The Fight Over the Puyallup Indian Reservation
Tacoma’s Commercial Club maneuvers to open reservation lands to development, sparking local controversy.
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.
TACOMA, May 15.—The Commercial Club has been notified by those who are at Washington City in the interest of opening the Puyallup Indian reservation that the Dawes' bill will have to be accepted in place of the Allen bill. The former bill provides in part for the sale of a portion of the reservation uplands at public auction, a commission first having appraised its value. Frank C. Ross, of this city, who has surveyed routes for two roads through the reservation, stated recently that trouble would result if congress did not give the three or four roads now desiring a right-of-way the privileges they desire. Mr. Ross has the consent of the Indians to build through their lands, and says he will have the Indians do the work if necessary, thus preventing government interference.
“Frank C. Ross... stated recently that trouble would result if congress did not give the three or four roads now desiring a right-of-way the privileges they desire.”
The dispossession of Indigenous land through the Dawes Act and railroad expansion was a foundational aspect of Northwest economic development. This struggle over the Puyallup reservation reflects the ongoing regional discourse regarding land rights, sovereignty, and the legacy of federal encroachment.
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