Fort Steilacoom (Lakewood, Washington)
Lakewood · Washington · Indian Wars
History & Significance
Fort Steilacoom was among the first military fortifications built by the U.S. north of the Columbia River in what was to become the State of Washington. The United States was anxious to plant the flag on land claimed by Britain.
Britain had ceded the territory south of the 49th parallel in 1846, but claimed this land as a commercial enterprise. Company M, First Artillery Regiment, under the command of Captain Bennett H. Hill, arrived on August 28, 1849.
They found on site a house, a barn, a granary, and shop buildings. Captain Hill and his soldiers converted these structures into officer quarters and barracks.
The fort served as a headquarters in the 1855–1856 Indian Wars, but there were no hostile actions here. A major event was the incarceration of Nisqually Chief Leschi in the fort guardhouse.
The post commander and other officers protested his trial and murder conviction, arguing that he was probably not guilty, as a state of war had existed. In 2004, a specially convened Historical Court of Inquiry and Justice ruled that no one should have been put on trial because the killing had occurred in a time of war.
Leschi was exonerated officially. In the early 1980s, preservation efforts by the Washington State Historic Preservation Office, the Heritage League of Pierce County, and the Historic Fort Steilacoom Association restored the officers' quarters, which became the Fort Steilacoom Museum.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Original military fort structures from 1849 frontier outpost
- Puget Sound War headquarters during 1855–1856 conflict
- Four preserved cottages showing fort-to-hospital transition
- Native American treaty history and regional conflict context
- Museum exhibits on Indian Wars era military operations
Sources
- https://www.historylink.org/file/10102
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Steilacoom
- https://historicfortsteilacoom.org/2022/02/the-history-of-fort-steilacoom/
- https://historicfortsteilacoom.org/about/