It’s easy to take the Nisqually river for granted when you live in Eatonville. For those of you, like me, that have seen it your entire life but don’t know a lot about it, here are a few facts:
• It’s 81 miles long
• Forms the Pierce/Lewis county line
• It’s fed by the Nisqually Glacier at Mount Rainier
• Runs through Ashford and Elbe before hitting the hydro electric dam in La Grande
• The river was the traditional territorial center for the Nisqually tribe
• The Nisqually watershed includes all lands which drain to the Nisqually River, including the communities of: Ashford, Elbe, Mineral, Eatonville, McKenna, Roy, Yelm, Fort Lewis, and portions of Graham, Lacey, DuPont, and Rainier.
• Where the Nisqually meets the Puget Sound — the Nisqually River Delta — is currently a National Wildlife Refuge. It’s famous for it’s 275 migratory bird species.
Photos courtesy of Rich Williams.
Click on images to enlarge.
Eatonville To Rainier 
3 responses to “Nisqually River, early 1900s”
Wonderful site! I am particularly interested in history as it relates to the land that now makes up Northwest Trek, i.e. Sec. 34 (eastern half), Sec. 35 (all west of the Ohop bluff), and Sec. 26 and 27 (southern border). Anyone with memories to share is welcome to contact me. Best wishes, Connie Hellyer (daughter of Connie and David Hellyer, Trek founders)
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[…] photo of the covered bridge across the Nisqually River at Elbe was taken by Steve Burwash. At the far end of the bridge is his […]
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[…] Labor Day as Tacoma’s lighting division draws the lake down to maintain stream flow on the Nisqually River. The lake is behind Alder Dam, one of Tacoma’ power-generating […]
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