The Olympia Stockade - In the Indian War Settlers Turned the Town Into a Fort (Washington History)

During the 1855-56 Indian War, in 1856, out of fear of an attack by local Native Americans, the townsfolk of the Washington Territorial Capitol, Olympia, decided to fortify the town.
In this episode of Searching for History, Erin and I walk the streets of Olympia, looking for Olympia Stockade locations. During the 1855-56 Indian War, in 1856, out of fear of an attack by local Native Americans, the townsfolk of the Washington Territorial Capitol, Olympia, decided to fortify the town. With the assistance of Sam Percival who donated the lumber, a palisade wall was built that ran the length of 4th Avenue from West Bay to East Bay. A blockhouse with cannon was built at the corner of Capitol Way and 4th Avenue. A second blockhouse was built at the corner of Capitol Way and Legion Way, in what is now Sylvester Park. A third blockhouse was built at the corner of Capitol Way and 8th Avenue. The revenue cutter Joseph Lane guarded the harbor. Despite all of this preparation, an attack never came. The fortifications were abandoned later that year. Please join us as we walk the streets of Olympia trying to imagine what Fort Olympia, the Olympia Stockade would have looked like.
#thurstoncounty
#olympia
#washingtonstate
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#fortolympia
#olympiastockade
#pacificnorthwest
#history
Music Attributions
Song 1: To the Top by Silent Partner (KZbin Audio Library License, no attribution is required)
Song 2: Snowy Peaks pt I by Chris Haugen (KZbin Audio Library License, no attribution is required)
Image Attributions
Image 1: “Bird's eye view of the city of Olympia, East Olympia and Tumwater, Puget Sound, Washington Territory, 1879” San Francisco, A.L. Bancroft & Co., lithographer [1879] c1878. Library of Congress Call Number/Physical Location: G4284.O5A3 1879 .G6. Digital ID: hdl.loc.gov/loc.... This image is in the Public Domain. Image located: www.loc.gov/re....

[@erinlikesacornishpasty4703]

Has anyone else known about this bit of Olympia history? We didn't until recently! Let us know.

[@searchingforhistory]

It wasn't until I started researching the 1955-56 Indian War (Puget Sound War) that I came across this.

[@tvluce]

I’m a product of Olympia public schools, and I don’t recall this being covered at all…

[@searchingforhistory]

@tvluce We recently learned about this ourselves. In case you want to read more about it our sources were: "“So Fair a Dwelling Place”: A History of Olympia and Thurston County Washington" By Gordon Newell and online sources such as historylink.org and fortwiki.com

[@earthandtime5817]

I loved the juxtaposition of what we see today versus what was once there. Great video, and I learned something new. Thank you! Well done.

[@searchingforhistory]

I like to imagine that if we excavated 4th Avenue, we would find post holes from the palisade wall. I'm glad you liked the video, and thanks for watching!

[@ExploreTayo]

Good job painting a picture of a past with no physical remains. It's always fascinating to compare current day to the past.

[@searchingforhistory]

We recently learned about that history and wanted to tell the story. I'm glad to hear we were able to create an impression on what olympia looked like in 1856. This was an attempt at trying something new. Thanks for watching!