History of the Yelm and Nisqually Prairies
By Curt Cunningham

The Yelm prairie is roughly 12 square miles or 7,500 acres, and is located about 20 miles southeast of Olympia. The City of Yelm now sits in the middle of this prairie. The Nisqually river borders its northern and eastern edges, and an interlobate moraine separates it from the Tenalquot prairie at its western and southwestern edge. The Nisqually reservation encompasses this plain.

During the summer of 1870 Hazard Stevens gave a description of the Yelm prairie; "One August afternoon Van Trump and I drove out to Yelm prairie, 30 miles southeast of Olympia on the Nisqually river. We dashed rapidly on over a smooth, hard level road traversing wide reaches of prairie, passing under open groves of oaks, and firs, plunging through masses of black, dense forest in ever changing variety. The moon had risen as we emerged upon Yelm prairie; Mount Rainier bathed in cold, white spectral light from the summit to base, appeared startlingly near and distinct."

"Our admiration was not so noisy as usual. Perhaps a little of dread mingled with it. In another hour we drove nearly across the plain and turned into a lane which conducted us up a beautiful rising plateau, covered with a noble grove of oaks and overlooking the whole prairie. A comfortable, roomy house with a wide porch nestled among the trees, and its hospitable owner, James Longmire, appeared at the door and bade us to enter."

The Ice Age

Before the Ice Age began, the Yelm and Nisqually prairies were once a large plain. As the Puget Sound glacier advanced south it covered these prairies with a sheet of ice about 1,000 feet thick. When the glacier retreated, the glacial deposits had raised the elevation of the plain. Before Puget Sound was uncovered allowing the rivers to naturally flow back into it, the Nisqually, Puyallup and Carbon rivers discharged through a gap between the Red Wind Casino and Nisqually Lake.

This enormous river was at its peak, 2.5 miles wide and around 100 feet deep. This massive river drained across the Yelm and Nisqually prairies and then flowed around the hill west of the casino where it emptied into the Spurgeon creek channel. From there the waters flowed across Bush prairie toward the Black Lake outlet while on its way to the sea.

After the Ice Age ended and the rivers were allowed to follow their natural course to the Sound, the Nisqually river began to cut through the gravel deposits, and the separation of the Yelm and Nisqually prairies began. Over a long period of time, the Nisqually river created the valley that extends from Sherlock all the way to Eatonville.

The Nisqually People

The name Yelm is a variation of the Salish word "Shelm" that translates to; "heat waves from the sun." At certain times during the summer months, the heat from the sun would make mirages on the wide open prairie, which the Nisqually people would call "Shelm."  

The name Nisqually comes from the Salish word "Squalli," which means prairie grass, and "bsch" meaning people. The word "bsch," which is pronounced "bish," is also spelled and pronounced as "pish" or "mish" as in Snohomish, Duwamish, etc. The Nisqually people called themselves Squalliabsch, or "people of the river and prairies." Their territory encompassed all of the prairies in Pierce county, and some of the prairies in Thurston county. This is roughly the area north of the Deschutes river and south of the Puyallup river and it extended up the Nisqually river to its headwaters on Mt Rainier.

About 10,000 years ago the Nisqually people had migrated northwest from the Great Basin and arrived at the mouth of Skate creek on the Cowlitz river near Packwood. This was where they made their first home. Some time later they crossed over the mountains to the Nisqually river (possibly walking through the canyon that National Forest Road NF-52 travels on between the Cowlitz and Nisqually rivers.) and following the river to the Sound. The Nisqually had 2 main villages in the Cascade foothills. One was at the mouth of the Mashel river near Eatonville, and the other was downstream north of Clear lake in the Bald Hills. There were over a dozen other permanent and seasonal villages dotted along the Nisqually river all the way to the Sound. One of the largest villages was called Mit-suk-wei, and was located near the Red Wind casino.

Ezra Meeker said in his 1906 book, Pioneer Reminisces of Puget Sound that; "the Nisqually tongue was the most widely spoken language covering the Sound region, and to that fact may be attributed the importance of the tribe as compared to their number. Bordering on the Nisqually river, and some 300 feet above the level of the river, the Nisqually plains of gravelly soil extended either way, north and south, that afforded a rich bunch grass, the fattening qualities of which was almost equal to the cereals grown by our farmers."

"These plains were studded with clumps of evergreen, as also margins of heavy timber, both to the east toward the mountains and to the west bordering the Sound. Numerous lakes of varying sizes dotted the surface with living spring water, thus affording an ideal spot for game or domestic stock. It was in this region that Leschi had chosen his home and where he pastured his stock. That portion of his tribe inhabiting the uplands made frequent incursions into the foothills of the Cascade Mountains that extended within a dozen miles of their chosen place of abode, where the larger game was found —the elk, bear and deer—in great abundance."

"Their journeys were frequently extended beyond the summit to the great plains, now known as the Inland Empire, and then inhabited by a numerous, hardy and a more war like race. With this latter race there came frequent intermarriages that grafted the stock of the eastern tribes on to that of the western, and brought with it that community of interest that served the tribe so well in the stress of war following the treaties."

In 1841 Lt. Charles Wilkes of the U.S. Exploring Expedition while on his journey through the Pacific Northwest said the following about the Nisqually Tribe; "The Indians around Fort Nisqually are few in number, and the whole tribe does not amount to two hundred, including men, women, and children. They belong to the tribes who flatten their heads. Their clothing seldom consists of more than a blanket, a pair of skin breeches, and moccasins."

"Little or no distinction of rank seems to exist among them, the authority of the chiefs is no longer recognized and each individual is left to govern themselves. They are all of a wandering character, and change their residences in search of their food, which consists principally of fish, particularly shellfish. Clams are seen in great quantities among them, strung on sticks, upon which they have been preserved by drying and smoking. They also store up pounded salmon, and camas root."

"In the fall and winter they are supplied with an abundance of game and wild fowl, on which they then live. In the winter several families live together in their large board lodges, and when spring arrives they again break up and move in small parties to those places where they can obtain their food most easily. The Nisqually like most tribes in the territory speak a peculiar language among themselves, but in communication with others they use the Chinook language."

"During the spring, small parties could be frequently seen on their way with their goods and chattels tied on their horses back, or in small canoes to the different camas and fishing grounds. During the salmon harvest vast shoals of herring are seen, which the Nisqually take a kind of rake attached to a paddle. The herring are used for bait to catch salmon. Their hooks are made from the yew tree in an ingenious manner. These hooks are strong and capable of catching the larger fish. A species of rock cod is also in abundance, some of which exceed fifty pounds. Flounders are also to be had in great quantities."

As Wilkes said in his journal, chiefs were only appointed during times of crisis. The person selected was always the most intelligent of the tribe and during times of peace, these tribal members would help sort out disagreements amongst their people. During the 1840's Lahalet was the chief of the Nisqually tribe during times of crisis. 

