The Bitter Waters of Medicine Creek

November 15, 2010
In the mid–19th century, the rainy shores of Puget Sound were among America's last frontiers—and the site of a brief but fierce war fought in 1855–1856 between the Nisqually tribe and the territory's militia and army. With vivid detail, Kluger (Simple Justice) examines the encounter, beginning with the benchmark 1853 treaty of Medicine Creek and its ambitious architect, Gov. Isaac Stevens, who "bloodlessly wrested formal title to 100,000 square miles." Despite scant source materials, the author sketches a portrait of Leschi, the Nisqually chief, whose resistance to the treaty placed him in direct confrontation with Stevens. After Leschi's arrest for allegedly killing a militiaman, Stevens engineered the chief's 1856 prosecution—and ultimate conviction and execution. (Leschi's final statement is heartrending: "I do not know anything about your laws, I have supposed that the killing of armed men in war time was not murder. If it was, then soldiers who killed Indians were guilty of murder too.") The conclusion, the 2004 exoneration of Leschi's actions by an unofficial historical court, followed by the launch of the tribe's Red Wind casino, winds up being a redemptive postscript to an affecting chapter of regional history.

December 1, 2010

Intense history of a vicious confrontation between whites and Indians in 1850s Washington Territory.

Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and journalist Kluger (Seizing Destiny: The Relentless Expansion of American Territory, 2007, etc.) writes accessible prose and turns up fascinating obscure records, but readers will quickly suspect that this story doesn't end well. A central figure, Isaac Stevens (1818–1862), became the first governor of the Washington Territory in 1853. His major task was to facilitate white settlement by removing indigenous tribes. To achieve this, he sent representatives to survey their lands and, with no tribal input, choose a reservation. After drawing up a written contract, they called tribes together to feast and listen to whites extol its benefits, including promises of schools and farm equipment. Kluger points out that the Indians were illiterate, did not understand contracts and had no concept of land ownership. Despite their unease, most—according to white observers—signed. One leader, Leschi (1808–1858), protested and organized resistance during the 1855-6 Puget Sound War but was defeated, captured and, despite appeals from some whites, hung (though obviously useless to him, Leschi was exonerated in 2004). Forced onto tiny reservations, the tribes sunk into poverty, and their number dwindled. By the end of the 20th century, most whites agreed that they had treated the tribes badly, and legalization of Indian casinos has stimulated some prosperity for the survivors. Kluger does not conceal his indignation, painting a portrait of the whites as greedy, materialistic and racist, with a few ineffectual exceptions. The tribes are portrayed as modest hunter-gatherers, devoutly in tune with nature.

An accurate narrative, but the lack of nuance makes for a painful account that will keep readers gnashing their teeth throughout.

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2011

In 2004, a judicial tribunal led by the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Washington State belatedly reviewed the 1857 case Washington Territory v. Leschi, which unjustly condemned Leschi, a Nisqually chief, to death. Inspired by the tribunal, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Kluger (Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris) explores Washington Territory history to examine what led the Nisqually to launch a guerrilla war against the American settlers who had been encroaching on their homelands and abusing their human rights for years. Rather than addressing the numerous grievances, Governor Isaac Stevens used the conflict as an opportunity to permanently subjugate the Nisqually. In addition, he used the judicial system to promote the fiction that he gave Leschi a fair trial. This sordid chapter of Washington Territory's history concluded with Leschi being hanged at Fort Steilacoom. VERDICT Kluger's well-researched and beautifully written work is recommended for readers interested in the history of the Pacific Northwest. It is also valuable for those interested in how the final stages of the concept of Manifest Destiny played out in western North America.--John Burch, Campbellsville Univ. Lib., KY

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2010
Puget Sound is the venue for this historic episode in settler-Indian conflict. It attracted historian and novelist Kluger because of a 2004 mock tribunals conclusion that Leschi, a headman of the Nisqually tribe, should not have been put on trial for murder in 1856. Kluger delves deeply into the original case, which resulted in Leschis execution, and excoriates Leschis principal white antagonist, Washingtons first territorial governor, Issac Stevens. Casting Stevens in a villainous light, Kluger recounts his imposition of treaties dispossessing the Puget Sound tribes, which Leschi resisted. The war that then briefly flared up Stevens and his political supporters blamed on Leschi. To army officers in the territory, however, Leschi was a legitimate combatant, so the legal process that ensued was convoluted but seemingly inexorable, given Stevens zeal for vengeance and court decisions that all went against Leschi. Recounting the treaty council, the war, several trials, and contemporary politics of the several-hundred-member Nisqually tribe, Klugers solidly sourced narrative and its tenor of indignation will captivate readers of frontier and American Indian history.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)