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38-580: The Puget Sound War began over land rights and ended in a cloud of controversy surrounding the hanging of Chief Leschi. The catalyst of the war was the Treaty of Medicine Creek of 1854. Negotiated by Washington Territory Governor Isaac Stevens , the treaty preserved Indian fishing rights, but took away prime Nisqually farmland. Leschi, chosen to negotiate the treaty with Stevens, was outraged and chose to fight rather than give up his people's land. The fighting commenced on October 27, 1855, when "Eaton's Rangers,"

76-466: A citizen militia under Captain Charles Eaton, were involved in a clash with Nisqually tribesmen. James McAllister near Connell's Prairie, First Lieutenant of Eaton's Rangers, and Michael Connell, an American settler, were killed. Four days later, two militiamen, Joseph Miles and Abram Benton Moses, were killed. The war itself consisted of a series of short skirmishes with relatively few deaths on

114-577: A creek then known as She-nah-num by the natives, or Medicine Creek by white settlers. The creek is now known as McAllister Creek . The signing took place in Thurston County, Washington , on December 26, 1854, in a grove of Douglas fir trees well known to the tribes. The single tree remaining on the site from the original grove at the Nisqually River Delta was a de facto monument, known as Treaty Tree. On June 14, 1922 (Flag Day)

152-707: A farm near Steilacoom; coastal tribes such as the Cowlitz were moved to a site on the Chehalis River; the Chinook people were moved inland to Fort Vancouver. All these remained captive until at least the end of the war, a span of nearly two years. The final battle of the war occurred on or about March 10, 1856, when a column of approximately 110 volunteers from the Washington Territorial Volunteers were ambushed near Connell's Prairie by

190-653: A force estimated at 150 Native American tribesmen, supposedly led by Chief Leschi of the Nisqually tribe. After several hours of skirmishing and several charges by the Volunteers, the Natives withdrew, taking their dead and wounded with them, but leaving behind bloody clothing and drums, among other items. Following the battle, Leschi and his remaining warriors retreated over the Cascades into Eastern Washington. Leschi

228-582: A new plaque was dedicated in front of a tree growing from a seedling of the last Treaty Tree. This off-spring tree is growing on the bluff of the Thurston County Courthouse campus. Representatives of local treaty tribes joined Thurston County Commissioners for the ceremony. The plaque is inscribed as follows: "The treaty of Medicine Creek was signed December 26, 1854 by representatives of the United States Government and

266-484: A price of $ 25 per acre to be paid to the natives for the land the U.S. deemed necessary for the fort. The Nisqually people had neither the opportunity nor the funds to fight the government’s acquisition of their lands. When the war ended in 1918, the Nisqually people petitioned for their land to be returned to them, as the fort no longer needed to train troops for the war. The request was denied by Newton Baker, President Wilson’s Secretary of War. Cannon and artillery fire from

304-528: A time capsule to be opened in 2076. The DAR Plaque disappeared from the site during the 1970s. The large Treaty Tree, which had been languishing for decades, was formally recognized as diseased by 1975, and by 1979 was dead. Seeds from Treaty Tree that were gathered in the 1970s were re-planted in a circle 40 feet from it. The dead snag was left standing and still visible from the Interstate until 2007, finally falling during severe windstorms. In June 2013,

342-525: A year of skirmishes that followed was that Nisqually Chief Leschi was hanged for murder. Leschi would be informally exonerated by the Historical Court of Inquiry of Washington State in a unanimous, though non-legally binding, ruling in December 2004. Nisqually people The Nisqually /nɪsˈkwɔːliː/ are a Lushootseed -speaking Native American tribe in western Washington state in

380-628: Is located on the Nisqually River in rural Thurston County, 15 miles (24 km) east of Olympia, Washington. As of the year 2005, the tribe had a service area population of 5,719 Native Americans, 600 of whom reside on the reservation. An additional 5,119 service population members live off the reservation in Thurston and Pierce Counties. Tribal land holdings, on and near the Nisqually reservation, exceed 1,000 acres (4 km²)—all of which has been reacquired since 1986. The original reservation

418-616: Is only accessible by boat up McAllister Creek. The treaty granted 2.24 million acres (9,060;km²) of land to the United States in exchange for establishment of three reservations , cash payments over a period of twenty years, and recognition of traditional native fishing and hunting rights. The exact nature of those rights was disputed until the Boldt Decision in 1974; the Boldt Decision would also be upheld by

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456-681: The Puyallup Indian Reservation bear his name. Treaty of Medicine Creek The Treaty of Medicine Creek was an 1854 treaty between the United States , and nine tribes and bands of Indians, occupying the lands lying around the head of Puget Sound, Washington, and the adjacent inlets. The tribes listed on the Treaty of Medicine Creek are Nisqually , Puyallup , Steilacoom, Squawskin ( Squaxin Island ), S'Homamish, Stehchass, T'Peeksin, Squi-aitl, and Sa-heh-wamish. The treaty

