Chief Tseul-ted statue

Sultan, Washington, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

A hand-made statue of Chief Tseul-ted, also called Sultan John, honours the man for whom the Sultan River and the town are named. Monroe artist Jerry Carter made it in the 1980s, and it shows the chief holding a spear and a salmon.

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Chief Tseul-ted statue

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Site-level location · 47.8617° N, 121.8201° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

A figure of Chief Tseul-ted, about 12 to 13 feet tall and holding a spear in one hand and a salmon in the other, stands near the meeting of the Sultan and Skykomish rivers in Sultan, and HistoryLink (2026) says drivers heading west out of town on U.S. Highway 2 will see it.

The statue honours the man after whom the river, and in turn the town, is named. According to HistoryLink, settlers named the Sultan River after Skykomish chief Tseul-ted and, finding his name hard to pronounce, called him Sultan John; it gives his dates as about 1847 to 1906 and notes he was known as an excellent woodworker, fisherman and hunter. In 2020 Sky Valley Chamber of Commerce president Debbie Copple told the Eatonville Dispatch that he was never a chief but a healer for the Snohomish Tribe; the city and HistoryLink call him a chief.

Monroe resident Jerry Carter, who died in 2010, formed the figure by hand from sawdust and polyester resin. The City of Sultan dates it to the 1980s; the Dispatch says it went up around 1985 and was officially dedicated in 1996. It weighs 4,000 pounds and was moved along U.S. 2 on a forklift, according to the city. Sculptor Kevin Pettelle restored it in 1997; the Herald reported in 2017 that time, weather and vandals had taken their toll, and the Dispatch added flooding in 2020.

In 2017 the city planned to move the statue to the city shop for repairs because a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge would take its spot, and said it would not return to the exact same place; a 2020 report said the move was still being decided. The city's River Park, at First and Main Streets, has a pavilion, a veterans memorial and a skate park, with views of the two rivers; the city says its parks are open dawn to dusk.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

The statue is in the River Park area near First and Main Streets, and is visible from U.S. Highway 2 to westbound drivers, according to HistoryLink (2026). City parks are open dawn to dusk.

ACCESS

The statue is in the River Park area near First and Main Streets, and is visible from U.S. Highway 2 to westbound drivers, according to HistoryLink (2026). City parks are open dawn to dusk.

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