Why Fort Steilacoom Disappeared Between 1868 and 1978

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What Your Parents Knew About Local History Was Likely Wrong
By Walter Neary

Across the nation, many museums honor the U.S. Army while grappling with the challenging history of westward expansion. However, Fort Steilacoom Museum didn’t emerge until 1980. Even now, more than 40 years later, many people say they have never heard of Fort Steilacoom.

Why Did Fort Steilacoom Disappear from Public Memory?

The answer lies in how history gets remembered — and sometimes rewritten. For decades, efforts to honor American pioneers focused elsewhere, leading to the erasure of Fort Steilacoom. Generations were taught that another fort, seen as truly American, had already filled this role. So when we ask people to recognize Fort Steilacoom as the American fort, we are erasing what their parents may have taught them. We are asking people to un-learn.

I should add here that this article is deeply in debt to historian Steve Anderson, who wrote this year about how Fort Nisqually came to dominate the pioneer narrative.

A Shift in Focus: Fort Nisqually as the “American” Fort

By 1908, papers like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer were advocating for a replica of Fort Nisqually to be built for the Alaska-Yukon Exposition. This idea never took off, but it showed that Fort Nisqually was seen as central to Washington’s pioneer history.

It is worth noting that Fort Nisqually, located in DuPont, was actually a British fort. But two key events helped elevate its prominence:

  1. Historian William Bonney declared that Fort Nisqually’s factor’s house was the oldest building around — the first white settlement. This blurred the line between British and American history. British. American. White. All the same thing, right?
  2. With the rise of the automobile, the scenic drive from Seattle and Tacoma to DuPont made visiting the old fort a popular outing.

The Rise of Fort Nisqually in the Public Eye

By 1921, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer was calling Fort Nisqually “the site of the first American home built in the Puget Sound District.” The Tacoma Daily Ledger went even further, dubbing it “the cradle of American civilization in the Pacific Northwest.”

Visiting the site became a trend. It became quite a thing to visit the old buildings at their original rustic site in DuPont, as is shown in this front page display in the Oct. 30, 1927 issue of the Tacoma Daily Ledger:

But while Fort Nisqually thrived in the public imagination, Fort Steilacoom, now part of Western State Hospital, was left in the shadows. Few ventured out for scenic drives to an asylum, and the stigma surrounding the hospital only added to the fort’s fading presence. The wording that one newspaper writer used in 1950 is significant in how direct it is: “Fort Steilacoom became Western State Hospital.”

A group of young Tacoma businessmen donned costumes appropriate for a John Wayne movie and pretended to take hostages among American pioneers, just like what NEVER happened at Fort Nisqually. Photo Source of this and the adjacent photo, Tacoma Northwest Room

“Red men” so wrong in so many ways

In the public imagination, there was no need for Fort Steilacoom because Fort Nisqually had been re-created in Point Defiance Park in 1934. The dedication ceremony for the replica fort was quite the spectacle, with a band playing patriotic tunes, U.S. Navy planes performing stunts, and the American flag raised as onlookers stood at attention.

The Americanization of Fort Nisqually, a British fort, was misleading. It got worse. In one wildly inaccurate and offensive moment, actors dressed as “red men” reenacted an imaginary hostage-taking of settlers — an event that never happened at Fort Nisqually.

But you can’t blame people for thinking that. The Tacoma Daily Ledger had called Fort Nisqually “the old fort that once protected the settlers of Pierce County from attacks by raiding Indians.”

Forgive me this tangent: So how did these non-existent American hostages from a non-existent fort get rescued? “A company of (US) national guardsmen scheduled to appear on the scene and rescue the officials failed to show and it fell the duty of a German band supplied by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Tacoma police and state patrolmen to repulse the attack and return the officials to safety.”

An American flag is displayed during the Fort Nisqually dedication, just as it never was during actual history.

So it’s no wonder nobody in Tacoma or Lakewood ever heard of Fort Steilacoom. It didn’t exist. Newspapers, such as the Seattle Daily Tribune of June 11, 1939, refer to Fort Nisqually as part of “the history of US military defense”  in Puget Sound

A Stamp Seals the Confusion

With Fort Nisqually celebrated as a symbol of American pioneers, Fort Steilacoom was forgotten. Forty-four years later, the U.S. Postal Service embraced historical inaccuracy.

In 1978, the Postal Service issued a stamp called “New Nation Building Westward,” which featured Fort Nisqually’s tower (You can see the stamp in the upper left of this page). The stamp was interpreted as celebrating U.S. settlement, despite Fort Nisqually being a British outpost.

The ‘red men’ travesty shows up again 44 years later

Just to help emphasize the inaccuracy, guess who showed up for the First Day of Issue ceremony? One of the “red men” from 1934 who you can see in the lower left of The News Tribune front page below. He could repeat the story of hostage-taking for anyone who missed it in 1934.

British fort? American fort? No difference really, in 1978 – which, at least for some of us, seems like modern times.

It’s easy for us today to look back in disbelief. Here in 2024, we know there’s a clear distinction between Great Britain and the United States.

And yet, we should not be smug.

If you had been there in 1934 – if you had been there in 1978 – would you have stood up and said, “Excuse me, excuse me; we’re in the wrong place. We need to take this event to the grounds of the mental hospital! Who is ready to drive to Western State Hospital and have a big public party?”

Most of us probably would not have done that. It’s just easier to go along for the ride. 