His successor was Leschi, who was appointed by Governor Stevens in 1854. Leschi was born in 1808 in the winter village, located at the confluence of the Mashel and Nisqually rivers. Leschi had a Nisqually father and Klickitat mother, and was known for his intelligence and wisdom. He was often sought out to settle disagreements between tribal members. Leschi was friendly and kind to the early settlers and he helped the Simmons/Bush party get through their first days by providing them with much needed supplies. In 1853, Leschi helped the U.S. Army by supplying horses to the builders of the Walla Walla Military Road.

For all his kindness to the settlers and military, the following year in 1854 the U.S. Government would force him and other tribal leaders from the Nisqually, Squaxin and Puyallup tribes to sign an unfair agreement known as the Medicine Creek Treaty. There has been much debate over the years about Leschi not actually signing the document. Even if he did, the chiefs most likely signed the document under duress as they had no other choice. Sign the document and lose a lot, - or not sign it and lose everything.

The unfair treatment and the continuing encroachment of their land by the settlers pushed the tribes to fight back like any person would do to defend their homeland and way of life. What probably made matters worse was that 4 years prior in 1850, the U.S. Government had opened the land for settlement with the Donation Land Act, before the tribes were forced to give up their land and sign the unfair agreement. The sudden rush of emigrants who most did not care about the rights of the tribes or their well being contributed to the problem.

The treaty forced the Nisqually onto a 6 square mile reservation that could not sustain a raccoon much less a human. Leschi had to fight with Governor Stevens for a better place for his people. President Franklin Pierce got involved and reprimanded Stevens, who then gave the Nisqually people a better place for their reservation.

The Great Spirit

Many Indians believe in a supreme being or "Great Spirit," and fear punishment for evil-doing, and expected a reward for their bravery. Many believed that those who lived a wicked life would be transformed after death into an animal whose habits corresponded with the life they lived as a human. If they indulged in laziness, treachery, theft of murder, they would be transformed into such animals as a pig, rat, raccoon, or snake. Those who talked too much, and spread nasty rumors would become a clam buried in the mudflats, so they could not bother anyone with their lies and deceit.

Those who fought for the defense of their hunting ground or for the rights of their fellow men would be rewarded by living the after life as a small yellow bird, which was cherished by nearly all the tribes living north of the Columbia. The braver their lives the more beautiful their plumage, and the sweeter the song. The souls of great chiefs were supposed to inhabit the bodies of large eagles, while the cruel chiefs would be seen after death prowling around the forest in the form of cougars or lynx, which, were very numerous in early days all through the virgin forests bordering on Puget Sound.

Squaws, who did wrong also suffered in the hereafter, and their whining, painful voices could be heard during the cold winter night. The moaning could be heard through the branches of the fir trees as the winds blew their stiffening cold breath over the forests of the Pacific slope. When a squaw was buried it was thought that she might become a man in the next life, if she had been very good at skinning game that the warriors brought into camp, or in drying and smoking camas roots and salmon. But woe to her if she failed in any of her duties, for there was nothing left for her in the next world but to be a miserable slave amongst the tribes of her enemies.

There is an old legend about Mount Rainier, and it says that when the Nisqually visited the slopes of the Great Mountain they noticed that the lakes were calmer and foliage was of a more delicate shape, and of the brightest colors. The ferns were much taller here and more graceful. The small but very numerous meadows were carpeted in the deepest green and interwoven with dainty flowers and coyly rising buds. As they traveled toward the lofty peak they thought they walked through "Paradise." Surely the Great Spirit had worked hard to beautify "His" home, such was the natural conclusion of these children of the forest. 

Another ancient legend says that many many snows have fallen since, but one day the Great Spirit grew angry and he spewed fire from the mountain, which caused a forest fire on its southwest side. When the fire was exhausted, there was nothing left but a strip of land where later blue grass and bunches of flowers grew. This new prairie was named the land of peace, the home of quiet and of rest, where all wickedness must cease, where murder or theft must never be committed, where one must be good no matter how bad he was before entering this Paradise.

Those deserving the greatest punishment for the worst of crimes would be sent here by their chiefs to meditate upon their sinful and evil deeds, with strict orders not to return unless they vow to their mountain god that if they ever visited this happy land again they would come back not dirty with badness but covered with deeds of the brave. The custom was an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, but when the blood culprit took refuge in this place of peace, his soul was cleansed of crime and he was freed from the revenge of his fellow men. All contentions ceased upon entering, and even the warrior laid down his arms before he crossed its border, to take them up again on his return, for none would ever dare to steal them during his absence.

Yelm, the Gateway to Mt. Rainier

In 1841 Lt Charles Wilkes visited Fort Nisqually and made the following observation of Mount Rainier; "I noticed from a point on the prairie, the white cones of both Mount St. Helen's and Mount Hood very distinctly. These mountains all resemble each other closely, and appear in some points of view as perfect cones. They give great interest and grandeur to the scenery. Mount Rainier is at all times a very striking object from the prairies about Nisqually, rising as it does almost imperceptibly from the plain, with a gradual slope, until the snow-line is reached, when the ascent becomes more precipitous." Wilkes wanted to climb the mountain but was unable to due to logistical reasons.

In the Washington State Historical Society's publication volume II printed in 1915, it talks about how the name Takoma came to be; "Takhoma or Tacoma among the Yakamas, Klickitats, Puyallups, and Nisquallys, is the generic term for mountain, used precisely as we use 'mount', as Takhoma Wynatchie or Mount Wynatchie. But they all designated Rainier simply as Takoma, or 'The Mountain,' just as the mountain men used to call it the 'Old He'."

In 1870, Yelm residents, Hazard Stevens, son of Governor Isaac Stevens, and P. B. Van Trump were the first people to reach the top of Mount Rainier. In 1883, James Longmire discovered some hot springs 12 miles east of Ashford and in 1885 built a wagon road from Yelm to the hot springs where he built some cabins. After Stevens and Van Trump ascended Mount Rainier, Yelm became the starting point for vacationers going to the hot spring resort, and for those intrepid souls who were seeking adventure in climbing the mountain. In 1887, Fay Fuller, became the first woman to reach its peak.

The first wagon road to Mount Rainier was built by James Longmire in 1885 from the Yelm prairie to the Longmire Hot Springs. His wagon road followed the Nisqually-Cowlitz trail from Yelm to a fork in the road at Elbe. This is where the road followed the left fork that ran eastward toward the great mountain. Today, the fork in these trails is now the junction of SR-7 and SR-506. From Eatonville, the Alder Cut-off road and SR-7 follow in the direction of the old Nisqually-Cowlitz trail south to Morton.

Early Travel Across the Prairie

Close to the center of what will become the city of Yelm, the old trail from the Cowlitz Landing merged with the trail that came from the Nisqually delta. From the Yelm prairie, the combined trail crossed over the Nisqually river at the Upper ford near McKenna. Further north near the town of Roy, the trail forked again. The left fork continued on to Fort Nisqually and Steilacoom, and the right fork led to the Puyallup river, and Naches pass. 

