For 10,000 years the Nisqually Tribe lived in relative peace and prosperity in its aboriginal homeland of about two million acres (810,000 ha) near the present-day towns of Olympia, Tenino, and DuPont, and extending to Mount Rainier. Tribal life changed radically with the advent of Euro-American settlement about 150 years ago. Forced to compromise its interests and rights over the years, the Tribe always sought to maintain its integrity and dignity. Subsisting on shellfish from the beaches and salmon from Sequalitchew Creek. Captain George Vancouver mapped the area in 1792, and in 1833, the Hudson's Bay Company established a fur trading post at Fort Nisqually as a halfway point between Ft. Vancouver and Ft. Langley. The fort was relocated upstream in 1843. It was relocated to expand on the fort to house more workers and to have better access to fresh water. Charles Wilkes of the United States Exploring Expedition