Bringing Fort Steilacoom Back into Focus

Thanks to Lakewood historians Cy and Rita Happy, who nominated Fort Steilacoom for the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, the fort’s story is being preserved. Volunteers restored the remaining buildings in the 1980s, and since then, our association has worked to share the history of the fort, its people and the stories of those around it.

But we’re asking people to unlearn something they’ve been taught. And that’s often harder than teaching something new.

Why Does This Matter?

Does it matter whether Puget Sound remembers the U.S. Army’s role in Washington’s history? Does it matter that Fort Steilacoom exists as a museum?

Museums across the country, many with significant resources, are beginning to tell the fuller stories of Native Americans, colonialism, and westward expansion. Sites like Fort Vancouver, the Whitman Mission, and Little Bighorn Battlefield are working to include all sides of these narratives.

All-volunteer Fort Steilacoom, with just a fraction of the budget of publicly sponsored museums, faces challenges in doing the same. Nobody wants the bureaucracy that comes with a big museum, but there’s something to be said for expertise and budget.

Fort Nisqually: A Remarkable Legacy

Despite all this confusion, something wonderful did come out of these missteps. Thanks to the passion for preserving U.S. history, we now have an incredible British fort in our midst. Fort Nisqually is an outstanding museum that tells the story of its British roots, and we’re fortunate to have it.

Fort Nisqually is a remarkable museum in any ways, and it’s hard to imagine the history community in the South Sound without it. Their volunteers bring enormous life and energy and expertise when they visit Fort Steilacoom. 

Fort Nisqually is blessed with wonderful staff and volunteers and programs. And it’s an example of what a professional museum can do. 

It was Fort Nisqually and its parent, MetroParks Tacoma, that organized a podcast series that embraces the stories and perspectives of Native Americans in Puget Sound. During Fort Nisqually’s Candlelight Tour, they feature an American camp outside the fort. This camp includes re-enactors portraying American soldiers and settlers who share their hopes and dreams for the 1850s.

While Fort Steilacoom seeks to tell its story with limited resources, we have exciting plans for the future. Stay tuned for updates on how we’re working to expand the fort’s reach.

 

Why Fort Steilacoom was forgotten for 80 years

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Why Fort Steilacoom Disappeared Between 1868 and 1978

What Your Parents Knew About Local History Might Have Been Wrong

By Walter Neary

Across the nation, many museums honor the U.S. Army and the complex history of westward expansion. However, Fort Steilacoom Museum didn’t emerge until 1980, and even today, it’s common to meet people who have never heard of it. Why did Fort Steilacoom seemingly vanish from public memory for so long?

The answer lies in how people choose to remember history. Fort Steilacoom faded into obscurity until the late 20th century because efforts to honor American pioneers were directed elsewhere. Older generations grew up believing that another fort, a perfectly American one, had already fulfilled this role. This article is deeply indebted to historian Steve Anderson, who shed light on how Fort Nisqually came to dominate the narrative.

In the early 1900s, there was a nationwide belief that U.S. pioneers were heroic figures, and communities celebrated their achievements. But in Puget Sound, that celebration took an interesting turn. Instead of recognizing the U.S. Army’s role at Fort Steilacoom, attention shifted toward the idea of building a replica of Fort Nisqually—a British trading post—to honor pioneers.

By 1908, newspapers like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer were suggesting that a Fort Nisqually replica should be built for the Alaska-Yukon Exposition. Though this plan never came to fruition, it indicated that Fort Nisqually was viewed as central to Washington’s pioneer history.

 

It’s important to note that Fort Nisqually, located in DuPont, was a British, not American, fort. But two events helped elevate its prominence. First, historian William Bonney claimed that the factor’s house at Fort Nisqually was the oldest building in Washington. Second, with the invention of the automobile, the scenic drive from Seattle and Tacoma to DuPont became a popular outing.

Fort Nisqually was on the map!

By 1921, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer was calling Fort Nisqually “the site of the first American home built in the Puget Sound District.” The Tacoma Daily Ledger even went so far as to refer to it as “the cradle of American civilization in the Pacific Northwest.”

It became quite a thing to visit the old buildings, as is shown in this front page display in the Oct. 30, 1927 issue of the Tacoma Daily Ledger:

 

Meanwhile, Fort Steilacoom, which had become the grounds of Western State Hospital, was fading into obscurity. Few people took scenic drives to an asylum, and there was a stigma attached to the hospital. Many patients were buried in unmarked graves, and even the history of the fort became intertwined with the hospital, to the point that a 1950 newspaper article claimed, “Fort Steilacoom became Western State Hospital.”

In the public imagination, there was no need for Fort Steilacoom because Fort Nisqually had been re-created in Point Defiance Park in 1934. The dedication ceremony for the replica fort was quite the spectacle, with a band playing patriotic tunes, U.S. Navy planes performing stunts, and the American flag raised as onlookers stood at attention. But this Americanization of Fort Nisqually, a British fort, was misleading. Even worse, the ceremony included a wildly offensive performance in which actors dressed as “red men” and pretended to take settlers hostage—an event that never actually happened.

But you can’t blame people for thinking that. The Tacoma Daily Ledger called it “the old fort that once protected the settlers of Pierce County from attacks by raiding Indians.”

 

So there was no need for Fort Steilacoom. Washington had the American fort, Fort Nisqually to remember the pioneers.

