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.