For the Love of Lincoln
June 30, 2009 
7 Comments
Spokane seems to have something of a crush on President Lincoln. Be it our beloved Lincoln Statue, the Symphony performing Letters from Lincoln, the Chase gallery exhibiting “A House Divided: The Legacy of Lincoln,” or even just the swank new Lincoln Center on Lincoln Ave., there are an awful lot of Lincolns in the local log. Sure, maybe most of these are linked to Lincoln’s 200th birthday celebrations, but there is more to this theory than the bicentennial.
Scott Kolbo – Lincoln Contemplates the Intractable
Did you know that a good chunk of the Inland Northwest was once proposed to become Lincoln State? I’ve heard of Cascadia plenty of times, but the State of Lincoln was news to me.
“The Doug” – Flag of Cascadia
As Northerners we tend to scoff in annoyance at the secessionist tendencies of the more southern states, particularly Texas, full of spit and swagger. Yet in it’s tortured past, Texas also was in the running to cede into Lincoln State. Is this not unlike the pot calling the kettle black?
The State of Lincoln was first proposed by Idaho in 1864, when the Capital was moved from Lewiston to its present-day location of Boise, which made governing the out-of-reach panhandle more difficult. The 1864 proposal was to make the panhandle its own state. This proposal failed, but in 1901 another proposal was made, this time to combine the Idaho Panhandle with Eastern Washington to create the state of Lincoln, in honor of President Abraham Lincoln.
From the Washington end, proposals have been made as recently as 1996, 1999, and 2005. Other than Lincoln, the names “Columbia” and “Eastern (or East) Washington” were proposed to be used for the state. While the disconnection between Western Washington and Eastern Washington is well known and documented, Northern Idaho has a similar dynamic in which its residents often feel disconnected from the state’s political center in Boise.
However, Northern Idaho residents do not typically profess any feeling of connection with Eastern Washington, and in fact in terms of its politics and sociology and the fact that it is largely mountains and forests and lakes, it is much more similar to Western Montana. Therefore, parallel suggestions of a “State of Kootenai” have been made, referring to a proposed union of the six northern-most counties of Idaho, and the six western-most counties of Montana, creating a geographically, politically, and ecologically connected state of 524,888 residents, putting it ahead of other states such as Wyoming.
Other conceptions of a potential “State of Lincoln” have been rendered, specifically a possible combination of Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon. This union is actually the more commonly suggested one, rather than the Washington-Idaho entity. This results from the fact that the two eastern regions of the states are both made up of largely farmland and plains, and therefore economically and sociologically similar.
The people of Eastern Oregon also often express the same frustration with being coupled with Portland and the region west of the Cascades that Eastern Washingtonians do with respect to Seattle. This proposed coupling would create one of the largest states in the country, stretching all the way from the eastern foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range to the border with Idaho in the east. The Washington State Legislature is the only government among these three states that has seen bills proposing secession or splintering. If combined with the proposed State of Jefferson, which overlaps a proposed Oregon-Washington “State of Lincoln” in southeastern Oregon and is proposed for many of the same reasons, it would create a state that is even larger.
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Still a decent idea to support “Lincoln” as a state. Something to think about. Not enough tax base but it’s fun to explore the idea. D
One of my high school teachers (now a Gonzaga prof), while serving as a State Representative, was accused by the Spokesman of wanting to run for Governor of, er, Lincoln after overhearing a joke.
Bad idea then, bad idea now.
Not being an original Washingtonian, I had no idea that was even a proposal. It would make a lot of sense —both politically and regionally– to make that combination happen, but then again there’s nothing like a good East v. West rival, and both have a lot to offer within their own entities.
The Peoples State of Spotucky pledges full military support to this new state on one condition. Instead of State of Lincoln it’s called Washaho.
I always thought if there were to be a 51st state born out of Eastern Washington or some combination of disjointed proximity states, that “South Canada”, “New Canada” or “Little Canada” would be rad. I remember hearing something about “Reagan State” back in the day, glad that’s still not circulating, “Lincoln State” would be far better.
I love the idea of a state composed of northern Idaho and eastern Washington. We’re kind of oil and water, but we could call our 51st state Spodaho, and who in the mass media wouldn’t love to say that word all day and night and who in the new state wouldn’t love hearing all about ourselves all the time. Lincoln would have to wait for 52, I guess, which would probably be about 6 months later, when eastern Spodaho gets a burr under their saddle and decides to go it alone.
I like the idea of N Idaho, E Wa and E Oregon thinking about being independent. They already are in culture and generally how the people look at life.. Lots of value in the ideas. It’s the money that would produce and sustain a state . The cultures are so drastically different from the Westside of these States Oregon and Wa anyway), I wonder why a sincere effort hasn’t been generated. I do know that when most of the local money is kept for things not seen ( like highway works on the Westside), it’s time for a fresh look at the idea. Personally for me ( who doesn’t live here), it seems to have merit no matter what one might call it.