Washington – Follow-up

 

Before it was Washington State, that land was part of the Oregon Territory, a very large western territory that included all of present-day Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of Wyoming and Montana.  When it was proposed to break off the northern part of the Oregon Territory, the part north of the Columbia River, the Columbia River being the current border between Washington and Oregon, the proposed name was Territory of Columbia.  That name was refused because it was thought it might be confused with the existing Washington, District of Columbia, so they named it Washington Territory instead.  Go Figure.

 

And now we’ve come to the day that Washington, D.C. statehood is being discussed.  (Thank you, Ken, for that thought.)  Should that happen, if that community goes from a district to a state, what will that be called?

 

 

 

 

 

Which one?  That’s the question we always have to ask unless someone is so specific as to answer the question before we ask it.  When we already had a Washington, District of Columbia, why would we name a state Washington as well?  If we’re telling someone about Nebraska, all we have to say is Nebraska and we’re done.  If we say Washington, then we have to say Washington, the state, not Washington, D.C., or vice versa. 

 

Not an efficient use of language.