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Prominent individuals caught up in the conflict
Nisqually Indian relationships with the Hudson Bay Trading Company
The circumstances leading to heightened hostilities
The events of the Indian Wars
A Nisqually leader is tried for murder
The legend continues into the present
Teacher's Guide: Lesson Plans, Learning Requirements, etc
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  Fort Nisqually: A Multicultural Community by Drew Crooks, 2007
Cultural diversity had long characterized the inhabitants of what is now Washington State. This diversity was especially strong among the employees of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). The Company, with headquarters in London and operations throughout much of present-day Canada, maintained trading posts in the Pacific Northwest in the nineteenth century. The multicultural nature of the HBC is shown in a passage from George Simpson's description of a voyage down the Columbia River in a Company canoe: "Our crew of ten men contained Iroquois who spoke their own tongue; a Cree half-breed of French origin, who appeared to have borrowed his dialect from both his parents; a North Briton (Scot) who understood only Gaelic of his native hills; Canadians who, of course, knew French, and Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islanders, who jabbered a medley of Chinook and their own vernacular jargon." Fort Nisqually, located near the Nisqually River, was a HBC post that also served as the regional headquarters for the Company's farming subsidiary called Puget's Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC). At this station multiculturalism was always a basic fact of life. Its lists of employees over the years contained names indicating many nationalities. They include Pierre Charles (Abenaki Indian/French Canadian), Thomas Linklater (Orkneyman from north of Scotland), and George Edwards (English). Records indicate that the HBC/PSAC successfully kept order at Fort Nisqually through the application of strict social rules. Individuals in the community formed at the post all had places in a well-defined hierarchy. Commissioned officers, at the top of the hierarchy, were usually of English or Scottish ancestry. Below them in the system were the clerks, educated workers also typically of British origin. Persons of French Canadian, English, Scottish, Irish, American, and Métis (mixed Native American and Euro-American) decent made up the class of skilled laborers who did carpentry, blacksmithing, millwrighting, and other specialized tasks. Unskilled laborers, mostly Native Americans and Hawaiians, carried out the basic work necessary to Company operations. Included in their tasks were harvesting crops and shearing sheep. Men in all of the above classes often had Métis or Native American wives. For example, John Edgar, who worked at Fort Nisqually and some of its farming outstations married Elizabeth (or Betsy) of the Nisqually Tribe. These intermarriages strengthened the social and economic ties between the HBC/PSAC and Native Americans. Family life also eased the harshness of frontier existence at Company posts. The HBC/PSAC era ended many years ago. Today a number of Washington state residents are able to trace their family roots to the diverse people that worked for the Companies. They can be proud of their ancestors, hard working individuals who lived in a rugged wilderness. SOURCES: |
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