 

How did these non-existent American hostages from a non-existent fort get rescued? “A company of (US) national guardsmen scheduled to appear on the scene and rescue the officials failed to show and it fell the duty of a German band supplied by the Veterans oif Foreign Wars. Tacoma police and state patrolmen to repulse the attack and return the officials to safety.”

So it’s no wonder nobody in Tacoma or Lakewood ever heard of Fort Steilacoom. It didn’t exist. Newspapers, such as the Seattle Daily Tribune of June 11, 1939, refer to Fort Nisqually as part of “the history of US military defense”  in Puget Sound

With Fort Nisqually celebrated as a symbol of American pioneers, Fort Steilacoom was forgotten. Even the U.S. Postal Service contributed to the confusion. In 1978, it issued a stamp called “New Nation Building Westward,” which featured Fort Nisqually’s tower. The stamp was interpreted as celebrating U.S. settlement, despite Fort Nisqually being a British outpost.

Just to help emphasize the inaccuracy, guess who showed up for the event? One of the “red men” who you can see in the lower left of the newspaper clip. He could tell the story of how for the original Fort Nisqually dedication they had emphasized how that American fort protected American settlers.

news clip showing first day of issue ceremony in tacoma with photo of a man in lower left

British fort? American fort? No difference really, in 1978 – which at least for some of us seems like modern times.

It is easy for us to read this wide-eyed and in disbelief because there is a difference between Great Britain and the United States. But we must ask ourselves. If you had been there in 1934 – if you had been there in 1978 – would you have stood up and said, “Excuse me, we’re in the wrong place, we need to take this event to the grounds of the mental hospital?”

No. Most of us probably would not have done that.

It’s no surprise, then, that many people today are unaware of Fort Steilacoom’s history. Their parents likely believed that Fort Nisqually was the American fort. However, thanks to the efforts of historians like Cy and Rita Happy, who successfully nominated Fort Steilacoom for the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, the fort’s true history is being preserved.

Volunteers restored the remaining buildings at Fort Steilacoom in the 1980s, and since then, our association volunteers have worked to tell the fort’s story.  It’s understandable that people are confused when they first learn about Fort Steilacoom. After all, for decades, Fort Nisqually was presented as the American fort in Puget Sound. But today, we’re fortunate to have a vibrant living history museum that tells the true story of Fort Nisqually’s British roots. We would all be poorer without it.

The small, all-volunteer army at Fort Steilacoom will continue sharing the fort’s history. And while Washington never created a U.S. military museum for Puget Sound, Fort Steilacoom’s story is finally being told.

 

Aug. 21 talk in Lakewood begins commemoration of 175th anniversary of the Army in Washington

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The next Lakewood Community Coffeehouse with Mayor Jason Whalen is Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024 at 6 p.m.

Mayor Whalen is excited to welcome former Lakewood City Council member and Historic Fort Steilacoom 2020-24 board president Walter Neary. Neary will share about Historic Fort Steilacoom, which recognizes its 175th birthday this year.

As part of his presentation, Neary will have newly acquired artifacts to show.

“I’m delighted that we begin a year of commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the founding of the fort with an event hosted by the City of Lakewood,” Neary said. “The military came here to make U.S. government possible in Washington Territory, and so it’s fitting we begin the commemoration with the kind of local government meeting that soldiers and U.S. settlers would have loved. Through many years of support, the City of Lakewood has enormous respect for the early history of Washington Territory.”

The event will be held at the Pavilion at Fort Steilacoom Park, not at the fort itself. This location is a change from where our events usually take place. The Pavilion is the peach-colored building with the outdoor stage, near the barns. Parking is available behind the Pavilion, and the address is 9107 Angle Lane SW. But that street address can be confusing, depending on your mapping software; make sure your map directs you to the center of Fort Steilacoom Park, near the barns.

Come learn what’s happening in Lakewood and discover more about the rich history of our area!

Historic Fort Steilacoom Acquires Artifacts of Pioneer Soldier Who Started the Tradition of Military Retirees Building Our Community

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The Historic Fort Steilacoom Association (HFSA) is thrilled to announce the acquisition of artifacts belonging to Private Christopher M. Mahon, an Irish-born soldier stationed at Fort Steilacoom in 1849. This remarkable discovery sheds light on the lives of early military personnel and their enduring connection to the Puget Sound region.

Mahon, a member of Company M during the Mexican-American War, may have been one of the first of thousands of military personnel who served in Pierce County and subsequently chose to make the Pacific Northwest their permanent home. This donation underscores the fort’s crucial role in the region’s history and its lasting impact on the community.

“If you go anywhere in Lakewood, Steilacoom, Tacoma – anywhere in Pierce County, – you meet active duty personnel or people who retired from JBLM,” said Walter Neary, HFSA board president. “Mahon started the tradition. Mahon and his family represent the beginning of a long tradition of military retirees contributing to Puget Sound.”

A generous and anonymous donor gifted the HFSA with a pair of musket powder horns and a flask that once belonged to Private Mahon. These artifacts, framed with a map of the fort, include a message inscribed on the flask reads, “Given to C.M. Mahon by Lieutenant Murphy at Fort Steilacoom 1849.”

“These items provide a fascinating glimpse into the life of a soldier stationed at Fort Steilacoom,” said military historian and museum volunteer Alan Archambault. “While not military issue, the powder horns and flask suggest Mahon’s involvement in hunting, a vital skill for survival in the frontier environment.”