There were several places along the Nisqually river where crossings could be made. One of these river crossings was called the "Stony Ford" and was mostly used by the Nisqually People. This crossing was located north of the railroad bridge at McKenna. This trail connected the Yelm prairie to the Nisqually prairie, which was called “Thull-hull-illahe" in the Chinook jargon. Puget Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC) employee, Edward Huggins wrote about the Stony Ford in 1850 after he accidentally took the wrong turn and came to this crossing during high water, and almost drowned after he decided to cross the river instead of retracing his steps. After barely making it to the other side and climbing the steep bluff, he rode about 1.5 miles across the prairie to John Edgar's place so he could to dry off.

The main crossing of the Nisqually river was called the "Upper Ford," which was located at McKenna. In those days the Nisqually river ran on a slightly different path and made a curve to the east just before it reached town, where it then ran around the east end of the trestle, between the railroad and 96 Avenue Ct. S. and then turned west back to the existing channel. I estimate the crossing was somewhere between 356th and 357th Streets. In the late 1840's, the Upper Ford became the preferred crossing of the river by the PSAC and HBC employees who were traveling back and forth between Vancouver, the Cowlitz Farms and Fort Nisqually.

Before 1852, if you wanted to walk or ride a horse between Olympia to Steilacoom, you would take the road from Tumwater to Chambers prairie, and then follow the trail to the Yelm prairie, (now the Yelm Highway) and cross the river at the Upper crossing. Here the trail intersected with the old trail now the Hudson's Bay road, which ran between Grand Mound and Fort Nisqually. In 1857 the Military improved this road as a section of the Military Road between Fort Steilacoom and the Cowlitz Landing. In 1861 the road was extended down the west side of the Cowlitz river to Monticello.

The Old Yelm Highway

In an article printed in the Columbian on December 18, 1852 said that; "At the late session of the Thurston County commissioners a county road has been authorized to be located and constructed from Yelm prairie to McAllister's landing on McAllister's' creek - a distance of about 10 miles, and another road running from Steilacoom to the Duwamish bay, (Seattle) a distance of 30 miles. James McAllister, John Edgar and William P. Wells were chosen as viewers of the McAllister Road. L. M. Collins, William N. Bell, and John M. Chapman were the viewers of the Seattle road.

The McAllister road followed the trail that ran between the mouth of the Nisqually river and the Yelm prairie. Construction began shortly after the viewers returned and the road would be completed by 1854. Today the old trail is known as the Reservation road between McAllister creek and the Red Wind casino, and SR-510 between the casino and the Yelm prairie. This shortened the route via the upper ford by about 10 miles.

The Puget Sound Agricultural Company

The Puget Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC) established a sheep station on Yelm prairie in the early 1840's. The company's Hawaiian and Scottish employees, were the first non-Nisqually People to inhabit the prairies. They had small mobile buildings in which they lived in, and these structures were moved from pasture to pasture as the sheep grazed on the prairie grass. The PSAC had sheep stations spread out all over Pierce county and each shepard would be in control of around 500 animals.

The first European to settle out on the Yelm prairie was Edward Shearer. Shearer was a shepard for the PSAC, and worked at the Yelm station during the 1840's. On Wednesday, September 19, 1849, shepards; John McLeod, John Montgomery, Peter Wilson, Mathew Nelson and Edward Shearer, abandoned their stations on the prairies and met at Fort Nisqually to talk to Dr. Tolmie. They where there to ask for a pay raise, and if the company refused their demands, they would leave the company. 

Dr. Tolmie gave them an offer which they firmly refused. Dr. Tolmie then warned them that if they quit the company early, they would forfeit all their wages according to their agreements. They remained steadfast and gave Dr. Tolmie notice that they will leave the company if their demands were not met. They wanted $100 a month to be paid monthly. Dr. Tolmie said he had given them the best offer that he could, and then scolded the men for their dishonorable like conduct for leaving their posts before the end of their contracts. The frustrated party left in disgust, and said that they will come back next week to give up their charges. These shepard's all left the company and traveled to California in search of gold.

After Shearer left the prairie, PSAC employee John Edgar took over the sheep station at Yelm. Edgar was married to a Nisqually named Betsy, and they built a modest home on the Yelm. Edgar, was from England, and arrived at Fort Vancouver in 1840, where he began to work tending to the fort's livestock. In 1850, Edgar's contract expired and he resigned from the company, and became an American Citizen. Edgar then filed a donation land claim for his farm on the Yelm prairie. The following year, the PSAC was forced to suspend their operations in Thurston county, and the company moved all their livestock back over the Nisqually river into Pierce county. 

During the summer of 1851, Edgar and Betsy were the only people living on the Yelm prairie. This would not last long as the next arrival was in the fall of that year. This is when American James Hughes and his wife Bridget took a claim on the prairie, a mile east of Edgar, and just south of the Yelm high school along the old trail from Tenino. In 1853, British subjects George Edwards and Louis Barnard, both recently retired from the PSAC, became American Citizens, and took claims on the prairie. That same year American settlers, Levi Shelton, John Hughes and George Brasil arrived on the prairie.

In 1853, the first road crew to survey the Fort Walla Walla Military Road also known as the Naches Trail was formed. The crew members were; Edward J. Allen, Whitfield Kirtley and George Shazer. John Edgar, was to be their guide. Edgar had traversed the Naches Trail many times during his days as an PSAC employee. Edgar Rock, a remnant of an ancient volcano near Cliffdell on the Naches river was named after him. This rock is over 100 feet high and was used as a landmark for travelers crossing the pass.

On June 4, 1853, Allen, Kirtley and Shazer left Olympia and met Edgar at his home on the Yelm prairie. The next day they set out for the Yakima country. They returned in July and gave a good report and the feasibility for constructing a wagon road over Naches pass, which was built that summer.

The Nisqually Reservation

In 1854, the Squaxin, Nisqually and Puyallup tribes were forced to sign the unfair Medicine Creek Treaty under a tree known as the "Treaty Tree," on the Nisqually bottom where the 3 day ceremony of the signing took place. This was the first important treaty with the Indians of the Sound, which was drafted by Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens. The treaty only allowed the Nisqually a small reservation consisting of 1,280 aces in an area unsuitable for habitation. After Leschi complained of this worthless piece of land, the Government gave in to his demands and created a new larger reservation in 1856. this new land was on both sides of the river.

Chief Justice John Marshall once said in the early 1830's that; "When the conquest is complete and the conquered inhabitants can be blended with the conquerors, or safely governed as a distinct people, public opinion, which not even the conqueror can disregard, imposes these restraints upon him that the conquered shall not be wantonly oppressed; and he cannot neglect them with out injury to his fame, and hazard to his power."

