History of the Tenalquot Prairie
By Curt Cunningham

The Tenalquot Prairie is located just north of the town of Rainier and east of the Deschutes River. The prairie is also within the ancestral territory of the Nisqually People. There is a legend associated with the meaning of the word Tenalquot. The legend says that the first people of the area migrated from California and when they arrived on the prairie, their leader said that this is "tenalquelth," or "the best yet." 

The Tenalquot Prairie is one of the many prairies located in the region, and the ancient trail that ran between Tenino and the Nisqually River traveled through this prairie. The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) began to use this section of the trail beginning in the 1830's as the company's employees traveled between the Cowlitz Landing and Fort Nisqually. In 1838, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC) was established as the farming subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company and traffic began to increase along this trail. Later, the Military Road would follow this route on its way to Fort Steilacoom.

Leaving Tenino and traveling eastward, the first obstacle encountered on the trail was the Deschutes River. The Deschutes River was originally called the Pacalups and was later named the Deschutes by the French-Canadian trappers who called it "Rivière des Chutes," or "River of the Falls." In the Chinook jargon, the river was referred as "tum-chuck," which translates to "falling water." This is where the name Tumwater comes from. 

After crossing the Deschutes River from the west, you will arrive on the Tenalquot Prairie. On this prairie, the old trail forked again. The left fork would take you to the Nisqually Delta, which was the early route to Fort Nisqually. The right fork would take you to the Nisqually River at the crossing near McKenna. From McKenna, the trail continued to the Puyallup River, where it connected to trails leading north to the Cedar River and Snoqualmie Falls, and eastward over the mountains toward Yakima via Naches Pass.

The original HBC route between the Cowlitz Landing and Fort Nisqually was through the Eaton Prairie. This small prairie is located east of Offutt Lake at what is now known as Western Junction. From here the trail turned northward over the hill toward Fort Nisqually. This trail had a difficult crossing at the Nisqually River and in the 1850's, the HBC and PSAC employees began to take the right fork at the Tenalquot, and traveled east to the crossing of the Nisqually River at McKenna.

In the mid 1840's, a PSAC farming station was established on the Tenalquot Prairie. The farm did very well from the start and grew an abundance of wheat and potatoes. The livestock thrived on the rich pasture land. The farm also became a stopping place for traffic going between Fort Vancouver, the Cowlitz Farms and Fort Nisqually. By 1849, the trail was improved by PSAC employees so that their 2 wheeled ox carts could travel the road between Fort Nisqually and the Cowlitz Landing.

On Thursday, September 25, 1849, Dr. William Fraser Tolmie, Chief Factor of Fort Nisqually, received a letter from the Cowlitz farms. The letter was first sent as far as the Tenalquot by Lapoitrie, who along with some Indian employees, were in the process of transporting wheat from the Cowlitz and Newaukum farms to the Tenalquot station for storage. They made the trip without any accidents. On Thursday, November 8, 1849, Lapoitre and the Indian employees returned to Fort Nisqually after spending 3 weeks hauling wheat between the farms and the Tenalquot.

On April 23, 1849, Dr. Tolmie sent Walter Ross, Jacob, and some Indian employees to clear the road between the Tenalquot and the Grand Prairie. The Grand Prairie is located east of the Cowlitz Farms near Winlock. On Monday, July 9, 1849, Kahannui, a Hawaiian, was sent with two Indian employees to the Tenalquot. They were ordered to clear the roads leading to the different watering places for the sheep.

On Saturday, April 28, 1849, the road crews returned to Fort Nisqually and reported to Dr. Tolmie that the old trail between the Tenalquot and the Grand Prairie was now passable for wagons. This would indicate the entire route between the Cowlitz Landing and Fort Nisqually was now a wagon road. The worst part of the route was between the Tenalquot and Yelm prairies. This was due to the thick forest that would block the road with fallen trees and overgrowth. Through the prairies, road building was easy and required little maintenance.

On Saturday, September 6, 1849, PSAC employee Thomas Linklater was sent to the Tenalquot by Dr. Tolmie to oversee the farm station located there. Linklater, who was originally from the Orkney Islands in Scotland, was hired by the Hudson's Bay Company at Fort Nisqually in the spring of 1833. Linklater's wife Mary, was the daughter of a Tsimshian chief.