After leaving the Army in 1850, Private Mahon became a pioneer settler in what is now Parkland, Washington. His story is emblematic of the countless soldiers who transitioned from military service to civilian life, contributing to the growth and development of the state.

The Mahon family, including his wife Elizabeth, an Army laundress, and their children, played a significant role in the early history of Pierce County.

“The donation of these artifacts offers a unique opportunity to honor their legacy and connect with the thousands of military veterans who have called Pierce County home since that time,” Neary said.

The artifacts are on display during the fort’s regular open hours, 1 to 4 p.m. on first Sundays of the month. Tickets to tour all four buildings from the first U.S. Army post in Puget Sound are available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tour-historic-fort-steilacoom-museum-tickets-405453441157 Historic Fort Steilacoom in Lakewood, on the grounds of Western State Hospital. is the only ‘first fort’ of its kind to be managed entirely by private volunteers.

 

Confessions of a Living History Performer: Secrets to Making the Past Come Alive

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Living history can bring the past to life vividly in a myriad of ways – such as demonstrating crafts from a bygone era, playing an old tune, donning period clothing and portraying an historical person. For nearly 30 years, Karen Haas has relished being a living history performer, one of the veterans of South Sound’s thriving living history community.

In a talk that will take you “behind the scenes,” Haas will share snippets of some of her programs, tell of the joys and challenges of creating historic personas, and give tips and tools for doing your own historic reenactment.  

Enjoy these entertainingly informative “Confessions of a Living History Performer” at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 24, 2024, at Historic Fort Steilacoom, 9601 Steilacoom Blvd. SW, Lakewood. 

Her talk in celebration of Women’s History Month is the first of several events commemorating the 175th anniversary of the U.S. Army’s arrival in Puget Sound and the founding of Fort Steilacoom. Fort Steilacoom operated from 1849 to 1868 before the buildings and grounds became what we call today Western State Hospital.

Throughout her career, Haas has interpreted the lives of dozens of unsung, famous or infamous people. Here are just a few of them:

Thea Foss, famed Tacoma-based maritime pioneer (famous then for always serving good coffee)
Narcissa Whitman, a pioneer whose legacy has been under close examination
Dr. Elizabeth Drake, one of Tacoma’s first female physicians. Dr. Drake loved fast cars, fast horses and fast boats – and lived two blocks from what became the Lakewood Mall
Bertha Snell, the first woman to pass the Washington bar, passionate about justice
And seven women whose different experiences gave them vastly different perspectives on the U.S. Civil War
Haas feels especially rewarded telling the tales of those whose voices are usually silent in history — women.
This is especially challenging at Fort Steilacoom as we’re not aware of published recollections of women at the fort, though several men who later became Civil War generals went on to publish memoirs.

The talk is free; donations are welcome. At Fort Steilacoom, volunteers keep the past alive through the support of donors like you. It is the only ‘first U.S. Army fort’ of its kind in the nation managed entirely by volunteers.

Book Sale Fundraiser to be held April 13, 2024

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10 am – 3 pm at Historic Fort Steilacoom, Quarters 2, in Lakewood.

Want to help support the mission of Historic Fort Steilacoom? Donate your gently used material to the museum for the sale! Fiction and non-fiction books in all genres are welcome. The only criteria is that they need to be in reasonably good condition (no moldy or torn materials, please!) VHS, CDs, and DVDS are accepted, though print material is preferred.

Books can be dropped off at Fort Steilacoom from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 3, or Sunday, April 7. If you have an especially large amount, please let us know in advance so we can be prepared. Email us at info@historicfortsteilacoom.org with questions, or if you have material to donate but can’t make it on the first Sunday of those months.

archived events from past years

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This is a file of some previous events
2023 events

Of course, we’re open the first Sunday of every month for tours. Book here.

March 25, 2023: Our first Swap Meet since the pandemic. 

July 2, 2023: Living history to celebrate the Fourth. It’s a new event for us, and we’re excited about it.

July 4, 2023: We’ll be at the Steilacoom Street Fair and Parade. Stop by the booth to say hello.

July 2023: Lakewood SummerFest, which takes place in the park across the street. Our buildings will be open part of the day for tours.

Sept. 18, 2023: We’re open for Museum Day, sponsored by Smithsonian magazine. Free admission.

Oct. 15, 2023: Our annual meeting – election of officers, and always an interesting program afterward.

Dec. 9, 2023: Our most popular event, Christmas at the Fort. See below for details of past events. Members get first notice when sales begin, and then the subscribers to our free e-newsletter.

Past perfect; Previous events starting in 2022

people dressed in 19th century clothing by a tree lit by candles

Christmas at Fort Steilacoom, Dec. 10, 2022:

Learn about the event here.

Get your tickets now, here. 

Previous events:

Sept. 10: Join us for an online talk about the three wives of Fort Steilacoom’s builder. More information here. 

Previous posts:

The fort will be open 1 to 4 p.m. for summer tours on May 29 and the first and third Sundays of each month in summer before returning to first Sunday in September. Tickets for tours can be reserved through Eventbrite.
We’ll also be open for special events:
  • Museum Day, Sept. 17
  • Christmas at Fort Steilacoom, Dec. 10
We’ll be at:
  • Fourth of July Street Fair booth in downtown Steilacoom, July 4
  • Lakewood Summerfest, July 23
More events are expected. If you’re interested in organizing an event related to Pacific Northwest history, let us know.

