Read the West Book Club: Chief Seattle and the Town That Took His Name

When the British, Spanish and then Americans arrived in the Pacific Northwest, it may have appeared to them as an untamed wilderness. In fact, it was a fully settled and populated land. Chief Seattle was a powerful representative from this very ancient world who had gained power and prominence on Puget Sound as a war leader. The arrival of American settlers caused him to reconsider his actions: He came to embrace white settlement and, following traditional native practice, encouraged intermarriage between native people and the settlers in the hopes that both peoples would prosper. Historian David Buerge has threaded together disparate accounts of the time from the 1780s to the 1860s – including the controversial Chief Seattle speech that haunts to this day the city that bears his name. Register by December 15.