The Stand-off at Puyallup
Railroad graders on the Puyallup reservation refuse to leave, citing their status as citizen-landowners against federal military orders.
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.
None of Frank C. Ross' Indian railroad graders on the Puyallup reservation have budged since Maj. French, of the United States army, ordered them to go. It appears the matter will be settled in the courts rather than by military force. Maj. French had initially formulated a report to the war department demanding the removal of all agents and Indian graders from the reservation. In his reply, Ross argues that the Indigenous workers are acting as citizens on their own patented lands and are protected by the U.S. Constitution. Ross asserts that no troops can be ordered onto the reservation to interfere with this work without the governor’s authorization, and any attempt to do so will be met with injunctions in state and federal courts. Maj. French, having initially presumed the Puyallup were living under tribal conditions overseen by an Indian agent, is reportedly reconsidering his position now that he understands their status as property-owning citizens. In the meantime, the crew of thirty continues their work, their tents along the waterfront serving as a point of local curiosity.
“Mr. Ross says the Indians are at work as citizens on their own lands, and that under the constitution of the United States they cannot be disturbed or removed.”
This 1893 conflict highlights the complicated and often adversarial relationship between the federal government and Indigenous peoples over land sovereignty and citizenship status in the Pacific Northwest, a struggle that continues to resonate in modern debates regarding tribal land rights and state jurisdictional authority.
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