Highlights of 2021

What follows is a record of some of our events in 2021.

ad for fort steilacoom christmas event

Dec. 5 update: Tickets for this event have sold out except for a few individual slots. No tickets will be available at the door. Please considering visiting us on the first Sunday of a month, where you can learn about Washington Territory’s history and heritage. Get tickets here. 

Original post follows:

We’re excited that Christmas at Fort Steilacoom is returning on Dec. 11, 2021. Only limited spaces are available. You can buy tickets here or by clicking on the image above.

If you find the event is sold out or the times you want are taken, you can always find times to visit us on the first Sunday of the month during the year.

Two online events are coming in 2021, for members only. Support our 160-year-old buildings and become a member today.

November talk: Life over the laundry kettles, the life of a frontier Army laundress

Join us for a member’s speaker series at 2 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021 as Elizabeth Clark talks about western military laundresses in the 1850s.  

December talk: ‘Free Boy: Escape from Slavery on the Puget Sound Underground Railroad”

Join author Lorraine McConaghy at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, for an illustrated overview of the research for her book Free Boy and for a discussion of the people, events and ideas raised in the book.

PAST EVENTS OF 2021:

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH

The lives of 19th Century women in the Pacific Northwest will be celebrated in March as Historic Fort Steilacoom in Lakewood marks Women’s History Month.

There is a charge for the virtual programs; the fort’s privately managed four buildings are 165 years old and require considerable care.

All events start at 2pm on these consecutive Saturdays:

MARCH 13:  AIRING YOUR DIRTY LAUNDRY

Historical Interpreter and Museum Professional Peggy Barchi presented about “Airing Your Dirty Laundry.” Learn about the daily grind that army laundresses endured and the skills it took to be one.

MARCH 20: IN HER SHOES: TRACING THE FOOTSTEPS OF PIERCE COUNTY WOMEN IN THE MID-1800S

Public Historian Claire Keller-Scholz presented “In Her Shoes: Tracing the Footsteps of Pierce County Women in the mid-1800s.” Learn about the women and girls who lived on the Puget Sound around 1850. Get your ticket here. 

MARCH 27: WOMEN’S WORK IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY

Tacoma Historical Society’s Curator, Elizabeth Korsmo, presented “Women’s Work in Washington Territory.” Learn about the day-to-day lives of women in the 1850’s to 1860’s. Get your ticket here. 

OTHER EVENTS

The 2021 schedule is still evolving; keep an eye on this space for more events.

April 25: MOUNTAIN ARTILLERY IN THE WEST

Join us for a member’s speaker series 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 25, 2021 as Colonel (Retired) Paul R. Rosewitz, a military historian, discusses the artillery used by the regular army stationed at Fort Steilacoom and around the American West.  Members will receive the Zoom link to the presentation prior to the event. To become a member for a reasonable donation, visit https://historicfortsteilacoom.org/membership/.

May 16: FROM SCHUYLKILL ARSENAL TO FORT STEILACOOM, U.S. ARMY CLOTHING AND EQUIPAGE

join us for a member’s speaker series at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 16, 2021, as Ephriam D. Dickson III talks about Schuylkill Arsenal clothing and  equipping the soldiers of Fort Steilacoom in Washington Territory.

As the mission of the U.S. Army shifted from the war with Mexico in 1848 back to the newly expanded western frontier, its logistical system  struggled with new challenges. The Quartermaster Department, which  provided clothing and equipage for all enlisted soldiers through Schuylkill  Arsenal near Philadelphia, worked to update designs but it took years for  these new patterns to reach remote frontier garrisons such as Fort Steilacoom located in today’s City of Lakewood, Washington.

To become a member for a reasonable donation, visit https://historicfortsteilacoom.org/membership/.

June 13: The Pig War of 1859

Join us 2 p.m. PT on Sunday, June 13, for an online talk by historian and author Mike Vouri about the Pig War of 1859 in Washington Territory.

Long before the San Juan Islands were a vacation destination, they were the focus of an international crisis ignited by an unlikely incident: The shooting of a pig in a potato patch. Mike Vouri is the author of five books about national, state and regional history, including The Pig War: Stand-off at Griffin Bay. You can sign up for this free talk on Eventbrite. 

July 18: The myth of the M1855 rifle musket: Weapons of the Coeur d’Alene War of 1858

Join us for a member’s speaker series at 2 p.m. PST on Sunday, July 18, 2021, as Chris Fischer talks about the weapons of the 1858 Coeur d’Alene War in Washington Territory.

For years, historians believed the success of the Army during the Coeur d’Alene War of 1858 came from the use of the new model 1855 Springfield Rifle Musket. The leader of the campaign, Colonel George Wright, even credited the weaponry with military success.

Chris Fischer, public historian who has spent years researching the antebellum period of history, will address our members on this topic.

To learn more about this event and how to attend it, please see our news story about this program. 

Update: Christmas at Fort Steilacoom 2023 will be sold out

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re-enactors dancing at a holiday ball

 

Dec. 7 update: Thank you, thank you to our many wonderful supporters who have purchased tickets. This event is largely sold out except for two slots available as we type this, at 6:10 and 7:10.
PLEASE DO NOT COME TO THIS EVENT WITHOUT A TICKET. WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SELL TICKETS AT THE DOOR. SOME OF THE SPACES INSIDE OUR GENUINE 165-YEAR-OLD BUILDINGS ARE SMALL; WE DON’T HAVE CAPACITY FOR ANY MORE TOURS. 
If you would like early notice of ticket sales next year, we invite you to join our free e-newsletter mailing list, found at https://historicfortsteilacoom.org/contact/
The original notice follows:

Join us at Fort Steilacoom Museum in Lakewood from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9,  2023, as living historians re-enact the Christmas of 1859 as the holiday season might have been celebrated in these buildings 165 years ago. Get your tickets here!

