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1855 - Point Elliot Treaty Signed
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 On
January 22, 1855, Chief Seattle joins 81 other leaders of Puget Sound
tribes in signing a treaty with Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens
(1818-1862) at Point Elliott (now Mukilteo).
Tribes including the Duwamish and Suquamish surrender their
lands for cash, relocation to reservations, and access to traditional
fishing and hunting grounds. Four days later, tribal leaders from Hood Canal
and the upper Puget Sound sign a similar agreement at Point-No-Point (near
Hansville on the Kitsap Peninsula).
Governor Stevens later enumerated 9,712 Native Americans living west of the
Cascade Range. Only a few hundred white settlers occupied Puget Sound when
the treaties were concluded. Seattle Indian Agent Dr. David S. Maynard
(1808-1873) played a major role in securing tribal concessions.
The agreements did not secure a durable peace, and the Puget Sound area
experienced several bloody clashes over the next few years. Nine settlers
were killed in the White River valley in October 1855 and Seattle itself was
attacked on January 26, 1856.
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