Washington Territory. Governor (1857-1859 : McMullin)

Fayette McMullin was appointed by President Buchanan in 1857 after J. Patton Anderson, first U.S. Marshal of the Territory, failed to qualify on his appointment as governor. Charles Mason, Secretary of the Territory under Isaac I. Stevens, served as acting governor during the interim. McMullin had served in Congress representing the state of Virginia prior to his appointment as governor of Washington Territory. He spent little time in the Territory and only delivered one message to the legislature, that being in 1857 when he called attention to the need for military roads, advocated the northern route for the proposed transcontinental railroad, and objected forcefully to Oregon's attempt to annex the Walla Walla region. Another serious matter he dealt with was the proposed pardon for Leschi. This he opposed, and Leschi went to the gallows.

Two important events occurred during McMullin's term in office, the discovery of gold in the Fraser River valley and the defeat of Colonel Steptoe by hostile Indians in the eastern part of the Territory. The former caused a great deal of excitement and created a gold rush, though short-lived, of considerable proportions. The latter incident resulted in a swift punitive attack by Colonel Wright, who routed the Indians, killed their horses, and forced them to surrender, thus ending, finally, the Indian Wars in Washington. It was also during this time that the boundary dispute with Great Britain over the San Juan Islands began to emerge, a problem which would continue to plague both countries for some time to come. McMullin was a noted spokesman for the states' rights issue, expressed when he addressed the legislature on the necessity of adhering to the Constitution and carrying out the "unmistakable doctrine of non-intervention." After leaving Washington, he was elected to the Congress of the Confederate States of America.

Considerable controversy surrounds McMullin and legislative divorce. At the time, the territorial legislature could grant a divorce without going through the steps usually involved in a court divorce. According to Edmond Meany, "Arthur A. Denny (said) that Governor Fayette McMullin accepted the office, and came to this Territory to obtain such a divorce... the governor got his legislative divorce, and afterwards married Miss Mary Wood of Olympia." Soon after settling these personal matters, McMullin returned to Virginia in July 1858; Secretary Mason again served as acting governor until the close of McMullin's term. McMullin died in Virginia in 1880.

From the description of Territorial Governor Fayette McMullin papers, 1857-1859. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70976357