The wars that have been raging through the Washington Territory have been going on for about half a year. It's now January, and there hasn't been any formal engagements or troop movements for about a month. As it was with most wars in the 19th century and before, winter was a tough time for armies to mobilize. The Native Americans of the Territory of Washington, however, have been masters of their wilderness for generations.
The Native tribes in open rebellion against the U.S. government were massing in the Cascades. Governor Stevens, responsible for much of the conditions that led to the bloodshed, arrived in Seattle by ship and proclaimed that an offensive attack by the natives and all-out war was not possible. He even went as far as to say that the possibility of an attack on Seattle was no more likely than that of New York City. Natives of the region said otherwise. Rumblings of an attack were on the rise.
Natives friendly to whites were warning the population that an attack was imminent. Word spread that their numbers were in the thousands. Rumor was that some of them were scoping out the defenses of Seattle itself in an effort to strategize for an attack.
Legend has it that Leshi himself snuck his way into U.S. defenses in disguise. A Navy warship named the Decatur was anchored in Seattle's harbor ready to shell any oncoming attackers. Many civilians, both white and native, evacuated.
Soldiers put up defenses. There was so much rumor and misinformation being thrown around, it was possible the tribes weren't even attacking Seattle at all. Then, on the morning of January 26th, A horde of native warriors emerged from the Cascades and descended on Seattle.
It was said to have been led by the Nisqually chief Leshi, who had been spending the winter recruiting tribes of many backgrounds and languages. The army consisted of many different tribes commanded by sub-chieftains. There was a slew of different tribes ready to attack the territorial government.
The warship Decatur used its cannons to bombard the hillsides, swarming with hostile braves. The Battle of Seattle lasted a full day with only two deaths on the U.S. side. Native American casualties differ and it's hard to find agreeable numbers. It's still difficult to find the numbers that even attack Seattle.
They go from a few hundred to a couple thousand among sources on the engagement. After the battle, Governor Stevens called for the extermination of all hostile Indians. Both American soldiers and civilian pioneers alike began to raid known peaceful Native American settlements. They would strip them of any arms, huddle them into pseudo-concentration camps, and keep them under surveillance while denying them access to food while stripping them of their personal property.
A group of Snoqualmie natives under Chief Pat Cannon led a raid on Leshi's camp. in the Cascades. The battle lasted 10 hours until the Snoqualmie ran out of ammunition. Leschi's warriors suffered a pretty crushing defeat in the attack, but the Nisqually chief Leschi was able to escape. The Battle of Seattle had more of an effect on Governor Stevens'policy than it did on actual war strategy.
Stevens began taking the war a step further. After arriving in the territorial capital of Olympia, he began arresting and detaining Americans who were against the war against the natives. When the Chief Justice of Washington Territory issued a writ of habeas corpus for the release of the opponents of the war, Stevens declared martial law. Judge Edward Lander ruled that Governor Stevens was in contempt of court and marshals were sent to Olympia to detain him.
They were ejected from the Capitol and Stevens ordered Judge Lander's arrest by militia. Lander was arrested and taken to Olympia. He refused to back down and Stevens had him thrown in with the prisoners the judge had ordered free. Chief Justice Chenoweth responded by organizing a posse of 50 armed volunteers and marched them into Olympia and Stevens eventually capitulated.
The settlers were released and Stevens was fined, but not without pardoning himself of contempt of court. Word of Stevens'tyrannical actions hit Washington. The U.S. Senate called for his removal over the incident. The Secretary of State censured him and publicly claimed, your conduct in that respect does not therefore meet with the favorable regard of the president. Stevens was of the Democratic Party, as was the president, Franklin Pierce, and the Whig Party was gaining traction in the territory because of Stevens's actions.
1856, the year this was going on, was also a presidential election year. As March came around and winter was coming to a close, U.S. troops marching again into the White River Valley captured a Klickitat chief that was responsible for the skirmish at Brennan's Prairie. After the chief's execution, 200 warriors descended on the camp, killing several U.S. troops without any native casualties.
