“Archives Treasures” item #3: territorial seal

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Earlier this week, we started our new blog series that highlights some of the millions of documents, images, maps and other historical goodies housed in our State Archives. Here is the third and final contender in this month’s Archives Treasures poll: the official seal of Washington Territory. The territorial seal was proposed and designed in 1853 by J.K. Duncan, a lieutenant in the U.S. Army assigned to Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens’ survey party. It was adopted in 1854. The territorial seal was featured on the front cover of the 2003 statewide Voters’ Pamphlet since that year was the 150th anniversary of Washington becoming a territory. A story in the February 25, 1854, edition of Olympia’s “Pioneer and Democrat” describes the territorial seal: On one side 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 in the center, the figure pointing up to the significant word “Alki” (bye and bye). The first “contestant” in this month’s Archives treasures poll was the boxing license application that Muhammad Ali submitted in 1970 under his former name, Cassius Clay. The second “contestant” was one of the many photos showing the construction of the Legislative Building on the Capitol Campus. Now that all three finalists are known, it will be up to you to choose which one you like best. On Friday, we’ll do a blog post in which you can vote for your favorite Archives treasure for January. Make sure to vote! (We originally ran the blog series in 2012. Due to its popularity, we’re bringing them back for an encore performance!)