- Clarence Bagley in writing an introduction for the “Journal of Occurrences at Nisqually House, 1833” for the Washington Historical Quarterly gives a good account of Fort Nisqually: “Fort Nisqually was the first permanent settlement of white men on Puget Sound. Fort Vancouver had been headquarters since 1825 and Fort Langley was founded near the mouth of the Fraser river in 1827. Fort Nisqually was, therefore, a station which served to link these two together. “While the primary object of the Hudson’s Bay Company was to collect furs, nevertheless, the great needs of their own trappers, and the needs of Russian America(Alaska), and the Hawaiian Islands and other places for foodstuffs, caused that the Company branch out into other lines…. “A subsidiary company, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, was formed in 1838 for the purposes of taking advantage of the agricultural opportunities of the Pacific…From that time Fort Nisqually became more an agricultural enterprise than a furtrading post.”
- Although the embryo town of Steilacoom and Fort Nesqually were our principal resorts the post was the center of civilization in those parts. It was visited by all who came into the country. There were no hotels at all, so that every house had to entertain, in the manner they were best able, whoever came. Thus we were brought into contact with all kinds of people, and became known to everyone in the country, although our acquaintance was necessarily large on this account. The travelers of whom we saw the most were prominent men and officials of the territory.
- During the spring I met many of the old pioneers. Dr. Tolmie, the thrifty Scotch manager of the Hudson Bay Co. at Fort Nesqually, and I formed a friendship and our acquaintance, which was kept up by letter when separated, lasted until he died. His assistant, Mr. Huggins, was also to be found in the doctor’s household in those days. He remained on American territory when the company relinquished their rights to the United States, and has for years been one of the reliable and hard-working officials of his county.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:16 NIV