Isaac Ingalls Stevens (March 25, 1818 – September 1, 1862) was the first governor of Washington Territory, and served as a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War until his death at the Battle of Chantilly.

Early life

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Stevens was born and raised in Massachusetts, leaving his home state for the United States Military Academy at West Point in the late 1830s. He graduated in 1839, at the top of his class, and served for a number of years with the Army Corps of Engineers, leaving their ranks only briefly for combat duty in the Mexican War.

Governor

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Having been a firm supporter of Franklin Pierce's candidacy for President of the United States in 1852, Stevens was rewarded by President Pierce on March 2, 1853 by being named governor of the newly-created Washington Territory (a position which carried with it the title of Superintendent of Indian Affairs for that region). Stevens chose to add one more duty as he traveled west to the territory he would govern: the government was calling for a surveyor to map an appropriate railroad route across the northern United States, and with Stevens' engineering experience (and likely the favor of Pierce yet again) he won the bid, and spent most of 1853 moving slowly across the prairie, surveying his way to Washington Territory, where he took up his post at Olympia as governor in November of that year.

Stevens was a controversial governor in his time, and has become more controversial in retrospect. He used a careful combination of intimidation and force to compel the Native American tribes of Washington Territory to sign treaties that handed over most of their lands and rights to Stevens' government. When Stevens was met with resistance, he used the troops at his disposal to exact vengeance. His winter campaign against the Yakama tribe, and his execution of the Nisqually chieftain Leschi (for the crime of having killed Stevens' soldiers in open combat), among other deeds, led a number of powerful citizens in the territory to beg Pierce to remove Stevens. Territorial Judge Edward Lander and Ezra Meeker (an influential private citizen) were both vocal in opposing Stevens—Lander was arrested as a result, and Meeker was simply ignored. Pierce sent word to Stevens of his disapproval of Stevens' conduct, but refused to remove the governor. Those who opposed Stevens ultimately lost public support, as the majority of the citizens of Washington Territory saw Meeker as being on the side of the "Indians", and Stevens on the side of the white settlers.

As a result of this public perception, Stevens was popular enough to be elected the territory's delegate to Congress in 1857 and 1858. The tensions between the whites and the Native Americans would be left for others to resolve—Stevens is often charged with responsibility for the later conflicts in eastern Washington and Idaho, especially the war fought by the United States against Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce, but these events were decades away when Isaac Stevens left Washington for good in 1857.

In the 1970s the Boldt Decision interpreted the phrase "to fish in common" from the treaties to mean that the treaty tribes were entitled to fully half of the entire salmon harvest.

Civil War

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When the Civil War began in 1861, Stevens was commissioned in the Army again, this time as Colonel of the 79th New York Volunteers, known as the Highlanders. He became a brigadier general on September 28, 1861, and fought at Port Royal. Stevens was promoted to major general on July 4, 1862, serving under Major General John Pope in the Northern Virginia Campaign and the Second Battle of Bull Run. He was killed in action at the Battle of Chantilly in Virginia while picking up the fallen regimental colors of his old regiment, shouting "Highlanders, my Highlanders, follow your general!" Charging with his troops while carrying the banner of Saint Andrew's Cross, Stevens was struck in the head by a bullet and died instantly. He was buried in Newport, Rhode Island.

Stevens County, Washington, is named in his honor.

1818 births | 1862 deaths | Union generals | Washington politicians | People of the Mexican-American War | West Point graduates | Pre-statehood territorial delegates to the United States House of Representatives

Isaac Stevens