History of Chambers Creek - Part 3

Railways Bring Big Changes

Perhaps nothing changed our Chambers Creek area — and many other areas across the United States and beyond—like the onset of rail transportation. For Chambers Creek, that impactful first railroad company was the Tacoma-Steilacoom Railroad, and it came to town in the early 1890s, just shortly after Washington became a state. 

The rail line essentially was a steam-powered streetcar that ran 12 miles along either side of Chambers Creek Canyon from Tacoma to Steilacoom (pop. 250), where city folk would recreate in Steilacoom’s hotels and shops. The cars eventually moved from steam power to electricity, then horses, before becoming obsolete by 1916. The reason for its demise: competition. 

Between 1890 and 1892, Tacoma Railway and Power constructed two railroad tracks on the Chambers Bay shoreline, one on the north and one on the south. The track on the north edge of the bay was never used and was dismantled in 1916, but the south line was modified and used for the Tacoma-Steilacoom line. Remnants of the northern railroad roadbed remain in the project area and extend approximately 1,600 feet on the north side of Chambers Bay and are 10 feet wide. Some of those tracks serviced the Everett Pulp and Paper Mill, while others serviced gravel mines for which two piers were built to transport the product by water. 

In 1914, the Northern Pacific Railroad constructed its shoreline tracks alongside Puget Sound—tracks still in use today. The old station in the town of Steilacoom is located next to the Anderson/Ketron/McNeil Island Ferry Terminal. 

These railways and the many others sprouting up throughout the region before and after this time set the stage for commerce to boom in the Chambers Creek area, and beyond. 

History of Chambers Creek - Part 2

Post Established

Some of the first European settlers to call the Chambers Creek and its surrounding area home were members of the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC). Beginning around 1832, they set up post with the construction of a storehouse at the mouth of Sequalitchew Creek. Today that area is known as DuPont. 
 
The Hudson’s Bay Company was hundreds of years old when it arrived in the Northwest and was built mostly on fur trading. Here, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company (PSAC) was formed to help support residents, increase profits, and diversify into farming. It acquired properties and hired servants and local Native Americans to work the land. 
 
Locally the areas between Nisqually and the Puyallup rivers, which included Steilacoom village on Chambers Creek, were the center of it all. According to historians, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company had good relations at the time with the local tribes and paid them as farmhands, housekeepers, and herdsmen while also recognizing their territory.
 
American settlement soon would shake that harmony up for everyone and lead to the demise of the agricultural company and the British occupation by the late 1840s. By 1844, a lot of farms were abandoned. The American settlers took claims surrounding Chambers Creek, established Fort Steilacoom in 1849, and built the town of Steilacoom in the early 1850s.

Early Hudson's Bay Logo. (Courtesy Curt Lewis)

Tensions Mount

More people meant more problems — especially when the American settlers began claiming land, creating friction with the Steilacoom people and other tribes.
 
The Treaty of Medicine Creek was negotiated on December 26, 1854, and that set aside reservation lands for the Nisqually, Puyallup, Steilacoom, and other tribes. The lands ended up being too small and isolated. The Native Americans fought back against the settlers in what was called the Puget Sound War (also known as the Indian War) in 1855-56. The United States military, local militias, and local Native American tribes including the Nisqually, Muckleshoot, Puyallup, and Klickitat were all in conflict.
 
A battle took place around spring of 1856 when Washington Territorial Volunteers were said to be ambushed by about 150 Native American tribesmen, thought by many to be led by Chief Leschi of the Nisqually Tribe. Later, Chief Leschi would be convicted of murder and hanged on Feb. 19, 1858 near Lake Steilacoom. In 2004, a historic court ruled he shouldn’t have been held accountable for murder for the death of  enemies while at war.
 
After the local war, the U.S government vacated the reservation and the Steilacoom people returned to the Steilacoom area or went to neighboring tribal reservations.

