Fox Island, Washington State joined history in 1862. In New England, the British used Deer, Peddocks, Long and Brewster Islands centuries before. Vew Minneapolis-St.Paul’s Pike
Island in the heart of the Mississippi River. The year was 1862 and the peoples were those of the Dakota Sioux. Territories were governed by Eastern appointed men, usually army officers or lawyers, including Washington until 1889 when it became one of the first home rule states. (This is still true for reservations and Bureau of Land Management properties: ~50% of Washington, even more in Oregon, even more in Nevada … even more in BC, there logging
companies appear to govern.) In 1855 a party of Natives killed eight settlers nearby the Farm in the White River Massacre. In response to this attack, the Army (and militia) captured 4,000 noncombatant Native Americans and moved them to Fox Island “for close observation” (by Tacoma). All Southwestern tribes were moved, the few remaining Chinook were moved to Fort Vancouver. All remained captive until at least the end of the war, nearly two years. Many died due to insufficient food, water, and shelter. It is easy to kill humans, don’t feed them in the month of February. By the time the Pacific Northwest was discovered and settled (1774 -1884) the US Army and Washington DC politicians had refined their process of “opening land” for settlers. In fact, it is cemented in the States’ Constitutions: 1) Political power, 2) Supreme law of the land, 3) personal rights, 4) right of petition and assemblage. Native Americans, who were not citizens (until 1926) were like ½ our Floristic Region’s 900 native plants: “no one cares/cared.” If found, they were assembled to hasten extinction, on Fox Island following the traditional game plan treaties were extorted, people starved, and bodies were washed into the sea.
https://historicbostons.org/blog-1/deer
https://www.yahoo.com/news/forbidden-popsicles-pop-washington-nursery-232422124.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Island,_Washington
https://chronline.com/stories/julie-mcdonald-commentary-white-settlers-flee-to-blockhouses-during-indian-wars,300549
https://www.plc215.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Reservations-before-the-Civil-War.pdf
https://archives.lib.state.ma.us/bitstream/handle/2452/838189/ocm40504899.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
The Chinook Indians, that truly had no part of any fight, were moved by Governor Stevens to:
Fox Island
Ilwaco
Fort Vancouver
Comments, content, questions appreciated; email to: bb@plc215.org
Copyright © 2024