A Railroad Across Puyallup Land—With the Tribe’s Consent?
Frank C. Ross sends federal officials contracts for a right-of-way through the Puyallup Reservation, testing whether Indigenous consent can authorize construction without Congress.
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 6.—[Special.]—Frank C. Ross has, through request of Maj. French of the Vancouver barracks, forwarded to the Department of the Interior copies of his right-of-way contracts showing his authority to grade a railroad through the Puyallup Reservation. This is considered a concession by the department that the Indians have a right to allow the grading of a road. Heretofore this has been denied without the consent of Congress. The grading is still going on on the reservation.
“This is considered a concession by the department that the Indians have a right to allow the grading of a road.”
The Puyallup Tribe’s consent was being tested as a legal shield for railroad construction, a reminder that Indigenous sovereignty over land was never simply extinguished but continually contested. Today tribal governments still negotiate rights-of-way and comanagement of transportation corridors, and the Puyallup Reservation remains a living political and legal jurisdiction in the Tacoma area.
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