Henry Sicade

In 1929 the large granite boulder that sits outside the High School, was dedicated in ceremonies honoring Henry Sicade and Tom Lane, both Tribal Chiefs of the Puyallup Tribe. The marker reads:
"The Puyallup tribe of Indians took residence on this reservation in 1857, became citizens of the United States in 1908. Tom Lane, Chief Indyoupkin, last chief of the Puyallup tribe, was born 1852 died 1909. Henry Sicade, born Feb. 12, 1866, elected to the Indian council in 1883, which he as served continuously since. These men advanced education as a means of civilized achievement for their tribe. This stone erected by the Woman's Club of Tacoma May 9, 1929."

Henry Sicade was born at Squally in Pierce County. He was a son of Charles Sicade and Susan Stann, daughter of Chief Stann of Puyallup. Upon the death of his parents, Henry left the area to attend a trade school in Oregon. He attended college in Oregon and finished four years of course work in three. Doctors advised Henry to spend a lot of time outdoors. The life of a cowboy seemed to fit the bill. Henry spent several years as a cowboy in Eastern Washington, Idaho, and Montana. One story has it that Henry rode for a while with Calamity Jane and her gang. He saved his earnings and journeyed to the east coast. In 1886 he returned to the reservation to claim his mother's 122-acre allotment. Unfortunately, unscrupulous Indian agents somehow misread the claim and there was no land left by either parent.
Henry tried to work from within the system in order to improve the life of the Indians. But he resigned when it became obvious that change was not going to happen. He married Alice Lane, daughter of Chief Tom Lane. At 17, Henry was elected to the Puyallup Indian Council. He became the manager of a large ranch in the Puyallup Valley. The job combined dairying, horse breeding, and hop raising. He and his family settled in Gardenville in 1898. The deficiencies and problems that plagued the Puyallup Indian School prompted Sicade and other Puyallup leaders to turn elsewhere for the education of children. In 1903 Sicade and his friend William Wilton played a key roll in establishing, on their reservation at Fife, a public school that became heavily populated by tribal members. The success of that venture led to expanding the facility from a one-room schoolhouse to a large two-story building.
Mr. Sicade was a life member of the Puyallup Indian Council and served on the board of state education for Indian scholarships. He was past chairman of the state school directors. He also served as president of the Pierce County Pioneers and served for more than 25 years on the Fife School District Board.
His ideal in life was to serve humanity not limited to just his people. His father instilled a love of education in Henry as well as to value kindness and honesty. Mr. Sicade was deeply involved in developing the Fife area. He supervised the building or brads, bridges and streets in the area. He served as a precinct committeeman for the Republican Party for over 35 years. He belonged to the Congregational Church and donated land for a building. Henry was instrumental in procuring the well-known "Fountain at Fife".
Henry and his wife had three sons and four daughters, all of whom attended the Fife schools.
At the age of 72, Henry Sicade died at the family home on December 14, 1938. His wife, Alice, and his seven children survived him. Sally Navarre, Sicade's daughter, donated a number of books on Pacific Northwest history that continue to be housed in the high school library. (Return to 1900's)