The totem pole was later damaged by arson and a replica was commissioned and installed in its place in 1940, which is now designated a National Historic Landmark.

The totem pole was initially carved around the year 1790 and belonged to the Kinninook family, a Tlingit clan of the Raven moiety.

[4] It was carved to honor Chief-of-All-Women, a Tlingit woman who drowned in the Nass River while traveling to visit an ill sister.

[7] The expedition was meant to be a "goodwill tour," with a mixture of business and pleasure,[7] and the goal of investigating increased trade and investment in Alaska.

On the morning of August 28, 1899,[9] the City of Seattle stopped at the Tlingit village at Fort Tongass[6] when members of the Chamber of Commerce committee spotted multiple totem poles.

[8][11] At the ceremony, city officials praised the Chamber of Commerce committee for their gift and assured the gathered crowd that no one had owned the totem pole and that the expedition saved it from its certain destruction.

"[13] The Tlingit, with the exception of the elderly and small children,[4] had simply been away for the fishing and cannery season when the City of Seattle arrived at Fort Tongass[8] and they were shocked to discover the totem pole gone when they returned.

The Kinninook family and Tlingit witnesses of the theft contacted the governor of the District of Alaska John Green Brady and demanded legal action.

[15] On November 22, 1899 it was reported that the Seattle City Council declined to consider the claim further as the Comptroller stated that members of the expedition who stole the totem pole "repudiated any responsibility".

[19] On November 24, 1899, Salmon Chishiahud, who claimed to own the totem pole, brought a suit against E. B. Piper of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and other members of the expedition to recover $20,000 in damages.

[21] This occurred after the news that the Federal grand jury in Juneau had dispatched a U.S. marshal with indictments against members of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer expedition and they allegedly hurried to come to a settlement.

"[21] On December 8, 1899, the steamer Cottage City arrived in Seattle with indictments against eight members of the Chamber of Commerce committee for theft of government property.

[a][5][22] They included: Edgar B. Piper, the editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer; Thomas Prosch, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce; E. F. Blaine, the attorney who negotiated the $2000 settlement; Hon.

Here the totem will voice the natives' deeds with surer speech than if lying prone on moss and fern on the shore of Tongass Island.

[23] This occurred after the newly-appointed District Judge Melville C. Brown stopped in Seattle on the way to his Alaska posting and was entertained at the private Rainier Club.

[5] In dismissing the suit, the District Attorney Fredericks stated that "an investigation of the case leads me to believe that the defendants, although guilty of vandalism, did not intend to commit a crime.

"[28] In March 1923, the totem pole was moved 25 feet (7.6 m) south to make room for a new sidewalk in Pioneer Place and the widening of First Avenue.

[31] After the inspection, it was found to be too damaged by the fire and dry rot for repair and the Seattle City Council and Park Board sought to have a replica commissioned.

[32] The United States Forest Service was directing a totem pole restoration project in southeastern Alaska and offered to employ Civilian Conservation Corps Tlingit carvers to craft a replica.

[35] The completed replica was dedicated with tribal blessings[25] and shipped to Seattle in April 1940 and then raised in Pioneer Square in a ceremony on July 24, 1940.

[38] The renovation of Victor Steinbrueck Park renewed the controversy as it was reported in July 2022 that the totem poles there were designed and carved by a non-Native artist.

[42][43] The final legend involves Raven and Mink, who are swallowed by a whale along with firewood and stones they bring to build a fire in his stomach.