- Leschi (1808-1858) and his half-brother, Quiemuth (ca. 1798-1856), were respected members of the Nisqually Indian Tribe of South Puget Sound. In 1854 they were appointed by Washington Territory’s first governor, Isaac Stevens (1818-1862), to represent their tribe during treaty talks near Medicine Creek in north Thurston County. Outraged by the inadequate reservation imposed by the treaty, Leschi took up arms and became the leading chief of a fighting force comprising members of several Puget Sound tribes. Outgunned and outmanned, in the spring of 1856 Leschi and his remaining followers retreated to the Kittitas Valley. But he had become the primary focus for the vengeance of Governor Stevens, and upon returning west in late 1856 Leschi was betrayed, arrested, and charged with the murder of a volunteer militiaman. After two trials and a convoluted and error-filled legal odyssey, Leschi was convicted, and on February 19, 1858, was hanged at Steilacoom. Still, the Puget Sound War had not been fought in vain; in January 1857 larger and more appropriate reservations were approved for the region’s tribes. Nearly 150 years later, in 2004, a specially formed historical court exonerated Chief Leschi of the crime for which he was executed.
- Leschi (1808-1858), Part 1 (historylink.org)
Leschi (1808-1858) and his half-brother, Quiemuth (ca. 1798-1856), were respected members of the Nisqually Indian Tribe of South Puget Sound. In 1854 they were appointed by Washington Territory’s first governor, Isaac Stevens (1818-1862), to represent their tribe during treaty talks near Medicine Creek in north Thurston County. Outraged by the inadequate reservation imposed by the treaty, Leschi took up arms and became the leading chief of a fighting force comprising members of several Puget Sound tribes. Outgunned and outmanned, in the spring of 1856 Leschi and his remaining followers retreated to the Kittitas Valley. But he had become the primary focus for the vengeance of Governor Stevens, and upon returning west in late 1856 Leschi was betrayed, arrested, and charged with the murder of a volunteer militiaman. After two trials and a convoluted and error-filled legal odyssey, Leschi was convicted, and on February 19, 1858, was hanged at Steilacoom. Still, the Puget Sound War had not been fought in vain; in January 1857 larger and more appropriate reservations were approved for the region’s tribes. Nearly 150 years later, in 2004, a specially formed historical court exonerated Chief Leschi of the crime for which he was executed.
This is the law of him in whom is the plague of leprosy, whose hand is not able to get that which pertaineth to his cleansing.
Leviticus 14:32 KJV