Puyallup Indians. An important Salish tribe on Puyallup River and Commencement Bay, west Washington. According to Gibbs, their designation is the Nisqualli name for the mouth of Puyallup River, but Evans 1 says the name means ‘shadow,’ from the dense shade of its forests. By treaty at Medicine Creek, Wash., Dec. 26, 1854, the Puyallup and other tribes at the head of Puget Sound ceded their lands to the United States and agreed to go upon a reservation set apart for them on the sound near Shenahnam Creek, Wash. In 1901 there were 536 on Puyallup Reservation, Wash.; in 1909, 469.
Citations:
- Bancroft, Hist. Wash., 66, 1890[↩]