USS Decatur and the Battle of Seattle

You are invited to a talk at the Log House Museum on Thursday, February 11 at 7 p.m.

Historian Lorraine McConaghy examines anew the founding of Seattle in her new book : Warship under Sail, The USS Decatur in the Pacific West.

The Decatur “participated in the iconic 'Battle of Seattle,' that day-long skirmish during January 1856 between 'Natives' and 'non-Natives' that looms so large in historical accounts of the city."

Warship under Sail focuses on four episodes in the Decatur's Pacific mission: the harrowing journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean through the Strait of Magellan; a Seattle war story that contested American treaties and settlements; participation with other squadron ships on a U.S. State Department mission to Nicaragua; and more than a year spent anchored off Panama as a hospital ship. In a period of five years, more than 300 men lived aboard ship, leaving a rich record of logbooks, medical and punishment records, correspondence, personal journals, and drawings. Historian McConaghy researched and presents the ship, its officers, and its crew in a vigorous, keenly rendered case study that illuminates the forces shaping America's antebellum navy and foreign policy in the Pacific, from Vancouver Island to Tierra del Fuego.

Dr. Lorraine McConaghy is the public historian at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle. Her new book “Warship under Sail, The USS Decatur in the Pacific West is published by the University of Washington Press and available for purchase at the Log House Museum gift shop.

This public event is free. Ms. McConaghy will be available to sign copies of her book. Warship under Sale will be available that evening at the Log House Museum. Southwest Seattle Historical Society members receive a 20% discount.

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