Origins[edit]
The roots of the Western Territory date back to the summer of 1882. At this time there was no Salvation Army presence in the Western United States, the movement only having reached the United States two years earlier on March 10, 1880. However, a group of Bay Area "holiness men," having been impressed by a copy of the Army's London based War Cry magazine, decided by unanimous vote that they would change their name from the Pacific Holiness Association to The Salvation Army. They then chose George Newton as their "Commander," and held their first meeting later that year on October 6, 1882.
Over the course of the next year the group held services, formed a small brass band, and even published five issues of their own War Cry magazine, all the while petitioning the Salvation Army's founder and international leader William Booth to send them a real Salvation Army officer. Booth eventually agreed, and in 1883 Major Alfred Wells, and Major Henry Stillwell were sent to begin the Army's work in San Francisco. Major Wells opened the Army's first building in the West, San Francisco Citadel #1, on July 21, 1883.
Originally, the Western United States was classified as the Pacific Coast Division, but in 1921 was given territorial status. The West's first territorial commander was Lt. Commissioner Adam Gifford.
1920 -- Lt. Commissioner Adam Gifford
1932 -- Lt. Commissioner Benjamine Orames
1940 -- Lt. Commissioner Donald McMillan
1944 -- Lt. Commissioner William Barrett
1948 -- Lt. Commissioner Claude Bates
1952 -- Lt. Commissioner Claude Bates
1953 -- Lt. Commissioner Holland French
1957 -- Lt. Commissioner Samuel Hepburn
1961 -- Commissioner Samuel Hepburn
1962 -- Lt. Commissioner Glen Ryan
1966 -- Lt. Commissioner William J. Parkins
1971 -- Commissioner Paul S. Kaiser
1974 -- Commissioner
Richard E. Holz
1980 -- Commissioner Lawrence R. Smith
1982 -- Commissioner William Pratt
1984 -- Commissioner Willard S. Evans
1989 -- Commissioner
Paul A. Rader
1994 -- Commissioner Peter H. Chang
1997 -- Commissioner David Edwards
2002 -- Commissioner
Linda Bond
2004 Interim -- Commissioner Bill Luttrell
2005 -- Commissioner Philip Swyers
2010 -- Commissioner
James Knaggs
2017 -- Commissioner Kenneth G. Hodder
2020 -- Commissioner Douglas Riley
formerly: Sierra Del Mar Division and Southern California Division
Chief of the Staff of The Salvation Army
Generals of The Salvation Army
High Council of The Salvation Army
Officer (The Salvation Army)
Soldier (The Salvation Army)
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army U.S.A Central Territory
McKinley, E.H. (1995). . Eerdmans Pub Co. ISBN 0-8028-3761-1.
Marching to Glory: The History of the Salvation Army in the United States, 1880-1992
Taiz, Lillian (2001). . University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-2621-9.
Hallelujah Lads and Lasses: Remaking the Salvation Army in America, 1880-1930
Walker, Pamela J. (2001). Pulling the Devil's Kingdom Down: The Salvation Army in Victorian Britain. University of California Press. 0-520-22591-0.
ISBN
Winston, Diane (2000). . Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-00396-9.