The Quillayute Land Dispute Ends in Eviction
After years of legal battles, the Secretary of the Interior rules that Daniel Pullen’s claim to Quileute lands at La Push must be surrendered to the tribe.
A land decision in the long, hard-fought case of Daniel Pullen, of La Push, has been rendered by George Chandler, first assistant secretary of the interior. Pullen’s entry was not questioned until two years after he made final proof. Since he proved up, he built the finest residence in the western end of Clallam county on the land, worth at least $3,000. Under the decision, Pullen would lose his place. The land in question is situated at the mouth of the Quillayute River and consists of multiple lots in township 28. The title has been in dispute since 1884, when the Indian agent at Neah Bay informed the government that a village of the Quillayute Indians was situated upon the land. In his decision, the secretary noted that the government had recognized the Indians' right to keep this land, holding that Pullen's acts in taking possession were those of a trespasser.
“The acts of Pullen in taking and holding possession of the land were those of a trespasser, and that he can take nothing thereby.”
This 1893 case reflects the systematic federal dispossession of Indigenous land through the Homestead Act and pre-emption laws. Today, the Quileute Tribe continues to work toward the restoration of their ancestral lands, with modern efforts focusing on moving essential infrastructure out of the tsunami inundation zone, a direct legacy of the historical land constraints imposed during this era.
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