Fort Nisqually (DuPont / Tacoma, Washington)
DuPont / Tacoma · Washington · Fur Trade Era
History & Significance
This modest warehouse of 15 by 20 feet was the first European trading post on the Puget Sound. The fort's location was strategically chosen after an 1832 attack and murder on the Cowlitz Portage between Fort Vancouver and Fort Langley, making midway protection essential for HBC operations.
By May 1833, a permanent fortification rose under Chief Trader Archibald McDonald and physician William Fraser Tolmie, whose detailed writings documented the region's natural history and indigenous relations. Early personnel depended on neighboring native villages for food, unable to find sufficient game.
The fort's primary trade goods were beaver pelts for fashionable hats; over its operational years the post collected approximately 5,000 beaver, 3,000 muskrat, 2,000 raccoon, and 1,500 river otter furs. A diverse workforce of Scottish gentlemen, Native Americans, Hawaiian Kanakas, French-Canadians, Métis, West Indians, and Englishmen operated the post.
Although resembling frontier army stockades, Fort Nisqually never served a military purpose. The 1846 Oregon Treaty established the 49th parallel boundary between U.S. and British claims, leaving the post on American soil. The Fort Nisqually Granary was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 and remains the oldest standing structure in Washington and one of the few surviving Hudson's Bay Company post-and-plank buildings.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Reconstructed fur-trading post with living history exhibits
- Original 1843 granary, oldest surviving structure in Washington state
- Agricultural and trading operations from the Hudson's Bay Company era
- Exhibits on cross-Pacific trade routes to Russian Alaska, Hawaii, and California
- Located within Point Defiance Park's natural setting
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Nisqually
- https://www.thearchcons.org/fort-nisqually/
- http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=988&ResourceType=District
- https://www.parkstacoma.gov/place/fort-nisqually-living-history-museum/
- https://www.dupontmuseum.com/fort-nisqually