Washington Territory Governor Isaac Ingalls Stevens' ambitious treaty-making during 1854 and 1855 has been held to be the cause of the Puget Sound War. The battle was part of a Native American uprising in resistance to the pressure to cede land for reservations determined by territorial officials. There had been a series of skirmishes in the region over the previous several months, beginning October 28, 1855. There had been fighting between federal troops and natives in southern King, Thurston and Pierce counties. Five days before the attack on Seattle, Governor Stevens had declared a "war of extermination" upon the Indians.