Edward S. Salomon was born in Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) in 1836. After completing high school there, he emigrated to the U.S. He settled in Chicago, where he studied law and was elected alderman in 1860. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Salomon joined the 24th Illinois Infantry as a second lieutenant and soon rose to the rank of colonel. Before the end of the war he was brevetted brigadier general, having served with distinction in the battles of Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chattanooga, and Lookout Mountain. After the close of the war he became clerk of Cook County, Ill. In 1870 Salomon was appointed governor of Washington Territory by President Grant. He was soon known in Washington for his sense of responsibility and attentiveness to the duties of government. In 1871, the territorial legislature passed a resolution thanking Governor Salomon for his prompt attention to the acts of the legislature.
One of the most important events during Salomon's administration was the beginning of a branch line of the Northern Pacific Railroad north from the Columbia River in 1870. In 1871 Tacoma was founded as Commencement Bay City in anticipation of the arrival of the railroad. In 1872 the San Juan dispute was finally settled through arbitration by Wiliam I, the German Emperor, ending a long-standing source of trouble between Washington and its neighbors to the north. The resolution of the northern border dispute finally settled British territorial claims, but many of the claims of the Hudson's Bay Company remained outstanding, particularly concerning the lands in the Fort Colville area and the holdings of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company. At the conclusion of his term of office, Governor Salomon moved to San Francisco, where he was twice elected to the California State Legislature and where he also served as district attorney. He died in San Francisco in 1913.
From the description of Territorial Governor Edward S. Salomon papers, 1870-1872. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70976361