On April 1, 1881, the Washington Standard gave a description of the new reservation; "The acreage of this reservation is 4,717. The location is on the Nisqually river, 3.5 miles of that river being included within it, commencing 4 miles above its mouth. 3/4ths of the reservation is thin, sandy up-land, mostly prairie, tolerably good pasture lands, and formerly a favorite resort for herds of cattle and sheep belonging to the neighboring settlers. In 1873 the Nisqually fenced in their lands and fenced out these trespassers."

"The lands have been surveyed, and during April of 1878, were allotted to 46 individuals. Except for the few acres cleared, the reservation is heavily timbered land, a part of it is composed of rich bottom land. The Nisqually raised in 1880; 900 bushels of wheat, 1,600 bushels oats, 2,500 bushels potatoes, 60 tons of hay, 300 bushels of carrots, 80 bushels of onions, 100 bushels of turnips, 100 bushels of peas, 40 bushels of beans, 1,700 head of cabbage, and other vegetables plus some fruits. They had 28 dwelling houses, 16 stables, 5 lodges, 1 Roman Catholic Church, and one Presbyterian."

"They owned; 95 head of horses, 77 head of cattle, 100 sheep, 6 hogs, 600 chickens and 12 ducks. The Nisqually in 1881, numbered 160, one-half of whom made the reservation their constant home. The Government kept no employees on the Nisqually reservation, though farmers from Olympia had been hired to assist them with farming. William Logan Hays, the brother of judge Gilmore Hays was one of these farmers.

The War of 1855

The first American settlers who arrived in the Washington Territory during the mid 1840's, co-existed with the Indians. They didn't have much choice in the matter as they were very much outnumbered, and they had no protection from their Government. In 1850 the U.S. Government threw open the doors to settlement in Washington territory with the donation land act. This was before the lands in the region could be purchased from the Indians.

Between 1852 and 1853 the amount of people coming up the Cowlitz Corridor increased dramatically as there was a sudden rush of people coming from the east across the Oregon Trail. It was said that in 1852, there were 1,000's of emigrants lining the shores of the Cowlitz river from Monticello to the Cowlitz Landing. Each adult was allowed one square half mile, and one square mile for married couples. This influx of newcomers began to fence off the land, not giving a second thought they were about the change the Indians way of life forever.

People make a choice to be good or evil and I believe people want to be good. Unfortunately bad things and bad people are a part of history. The best thing that we can do then, is to learn from the past, both the good as well as the bad. This is so that we can continue to do the good things in life and do our best not to repeat the bad things. If we learn never to repeat these bad events, we then turn those bad things into good things by preventing them from ever happening again. Sadly those who do not learn from history are destined to repeat the past, to the detriment of all.

When the war began in the fall of 1855, all of the settlers on the prairies who had not worked for the PSAC, fled their homes for the safety of the blockhouses for the next 22 months. On June 6, 1856, while living at the Fort Stevens blockhouse on the Yelm prairie, Virinda Longmire, wife of James Longmire gave birth to a daughter they named Melissa. In 1874, Melissa would marry Lewis Rice and they would live the rest of their lives on the Yelm prairie.

The retired PSAC employees knew they would not be harmed, and saw no reason to leave their farms. The Hudson's Bay Company had always treated the Indians relatively well, and had developed a co-existence with them. John McLoughlin had encouraged every Hudson's Bay Company employee to take an Indian wife who wanted to get married, even though the company frowned on the practice. These marriages helped build trust between them, and these unions spawned many families whose descendants continue to live in the area today.

In the fall of 1855, John Edgar, was hired as a guide by the U. S. Army, and he led a company of soldiers over Naches pass. At the summit, they met a band of Yakama warriors, and narrowly escaped death. During the skirmish, Edgar found a place to hide behind a large rock, which today bears his name. After the skirmish they decided to return, and after the party crossed the Carbon river near South Prairie, they were attacked, and in the ensuing battle, Edgar was killed.

On February 2, 1856, Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens ordered the Ranger Company to scout the country from the Skookum Chuck (Centralia) to the Nisqually, and then view the area on the other side of the Nisqually river from Yelm prairie. The Governor wanted to keep 20 men at Fort Stevens on the Yelm prairie, and another 20 at Fort Henness, at Grand Mound. He then made an order to keep daily communications between these posts, and Olympia. This was so his office would have the most current information on the state of the country.

On February 7, 1856, Lieutenant Colonel Silas Casey, reported that the blockhouse on the Yelm prairie was completed last evening. The company at the blockhouse consisted of a volunteer force of 160, and was exclusively made up of teamsters and quartermaster's men. They were all camped out in the vicinity of the blockhouse, and Lt. Col. Casey wrote that he was well off for supplies generally, but needed cartridges and forage for his oxen. He concluded his report by saying that in 2 days he would be taking his company to John Montgomery's place east of Spanaway lake.

The first military supply train set out from Olympia was on February 10, 1856. This pack train consisted of 30 wagons with 45 teamsters and their guards who were commanded by Captain Oliver Shead. This pack train traveled from Olympia to Fort Stevens. From the Yelm prairie they traveled to Fort Hays on Connell's prairie, which was located near the town of Bonney Lake, after they made a stop at Montgomery’s. The pack train carried; 1,350 lbs of flour, 36 barrels of pork, 1,400 lbs of sugar, 200 lbs of coffee, 150 lbs of tea, along with; beans, rice and hard bread. 

The pack train arrived at Fort Hays on March 2, 1856 without any problems. They arrived back in Olympia on March 10, 1856. This supply train was kept busy delivering provisions to the various forts scattered around the region until June of 1856, when the hostilities ended in western Washington. The team completed their mission without casualties or loss of supplies.

On Sunday February 24, 1856, teamster William Northcraft was killed. Northcraft had been hired by the Quartermaster's department to move supplies from Fort Eaton to the post on the Yelm prairie. While traveling on the road to Yelm, Northcraft was ambushed and killed, and his team of oxen were driven away. This would be the first casualty of the war south of the Nisqually river. Immediately following the death of Norhcraft, all the stock owned by the settlers in Thurston county were driven off from almost every settler's land and many of the buildings were torched. Northcraft's body was found 8 days later near the place where he was ambushed on the Yelm road.

On February 28, 1856, a band of Warriors came to the Yelm prairie and took 15 horses, killed a cow, and seriously wounded 3 others. George Brasil owned 6 of the horses and all of the cattle, and John Longmire owned 1 horse, and the rest were owned by Thomas Chambers. The horses and cattle were taken up the Nisqually river, near its source in the mountains, where a large encampment of Nisqually People were trying to stay out of the way. The group consisted mainly of women, children and the elderly. They were drying the meat that was brought to them from the raid.

When word of the attack reached Olympia, Governor Stevens ordered a detachment of 74 soldiers to search the country for those responsible for the raid. On February 29, 1856, Captain Hamilton J. G. Maxon, and his company arrived at John McLeod's home on the Muck prairie. The Captain left 16 soldiers to guard the horses, and the remainder along with Captain Achilles' company totaling 58 soldiers, and proceeded up the Nisqually river guided by a prisoner they captured on the Yelm prairie a few days earlier. It wasn't until the next day that they found the encampment, and attacked the mostly unarmed people.

