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This Week Then
1/26/2023
Battle in Seattle
On the morning of January 26, 1856, an estimated 1,000 Salish warriors came over the ridge of First Hill and attacked the tiny village of Seattle at present-day Pioneer Square. The settlers returned the Indian fire during the skirmish, reinforced by marines and a howitzer from the U.S.S. Decatur, anchored in Elliott Bay. Sporadic gun volleys continued until 10 o'clock that night, when the attackers retreated. They left behind two dead settlers, but none of their own - not even a trace of blood.
Rising tensions had led to bloody acts by both newcomers and Natives before the "Battle of Seattle," but the attack marked the climax of active resistance led by Nisqually Chief Leschi (whose presence at the scene is in dispute) and other tribal leaders against the treaties dictated and imposed on the tribes by Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens in late 1854 and 1855.
Chief Leschi was eventually captured, and his half-brother Quiemuth surrendered soon after. Quiemuth was murdered by persons unknown, and Leschi was hanged in 1858 over the protests of many pioneers. It wasn't until 2004 that Leschi was finally exonerated by a special state historical court.
Slain in Shoreline
On January 26, 1969, civil rights leader and Seattle Urban League Executive Director Edwin Pratt was killed by a shotgun blast outside his home in Shoreline. The assassin was never found. Pratt's funeral at St. Mark's Cathedral remains the largest in that church's history.
During his tenure with the Urban League, Pratt championed equal housing in the fight against restrictive covenants and housing discrimination. He also supported the Triad Plan, a proposal developed by an Urban League committee for reorganizing Seattle's de facto segregated elementary schools. And after President Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty in 1964, the Seattle Urban League was one of the first agencies to be awarded Office of Economic Opportunity funds, which led to the creation of the Central Area Motivation Program.
Shortly before he was killed, Pratt spoke out against discriminatory hiring practices in the construction industry – a movement that would pick up steam later that year. Although there has been much investigation and speculation into who may have murdered Pratt, the case remains open more than a half-century after the crime. Pratt has since been commemorated by Edwin Pratt Park, the Pratt Fine Arts Center, and – most recently – the Shoreline School District's Early Learning Center.
