Beaver pelts on a Hudson's Bay Company blanket. HBC blankets were graded by weight and size. The trading value was marked in the weave with small stripes, each stripe equaling one good quality, or "made beaver" pelt. Photo by Will McCabe.
Nisqually coiled split cedar-root basket, 1880-1910. Washington State Historical Society Collections.
Native American-made and British manufactured goods on display at the Fort Nisqually Living History Museum in Tacoma, Washington. Photo by Will McCabe.
Reproduction of a laborers' dwelling house at Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, Point Defiance Park, Tacoma, Washington. Photo by Will McCabe.

Fort Nisqually was a nineteenth century trading post near the Nisqually River managed by two British businesses: the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and its farming subsidiary, the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC). Both companies needed Native American trade and employees to be successful. The records of the Nisqually post contained many references to the HBC/PSAC economic dealings with Native peoples, or "Indians."

At first the basic trade at Fort Nisqually centered on Native Americans exchanging furs for British manufactured goods. Different types of animal pelts were traded, but beaver skins were the most prized. Though the fur trade continued until the closure of the Nisqually post in 1869, it declined over time due to changing fashions in Europe and growing scarcity of fur-bearing animals in the region.

Still, numerous other items were traded by Native Americans at Fort Nisqually besides furs. They included food and products such as baskets and mats. The companies also frequently acquired Native horses through trade. Edward Huggins, the last commander of the Nisqually station, recalled the acquisition of "a fine saddle horse" from Quiemuth of the Nisqually Tribe in 1855. It was his favorite horse at the post.

Native Americans and HBC/PSAC employees tended to be shrewd trading partners. Each side wanted to get the most possible for what they traded. Sometimes this produced tension that was noted in the Nisqually post's records. Still, the Indians wanted the British manufactured goods and the HBC/PSAC needed the Indian items. So the trade continued with both sides generally happy with the results.

Over the years, Fort Nisqually employed many Indian workers. This also benefited both HBC/PSAC and Native people by creating a system of payments in money or trade goods for essential work. One category of Indian labor consisted of individuals who were kept on the HBC/PSAC regular payroll and considered full time Company employees. In the 1850s, for example, a Native American named Cush served as cook at the Nisqually station.

Another type of Indian labor included men and women who worked on a day by day basis on specific tasks. For example, the Fort Nisqually Journal noted "McPhail [an HBC employee] with 6 Indians raising potatoes in swamp" in October 1851, and "Barnes [another Company employee] with Indians packing furs" in May 1852.

Lastly, a third category consisted of Native Americans who held domestic servant positions within Fort Nisqually. They did cleaning, washing, and other duties for HBC/PSAC officials. One person in this group was the daughter of La-ha-let, chief of the Nisqually Sequalitchew Village. She worked for a time in the household of William Kittson, commander of the Nisqually station from 1834 to 1840. This meant that Fort Nisqually was an important site for cultural encounters in Puget Sound.

SOURCES:
Carpenter, Cecelia Svinth, Fort Nisqually: A Documented History of Indian and British Interaction (Tacoma, WA: Tahoma Research Service, 1986).

Dickey, George, transcribed and edited, The Journal of Occurrences at Fort Nisqually Commencing May 30, 1833; Ending September 27, 1859 (Tacoma, WA: Fort Nisqually Historic Site, Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma, [1989]).

Huggins, Edward, Papers, Washington State Historical Society Special Collections.

Norton, Helen H., "Fort Nisqually-A little Known Historical Treasure, Part Two: Beaver, Blankets, Baskets and Fillys-Indian Trade at Fort Nisqually," Seattle Genealogical Society Bulletin, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Summer 1990).

Troxel, Kathryn, Fort Nisqually and the Puget's Sound Agricultural Company, Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1950.