Just a few hundred yards west of Center Drive and just north of Sequalitchew Creek (within sight of the 1843 Fort Nisqually site) is the location of the former Nisqually Mission. In April of 1839 William Holden Willson and missionary David Leslie began construction of a small mission house with an attached schoolroom. The mission house was surrounded by a stockade. This was the first American building erected in the Puget Sound region. Although the site has not been excavated archaeologically, its location can be pinpointed with reasonable certainty, based on eyewitness descriptions and maps of the period. Indeed, for many years a historical marker stood on the site of the original mission/schoolhouse. As the years went by the site was absorbed in to the holdings of the DuPont Powder Company.

In June of 1840 Oregon pioneer Jason Lee appointed William Willson as “carpenter/doctor” and Reverend John P. Richmond as “missionary”. With Richmond came his wife “America” and their four children. Miss Chloe A. Clarke was appointed teacher at the mission school. On July 10, 1840 the missionaries arrived at the Nisqually site. They were the first Americans (US citizens) to settle north of the Columbia and west of the Cascades. Their arrival predated other Americans arrival to the region by five years.

The Nisqually Mission survived for only three years. Due to failing health (and personal loss) William and Chloe Clark Willson were the first to leave. The Richmonds departed the Mission in the summer of 1842. Shortly thereafter, on September 11,1842, the Mission burned to the ground, reportedly by a disgruntled Indian.

There are a number of other “firsts” associated with the Nisqually mission. The marriage of Chloe Clarke and W.H. Willson (August 16, 1840) was the first American (US) wedding in the region. Francis Richmond (born February 28, 1841) was the first American child born in Western Washington. Francis was baptized by Jason Lee. The first Independence Day celebration in what is now the State of Washington was held on July 5,1841 not far from this site. Richmond gave the address, Captain Wilkes brought 100 Marines from his vessel at anchor in the sound, and some (400) Indians and representatives from the Hudson’s Bay Company were also in attendance. The Declaration of Independence was read, patriot songs and hymns were sung and a cannon was fired. Richmond predicted in his address that the ground upon which they were standing would ultimately become part of the United States. (His prophecy proved to be correct, and a monument commemorating the event now stands on Fort Lewis near Sequalitchew Lake).

Article excerpts by James Edgren and an Unknown Author