The first mention of Thomas Linklater in the Nisqually Journal of Occurrences is on Thursday, March 15, 1833, when he was first sent to Tenalquot Station to replace Mathew Nelson, who was sent back to the fort for the lambing. This assignment was temporary and Linklater returned back to Fort Nisqually on Thursday, March 19, 1833. The next day he was busy killing sheep for the following week's rations. Linklater lived and worked at the fort doing many odd jobs such as; making furniture, killing and butchering livestock, salting hides, baling wool and shingles, cleaning out barns, repairing roofs, clearing brush, cutting down trees and loading and unloading the ships that called at the fort. 

In 1851, after two years of living on the Tenalquot, he retired from the PSAC and married a Nisqually woman. His first wife Mary had passed away sometime before he retired. Linklater then became an American citizen and continued to live with his new wife on the Tenalquot farm. He would now sell his surplus produce back to the PSAC.

In the summer of 1851, the settlers of New Market and Olympia grew concerned when the PSAC drove a herd of cattle over the Nisqually River to the Tenalquot Prairie. The Americans did not want the British company claiming any more land since the territory was now controlled solely by the United States. They demanded that the PSAC move all their property and livestock back over Nisqually River, which would become the southern boundary of the final PSAC claim. Not long after, Linklater filed a donation land claim for the land that he had farmed for the past 2 years and he ended up living there with his new wife for the rest of their lives. He would be buried on the old farm and later his Nisqually wife would be placed along side him.

The second settler to arrive on the Tenalquot was in 1851, when Thomas W. Glasgow arrived with his wife Julia. Julia was the daughter of Chief Patakynum, the leader of the Snoqualmie Tribe. Glasgow first arrived in the Puget Sound area, with his friend Antonio Rabbeson in 1847. At first they tried to settle on Whidbey island, but upon their return from filing their claims at New Market, about 7,000 to 8,000 Indians had arrived on the island to hold council and discuss the trespassing of their land by these settlers. After they landed on the beach, Julia, who had stayed behind, came down to the beach and warned them that they should quickly leave the island if they wanted to remain alive.

They heeded her words and all three traveled back to New Market. Not long after their arrival, Thomas married Julia and they moved to Olympia. Rabbeson decided to take a claim at Plumb, which is located on the mainline north of Tenino. In 1850, Glasgow became the customs surveyor for the Port of Nisqually, which was the port of entry for Puget Sound at the time.

The Glasgow's remained in Olympia until November 2, 1849, when they took a claim on the north side of Sequalitchew creek, just west of Fort Nisqually. On Wednesday, January 9, 1849, Dr. Tolmie wrote to U. S. Army Captain Hill at Steilacoom, which was to be forwarded to Oregon Territorial Governor Joseph Lane. The letter was a formal complaint of the Glasgow's having squatted on the company's land.

Things must have been somewhat cordial in the beginning, because the journal entry of May 17, 1849, Dr. Tolmie wrote that he was glad Glasgow gave him some hints for improvements to the fort, and two days later he sent for Glasgow to assist Charles Wren in operating a wool press. On Wednesday, May 22, 1849, Glasgow supervised Wren and two Hawaiian employees as they built a windlass for raising the inner extremity of the wool press lever.

On Monday, September 5, 1849, in the presence of Captain Mosher, Michael T. Simmons, Charles Ross and Adam Beinston, Dr. Tolmie served Glasgow with a trespassing notice. Glasgow in his turn warned Tolmie against making any further improvements on his claim. Glasgow did not budge an inch and remained steadfast on the land, which happened to include the sacred ancestral burial grounds of the Sequalitchew People, which as you could imagine, did not make him popular with the locals. 

Glasgow and Tolmie eventually butted heads, and Glasgow was deemed a trouble maker. Things got worse when Glasgow began to sell alcohol to the Sequalitchew and the other Indians who came to the fort to trade. This was against the policy of the Hudson's Bay Company and this gave Dr. Tolmie another reason get rid of him. On Thursday, February 13, 1851, Dr. Tolmie got his wish when Glasgow's sold his property. The sale included his house, fence rails and outbuildings. Glasgow and his wife then packed up their things and moved to the Tenalquot.

In 1853, the wagon road between Olympia and Chambers Prairie was extended to the Tenalquot Prairie. Today this road is called Rainier Road SE. This was the same year that Frank Ruth arrived on the Tenalquot to start a farm.

In 1855, when the war began, all of the settlers in the area fled their farms for the forts and blockhouses. The settlers on the Tenalquot went to the blockhouse at Chambers Prairie. Captain Eaton and the Puget Sound Rangers were sent to the Tenalquot and occupied Linklater's farm. On December 14, 1855, Captain Eaton was at Linklater's awaiting orders.

