M101

Americana Fort Nisqually

Summer 2020 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 32 M101 — Fort Nisqually 8-11-78

This cachet and Sandy Hook Lighthouse are the RAREST OF ALL Collins cachets with only 100 of each being produced. 

Fort Nisqually was a fur trading post established by the Hudson Bay Company in 1833. It was built in the Puget Sound area in what is now DuPont, Washington. Eighteen-foot high fir logs formed the fort with each side being 150 feet long. An elevated blockhouse was built at each corner to aid in defense, and it is one of these fortifications that is pictured on the stamp. In the 1840's and 1850's, Fort Nisqually oversaw the establishment and management of farming as well as the raising of cattle and sheep for export. My hand painted cachet depicts an ox-drawn covered wagon with a pioneer en route to the fort. A plate number single has the slogan first day postmark from Tacoma, Washington. An additional single is canceled on the first day at Seattle, Washington.