The Leschi neighborhood is named after the Nisqually Chief executed unjustly by the Washington Territory on this day in 1858, according to HistoryLink.

Years before the founding of Seattle, Chief Leschi is said to have made camp in the neighborhood that now bears his name.

More from HistoryLink:

On February 19, 1858, Nisqually Chief Leschi (1808-1858) is hanged on a gallows at Fort Steilacoom, for the “murder” of the American soldier Colonel A. Benton Moses. Chief Leschi’s attorneys argued firstly that Leschi had not actually been the one to kill Colonel Moses, and secondly that Colonel Moses was killed during warfare (in which there were casualties on both sides), requiring that his accused killer should not be tried in a civilian court. On March 4, 2004, the Washington State Senate formally recognized “the injustice which occurred in 1858 with the trial and execution of Chief Leschi” and honored Chief Leschi as “a courageous leader” and “a great and noble man” (Washington State Senate Resolution 8727).

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