The Millions Buried in Puyallup Indian Land
A government report reveals the staggering valuation of tribal lands near Tacoma, sparking a 19th-century struggle over ownership, development, and the protection of Indigenous sovereignty against encroaching white expansion.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The President has transmitted to Congress a letter of the Secretary of the Interior with the report of the Puyallup Indian Commission. The report is a bulky affair and touches all the principal features of the matter. Secretary Noble says the title of each Indian to the land allotted to him is expressly subject to the restriction contained in the patent upon his right to alienate or lease his land for more than two years. The state of Washington having already removed the restriction on its part, the title of each patentee will be perfect when Congress shall also consent to such removal. The value of the land is fixed by the commission at $4,706,130. Some of the lands near the city are deemed worth $5,000 per acre. The water front alone has been estimated to be worth some millions of dollars. The commission holds that the agency tract of unallotted lands is still the property of the United States and not of the Indians, and the Secretary is of the opinion that under the treaty this agency tract should be treated as the common property of the tribe and, if sold, should be sold as such. As to restricting the power of alienation by the Indians of their allotted lands, the Secretary says: 'It would seem to be the duty of the government to supervise any disposition that might be made of the allotted land to the end that the Indians might not in any way be defrauded.'
“It would seem to be the duty of the government to supervise any disposition that might be made of the allotted land to the end that the Indians might not in any way be defrauded.”
This 1892 report highlights the immense economic pressure on the Puyallup Reservation as Tacoma expanded. It echoes today's ongoing debates in the Pacific Northwest regarding the tension between urban development and the protected treaty rights and land autonomy of the Puyallup Tribe.
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