494-465: The U.S. Supreme Court in 1979. Since the Boldt Decision, the tribes named in the treaty have had a recognized right to half of the fish caught on traditional lands throughout south Puget Sound , while before it, state and territorial governments allowed the tribes much less. The original Nisqually reservation was in rocky terrain and unacceptable to the Nisqually, who were a riverside fishing people. They went to war in 1855. An unfortunate outcome of

532-931: The United States . They are a Southern Coast Salish people. They are federally recognized as the Nisqually Indian Tribe , formerly known as the Nisqually Indian Tribe of the Nisqually Reservation and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation . The tribe lives on a reservation in the Nisqually River valley near the river delta. The Nisqually Indian Reservation , at 47°01′12″N 122°39′27″W  /  47.02000°N 122.65750°W  / 47.02000; -122.65750 , comprises 20.602 km² (7.955 sq mi) of land area on both sides of

570-537: The American side. Notable battles occurred in present-day Tacoma , Seattle , and even as far east as Walla Walla . On October 28, 1855, a party of natives killed eight settlers in what was later called the White River Massacre . Three children fled on foot to Seattle, but one five-year-old boy was kidnapped and held by the natives for six months before being released. A conflicting source describes

608-590: The Nisqually River Watershed's southern boundary. Later, a major village would be located near the Mashel River. The Nisqually have always been a fishing people. The salmon has not only been the mainstay of their diet, but the foundation of their culture as well. The Nisqually Tribe is the prime steward of the Nisqually River fisheries resources, and operate two fish hatcheries: one on Clear Creek and one on Kalama Creek. The Nisqually Tribe

646-661: The Nisqually natives in the Puget Sound Indian war due to his mistreatment of the Native Nisqually and the middling and unsurvivable land he assigned them. After the Puget Sound Indian War had ceased, the native Nisqually tribesmen were assigned a new reservation back alongside the river but survival was still difficult due to the restricted sizes of their reservations as well as the U.S. military’s confiscation of 3,000 acres of their land for

684-586: The Nisqually, like many other Northwest Coastal tribes, revolved around fishing for salmon . In 1917, Pierce County, through the process of condemnation proceedings ( eminent domain ), took 3,353 acres (13.57 km ) for the Fort Lewis Military Reserve. When building Ft. Lewis in 1917, the United States government wanted to control land for the project that rightfully belonged to the Nisqually people. The War Department negotiated

722-748: The Sacajawea Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution placed a bronze tablet on the Medicine Creek Treaty Tree bearing the following inscription: "Site of the Medicine Creek Treaty between Governor Isaac I. I. Stevens and Puget Sound Indians 1854 Marked by Sacajawea Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution 1922." Though not recognized as an official historical location, the site

760-412: The Treaty of Medicine Creek with Chief Leschi of the Nisqually people. The treaty proposed was declined by Leschi due to the small amounts of land they would receive from it as well as the treaty requiring the Nisqually people to move away from Medicine creek to less livable and isolated shrubland. It is firmly believed by many that Stevens’ laws and actions in the war heavily influenced the retaliation of

798-530: The area. The major tribes included the Puyallup, the Muckleshoot and the Nisqually. The Cowlitz Tribe were not included as these people had taken up farms and been absorbed into the white community in 1893. Isaac Stevens elected to hire George Gibbs to be his second in command to negotiate the treaty, as Gibbs had traveled west in 1849 and was familiar with the native peoples. The Native Americans were told

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836-415: The attack as being a Nisqually band led by Chief Leschi and reported nine settlers killed. Two boys and a girl were taken from the battle and returned unharmed to an American steamer at Point Elliot. A memoir of the event emphasized that families were warned ahead of time so they could evacuate: "The Indians sent us word not to be afraid - that they would not harm us." Some of the families included members of

874-471: The beginning of the Puget Sound War in 1855 - initiate a search for Chief Leschi in order to arrest him. Chief Leschi was eventually captured and put on trial. The first jury couldn’t come to a verdict, so Isaac Stevens had the trial done a second time. This time Leschi was found guilty. Chief Leschi was hanged on February 19, 1858. The site of the treaty was near the Nisqually River delta, along

912-608: The fort could be heard from the Nisqually reservation for the better part of the next century. The Nisqually people have lived in the watershed for thousands of years. According to legend, the Squalli-absch (ancestors of the modern Nisqually Indian Tribe), came north from the Great Basin, crossed the Cascade Mountain Range and erected their first village in a basin now known as Skate Creek, just outside

950-540: The leaders of the Nisqually, Puyallup and Squaxin Island Indian Tribes. The treaty established the future formal relationship between the U. S. and the Indian Nations. The Treaty Tree was located in the Nisqually delta where the 1854 treaty was signed. The treaty tree was lost in the winter of 2007, but several seedlings were propagated, including this offspring. These living trees stand testimony to

