Indians may have lived in South Puget Sound for thousands of years.  Then, in the late 1700s, European explorers arrived in sailing ships and the lives of Indians were changed forever.  The first European foreigners to journey into Puget Sound were two British explorers, Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey, who were part of the Vancouver expedition. They were sent by Captain George Vancouver to map the coast of the Sound. They peacefully exchanged gifts with the Indians they met. Later they rejoined their crew.

The outside of Fort Nisqually.
Drawing by Norman Edson,
MSCUA, University of Washington NA4130

The British explorers saw that this land was rich with fur-bearing animals, which were in high demand to make fashionable capes and hats. Soon the British Hudson’s Bay Company came to buy fur. The men of the Hudson’s Bay Company built Fort Nisqually on the lands traditionally occupied by the Nisqually Indians. Fort Nisqually was not an army fort, but a trading post.

The men at Fort Nisqually got along well with the Indians. Many Indians worked at the Fort, and some Indian women married Hudson's Bay Company men.  Descendants of these families still live in South Puget Sound today.

After the British, American settlers arrived, looking for land to farm.  The population grew to a point that in 1853, the United States created Washington Territory, appointing Isaac Stevens as Governor.  This meant that the Indians living there were now under the control of the United States, without their consent. As more settlers came to South Puget Sound, it became clear that there was a problem. The settlers wanted to farm the land that belonged to the Indians, but what about the Indians who lived there? The task of solving this problem fell to the new Territorial Governor, Isaac Stevens.

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