Chief Leschi (Courtesy Curt Lewin)

Thomas Chambers

Thomas Chambers was one of those American settlers who staked a claim in 1849 — 640 acres (a square mile) at the mouth of what was known then as Heath Creek/Bay — and known today, as you may have guessed, as Chambers Creek/Bay.
 
Some historians believe he planted roots likely at an abandoned agricultural company cabin. In 1850, the U.S. still hadn’t paid HBC or PSAC for their land holdings. This caused issues and fighting. According to historical reports, a PSAC agent attempted to try to evict Chambers and his family and was met with a shotgun. It isn’t clear if it was the fear or eventually the payment from the government that ultimately kept PSAC away from the Chambers family.
 
Chambers went on to make his mark on the area by inspiring industrial development with the construction of a gristmill in 1850 (gristmills make flour) and a sawmill in 1852. In 1860, he built a four-story mill located at the mouth of Chambers Bay near where the dry storage marina stands today. He also served as Pierce County commissioner and was elected probate judge. Historians say people knew him as a “fair man” and he was known as Judge Chambers for the rest of his life.

Chambers Creek Regional Trail Phase 2 Groundbreaking Ceremony

May 31st, 2024 was the date of a groundbreaking ceremony for the Chambers Creek Canyon Trail Phase 2. Dignitaries from University Place, Lakewood, and Pierce County officiated and members of the public including representatives from the Chambers Creek Foundation also attended. As part of this new phase trailheads, boardwalk, two small bridges, and one large Bridge will be put in. Excitement was in the air as that event kicked off a much-anticipated addition to the trail system in the canyon.

Honoring Joe Scorcio

Our knowledge of the Chambers Creek Regional Park history has been almost entirely assembled by one of the Foundation's founding members and long-time board member Joe Scorcio, who managed the site's transition from a gravel mine into the beautiful public space you see today.

Sadly, Joe passed away earlier this month. It seems fitting to dedicate this upcoming 2024 news series, which will will come out in our newsletters and posted to our website’s news page, to Joe’s memory and acknowledge our debt to his longtime service and sharing of his deep knowledge. 

Joe Scorcio was an expert in the field of urban planning and design and he was also a visionary and motivating force that helped make Chambers Creek Regional Park a reality. He began his Pierce County work on the park in 1986 and he was still working on it with the Foundation until he became ill.

It has been an honor for all of us who have served on the Foundation’s Board — both past and present — to work with Joe as either the Pierce County Liaison to the Board or as a board member. 

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Looking Back — The History of Chambers Creek Regional Park

Spectacular views of Mount Rainier. Roughly 930 acres of creek-, canyon- and saltwater shoreline-filled land in an urban setting where dogs walk, people golf, and kites and kids fill up the summer skies and grass. That’s how we know Chambers Creek Regional Park today. But how did we get to this point? Turns out, there’s a long and interesting history behind the area dating back thousands of years. 

Red Train Aerial 11-2006

Prehistory 

Numerous cultural resource studies conducted on-site over the years show a diverse archaeological record of hunter-gatherers dating back some 10,000 years. More recently and specifically, the Steilacoom people had their main village located at the mouth of Chambers Bay. 

The Steilacoom

The Puget Salish-speaking Steilacoom shared the same language with the nearby Puyallup and Nisqually people and were closely associated with the two. The Steilacoom village, Ste!le'lqub, filtered out from the bay up both sides of Chambers Creek. There, villagers fished the creek and bay for salmon, herring, flounder, cod, and perch. They also harvested shellfish, plants, berries, and acorns, and hunted bear, elk, deer, and waterfowl. The Steilacoom Tribe continues to move forward and is led by tribal citizens and their Steilacoom Tribal Council. Learn more here. 

European Settlers Arrive  

As was the case with much of the Pacific Northwest and beyond, the Hudson’s Bay Company was responsible for bringing the first-known European settlers to the area. In the 1830s, the British trading company established a post at the mouth of nearby Sequalitchew Creek and began branching out, acquiring land via the newly established Puget Sound Agricultural Company. The company also began to build more permanent structures, many of which became part of British Fort Nisqually.