Territorial Timeline

Charles Mason appointed first Secretary of Washington Territory.

Charles Mason originally intended to serve on the Rhode Island Bar for the office of United States District Attorney for Rhode Island. However, when the position of Secretary of the Territory of Washington became available, Mason jumped at the opportunity to apply and he was only twenty-three years old.

Mason served as Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens’ backup; since Stevens was often away from the capitol, Mason regularly served as “Acting Governor” of Washington Territory. Out of the almost six years he served as secretary of the territory, almost half was spent as acting governor.

In 1854 while Stevens was meeting with the Blackfoot Indians in Montana, hostilities broke out with the Indians on Puget Sound. Mason executed his duties energetically, ordering all peaceful Indians to return to their reservations and personally leading a column of troops into the threatened area to help preserve the peace. After Stevens returned, Mason went to Washington, D.C. to ask Congress for help in the emergency. His efforts resulted in an appropriation of $300,000 to restore the peace, money that was used to buy food and clothing for the Indians who stayed on the reservations.

As Secretary of the Territory, Mason was charged with the disbursement of the territory’s expenses and keeping the official public records of the executive and legislative branches of the government. He was an efficient and popular official. After a brief illness of three days, he died in Olympia on July 29, 1859 at the age of twenty-nine.