988-614: The ongoing responsibilities agreed to among the signatories." The Thurston County Historic Commission was instrumental in working with the Tribes and Thurston County in arranging for the plaque and the dedication ceremony. The site, now in the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge , was designated by Congress as the Medicine Creek Treaty National Memorial on December 18, 2015. It

1026-550: The river, in western Pierce County and eastern Thurston County . In the 2000 census , it had a resident population of 588 persons, all in the Thurston County portion, on the southwest side of the Nisqually River. The tribe moved onto their reservation east of Olympia, Washington , in late 1854 with the signing of the Medicine Creek Treaty . As reaction to the unfairness of the treaty, many members of

1064-540: The river. The people lived in peace for a while harvesting fish from the river and growing potatoes on the prairie tracts. In the 1840s European settlers began to migrate into Nisqually territory. The numbers of settlers gradually grew and the Nisqually people were originally peaceful with the settlers until the actions of territorial governor Isaac Stevens in 1853. Stevens terminated Indian land rights and took millions of acres from native peoples and attempted to establish

1102-403: The treaty would help them by paying them for some of the land. It ended up taking prime farmland and relocating the tribes onto rough reservations. Chief Leschi of the Nisqually tribe protested the treaty. He and his people marched to Olympia to have their voices heard but Isaac Stevens ordered them away. When the natives refused to leave, Isaac Stevens would eventually call martial law and - after

1140-486: The tribe are overseen by a tribal council composed of seven tribal members elected by the tribe’s voting membership. The Nisqually speak a subdialect of the southern dialect of Lushootseed (called Twulshootseed ), which is a Coast Salish language . In Lushootseed, their name is dxʷsqʷaliʔabš , meaning "people of the grass." The Nisqually Indians originally inhabited the interior woodlands and coastal waters from Mount Rainier west to Puget Sound . The lifestyle of

1178-596: The tribe led by Chief Leschi engaged and were eventually defeated by the US Army in the conflict known as the Puget Sound War in 1855–56. On September 9, 1946, the tribe's constitution and bylaws were approved. The constitution was amended in 1994. The governing body of the Tribe is the General Council comprising all enrolled tribal members 18 years of age or older. The day-to-day business and economic affairs of

Puget Sound War - Misplaced Pages Continue

1216-567: The volunteer companies who had been roaming the area attacking peaceful Indians. In response to the attack at White River, the Americans captured around 4,000 noncombatant Native Americans and held them on Fox Island. Many of them died due to insufficient food, water, and shelter. Additionally, southwestern tribes who had no tradition of warfare were raided by fearful Americans. They were disarmed and their villages placed under surveillance. Upper and Lower Chehalis families were forcibly relocated to

1254-440: Was avoided during the creation of Interstate 5 in the 1960s. A monument was erected on the hillside overlooking the creek, pointing at the site in 1976, by students of nearby Timberline High School. The monument is in the shape of a peace sign when viewed from the air, contains an old Navy buoy which represents the spherical thinking of Native Americans, a rusty railroad rail representing the white mans rusted straight thinking and

1292-469: Was captured in November 1856 and was forced to stand trial for the murder of Abram Benton Moses. His first trial resulted in a hung jury because of the question of the legitimacy of murder during wartime; the jury of twelve voted ten in favor, two opposed to conviction. Leschi was tried again in 1857. Despite vague witness accounts and issues over whether Leschi was actually at the scene of the incident, he

1330-407: Was established by the Medicine Creek Treaty of December 26, 1854. The reservation consisted of 1,280 acres (5.2 km²) on Puget Sound. On January 20, 1856, an executive order enlarged it to 4,717 acres (19.1 km²) on both sides of the Nisqually River. On September 30, 1884, land was set aside and divided into one-family allotments on both sides of the Nisqually River. The land did not include

1368-579: Was found guilty of murder. Leschi was hanged on February 19, 1858. On December 10, 2004, a historical court convened in Pierce County, Washington ruled "as a legal combatant of the Indian War [...] Leschi should not have been held accountable under law for the death of an enemy soldier," thereby exonerating him of any wrongdoing. The Leschi neighborhood in Seattle and Chief Leschi Schools on

1406-425: Was signed on December 26, 1854, by Isaac I. Stevens , governor and superintendent of Indian Affairs of the territory at the time of the signing, along with the chiefs, head-men and delegates of the stated tribes. For the purpose of the treaty, these representatives who signed the treaty were stated to have been, "regarded as one nation, on behalf of said tribes and bands, and duly authorized by them." Isaac Stevens

1444-585: Was the governor of Washington Territory in 1854. He was directly responsible for every Native American affair including making treaties to acquire land for the United States Government. In December 1854 Stevens called a meeting of the Native American tribes who lived in the South Puget Sound area. He focused on these tribes in particular because he stated they were good laborers, excellent fisherman, and because they were also controlling trade in

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