Maxon’s men killed many or all of them, and because of the nature of the attack, the truth has been marred by omissions and lies, so the exact account of the deaths is unknown. The official report said that 8 were killed, but other accounts say that as many as 30 were killed. Among the dead were women, children, and the elderly, who were largely unarmed and fleeing for their lives. These events have been a point of contention and controversy ever since.

After the massacre on the Nisqually by Captain Maxon, a report came in to Olympia from General James Tilton that said; "hostiles were infesting the country near Nathan Eaton's place." Governor Stevens then ordered 30 men to the Yelm prairie to assist in scouring the country in that vicinity. Fort Eaton was established at the junction of the road from Tumwater and the road from the Cowlitz Landing. Today the historical place is preserved by a small marker placed in the middle of a small grassy wayside. This is located along the Yelm highway near the crossing of Meridian road.

Nathan Eaton had settled at the eastern edge of Chambers' Prairie in 1849. This was at the junction of the from Tumwater and from the Cowlitz Landing. From here the trails merged, and followed the ancient Spurgeon creek drainage channel to the next fork in the road, which is now the junction of the Yelm Highway and Reservation Road, northwest of the red Wind casino.

On Sunday March 2, 1856, William White, was on his way home from church with his family when he was killed during an ambush. The rest of his family escaped death by taking the horses from the wagons and riding away to safety at Fort Eaton. Up to the time of these attacks all of the fighting in the Sound region had been almost exclusively confined to the portion of country lying to the north of Fort Steilacoom, and between the Puyallup and the Snoqualmie rivers, embracing the White and Green river and Seattle districts.

Historian George H. Himes wrote in 1911 the following about Nathan Eaton and Fort Eaton which was located on his property; "Nathan Eaton came to Oregon in 1843, and to Chambers' prairie in the fall of 1848, after serving several months in the Cayuse Indian war, which grew out of the massacre of Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife and twelve others at the mission station at Wai-il-at-pu, six mile west of the present city of Walla, Walla, Wash, on Nov, 29-30, 1847."

"He selected a place for settlement about twelve miles southeast of Olympia, on the extreme southern edge of Chambers' prairie and built a cabin. In the winter of 1855-56 he built about twelve log cabins in the form of three sides of a square of eighty feet, the fourth side being closed up by a row of picket logs a foot in diameter and fifteen feet long placed endwise in a trench two feet deep."

"This was called "Fort Eaton." A number of families found shelter in this fort, among others, William White and family consisting of himself, wife and six children, viz.. William, George, Ellen, Anson, Clara, (now the wife of Judge R. O. Dunbar, residing in Olympia,) and John. An older daughter, Elizabeth, had been married to Daniel Bigelow more than a year before and was living in Olympia. Mr. White was killed in sight of Fort Eaton on March 3rd. 1856, and I was within hearing distance of the fatal shot."

The next day on March 3, 1856, Governor Stevens heard of a rumor that the retired employees of the PSAC and HBC were aiding and abetting the enemy. He then ordered all the current and retired Hudson's Bay People still living on the prairies in eastern Pierce county, to leave their farms and go to Fort Nisqually, to remain there under guard. He then ordered Fort Stevens strengthened by hired Quartermaster's men. Some of the employees were allowed to travel with Edward Huggins to Muck station and stay there for the duration of the war.

On May 5, 1856, Governor Stevens ordered that a wagon road be built from the Yelm prairie to Grand Mound, through the Tenalquot prairie, on the shortest practicable trail, and also, repair the road leading from Chamber's prairie to the Tenalquot. On May 23, 1856 it was reported that a line of communication had been opened from the Yelm to Grand Mound, and the Military road was nearly pushed through from the Cowlitz Landing to Monticello.

On November 14, 1856, Chief Leschi of the Nisqually Tribe was arrested after he was betrayed by Sluggia, who turned him in for a reward. On November 18, 1856, Quiemuth, who was the half brother of Chief Leschi and also a leader of the Nisqually, decided further resistance was useless and surrendered at the residence of George Brail on Yelm prairie. He immediately was taken to Olympia by James Longmire and others. While there, he would be stabbed to death in the governor's office by an unknown assailant.

Hostilities ended in the summer of 1856, and the prairies became silent.

Now that the war was over, some of the settlers began to slowly return to their farms and carry on with their lives while others remained in the blockhouses. Even though the war was over, there was still the fear and anxiety of another uprising, and this would be on the minds of the settlers for quite some time after. Many could not take the uncertainness anymore, and would pack up their belongings and leave the area for the Willamette Valley. It would not take long before others arrived in the region to take over their abandoned claims. On the Yelm prairie, McLain Chambers and Charles Wheeler were some of the first to arrive during the fall of 1856.

In the spring of 1857, the military began to improve the V & S Military Road from Steilacoom to the Cowlitz Landing. Between the Deschutes river at Linklater's place on the Tenalquot prairie, and James Hughes' place on the Yelm prairie was a forested area that had to be cleared of the fallen trees.

In April of 1859, Wa-he-lut, aka Yelm Jim or Squally Jim, as he was known to the locals, was arrested for the death of William White on the Yelm road during the war. Yelm Jim had been a resident of the Yelm prairie all his life, and during the war, fought alongside Chief Leschi and Quiemuth. Yelm Jim also took revenge on Sluggia for turning in Leschi to the authorities by killing him. He was never convicted for the murder.

Yelm Jim was a popular figure, and was well liked by the settlers of the prairie. After his arrest, several petitions began to circulate for his release and pardon. Many of the settlers also personally advocated for him. In March of 1860, Wash and Watumpa came to Olympia and confessed to being the murderers of William White, and they asked that Yelm Jim be released. 

It was argued that now that the war was over, and that the hostile Warriors had abandoned the warpath, and that there should be some “forgive and forget” spirit, which would help avert future troubles. Governor Gholson agreed to this, and in the summer of 1860, Yelm Jim was given a full pardon and set free. Yelm Jim would return to the prairie to live out the remainder of his life, which ended on June 11, 1908. He is buried in the Chief Leschi cemetery.

The Tragedy of Leschi

In the 1906 book, Pioneer Reminiscences of Puget Sound by Ezra Meeker, he talks about the tragedy of Chief Leschi; "We never hear much of the family on the waters of the Sound, and I doubt if Leschi often left his favorite haunts of the chase for the lower levels of the salt sea waters. We hear of him frequently to the south, some times on the eastern slopes of the mountains, but I do not recall an instance of his being on the Sound until his visit near Steilacoom during the war, with thirty two of his followers, where he boldly confronted the troops sent over to capture him and his party, which they failed to do."

