Nisqually Chief Leschi
Chief Leschi (1808-1858) was a chief of the Nisqually Indian Tribe of southern Puget Sound, Washington, primarily in the area of the Nisqually River.
Following outbreaks of violence and the Yakima War, Leschi was charged with the killings of two Washington Territorial Volunteers. By the summer of 1856, the conflict in Western Washington had mostly subsided. Governor Stevens held the Fox Island Council with representatives of the Nisqually, Puyallup, White, and Green River Indians. At the meeting, Stevens agreed to Puyallup and Nisqually Reservations changes and established an additional reservation at Muckleshoot. After making the concessions, Stevens asked for the capture of Chief Leschi. In the meantime, Leschi had made peace with the federal troops and was promised amnesty in return. However, Governor Stevens still wanted him brought in, and Leschi’s nephew, Sluggia, helped bring him in for a reward. Sluggia promised Leschi that he would receive a fair hearing, and the chief was taken into custody by Indian agent Sidney Ford Jr. On November 14, 1856, the Indian agent turned him over to Governor Stevens, who promptly imprisoned him at Fort Steilacoom. Sluggia was given 50 blankets as payment for his treachery.
There were several reasons given for his betrayal, one of which was that Sluggia was in love with his uncle Leschi’s youngest wife, Mary. Another, told by a friend of Leschi’s, Nisqually warrior Wa he lut, was that Sluggia had quarreled with Leschi because the chief would not allow him to kill women and children during the war.
Chief Leschi would be forced to stand trial for the murder of Abram Benton Moses and was hanged on February 19, 1858. In the meantime, Leschi’s loyal friend Wa he lut would hunt down Sluggia, finding him in October 1857. He shot Sluggia and rolled his body over the bluff near where Leschi would later be buried. Ironically, Leschi outlived his betrayer by five months.
Leschi was informally exonerated in a non-legally binding ruling in 2004 by a Historical Court of Inquiry of Washington State, following a resolution by both houses of the legislature asking the State Supreme Court to vacate his conviction.
Compiled Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated February 2024.
Also See:
Indian Conflicts of Washington
Indian Wars, Battles & Massacres Across America