Treaty of 1855 (Washington territory)

Treaty of 1855 (Washington territory)
Name	Treaty of 1855 (Washington Territory)
Date signed	April–June 1855
Location signed	Medicine Creek, Point Elliott, Walla Walla, Cowlitz Landing
Parties	United States of America; representatives of Duwamish, Suquamish, Puyallup, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Skokomish, Squaxin Island, Yakama Nation, Nez Perce, Kalapuya
Language	English language; interpreted via Chinook Jargon
Ratified by	United States Senate

Treaty of 1855 (Washington territory) was a series of agreements negotiated in 1854–1855 between Isaac Stevens as Governor of Washington Territory and multiple Indigenous nations of the Columbia River and Puget Sound regions. The treaties established boundaries, reserved lands, and recognized fishing and hunting rights, while ceding large tracts to the United States of America to enable settlement, roads, and Northern Pacific Railway corridors. The accords set the stage for later disputes adjudicated in the United States Supreme Court and shaped relations among tribes, territorial officials, and settlers during the Yakima War era.

Background

In the early 1850s, Isaac I. Stevens pursued a territorial policy paralleling the Oregon Treaty era expansion and the Donation Land Claim Act, coordinating with federal interests such as the Department of War and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Pressure from American settlers, territorial legislature delegates like Alvin F. W. Smith, and railroad promoters prompted negotiations that involved representatives from coastal communities including Seattle (Washington), Tacoma, Olympia, and riverine hubs such as Walla Walla. Epidemics following contact, competition over salmon runs at sites like Commencement Bay and Elliott Bay, and events linked to the Cayuse War and the Modoc War influenced tribal leaders including Chief Leschi, Chief Seattle, Chief Kamiakin, and Chief Smohalla to engage with Stevens’ commission.

Negotiation and Signatories

Stevens held multiple councils at Medicine Creek, Point Elliott, Walla Walla, and Cowlitz Landing, bringing commissioners like Joel Palmer and interpreters versed in Chinook Jargon. Signatories on the United States side included Stevens and military officers from Fort Vancouver and Fort Steilacoom. Tribal signatories included leaders from the Duwamish Tribe, Suquamish Tribe, Puyallup Tribe, Muckleshoot Tribe, Nisqually Tribe, Skokomish Tribe, Squaxin Island Tribe, and representatives from portions of the Yakama Nation and Nez Perce delegations. The negotiations referenced earlier accords such as the Treaty of Medicine Creek (1854) framework and paralleled contemporaneous arrangements like the Treaty of Point Elliott complexities in signatory representation and tribal sovereignty questions.

Terms and Provisions

The treaties collectively provided land cessions in exchange for monetary annuities, reservation establishment near rivers and coasts, and explicit guarantees for fishing, hunting, and gathering at "usual and accustomed places." Specific provisions allotted reservations at locations including Muckleshoot Reservation, Puyallup Reservation, Nisqually Reservation, and allocations near Mukilteo and Port Townsend. The United States promised tools, livestock, and agricultural instruction tied to Bureau of Indian Affairs agencies and missionaries such as members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Society of Friends (Quakers). Provisions also included clauses for schools under figures like O.P. Hubbard and mechanisms for annuity distribution routed through posts like Fort Simcoe and Fort Colville.

Impact on Native American Tribes

Immediate impacts included displacement of communities from traditional camas prairies, estuarine fishing sites at locations like Skagit Bay and Dungeness Bay, and restrictions on mobility crucial for seasonal rounds. Leaders such as Chief Leschi resisted enforcement, contributing to the Puget Sound War and later legal and armed conflicts. Cultural sites tied to spiritual leaders like Smohalla faced interference, and subsistence economies oriented around salmon runs at the Columbia River and Snohomish River were disrupted. The treaties’ fishing clauses later formed the basis for tribal claims litigated in cases involving entities such as the State of Washington and the United States Justice Department.

Implementation and Enforcement

Implementation relied on agents from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, military detachments from Fort Nisqually and Fort Vancouver, and territorial officials who often prioritized settler land surveys associated with surveyors like Isaac Stevens’s successors. Enforcement entailed creation of reservations, but actual land allocation, annuity disbursements, and provision of promised goods were inconsistent, leading to tensions exploited by settler groups including Puget Sound Agricultural Company affiliates and railroad contractors linked to the Northern Pacific Railway Company. Missionaries and Indian agents such as Joel Palmer mediated education programs, yet epidemics, settler encroachment, and legal ambiguity over "usual and accustomed places" undercut federal obligations.

Legal Challenges and Later Developments

Disputes over interpretation produced major litigation, notably in cases culminating at the United States Supreme Court and influencing precedents in federal Indian law such as the later United States v. Washington framework. Tribal leaders and organizations, including the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission and individual tribes like the Puyallup Tribe of the Puyallup Reservation, pursued redress through negotiations with administrations including Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal-era reforms and later Richard Nixon–era policies recognizing tribal self-determination. Contemporary settlement efforts and cases involving the Boldt Decision roots trace back to the 1855 treaty promises, while ongoing tribal governance developments involve institutions like the National Congress of American Indians and regional tribal courts. Congressional and judicial actions, agency rulemaking by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and activism by leaders from communities such as Olympia and Seattle continue to shape the treaty’s legacy.

Category:Treaties of the United States Category:Native American treaties Category:History of Washington (state)