On March 12th, 1856, The quartermaster was hauling the wheat out of the Tenalquot storehouse, which was purchased from Linklater. By May 23, 1856, a large blockhouse and corral was completed on the Tenalquot called Fort Miller. The soldiers then established a short line of communication between Fort Stevens on the Yelm Prairie and Fort Henness at Grand Mound. At about the same time, the Military Road was nearing completion between the Cowlitz Landing and Monticello. The road leading from Chamber's Prairie to the Tenalquot (Rainier Road) was also improved.

Hostilities ended by the summer of 1856, and the volunteers were released to back to their farms. Although the war was over, many residents of the region were still jittery and would be under constant worry of another attack. This continued for a few years after the war and many said "the heck with it" and pulled up stakes and left the area for the relative safety of the Willamette Valley. 

In the spring of 1857, the Military placed newspaper ads for bids to repair and improve of the old road between the Cowlitz Landing and Fort Steilacoom. At the end of the war, the road had fallen into disrepair as traffic had come to a halt during the conflict. The road was now impassible for wagons through the forested sections of the road. Construction began at the Cowlitz Landing and continued north to the mouth of the Skookumchuck River at Centralia. 

The road between Centralia and Grand Mound was in good shape and needed little work due to the openness of the prairies. The second section to be constructed was from Linklater's farm to James Hughes' place on the Yelm Prairie. This was the worst section between Tenino and Steilacoom. The Military also contracted for a bridge to be built over the Deschutes River. This bridge was completed in the summer of 1857.

On May 14, 1858, a heavy rain storm hit the area and it was reported that the bridge over the Deschutes River near Linklater's farm, was in danger of "going under" by the strong current. The report said that if some work was done now, the bridge could be saved. The reporter then said; "as it is strictly a military road, it is seldom used by travelers except for maybe a deserter from Fort Steilacoom whose previous associations naturally incline him to travel through life on a military road. The road at this point on the river, was beyond the limits of extensive settlements and the bridge will probably be rendered useless unless attended to soon."

Well nobody attended to the bridge and on June 23, 1858, the bridge collapsed and was completely destroyed under the weight of 8 or 10 beef cattle that were being driven from Chehalis to the market at Steilacoom. The cattle belonged to Andrew Byrd, the owner of Byrd's Mill on Chambers Creek. Byrd narrowly escaped death after going down with the bridge. Two of the cows were hurt in the fall.

In January of 1859, the legislature approved a bill declaring that all Military Roads were to become Territorial Roads. The legislature also approved funding for new bridges over the Deschutes and Nisqually Rivers. 

During the mid to late 1860's the Tenalquot Prairie was once again a quiet place. Most of the traffic to Olympia and Steilacoom was now going north at Tenino and crossing the Deschutes River at Tumwater, and the Nisqually River near its mouth. In 1872, the Northern Pacific built its line along the southeast edge of the prairie and built a depot at what will become the town of Rainier. The new town and the railroad changed the traffic pattern through the area, and by the 1880's, a new road had been built between Rainier and Yelm. This new road would be the precursor to SR-507. Between the Tenalquot Prairie and the Yelm Prairie, the Military Road would be abandoned for the new route, which followed the railroad to Tacoma.

Today, the the old trail through the Tenalquot Prairie continues along its original path and still retains the name of Military Road.

The Prairie Road

The paving work on the Pacific Highway between Olympia and Tenino began in 1918 and lasted until 1920. This construction blocked the highway in many places and detours were needed. One of these detours began at Tenino and ran east on the Military Road to Rainier. From Rainier, the detour followed the newer road through the towns of Yelm, McKenna, Roy, Hillhurst and South Tacoma. This route was known as the "Prairie Road."

During the summer of 1918, a large group of real estate agents from Portland took a trip to Seattle for the second annual convention of the Interstate Reality Association. The drivers reported that there were some choice stretches in the neighborhood of Castle Rock, but the prize winner of poor roads was between Tenino and Olympia. The writer said that the Pacific Highway between Tenino and Olympia was in terrible shape and that; 

"The road had been macadamized for most of the way and would be ideal for automobile traffic had it been built differently instead of indifferently. Without exception, drivers of Dodges, Cadillac's, Packard's, Empire's, Buick's, Daniel's, Overland's, Oldsmoblle's, Hupmoblle's, Ford's and all the rest of them, referred to this particular stretch as the most abominable of the trip. The road from Tenino to Tacoma by way of Roy is much better and was used by most of the real estate agents on their return trip."