Fort Nisqually Living History Museum

Toasts, revelries, games, sampling, skill learning, and more can be found during Fort Nisqually Living History Museum’s annual Brigade Encampment. For over 40 years, this event recreates the bustle and excitement of the historic visit of Angus Macdonald's fur brigade arriving at Fort Nisqually in 1855.

Join us for an evening of food, drinks, music, and 19th century crafts!

This is a 21+ Event

Enjoy summer at the Fort with the whole family. Bring a picnic blanket and dinner to enjoy in the shade of the locus trees. Kids of all ages enjoy 19th century games and races, music, and the firing of the candy cannon! Save room for a scoop (or maybe two) of old-fashioned ice cream.

Join us in celebrating the end of the summer harvest! Help us press apples and make apple cider. Enjoy games and activities, cooking demonstrations, sampling, and learn about the kinds of crops that were grown and harvested back in 1855!

Campfires and candlelight provide illumination for this magical evening walking tour of Fort Nisqually Living History Museum. Guests eavesdrop into the lives of the people of Fort Nisqually as more than a hundred historical interpreters bring to life the people of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Be entertained by songs, dances, and games. During the tours, these inhabitants of the past will not be aware of their 21st century visitors...

Celebrate the holiday season with ornament making, the harvesting of the Yule Log, parlor games, and a visit with Father Christmas. Take a break from the hustle and bustle of modern holidays and experience a real, traditional Christmas at Fort Nisqually Living History Museum. Throughout the day guests of all ages can join in parlor games, make ornaments, and create pomanders from clementines and cloves. Wander the holiday market and pop into the kitchen for a treat! Arrive early and line up to meet Father Christmas. Children are invited to participate in bringing the Yule Log into the Fort, and everyone may take a fresh cut of the Yule Log home.

IIn 1855, Fort Nisqually was a trading center for folks from all over. They greeted each other in the trade language of the time, Chinook Jargon, by saying “Klahowya” or “welcome”. We welcome you to enjoy guided tours of the museum, historic trades demonstrations, and hands-on activities for the whole family. Plant your own seeds to take home, learn about wool and meet some local sheep, sample food prepared in the museum’s period kitchen, and play Victorian games.

Admission for Klahowya is FREE for all Pierce County and enrolled Tribal Members.

Fort Nisqually Living History Museum invites you to travel back in time to 1855 to celebrate Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s 36th birthday. The day will be filled with games, dancing, tea parties, cake, and cannons!

Dine We Must is a whimsical night full of culinary delights. Upon entrance to the Fort, historical interpreters will greet you into 1855. Appetizers, a catered dinner, live music, a cash bar, and a presentation on the history of Fort Nisqually await you on this fine evening. “Dine we must, and we may as well dine elegantly…”