Marshall F. Moore was born in Binghamton, N.Y., in 1829. After graduating from Yale University he studied law, and first practiced in New Orleans. After five years there, he moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where he was elected prosecuting attorney, and later became a judge. He later moved to Ohio, where he married the sister of Philemon B. Van Trump. During the Civil War, Moore participated in the battles of Rich Mountain, Shiloh, Chickamauga, Jonesboro and Missionary Ridge. He was brevetted brigadier general at Jonesboro and just before the close of the war was brevetted major general. Moore was appointed by Pres. Andrew Johnson to the governorship of Washington Territory in 1867. Although the U.S. Senate was hostile to all of Johnson's appointments, they could hardly refuse a hero of the Civil War.
The accelerated tempo of development following the Civil War stressed the need for roads, mail routes, and other essential services and institutions. Expansion and progress were the themes of Moore's term as he supported the improvement of communications throughout the territory, which included the establishment of steamboat lines on the Chehalis and Lewis rivers. Two areas strongly affected in this period of growth were Puget Sound, where the lumber industry grew to an annual production rate of over four hundred million board-feet, and the Walla Walla area, which produced well over a million bushels of grain annually. With the U.S. acquisition of Alaska, Moore saw Washington as the key to the development and exploitation of Alaska, and increased trade throughout the Pacific Rim, with Washington as the natural beneficiary. Moore was a visionary who saw a great future for Washington. Unfortunately, he did not live to see much of this envisioned progress, as he died in Olympia early in 1870.
From the description of Territorial Governor Marshall F. Moore papers, 1867-1869. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 154687980