"The chief factor of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, Dr. William F. Tolmie, exercised great and beneficent influence over the tribes adjacent to their work. No doubt his efforts tended to elevate the tribes coming within the sphere of the company's influence. This particularly applied to the nearby horse Indians of the upriver portion of the Nisqually, as they had great need of just such help as this afforded. To this influence may well be attributed in part the development of Leschi's character, as the Doctor laid great store by him. Leschi never entered into the service of the company, but there soon grew a community of interest helpful to both. Tolmie trusted Leschi implicitly, and in fact the whole upriver band, but Leschi was particularly helpful to him because of his superior intelligence."

In 1855 Leschi would be accused by Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens for the murder of Col. Andrew B. Moses during the battle at Connell's prairie. His argument was that the killing happened before war had officially been declared.

During March of 1856, Chief Leschi had arrived at John McLeod's place for a few hours to tell him he wanted to surrender. McLeod advised him not to do that. In Ezra Meeker's book, he wrote that; "Leschi, spoke with savage earnestness of the wrongs that he and his people had suffered. He spoke bitterly of Governor Stevens; accused him of having deceived them in the treaty, and said he would like to have two pieces of paper taken, on one to be written the wrongs done by the Indians; on the other the wrongs the whites have inflicted upon them. Let these two papers, said he, be sent to the Great Chief, and let him decide who is the most to blame, the Indian who has had his lands taken from him, or the white man who has deceived him? Leschi denied that any of his band were at the so called attack on Seattle, and expressed considerable contempt for those white braves who defended the town on that memorable occasion." 

The surrender never happened and Leschi would eventually be captured on November 14, 1856, after he was betrayed by Sluggia. After two controversial trials, Leschi was hanged on February 19, 1858. The first trial ended in a hung jury. Jurist Ezra Meeker was among those voting to acquit Leschi after the judge told the jurors that if they determined that the death of Andrew B. Moses was in fact an act of war, they must find Leschi not guilty. This was not going to fly with the authorities and a second trial was to take place. This time they would get the desired results.

The second trial was held without that key jury instruction, and this time the trial ended in the wrongful conviction and death sentence for Chief Leschi. Antonio Rabbeson, a witness to the skirmish in which Moses was killed, had testified at both trials that he saw Leschi there. Although others say Rabbeson was not telling the truth. The U.S. Army was vehemently opposed to the trial and the sentence, and they did not participate in the execution. Battles during war are not murders but casualties they said.

Leschi said the following during his trial; "I do not know anything about your laws. I have supposed that the killing of armed men in wartime was not murder; if it was, the soldiers who killed Indians are guilty of murder too. I went to war because I believed that the Indian had been wronged by the white men, and I did everything in my power to beat the Boston soldiers, but, for lack of numbers, supplies and ammunition, I have failed. I deny that I had any part in the killing. As God sees me, this is the truth." 

Leschi was only looking out for his people, and he tried to protect their way of life even though the odds were stacked against him, and he lost everything. On November 13, 1856 Leschi was captured and imprisoned at Fort Steilacoom.

The Army then turned Leschi over to Territory authorities from Thurston county. The Army did not want the execution to be held on fort property, so the Governor had his men construct a gallows a mile away from the fort in a depression of land north of Steilacoom lake. This location is a few hundred feet southeast of the Oakbrook Plaza on Steilacoom boulevard, somewhere on Leschi Rd. SW, between Fairway Drive SW and Oakbrook Drive SW. A housing tract now sits on top of this historical place. On December 10, 2004, 146 years later, Leschi would be officially exonerated.

Colonel Granville O. Haller Responds to the Verdict of Leschi

Col. Granville O. Haller shed some new light on the events that led to the death of Leschi in an article printed in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on August 11, 1895; "Mr. Wiley, the editor, informs us that Col. Andrew B. Moses. Joseph Miles, Antonio B. Rabbeson, William Tidd, Mr. Bright, Mr. Bradley and Dr. Burns (supposed members of Capt. Hayes' company), who were on their way in to Puget Sound with an express from the commands of Capts. Hayes, Maloney and Slaughter, were recalled on account of the active hostilities of Indians on Puget Sound, due to the absence of the troops."

"We must presume that Capt. Hayes was not holding a picnic with his company in the Cascade mountains, but was in search of hostile Indians then at war with the white race. The state of war then existed, was recognized by our government, and troops sent to conquer and have peace. At this point let me say; Whether Leschi shot anybody, or ordered his followers to shoot any one, it was an act of war, and he was no more culpable than was Gen. Lee or Gen. Joe Johnston for the tens of thousands of killed and wounded effected through their orders."

"Leschi. morally speaking, was not one-thousandth part as culpable as either of these generals, yet no reasonable white man ever thought of hanging them. If, then, Leschi shot Col. Moses it was an act of war; but I propose to show that he did not shoot him, was not present at the shooting, and that he was found guilty by a prejudiced jury that at the time there was a popular craze; that the Indian scare had unbalanced good men's minds, who demanded his conviction, that Frank Clarke was attorney for Leschi, not for the prosecution, and was malignantly assailed by the public in print and in mass meetings, and appealed through the Truth Teller, published at Steilacoom, February 25, 1858;" 

"To My Friends, of which the following is a copy of only one paragraph; As to the mass meetings held at Steilacoom and Olympia, I regret very much that gentlemen of my acquaintance were present and lent an influence that procured the publication of such resolutions as appear in the Pioneer and Democrat; because I believed them, at the time, to have acted as they thought just and honorable, but they were misled by the inflammatory statements of persons who, from ignorance or some other less excusable cause, spoke and acted unjustly."

"Dr. William F. Tolmie, who was then chief factor of the Hudson Bay Company, and agent for the Puget Sound Agricultural Company at Fort Nisqually, was viciously assailed by the "mass meeting," because they charged him with a voluntary and unjustifiable attempt to interfere with the execution of the laws of our territory, and this conduct merits and should receive the general condemnation of our whole people. This, too, for simply writing, on January 12, 1858, to Gov. F. McMullen in behalf of Leschi, and saying; "I have long had a thorough conviction of Leschi's innocence of the death of the late Col. Andrew B. Moses, that opinion being based on the following facts, etc."

"Dr. Tolmie gives a full statement, too long for insertion in this article, but the following is an extract; In the summer of 1856 Leschi, with other chiefs, made peace with Col. Wright, in command of the regulars in the Yakima valley, after which general pacification, and, as the Indians phrase it, 'laying aside of guns and angry feelings,' they lived for some time in friendly intercourse with the soldiers. In the fall of 1856 the Nisqually's returned home and were placed on a reservation much more to their liking than that originally fixed upon."

"In October Leschi came, and, as I was the first white man he ventured to meet, he desired me to acquaint the Americans that, if they needed that assurance, he would cut off his right hand in proof of his intention never to fight them again. He expressed his willingness to surrender to Col. Casey, commanding Fort Steilacoom, but that officer considered it most prudent that Leschi should for a time remain in the woods, as prejudice ran high against him. Soon after, tempted by a large reward, Sluggia entrapped Leschi by treacherous promises of complete reconciliation with the Olympia white chiefs, and Leschi was soon after imprisoned on the charge which led to his condemnation."

