The late nineteenth century was the golden age of the exposition, often referred to as a “world’s fair.” Exhibits sponsored by foreign countries and displays of new modern conveniences were viewed with amazement. These events were popular and well attended. It is estimated that more than twenty million people attended the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair during its six-month run.
Not all Americans were entirely satisfied with the Chicago event. The western portion of the country felt slighted. Westerners thought the fair focused too heavily on the eastern part of the nation. Much of the West was still in territorial status and felt neglected. In 1895, western states and western territories hoping for statehood banded together to form the Trans-Mississippi West Commercial Congress. The purpose of the new organization was to promote the states and territories west of the Mississippi. It was made up of commercial and industrial representatives, as well as elected representatives from every state and territory west of the Mississippi.
One of the first orders of business was organizing an exposition that highlighted the American West. The event was billed as one that would rival Chicago’s “White City.” The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition was held in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1898. While not as enormous as the Chicago fair, it attracted more than two million visitors and featured more than 4,000 displays in 100 buildings.
The success of the fair prompted the organization to continue. On this date in 1905, the Fargo Forum and Daily Republican reported on the upcoming annual meeting of the Congress. It was scheduled to meet in Portland, Oregon, in August. Small committees would meet and bring recommendations to the full body for a vote.
The report on the 1905 session included “subjects of vast interest to the Western states,” such as irrigation, rivers, road improvement, and mining. After a vote on each measure, the body named a committee to travel to Washington, D.C., and present the recommendations to Congress. According to the newspaper, this process would be a “simple business-like way of keeping the commercial interests of the Trans-Mississippi West region in direct touch” with the national government.
In 1912, Arizona became the last member of the commercial congress to be admitted as a state, and westerners felt fully represented at the national level. The organization disbanded in 1916.
Dakota Datebook written by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources
- Fargo Forum and Daily Republican. “Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress.” Fargo ND. 7/2/1905. Page 2.
- Kenneth G Alfers, “Triumph of the West: The Trans-Mississippi Exposition,” Nebraska History 53 (1972): 312-329.
- Trans-Mississippi West and International Exposition. “The Great Event of 1898.” https://trans-mississippi.unl.edu/texts/view/transmiss.per.haynes.1898.html
- Trans-Mississippi West Commercial Congress. “Official proceedings of the sixteenth session of the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress : held at Portland, Oregon, August 16, 17, 18 and 19, 1905.” https://archive.org/details/officialproceedi00tranrich/page/n7/mode/2up
