Della Gould Emmons’s Leschi of the Nisquallies chronicles the tragic life of the prominent Nisqually chief and the violent Puget Sound War ignited by the pioneer seizure of indigenous homelands. The narrative maps the vital riverine and prairie geography of the south Puget Sound, focusing heavily on the rich delta and salmon-bearing waters of the Nisqually River basin extending eastward toward the rugged foothills of Mount Rainier. By detailing the disastrous 1854 Medicine Creek Treaty—which attempted to force the tribe onto barren, elevated bluffs entirely severed from their foundational aquatic lifelines—the book illustrates how the sudden, forced restriction of traditional geographic access directly sparked armed resistance. The text captures the strategic military use of the region's dense, impassable lowland forests and tangled river crossings by indigenous fighters attempting to repel territorial militias. Ultimately, this account demonstrates how a fundamental clash over land use and riparian access within this specific Washington landscape dictated the devastating geopolitical realities of the 1850s frontier.

416 pages : map ; 23 cm

"Pioneer Reminiscences of Puget Sound: The Tragedy of Leschi" is a historical account written by Ezra Meeker, an American pioneer who settled in the Puget Sound region of Washington state in the mid-1800s. The book focuses on the tragic story of Chief Leschi, a prominent leader of the Nisqually tribe who was accused of murder and subsequently executed by the territorial government in 1858. Meeker provides a firsthand account of the events leading up to Leschi's trial and execution, as well as his own personal experiences living among the Native American tribes of the region. The book offers a unique perspective on the early history of the Pacific Northwest, shedding light on the complex relationships between settlers and Native Americans during a tumultuous period of American expansion.

xx, 554 pages, 26 unnumbered leaves of plates (2 folded) illustrations 24 cm