The White River Valley was still deemed a hotspot. Nine days later, A much larger force of about 100 men marched back into the White River region to establish a blockhouse. A much larger force of Cascadian natives immediately attacked, but this time the soldiers were prepared.
This time, 30 native warriors were killed with only four wounded soldiers on the U.S. side. The Battle of Connell's Prairie was the last major conflict of the Puget Sound War. Many of the tribes of the region were running low on supplies, morale was low, and U.S. forces were pushing farther into their territory.
Over in the Walla Walla Valley, a U.S. force of 300 men marched from Oregon, secured the Columbia and Snake River confluence. They run into little resistance, but their presence left much of the valley under U.S. control. Conflict in the region was far from over, but it had reached a bit of a standstill. To the west and downstream on the Columbia, Yakima descended down on a region known as the Cascades Rapids and killed 14 settlers and three... Soldiers.
In response, a force was sent up the Columbia River from Fort Vancouver. The Yakama retreated, but not without leaving many of their own behind. All prisoners were executed.
Up north in the Cascades, the Puget Sound War was coming to a close. Emboldened by the statements made by Governor Stevens calling for the death of all hostile natives, 30 mounted riflemen raided a group of natives who had gathered to fish on the Nisqually River, massacring them. They were mostly women, children, and elderly who had attempted to escape the conflict of the Puget Sound War by finding refuge in the dense, temperate jungles of the Cascades.
The Mashal Massacre would be the last major engagement of the war. To the southeast, the 300 volunteers from Oregon marched to the old Fort Walla Walla in an effort to stamp out any Walla Walla and Palouse resistance. They found what they were looking for, and some 300 warriors attacked the regiment at Status Creek. The battle yielded few results on either side, but many resources were expended. After five hours of battle, there were a couple casualties on both sides, but nothing detrimental.
The Oregonian volunteers retreated back to Fort Dallas. Sensing a stalemate, Governor Stevens made a sincere attempt at ending hostilities. He called for the Second Walla Walla Council, where Walla Walla, Yakima, and chiefs from the other smaller tribes gathered to put an end to the violence.
The council negotiations lasted for about a week, but it ended in failure. Governor Stevens was asked by many native tribes if they could keep their lands, and Stevens would not budge. The council failed to foster peace, but there was at least communication. Stevens left for Fort Dalles, and while en route, he was attacked by a band of native warriors.
The fight went into the night, and the forces under the control of Colonel Steptoe were able to keep Governor Stevens protected as he left the region. This battle would be the last major engagement for over a year. General Wool closed the territory beyond the Dalles to white settlement, and Colonel Steptoe kept settlers from crossing into the Walla Walla Valley.
Up north in the Cascades, three months later... Governor Stevens convened another council, the Council of Fox Island. He met with the leaders of the representatives of tribes most involved in the Puget Sound conflict.
Governor Stevens agreed to changes in the Nisqually and Polyup reservations and even gave them one more reservation at Muckleshoot. The one thing Stevens asked for that couldn't be promised was the capture of Chief Leshi. Leshi had already gone and made peace with the federal troops in the region, but Stevens would not give up.
Leshi sent his brother to Stevens to negotiate a surrender. His brother had been put under Stevens's protection and overnight he ended up getting murdered in the governor's office. The murderer was arrested but not brought to trial because no American would testify against him. Stevens ended up leveraging Leshi's nephew, Sluggia, who had betrayed his uncle and gave away Leshi's whereabouts in exchange for 50 blankets.
Leshi was put on trial and it was deemed a hung jury because the judge proceeding the trial ruled that killing of combatants during wartime was not murder. Not satisfied, he was put on trial again, and this time his lawyers were not allowed to introduce exonerating evidence. When Leschi was hanged, even his hangman had reported, I felt then I was hanging an innocent man, and I believe it yet. Hostilities in the Puget Sound had now come to an end, and it would be more than a year before the tense relations in the Washington Territory would come to boil over again.