"When Leschi was to be tried in Olympia Gen. A. V. Kautz, of Olympia, then a lieutenant, was detailed to escort the prisoner Leschi under guard to his place of trial, and was continued in charge during the trial. He heard the testimony, and, knowing the military road ever the Cascade mountains from Fort Steilacoom, detected the deliberate falsehood of the witness, Antonio B. Rabbeson, and pointed it out to Leschi's attorney, then, to prove it, he, Dr. Tolmie and others made a survey of the ground, and, through the kindness of the general, I have his original survey and plat of Toualket prairie (known also as Connell's prairie), which I submit for your information, which shows the place where Rabbeson says he first met Leschi; and he testified."

"Mr. Wiley says, that he had known Leschi for years, and could not be mistaken in identifying him; that he proceeded from thence on a fast trot, and when at the place where the road entered a swamp Leschi again appeared and killed Col. Moses."

"Thus, while Col. Moses and party were trotting at a lively pace, on a military road, sixty-eight chains, Leschi, on foot, ran 104.5 chains through a fir forest thickly covered with underbrush and fallen timber. Rabbeson, when asked how this was possible, swore that Leschi "took a shorter road." which was positively false and proven to be so by the survey, as the military road was a direct line as far as the ground would admit, and there was only one roundabout road besides."

"Mr. Wiley admits that Sidney S. Ford, jr., who knew that Leschi was encamped on the Upper Nisqually in a secluded spot, bribed Sluggia and El-i-kak-ah, and, Judas Iscariot like, they betrayed their chief into the hands of blood stained white men. But this Sluggia was called on to testify before the court, and, Mr. Wiley says, that he, of his own knowledge, knew Leschi was not present at the shooting of Moses, for he. Sluggia. was present with the shooting party. If the killing of Col. Moses in wartime was a crime, then here was a particeps criminis. (one who takes part in a crime) But they did not thirst for any but Leschi's blood."

Cowlitz Pass

In the spring of 1859, the legislature approved a Territorial road, beginning at the Yelm prairie, and would continue southeast to Ashford, and then across the Cascade mountains to the Naches river, and follow it to its mouth. During July of 1859, G. C. Blankenship, William Packwood and James Longmire, set out to survey this route. The journey took them 8 days, and reported that a good road could be made. The road was never built as the cost was too great. At the time, the territory was still paying claims for war damages. They instead recommended that a pack trail be opened so the route could be better examined. After they gave the report, nothing else would be done.

The route of the emigration from Portland through the Cowlitz Corridor to the Puget Sound was not bringing in settlers fast enough for the fledgling towns of Olympia and Steilacoom. They wanted a shorter less expensive route across the Cascades one that was better than the miserable trail across Naches pass known as the Fort Walla Walla Military Road, which had been unused since the war began.

In 1862, the Legislature gave the approval for the establishment of a toll road from the Yelm prairie across the Cascades south of Mount Rainier. James Longmire, G. C. Blankenship and William Packwood, formed the  “Nisqually Road Company,” for the purpose of leveling and constructing such a road including the necessary bridges and ferries. This road was to begin from a point on the east bank of the Nisqually river near the mouth of the South Fork of Nisqually (Mashel river) at what is now known as the town of Eatonville.

From Eatonville; "Thence in an easterly direction on the most practicable route to a point on the Cowlitz river near where the Muddy and Clear forks of said river come together. Thence to Red Lake valley, thence to the road leading from Simcoe to the Wenas river, near the mouth of the Naches river, by such route as they may deem most advantageous for the construction of said road." 

The route they selected over Cowlitz pass was not feasible due to the high ridge on the eastern side blocking the way. Cowlitz pass is located 5 miles north of White pass. This road would never be built due to the high construction costs. It would take almost 100 years before this road came to fruition when U. S. Highway 12 was constructed in 1951 as the first road built over the Cascades south of Mount Rainier. 

"The Flower of the Prairie." A Nisqually Love Story

The course of true love never runs smoothly.

One day during the spring of 1870, there was great excitement at the Nisqually reservation. A noble warrior, gifted in many tongues just as the Apostiles, who spoke; the Chinook jargon, and the languages of the Makah, S'Klallam, Cowlitz, Hump-tu-lips, as well as languages from many other tribes, was to be married in "Holy wedlock" to one of Nisqually's beautiful maidens. The bride expectant, was deeply in love with the man of many tongues, and waited in the lodge of her parents, "eager-eyed" but patient.

The groom (that was to be) had arrived with his mounted retinue. Young men, gorgeous in ochre faces, and rainbow-hued ribbons cantered their cayuses over the grassy plains, shouting monotonous feast songs. The elders of the village sat in fantastic clusters, and told tales of former festivities, or recounted the glories of those days before the "Bostons" disturbed the land with their presence, and the forests everywhere was free to their use. In grave council sat the older influential friends of the high contracting powers.

The groom had brought with him all the required items, (so he thought) but there was but one thing remaining that was required to complete the marriage settlement. All was agreed as to the horses, blankets, muskets, calico, flour, sugar and shawls the friends of the bridegroom were to offer the parents in compensation for the loss of their daughter. The smoked salmon and coffee were ready to set forth the marriage feast. But, alas! the bride had many cousins. They could not endure the thought of separation. Their wounds must have some healing balm poured in. What could minister to their minds diseased? That was the question. And a knotty question it proved to be! Minutes became hours; hours lapsed into days; and still the council was protracted.

The leading cousin was One-Eyed Richard, hereditary chief of the tribe, stubborn as a rock, shrewd as a fox, avaricious as a miser. This chieftain, against all others, stood out for large remuneration. Should the "flower of the prairie," the "lily of Nisqually," the "turtle dove of the Reservation," be taken from her "Tillicum's" and they receive no consolation. The Great Spirit forbid! No! Two hundred dollars, in bright half dollar pieces, must be paid, or Nisqually-Anna must forego her husband, Martin his promised spouse. Nothing could change his decision.

The ultimatum had been reached and the would-be groom refused the terms. With stoic dignity he slowly folded up his blankets, shawls and packed up his dry goods, and in solemn procession he and his friends withdrew. The shades of night then came on as Nisqually-Anna sat in her father's lodge surrounded by her closest friends. Often she asked her maidens, "why delayeth my lord his coming? Why are his feet so slow?" At last the curtain matting was pushed aside, and her parents entered the lodge. Their faces told the story. Words were not needed! Burst the maiden and her tiring women into wailings.

Louder and louder grew their outcry's. From other lodges came other Klootchmen, and added their tears and lamentations. All night long there was mourning, mourning, mourning; Nisqually-Anna weeping for her bridegroom, and would not be comforted because she had none. Daylight came at last and brought healing on its wings. The stern parents were unable to endure the presence of so much grief. Their cayuses were caught and mounted. The friends of the groom were collected. They went with the parents to the house of Martin (the man of many tongues), and told him, "Come and take Nisqually-Anna, free of all charges."

