The predecessor bands to the Upper Skagit Tribe were signatory to the Treaty of Point Elliot in 1855, and ceded their land in return for a reservation and hunting, fishing, and gathering rights.

Throughout the 19th century, society rapidly shifted for the Upper Skagit as their systems of governance evolved and they faced encroachment from settlers.

The late 19th century was marked by land disputes as settlers and the government continued to assert power over the Upper Skagit.

Tools belonging to the old Cordilleran culture have been found, pointing to a period where humans relied primarily on big game hunting for survival.

The Recent period, roughly from 1250–1750 CE, was categorized by the development (and continued use) of fortifications, new projectile and spear points, and new styles of fish hooks.

[9] The first Europeans to record their encounter the with the predecessors of the Upper Skagit were the crew of José María Narváez and the Santa Saturnina around 1791.

Nearby, on Boundary Bay, they had met other peoples who they were surprised to find large amounts of European trade goods and even horses in their possession, with locals even saying that they had seen ships even larger pass by before, implying that there had been previous contact between the Indigenous peoples of the region and Europeans, albeit unrecorded.

[33] Sometime before 1855, a man named sƛ̕abəbtikəd (also called Slaybebtikud,[3] Stababutkin,[34] or Captain Campbell[35]) gained a large religious following among the Upper Skagit.

sƛ̕abəbtikəd was born at the Snohomish village of hibulb to a Nespelem man, also called sƛ̕abəbtikəd, who had moved west of the Cascade mountains.

There, he became acquainted with a Frenchman named Eugene Casimir Chirouse, who would later become a famous Catholic missionary in the Puget Sound region.

After the death of his first wife, he remarried into a highly prestigious Nuwaha family under the famous warrior-leader Petius, which greatly increased his prestige.

sƛ̕abəbtikəd established himself as the leader of this religion, deviating significantly from the traditionally democratic social order at the time, holding widely-attended church sessions during the summer at his large wooden house near what is today Rockport.

In 1855, Isaac Stevens, the first Territorial Governor of Washington, selected representatives from many tribes in the Puget Sound area to sign the Treaty of Point Elliott.

[9] The Upper Skagit also expanded their permanent settlements, clearing areas of land around their homes in order to plant potatoes as well as new crops such as corn, and to raise livestock such as chickens.

[38] Due to the lack of pressure from settlers, the various Upper Skagit peoples did not take part in the Puget Sound War of 1855-1856.

[39][38] Settlers had established small towns downriver of the logjam, but it continued to discourage settlement any further upriver for several decades.

[38] In 1870, the first surveyors of the Northern Pacific Railroad entered Upper Skagit territory, which began to encourage settlement.

[40][38] Furthermore, the settlers trespassed on lands containing graves and burned down a village of eight longhouses at the confluence of the Skagit and Sauk rivers.

The suspect was brought to Lyman for trial by the White authorities, which angered the Upper Skagit (more so than the murder itself), as they had the right to try criminals according to the treaty.

[9] The five people who were sent to the Americans formally protested at the council, saying that they never signed any treaty with the United States, nor had they received any compensation for land seizure.

[41] Following this, the five Upper Skagit, led by one Chief Wawitkin, went to Roger S. Green, the territorial judge, to ask for assistance.

At this point, many members of the Upper Skagit appealed to the government for allotments of land in the National Forest, all of them being denied.

Eventually, in 1907 and 1909, several allotments were granted to the Upper Skagit on the Suiattle River, an extremely isolated area, even into the late 1900s.

The tribe purchased 25 acres over four years on Bow Hill, including from individual tribal citizens who owned land in the area.

The highest level of permanent authority was never above the family unit, and as such, "chiefs" (as they are described in the literature) were non-existent at the time of colonization.

[46] For most of history, prior to the formation of the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, the precursor groups were hunter-gatherers who relied on hunting, fishing, and gathering for subsistence.

This has carried on to today, and members of the tribe utilize their treaty rights to participate in traditional hunting, fishing, and gathering throughout the Skagit Valley.

Furthermore, as the economy shifted towards wage labor, economic independence dropped, as people began to rely more on food, tools, weapons, and jobs which were introduced and supplied by settlers.

[46] The tribe operates a hatchery on the Skagit River, which facilitated the return of coho salmon to the reservation in 2008 for the first time in 50 years.

[55] The tribe holds the annual Upper Skagit Celebration and Stick Game Tournament each year in August, which is held in Sedro-Wooley.