The trustees of Seattle enacted an ordinance that expelled Native Americans from the newly incorporated town.

Seattle is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. It is the 18th-most populous city in the United States with a population of 780,995 in 2024, while the Seattle metropolitan area at over 4.15 million residents is the 15th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation. The city is the county seat of King County, the most populous county in Washington. Seattle's growth rate of 21.1% between 2010 and 2020 made it one of the country's fastest-growing large cities.

Shortly after the settlement's first incorporation in 1865, the Board of Trustees of the Town of Seattle, Washington Territory, passed Ordinance No. 5, subtitled An Ordinance for the Removal of Indians, expelling all Native Americans from residence in the town unless employed and housed by a white settler. Instituted on February 7, 1865, the ordinance banned all Native Americans from living within the town limits of Seattle unless employed by a settler and housed immediately adjacent to their employer.