In true old traditional style the nuptials were celebrated. With song and board beating, with horse and foot racing, with gifts of goods from friend to friend, with barbecue and feasting, and then amid the blessings of the tribes, they mounted and rode away. Mount Rainier then raised his grayish-white head, and cast the pure reflections of his massive features ever all the scene.

The 4th of July Celebration

To the tribes of Western Washington in the late 1800's the 4th of July meant a week of celebrations, dancing, horse racing, feasting and plenty of gambling. In 1889 the July 4th Potlatch was given by the Skokomish tribe. In 1890 it was the Nisqually tribe's turn to host the potlatch.

For a week, leading up to the 4th, all the roads leading to the Nisqually reservation were covered with wagons loaded with tribal members coming from all parts of the state. Some were in wagons with their families, while others were on foot or on horseback. The largest delegations were from the Skokomish, Chehalis, Puyallup and Spokane tribes. Together about 1,500 tribal members from all over the state attended the festivities. The young men indulged in horse racing while the young Indian women were painted up in the latest style of art, and passed their time dancing and receiving the attentions of the young men.

The dresses of the women were remarkably extravagant, being made up of very bright colors. Several old chieftains, who had been through many of the wars of the early history of the country, were present and told their stories to the children. The horsemen formed a cavalcade, two by two, and marched around the grounds. The crowning event of the day was a great war dance, in which several of the leading men and boys of the different tribes, painted up with fresh new paint, took part. Later, a sumptuous dinner was spread on several long narrow tables. The U. S. government had made special provision for the day, and the tables were covered with the choicest of meals. In the evening several hundred dollars worth of fireworks were sent up.

On the Nisqually reservation, where everyone was camped, consisted of over 1,000 acres of cleared land. After everyone arrived the clearing was transformed into a large tented city. When the Skokomish returned home, some with proud crests, and some with their heads hanging accordingly if they lost or won. Some had imbibed more than was for their good while many kept sober through all the temptations. The following year the Puyallup tribe hosted the 4th of July celebration on their reservation.

The Upper Ford

The main crossing of the Nisqually river was called the "Upper ford" or "Upper crossing," which was located at the town of McKenna. This ford was on the ancient trail that ran from the Chehalis river through Tenino, toward the Puyallup river. In 1849 the Hudson's Bay Company employees abandoned the middle crossing by the casino and began to use the Upper crossing. This new route eliminated having to climb up and down steep cliffs in order to reach the river. This was an easier place to cross and it had better approaches. If the river was high, the crossing was dangerous and canoes would be needed to cross safely.

The first ferry established at the Upper crossing was by Mathias Becker and William Wagner. They may have started operations shortly after the road was improved by the military in 1857. They officially received their license from the territory on January 21, 1863. The crossing would then become known as Becker's ferry or Wagner's Ferry depending on who you asked. Their charter was good for 5 years and would expire in 1868. The rates were; Wagon and 2 animals attached 50 cents, and each additional span of animals was 25 cents; horse and carriage 50 cents; person on horse 25 cents; for each pack animal 25 cents; for each head of sheep, goats or hogs 5 cents; and for each person on foot 25 cents.

Records show that on December 9, 1864 Mathias Becker purchased in a cash sale 80 acres located about a mile southwest of the ferry at a place known today as Four Corners. In 1869 Becker moved to Ellensburg to start a cattle ranch. In 1886 during the construction of the railroad over Stampede pass Becker ran a chop house and saloon among the throngs of other bars and restaurants that sprang up at a place called "Tunnel City." Becker would continue to live on his ranch near Ellensburg for the next 25 years. On October 27, 1911, Mathias Becker became ill from nephritis and passed away at age 76.

The river changed course during the flood of 1869 to the channel it flows through today. This is when the road and ferry were moved about 800 feet east to the new channel. In January of 1869 William Wagner received a new license to operate a ferry at the Upper crossing. Wagner would continue to operate ferry until a bridge was constructed. On June 6, 1884, viewers were sent out to Yelm to locate a new bridge across the river at Wagner's ferry. They found a spot 120 yards above the ferry.

After the railroad was built across the prairie in the early 1870's, the old highway ran through McKenna on what is now 95th Ave. Ct. S., and followed the Old McKenna road to Yelm. On November 7, 1884, the Pacific Bridge co. asked permission to furnish free of charge, plans and specifications for a bridge across the river at Wagner's ferry. The request would be granted though nothing would be done about building a bridge at Wagner's ferry because Thurston and Pierce county were not willing to meet in the middle and build the bridge. After 1869, Territorial law required that any bridge spanning a county border would require both counties affected to spilt the costs of building such a bridge.

The following year in 1885, James Longmire opened a wagon road to Longmire springs on Mount Rainier. Now that tourists and adventure seekers were taking the train to Yelm, and then traveling up the new road to the mountain, it became more important that a bridge be built at Wagner's ferry. On February 17, 1888 James Longmire presented a petition to Thurston county commissioners, which included 72 names, and was accompanied by a $510 subscription, that prayed for a bridge to be built at Wagner's ferry. The petition would be laid over until Thurston county found out what Pierce county wanted to do.

On June 22, 1888 Pierce county took up the matter concerning the bridge at Wagner's ferry and decided to team up with Thurston county to finally build the bridge, and Commissioner Capen was given full authority to act. After a couple of months bridge inspector Hayes, said he excepted to build the long-talked of and wished for bridge over the Nisqually river to be built that season at a point 1.5 miles west of Yelm.

On December 7, 1888, the bridge across the Nisqually at Wagner's ferry was completed at a cost of $4,870.75, and was built by Hoffman & Bates of Portland. For the next 12 years the bridge at McKenna served the traveling public without any problems. During the winter of 1900 a storm had caused the rivers in western Washington to overflow its banks. The raging waters began to erode the riverbank on the Thurston county side of the bridge. At the beginning of 1903, the erosion had finally undermined the approach to the bridge and emergency repairs were needed.

The approach was repaired and the bridge continued to carry traffic over the river for the next 13 years. In December of 1916 Pierce and Thurston counties decided to construct a 110 foot long double-arch concrete bridge across the Nisqually. river at McKenna. The bridge cost $28,000 and was built for the new Lakeview-McKenna Highway. Charles G. Hubner was in charge of the work. Construction crews had to move over 10,000 yards of fill for the approaches to the new bridge.

On August 18, 1917 Charles Rawlinson of McKenna wrote to the editor of the Seattle Times praising the new concrete bridge; "A thing of beauty is a joy forever, must have been in the minds of the county commissioners when they planned the bridge across the river at McKenna, which is about finished now. I suppose when the road is connected up to the bridge some people will cross over it without knowing it is a bridge, which is the way all bridges should be. But to see the beauty of it you should get a boat and go out on the water. It certainly is a credit to everyone that had anything to do with it." The new concrete bridge was completed and opened for traffic on October 28, 1917. In addition to the new bridge, a new road was constructed, which bypassed McKenna. This road is the current alignment that we use today.