Re-enactors will gather in candlelight to talk, sing, dance and dine as our predecessors did in the first U.S. military post in Puget Sound. Visitors from 2023 will walk past and witness scenes as if the visitors are spirits from the future.

The year 1859 is remembered for the lead-up to the U.S. Civil War. Many Fort Steilacoom soldiers would go on to serve in that war. However, Christmas was a period of celebration and enjoyment.

Tickets are $7 for an adult and $5 for youth. A family of up to two adults and four youth pays $12. Because this event is a fundraiser to support maintenance of the aging buildings, discounts are not offered.

The last tour group will leave at 6:30 p.m. Because of space limitations, tickets should be purchased in advance through Eventbrite.  Tickets may be purchased at the door, but availability is not guaranteed. This event will almost certainly sell out. You can check the Fort’s Facebook page to learn if the event is sold out.

Please see the Eventbrite page for information about accessibility.

Fort Steilacoom, the first U.S. Army post to be located in Puget Sound, is on the grounds of Western State Hospital at 9601 Steilacoom Blvd SW, Lakewood, 98498. Be sure to use that street address to find the fort.

Please allow extra time to find the fort. GPS and map software often direct people to Fort Steilacoom Park, but that is not where the park is located. The fort is across the street. To reach the historic Fort, be sure to type in the street address, turn right after entering Western State, and then look for the cannon shelter and lights.

About Fort Steilacoom

Historic Fort Steilacoom Association is a non-profit organization managed entirely by volunteers. There are no paid staff. No tax dollars support routine maintenance. Members of the association support the fort through donations and receive a newsletter three times a year about Pacific Northwest history. Marketing outreach is supported by a grant from the City of Lakewood’s lodging tax fund.

We only emphasize this because it’s so different from what you might have seen elsewhere. In 49 other states, ‘first forts’ are operated by educational or cultural groups with a budget. Fort Steilacoom is all-volunteer.

Fort Steilacoom occupies an important position in the U.S. settlement of Washington Territory. Beginning with its opening in 1849 and ending with its closure in 1868, Fort Steilacoom served as a beacon of American power and promise, promoting the migration of U.S. settlers to Washington and securing American interests in the region. The buildings went on to become the first incarnation of Western State Hospital.

The Fort acknowledges the complex history of the Fort and its role in the colonization of the area. The fort community is actively working to incorporate the diverse perspectives and experiences of all individuals and communities who interacted with the Fort.

For more information, visit https://historicfortsteilacoom.org.

An all-volunteer museum was a great idea. Until it wasn’t.

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The following is an opinion publishing in the winter 2023 issue of our newsletter  by the museum board president, Walter Neary:

It was a gift to be president of this museum board in the early 2000s and to return after a decades-long break in 2020.

One can see, very clearly, how some things change and some things stay the same.

Please allow me to reflect as someone who came, went, and then returned for a period roughly half of the museum’s life. There are lessons, and a genuine question: Do we want to be in 2040 the same place we were in 2020?

Regarding the birth of the Historic Fort Steilacoom Association: I imagine, in the 1980s, a volunteer organization sounded really good. One hears all the time about the government and the problems it can bring. One hears that state and local park services are full of bureaucracy. They make inefficient decisions, and make decisions that benefit bureaucrats, not the community.

This wasn’t just an issue in the 80s. For example,  I was at a Seattle forum just this fall of the Pacific Northwest Historians Guild where someone talked about how it was taking several years for a park agency to change one sign. One sign.

So in the 1980s, I am sure an all-volunteer organization sounded great. After all, our board is not beholden to any government. No one tells our board what to do. You can come on the Fort Steilacoom board and do things you could only dream of at a museum which is enmeshed in government bureaucracy.

There are no words for how free we are to do what we want related to Washington history. We only answer to ourselves. I would think many professional museum workers would think that sounds like paradise. 

So what has Fort Steilacoom done with this seeming advantage?

As it was years ago, our budget is about $20,000 a year. 

That’s a fraction of the budget of comparable sites of national significance. It’s 1.3 percent of the budget of at least one other museum I know of. 

If Fort Steilacoom was a family in Pierce County, we would be living $9,800 below the poverty line. 

And indeed, the fort community is a kind of family. But we’re not feeding mouths, we’re maintaining four 165-year-old buildings and trying to tell stories of the period 1849 to 1868. So maybe the poverty line is a poor comparison. Yet at least it’s a comparison.

Of our annual budget, the Lakewood lodging tax grant of $12,000 goes to marketing, which of course does not maintain buildings or buy insurance. 

If you remove the marketing budget, then Fort Steilacoom’s remaining budget is $8,000, which would be about $16,000 below the poverty line.

And this is after 40 years of momentum as an all-volunteer organization.

The present day

There is no question we punch above our weight. Hundreds of people tour the buildings through regular tours and special events. Our little band of volunteers works crazy hard to do amazing events in the moment, such as our annual Christmas at Fort Steilacoom.

But still. 

