Column: Quileute Nation history just as exciting as a movie script

Opinion

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

"With the success of the "Twilight" series, the Quileute Nation and inhabitants of LaPush have found themselves thrust into the spotlight.

While many movie fans may have trouble distinguishing fact from fiction, the history of the Quileute Nation just might be equally as interesting as any movie script.

By the 1870s, Dan Pullen, born in Maine in 1842, was said to be the richest man in Clallam County. He claimed to hold the title to more than 1,500 acres.

It was questionable whether Pullen actually held the deed to all the property he claimed to own.

Another problem was a large part of Pullen's "property" was also claimed by the Quileute.

It was about this time when A.J. "Salvation" Smith and family arrived at LaPush.

The Smith family had spent some time at Neah Bay.

There they had endured a bout of typhoid and lost a child to the disease.

At LaPush, Pullen helped them get settled.

Alanson Smith was Salvation's oldest son, a serious young man who got along well with people.

The younger Smith soon got a job as teacher at the Indian School. Since the nearest agent was at Neah Bay, he also acted as doctor and dentist and settled disputes between the Quileute and white settlers."

Get the Story:
CHRISTI BARON'S WEST END NEIGHBOR: A real story about the Quileute (The Peninsula Daily News 7/20)