The following article, The End of the Indian Wars, was published in The Cashmere Valley Record, Vol. 30, No. 8, on 20 February 1936. I share it with you because it was of interest to Washington history buffs. Part 3:

 Princess Angeline, Chief Seattle’s daughter.

As to just how the warning reached the white people we do not know. You may have noticed when visiting Lakeview cemetery, Volunteer Park, in Seattle, that the grave of Princess Angeline is in a prominent location. Tradition has it that this girl, who was Seattle’s daughter, was the one that warned the whites of the impending attack. True or not, it is fitting, in view of other valued services to the white settlers on the part of Seattle and his family, that she should thus rest near the Carmack, Libby and Denny plots.

Only one more battle should be mentioned in this campaign. A detachment of soldiers was opening up a road from Puyallup to Muckilshoot Prairie. A group of Indians attacked them but were repulsed, the soldiers suffering only slight losses.

With only a few more skirmishes, the war was given up by the Indians. The whites had held Seattle, had built blockhouses on Whidbey Island, on the White River and at a dozen other places throughout the territory. The Indian cause was lost.

We can close this description of what, had we lived then, would have been a vivid and exciting time, but to read it is only one horror story after another by showing what grew out of the Indian Wars. The most important result was the ratification of Stevens’ Indian treaties which opened the territory to settlement. The department of Oregon Military Affairs was created which would give the settlers greater protection in the future.

Perhaps the greatest interest to us from this period is the series of names that are remembered in Washington geography: Wright, Seattle, Steptoe, Leschi and Klickitat. After all, that is one of the interesting things in any period of the past.

The following article, The End of the Indian Wars, was published in The Cashmere Valley Record, Vol. 30, No. 8, on 20 February 1936. I share it with you because it was of interest to Washington history buffs. Part 2:

But the sympathetic point of view held by Wright was later proved to be mistaken. No matter how we may feel personally, we must recognize the dangers and trails felt by the settlers and the responsibility placed on the shoulders of the military command. Accordingly, when a band of Palouses entered the Walla Walla Valley on a marauding expedition, the realization came that sympathy was not enough.

In April, 1857, Col. Steptoe notified his superior that a general expedition against the tribes north of Walla Walla seemed advisable. This was the start of the Steptoe-Wright campaign which lasted for the greater part of the two following hears. Only the barest outline of details need concern us here. The battle of Steptoe Butte and the battle of Spokane Plains were the two principle military events. The latter engagement was fought on the land where Fort George Wright had later been built. (Donna’s note: not so; that battle was fought miles west of where the fort was constructed on the western side of Spokane.)

But to retrace our steps to the Sound area for a time. The Indians continually invaded the settlements and burned farm homes almost at will. A blockhouse fort was built near where the Totem pole now stands on Yessler Way in Seattle and the settlers prepared themselves for a siege. The warship, Decatur, Capt. Guert Gransevoort commanding, was standing in the harbor ready to assist the settlers.

By some means, more or less in question, word reached the settlers of an intended attack. On January 26, 1856, the attack was made. All day volleys from the howitzer, which stood in front of Dexter Horton’s store, and the rifles and pistols of the men were answered from the woods. But at night the attack was finally repulsed. The town was safe.

(Copied from Wikipedia article on the Decatur: During the early 1850s, hostility grew between the Native peoples and the new settlers in the Puget Sound region. The “Decatur” and several other government ships were moved to the area to protect the settlers. On January 26, 1856, following word of a planned attack on Seattle, troops on the “Decatur” fired howitzers into the forest beyond Third Avenue where a group of Indigenous peoples had gathered. The Native peoples retreated, burning buildings as they went.)

Please stay tuned for Part 3 next time.