The one mistake we can make here is to blame ourselves. I know board members and other volunteers who take the fort very seriously. But it’s not us. There has been a complete turnover of board volunteers over 40 years, sometimes many times over. The issues remain the same. It’s ridiculous to think that’s coincidence or accident.

Can we blame ourselves? I don’t buy that. I think we’re like people who get into a car in the middle of a river, try to drive it, and blame ourselves when it’s not working. 

Maybe it’s not us. Maybe it’s the fact that the circumstances are wrong.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Walter, there are all-volunteer organizations that thrive.”

But most of the organizations I know like that are called to a mission that involves very popular themes with the public. We’re more like an elementary school than a museum with a sexy purpose. Fort Steilacoom has many important stories, but it doesn’t appeal to people the way that a community museum calls on the spirit of that community. 

If you’re in Lakewood, you surely go first to the Lakewood museum. If you’re in Steilacoom, you go to the Steilacoom museum. 

Who goes first to Fort Steilacoom? Which of the fort’s stories drives you to place it first among the museums you treasure?

We don’t have Ulysses Grant (Vancouver does). We are not the site of some big dramatic battle that gets mentioned in all the history books. Fort Steilacoom may have prevented large battles from happening. No good deed goes unpunished. For its role in working to avoid bloody conflicts, Fort Steilacoom does not provide a dramatic story that gets attention in 2023.

I do think if we market the fact that Fort Steilacoom is one of two U.S. Civil War sites in all of Washington, there’s a lot of potential.

All-volunteer or no?

I think the other challenge is the very nature of an all-volunteer group. You would think freedom is wonderful. But freedom is not as easy as it sounds. With freedom, we have the choice to do so many things. 

Or we have the choice to do nothing. We have the choice to do busy work or stand by and watch others work in seeming action without being driven to greater accomplishment. 

One way of describing this situation is called “paradox of choice.” 

This concept was coined by psychologist Barry Schwartz in 2004, and it describes the way in which having too many options can actually lead to decreased satisfaction and well-being. Schwartz argues that when we have too many choices, we become overwhelmed and stressed. We start to worry about making the wrong decision, and we may end up making no decision at all.

Imagine a world where Fort Steilacoom did have professional management. That would mean the government I spoke of, with rules and bureaucracy and employees who bring their own possibilities and limits. But the fort would have resources to help operate and tell its story.

God willing, I’m going to be fascinated to see how Fort Steilacoom is managed in another 20 years! I hope the fort is not still all-volunteer, because the car is going to be pretty darn soaked by then. 

 

Anthropologist Marian Smith and her 1940 ‘Puyallup-Nisqually’ book

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Marian Smith’s mentors told her not to write her book.

She wrote it anyway.

By Walter Neary

This article is a fuller version of an article in the winter 2023 issue of the Historic Fort Steilacoom newsletter. Comments most welcome.

Marian Smith was an anthropologist who interviewed several elders of the Puyallup and Nisqually Tribes in the late 1930s. Her book, “The Puyallup-Nisqually,” Columbia Press, New York, 1940, has been cited in many ways, from the histories of Nisqually historian Cecilia Carpenter to the new mini-museum created by the Puyallup Tribe.  Smith described herself as the last student of a giant of American anthropology, Franz Boas, of Columbia University in New York. By the end of his career, Boas and his disciples had learned that much of the Native American lore they sought to catalog had been lost to time.

There is one sentence in that book that has not aged well. And some might find it offensive: “Puyallup-Nisqually culture is gone.” 

This article is about Smith, her work in relation to the Tribes and our fort – and a possible explanation for such a strange thing to say. I call it a strange thing to say, because after that sentence, the book goes on for more than 300 pages to detail Smith’s perceptions of Tribal culture.

I recently visited Smith’s papers and personal archive in London. Why are they London, you ask? Columbia University did not treat women scholars well in the 1940s, so she did not stay there after a brief stint as a teacher. Smith married an Englishman, moved, and would later become one of the key movers of the Royal Anthropological institute, which remains a vital institution today. 

I learned with sadness that Smith had saved very few of her papers from her days among the Puyallup and Nisqually. Most of the papers related to the Pacific Northwest were from a trip with students to British Columbia natives that she led late in the 1940s. But she did save a few papers from her undergraduate research days, and I nearly fell out of my chair when I saw it. I’d like to speculate about why she saved it, as I think the letter is also very important to explaining the controversial sentence above.

Smith arrived as a young undergrad in Puget Sound in 1936. She had the use of one leg; function in the other leg was lost to polio. She must have written about what she found to Boas, and/or his chief disciple, Columbia Professor Ruth Benedict. It’s on my list to see if that letter survives somewhere at Columbia. In the meantime, we know how Boas and Benedict reacted. 

I found a few notes from her 1936 days. In one, she describes how all the Tribal doctors were dead, or so she had been told. She must have suggested that she thought many memories had been lost. Because Benedict wrote back an eye-popping letter. 

In her letter Benedict very gently suggested that Smith should maybe forget the Puyallup and Nisqually and find other Tribes. Benedict had conferred with Boas. She wrote,  “Don’t take this suggestion as upsetting. If a good chance does come up, just feel free to make the most of it.”  

handwritten letter from Ruth Benedict to Ruth Boas

The scholar who would later edit the book “The Puyallup-Nisqually”
wrote Marian Smith to suggest switching her focus to another tribe.

