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The Burning of Moses Seattle
Moses Seattle’s friends returned to the shack in the woods to collect his corpse. They found him on the gravel floor, still alive. For three days, Chief Seattle’s 4ft tall grandson had survived alone in the cold, with over half his body covered in lethal burns.
Quickly rowing him to a nearby navy town for treatment, every door was slammed in their face. Nobody wanted to get involved with what happened at the party the night he was burned.
Combining true crime, anthropology, local history, and even a surprising touch of comedy, author David Norman Lewis presents the only book ever written about the Northwest's favorite little person.
It is an adventure that will take us from the fading days of magic and reincarnation on the early reservations, to the infamous Indian boarding schools, to the hop fields, to the freak shows, to a deadly party in a shack out in the woods.
Quickly rowing him to a nearby navy town for treatment, every door was slammed in their face. Nobody wanted to get involved with what happened at the party the night he was burned.
Combining true crime, anthropology, local history, and even a surprising touch of comedy, author David Norman Lewis presents the only book ever written about the Northwest's favorite little person.
It is an adventure that will take us from the fading days of magic and reincarnation on the early reservations, to the infamous Indian boarding schools, to the hop fields, to the freak shows, to a deadly party in a shack out in the woods.
255 pages, Paperback
Published November 25, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 31, 2026
First of all, many thanks to the author for the copy of the book. All thoughts here are my own.
This was an interesting read. I respect that David Norman Lewis dug into the local forgotten history of Seattle and the indigenous people there. While the book is supposed to mostly be about Moses Seattle and his death, it actually covers a lot of the history of discrimination against the Natives there.
What I didn’t like as much about the book was that it often felt disjointed because there was a lot of history to unpack, that it felt like we were jumping from one person to the next and one story to the next without a clear timeline of events or transitions. Hopefully the sequel that further the history—a very important task—will do this better.
This was an interesting read. I respect that David Norman Lewis dug into the local forgotten history of Seattle and the indigenous people there. While the book is supposed to mostly be about Moses Seattle and his death, it actually covers a lot of the history of discrimination against the Natives there.
What I didn’t like as much about the book was that it often felt disjointed because there was a lot of history to unpack, that it felt like we were jumping from one person to the next and one story to the next without a clear timeline of events or transitions. Hopefully the sequel that further the history—a very important task—will do this better.
December 1, 2025
This was not what I was expecting. Strange book. Read it in one night after going to an author event. I definitely have a lot of questions for the next time I see the author. Wish there was more information about Moses Seattle online.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews