Bitter Waters of Medicine Creek : A Tragic Clash Between White and Native America

by KLUGER, RICHARD

• ISBN13: 9780307268891
• ISBN10: 0307268896
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-03-01
• Publisher: Knopf

Summary

From Pulitzer Prizewinner Richard Kluger, the riveting story of a brutal confrontation between Native Americans and white settlers, a harrowing drama that unfolded in the new, idyllic Washington Territory in 1853. Washingtonrs"s first governor, Isaac Ingalls Stevens, had one goal: to persuade (peacefully if possible) the Indians of the Puget Sound region to turn over their ancestral lands to the government. In return, they were to be consigned to reservations suitable for neither hunting and fishing nor their traditional way of life. With empathy and scholarly acuity, Kluger recounts the impact of Stevensrs"s program on the Nisqually tribe, whose chief, Leschi, sparked the native resistance movement. Kluger describes the brief but bloody guerrilla war that ensued and its dire consequences: Leschi became the object of the governorrs"s vendetta and was eventually condemned to death, a skewing of justice that would threaten the very existence of the Nisqually people. Closely considered and eloquently written,The Bitter Waters of Medicine Creekis a bold and long-overdue clarification of the historical record on an American tragedy that presents, through the experiences of one tribe, the history of Native American suffering and injustice.

Author Biography

Richard Kluger is the author of Ashes to Ashes, which won the Pulitzer Prize; his books Simple Justice and The Paper were both finalists for the National Book Award. He lives in California.

Table of Contents

Preface: A Fresh Reckoning	p. xi
The Governor and the Chief
ôI Know What I Am Aboutö	p. 3
Paradise for Free	p. 17
The Northwest Express	p. 38
A Credit to His Race	p. 54
Christmas at Medicine Creek	p. 74
Blood in the Autumn Air	p. 107
The Territory in Dread	p. 129
An Impressive Performance	p. 147
The Wages of Zealotry	p. 167
The Trials of Leschi
Judgment Day-and Night	p. 187
With Malice Aforethought	p. 213
All the Favors of the Law	p. 236
Epilogue: After Leschi	p. 249
Salmon and Survival	p. 249
For Whom the Eagle Cries	p. 259
Red Wind Rising	p. 285
Acknowledgments	p. 299
Selected Bibliography	p. 303
Notes on Sources	p. 307
Index	p. 317
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.