegram announcing our statehood.