Boas at this point was a giant of scholarship, so it would have to be intimidating for him to suggest to his youngest student that she reconsider her project

And yet. Marian Smith published “The Puyallup-Nisqually” in 1940. The two greatest figures of American anthropology at the time had suggested she find another topic. She chose not to do so.

Let’s return to how the book begins with that “Puyallup-Nisqually culture is gone.”  Well. That’s that then?  

I hope to begin a conversation by suggesting two explanations for that sentence.

One is that she personally felt that way. Columbia’s scholars spent a lot of time with a lot of Tribes in ways now thought controversial and problematic.

Here’s another option: Maybe it took the entire cultural arrogance of the Columbia University Anthropology department to put its weight behind that statement. Here’s something I probably should have told you earlier: the book was edited by Ruth Benedict.

As Boas’ career was drawing to a close, he was growing concerned that many of the recollections they cataloged were compromised. It was known that some Natives, for profoundly understandable reasons, did not want to share private recollections with a white stranger, and certainly not one who represented the full weight of the white academic system. This happened with tribe after tribe. By the end of his career, Boas knew that he and his students had collected falsehoods mixed with valuable information.

The paragraph that began with that sentence offers important context. It continues, “If the old life has come alive again and to me it certainly seems most vivid, it is due to the real and intelligent interest of my informants, especially of Jerry Meeker, John Milcane, William Wilton and Peter Kalama. They offered their memories, their hospitality, and their friendship, and this book is a monument to the culture into which they were born and which they saw vanish before their eyes.”  

At the end of this paragraph, the reader is properly muddled. 

What is in this paragraph? 

  • The culture is gone
  • It has come alive again
  • It has vanished

When Smith went to British Columbia in the late 1940s, she apparently stopped by Puget Sound to visit the Kalama family. Or maybe the pictures in her album are from her earlier days. Either way, her interested in these people seems very sincere.

So to sum up: We just don’t know the origins of the sentence. But we do know some of the reaction. A paper written by a doctoral student at the University of Washington addresses “culture is gone.” Karen Marie Capuder wrote in 2013, 

“It is undoubtedly true, as will be recounted throughout this dissertation, that incredible and often devastating changes had been wrought in peoples’ lives throughout Puget Sound due to the active efforts of federal and Christian assimilationists to destroy First Peoples’ systems of governance, spiritual praxis and land tenure, as well as their languages, subsistence strategies and sacred responsibilities within their sentient homelands. It is not entirely true, however, to say that “Puyallup-Nisqually culture is gone.” 

Very fortunately, there is more to the work than that sentence.  Any interchange with a Tribal member was precious in the late 1930s and offered vital information, whatever “scholars’ at Columbia University wanted to judge about it. Capuder notes in her dissertation that Smith gathered important materials still of use today. 

typed letter from Boas to Smith thanking her for information

Six months later, Columbia’s giant of anthropology, Franz Boas, must have eventually approved of Smith’s choice as he thanked her in this letter for information.

For example, the new Puyallup Tribe museum quotes one of the most disturbing passages in her book in one of ther displays. Smith wrote that people in Tacoma had learned that if you wanted to get land from a Native, you could arrange to have them hit and killed by a train so that it looked like an accident. Even though Smith was an anthropologist, she wrote this about present times. Surely that was a deliberate decision on her part to include a present-day detail.  

For those of us who dive deep into the history of Fort Steilacoom, Smith also quotes elders who were the grandchildren of the Natives who were part of the Fort community – and part of the Puget Sound Treaty War – in the 1850s.

Smith actually published very few political feelings of the Elders. Her main interests, driven by the Columbia approach, were the nuts and bolts of daily life: matters like clothing, spiritual beliefs, methods of giving birth and raising children. As part of that, Smith did ask about how Natives had conducted war. And that led her to a passage about the Treaty War that is most interesting. It reminds us of the writings of Fort Vancouver’s commander, who wrote in a letter home that it was terrifying how Puget Sound Natives outnumbered Army soldiers here in the 1850s. Smith’s account of the death of Lt. William Slaughter is different than you’ll find in most accounts. 

“With the cooperation of the Sahaptin relatives, a group of inland Salish sent out scouts to follow and spy upon a detachment of soldiers sent to the foothills to capture Leschi. The soldiers encamped above a stream at the head of a gully while two scouts watched their preparations from separate vantage points. Finally, a soldier moved away from the group toward the creek and toward one of the scouts. As he bent to fill his water pail, the scout rose from his hiding place, fired and killed the soldier. Not to be outdone, the other scout fired upon a second soldier who stood near the edge of the encampment”

“The camp was aroused, the scouts fled, the Indian party waiting for the attack dispersed and the soldiers were saved from a situation in which they would most certainly have been at a decided disadvantage. The fatalities were among the very few suffered by the military during the trouble. The two Indians who inflicted them were looked upon as brave men and their fame stood out strongly in comparison to the lack of similar accomplishment by others.”

This passage invites us to contemplate a version of the Treaty War that could have been much more bloody. 

In summary, we can be glad Marian Smith did not heed the gentle coaching of her mentors. We can be glad she interviewed and published recollections.

And while I have no direct evidence of this: Perhaps she held on to Benedict’s letter perhaps as a reminder of a crucial, hard decision that a young vulnerable student had to make to create arguably her most important contribution to scholarship. 

Author’s note: I thank the archivists and staff of The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland in London for their assistance in research. If you’d like to know more about Marian Smith, you might start with this  Wikipedia page. Then I recommend using search engines to find the various obituaries published after her death.