City of Lakewood announcement.
We were honored to participate in the Chief Leschi Memorial Walk Jan. 27, 2023 led and organized by the Nisqually Tribe.
A few hundred people gathered at the Oakbrook Plaza under drizzly skies. As they arrived they received bright red long-sleeved shirts handed out by the tribe honoring the upcoming 100-year anniversary of the Medicine Creek Treaty and Chief Leschi – the last Chief of the Nisquallies.
Tribal leaders offered opening remarks including from Tribal Chairman Willie Frank III, along with a few words from Lakewood Mayor Jason Whalen and Lakewood Councilmember Don Anderson.
The group – made up of people of all ages and a number of horses ridden by tribal members – then embarked on its walk, taking over the center turn lane of Steilacoom Boulevard, traveling the roughly one-mile to Fort Steilacoom Park. Once inside the park the procession gathered in the field near the off-leash dog park.
More stories were shared about Chief Leschi, who was held prisoner at Fort Steilacoom, which is located on the grounds of Western State Hospital across from Fort Steilacoom Park. He was hanged in 1858 not far from the stone marker at the Oakbrook Plaza where the crowd gathered to start its walk.
Nisqually tribal leaders held the memorial walk on Jan. 27 because that is Leschi’s birthday – a date that holds significance for the tribe.
The city of Lakewood looks forward to more opportunities to partner with the Nisqually Tribe to showcase its history in our region, including at Fort Steilacoom Park. In the works is a pilot project for the mark that will include interpretive signs sharing the tribe’s story and the Lushootseed language, and historical markers within the park that are culturally significant.
Find more photos from the day on the city’s Facebook page.
The city’s support for this event is magnificent. But just a quick correction: Leschi was not held in the middle of a prairie. He was confined within Fort Steilacoom, the first U.S. military post in Puget Sound. He was held in one building of about two dozen that existed in the late 1850s. The four remaining buildings which are located outside the main entry to Western State Hospital are available for tours – more info at https://historicfortsteilacoom.org/
Why was Leschi held by the military when it’s the civilians who murdered him through farcical proceedings? Leschi was tried in Olympia by civilian authorities. Military officers at Fort Steilacoom believed him to be innocent, but they knew that if he was held in Olympia, he’d be murdered there, like his brother. So they housed him at the fort.
There is actually a small monument located about where Leschi was held. You can go see it. Drive to the main entrance to Western State, and make an immediate right. The monument is right there, located next to the ruins of what was probably a bus stop. It’s difficult to find parking there during the day, when the hospital is fully staffed, but it’s easy to park nearby and visit this monument during off hours.
You can also walk to the monument from the park – you can cross at the stoplight right by the entrance to WSH. The monument is where cars turn right to enter the frontage road for parking.
And yes, you read that right: This highly historic site is a parking lot for Western State. Tells you all you need to know how the State of Washington preserves its history.
The land that this article refers to, Fort Steilacoom Park, was indeed part of the military property, but it was farmland. The park is part of the Fort Steilacoom Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sorry, once you start talking Lakewood’s rich history, it’s hard to stop! As said in the video, the park was the ‘setting’ for Leschi’s confinement as it was part of the military installation. He was actually held at what’s now the site of a Western State parking lot, adjacent to Steilacoom Boulevard and the park.
What I wanted to add in this second comment is that by visiting the park, you absolutely can actually follow part of Leschi’s path. When it was time for trial, he was transported from the area of the monument I wrote about. He then traveled down what we today call Angle Lane, to and from his trial. So by walking through Angle Lane in the park, you retrace the path Leschi traveled many times.
This is what one of the officers, Lt. August Kautz, wrote after the hanging:
“The main feature of the present state of affairs, is the case of Leschi. This Indian, having with all his people, concluded terms with Col. Wright, Gov. Stevens refused to regard the truce. He offered a reward of five hundred dollars…and succeeded by treachery, in bringing him in…
“On the 19th inst, a homicide was perpetuated by the sheriff of Thurston County, in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom by hanging the Indian chief Leschi, under an order from the District Court…
“In a legal point of view his case is the most remarkable on record. He is perhaps the first man ever arraigned by the civil courts for an act of war, of which, in truth, he was not guilty. Convicted finally, by a jury which had prejudiced him, all clemency was forestalled by the remonstrance of a prejudiced people, he was at last executed contrary to law. “
Thanks for setting the history straight. Too often myths over take fact as memories fade.
Thanks to the Nisqually Tribe for planning this event and sharing your history. I had wanted to attend, but was unable to do so. I look forward to future community building events.
So sad it took so long for this to happen.