The Duwamish reigned as one of the most powerful fireboats in the United States several times over her 75-year working life. Built in 1909 in Seattle for the Seattle Fire Department, she was equipped with three American La France steam piston pumps rated at a capacity of 3,000 gallons per minute (11,000 lpm) each. After an upgrade in 1949, the pumps delivered a total of 22,800 gallons per minute (86,300 lpm).

The Duwamish tribe is a Native American tribe in western Washington, and the indigenous people of metropolitan Seattle. The Duwamish tribe today includes the People of the Inside, for Elliott Bay environs today; and the People of the Large Lake, for those around Lake Washington of today. By language, the Duwamish are (Skagit-Nisqually) Lushootseed Salish.