Chief Leschi monument toppled last month in Lakewood righted by city. Honor walk planned

A knocked-over monument commemorating the execution of Nisqually Chief Leschi has been righted. A crew from the city of Lakewood put the boulder back in place Tuesday morning.

The monument, situated in a strip mall, most likely was knocked over by a vehicle Christmas weekend. Initially, the city said the monument wasn’t its responsibility. But Mayor Jason Whalen contacted the property owner to offer Lakewood’s services to fix it, spokesperson Brynn Grimley said Tuesday.

The city tried to right the 4-ton monument last week but it was too heavy. City crews succeeded on the second try Tuesday.

Later on Tuesday, the Nisqually Indian Tribe announced an honor walk in late January that will provide a broader history of Leschi from his tribe’s viewpoint.

Tumbled monument

For decades, the Leschi monument sat in front of an oak tree at a Lakewood strip mall at Briggs Lane Southwest and Steilacoom Boulevard Southwest.

“Leschi,” the inscription reads. “Chief of the Nisquallies, martyr to the vengeance of the unforgiving white man, was hanged 300 yards S.E. from here, February 19, 1858.”

According to another inscription, the monument was erected in 1963 by the Pierce County Pioneer and Historical Association.

It’s unknown if the boulder was knocked over on purpose or by accident.

Chief Leschi

On Tuesday evening, Nisqually Indian Tribe government liaison Hweqwidi Hanford McCloud appeared before the Lakewood City Council to announce an honor walk for Leschi on Jan. 27.

“We do a lot of honor walks, and these walks kind of slow down the history of what we’re talking about,” McCloud said. “Because this is where the teaching happens out there, where we talk about the place, the setting and what had happened.”

Leschi, McCloud said last week, needs to be remembered beyond his roles in the disputed Medicine Creek Treaty of 1854, his role in the 1855-1856 war and his subsequent execution for the alleged killing of two militiamen.

Leschi was acquitted of the murders in 2004 by a historical court following a years-long effort to clear his name by the Nisqually tribe.

McCloud said he hoped a renewed and accurate telling of Leschi’s history would be the result of the monument’s tumble.

“It brings attention to it, to where it now enhances what we want to see,” he said.