Seattle, Washington - History, 1891 (part 2 of 14)

The two sons, Arthur and David, having the pioneer spirit of their father, early looked toward the Pacific Coast as a promising place for new seats of civilization and made diligent inquiry as to Oregon. The older brother, being then a man of mature experience and judgment, and head of a family, was the leader of the enterprise, but the younger one became a most efficient coadjutor. The motives for such a removal as a journey to Oregon then implied were complex, some having respect to material welfare, improvement of health, or desire to change; but woven through it all was the purpose with the more reflecting, such as the Dennys were, to plant once more and more widely the ideas of jn'ogress, lil)eii:y and human advancement.

in the following spring were off. Starting from their Illinois home, April 10, 1851, they performed the journey in ninety -seven days, reaching Portland on August 22d. This was unusually expeditious, and except for an attempt of the Snake - or perhaps Bannock - Indians to ambush and rob or niiissacre them at a ravine near American falls, where a few weeks afterwards a familv bv the name of Clark was killed, was performed without api)arent danger. Points of interest on the way were very closely and intelligently noted and places examined. Full inquiries were made as to tlie best places for location in the territory, although the intended destination was the Willamette valley. On Burnt river, however, a man named Brock was met. He had came out thus far expecting to find friends in the immigration, but being disappointed, turned back to Oregon and down to the Dalles, traveling with the Denny party. This man A. A. Denny found to be very intelligent and thoroughly informed its to the geography and resources of Oregon, and particularly of the Sound country, of which he had heard little heretofore. Brock called his attention to the fact that it was but little farther from Umatilla landing, where the emigrant road reached the Columbia, to Puget Sound than to Portland ; although as yet there was no road thitlier over the mountains. This geographical feature, coupled with the perfect ocean connection by the Sound, struck Mr. Denny as very significant, as it has struck reflecting men ever suice.

The party proceeded down the Columbia toward Portland. At the Dalles they noticed the tent of the noted Indian trader, Craig, which occupied "the site on which is now the Umatilla house. In the little harbor formed by the mouth of Mill creek lay a number of boats belonging to a man named Tudor. Here they hired a boat to transport them to the Cascades, where a tramway was being constructed aiToss the portiige. The journey thence was completed in the famous old brig Henry. On arriving at Portland the party was temporarily divided. Those composing the company, either from the first or added on the way, were the Dennys, C. D. Boren, J. N. Low, and W. N. Bell. Mr. A. A. Denny was obliged on account of illness in his family to remain for a time at Portland, then a busy place of two thousand people and having even thus early the airs of a metropolis.

Although contiiied somewhat tediously, he improved the time by making inquiries about the country, and from Mr. Thomas Chambers, the pioneer of tlie prairie country back of Steilacoom, who happened to be in the city, he obtained information which greatly increased his interest in the Sound.

In the meantime Low and 1). T. Denny came over to the Chehalis country, partly for the sake of leaving Low's cattle in a good place to winter - at Judge Ford's - and partly to examine the region with a view to settlement. From Ford's they came on to Olympia and found Lee Terry. With Terry and Captain Robert C. Fay, who subsequently became well known in the Indian war, they made up an exploring party to go down the Sound. Obt^nning a canoe, they set forth, paddling slowly dow^n the Sound, or Moating idly on the current of the deep blue water, noticing headlands, inlets and the unbroken forest, hazy in the September weather, with the blue smoke of the Indians' fires curling out of the woods from their camping grounds. In course of time they reached Alki point and made Elliott Bay, and entering and traversing it, ascended the Duwamish, wiiere they found the i)arty of Collins and Van Asselt, in the new ardor of settlement, w^hich they had but shortly before determined uj)on.

Terry was from New York and was impressed with the place rather as a townsite tlian as a fanning region. J^robably the settlement on the Duwamisli, wliich would increase rapidly, and the splendid chance for lumbering, led him to tliink that a point of supply nnist spring up somewhere near. Alki point and the peninsula, no doubt, struck him as bearing some resemblance to Manliattan island, with tlie inlet for the river and the bay answering to tlie East river, and the long shore from Alki answering for a much magnified Bowery. At any rak^ he determined to make liere a city, and, Low agreeing, they called it New York. Prol)ably from their ()l)servance of Duwamisli fiats they regarded Elliott Bay as too shallow for shipping and wanted to get on the side of dee]) watei*. Alki was, more(»ver, a beautiful point with a sandy beach and level shore, and but slightly elevated land behind ; wnth a bold outlook on the water, commanding a view of the Olympic mountains, and sure to catch sight and j)erhaps temj)orary possession of all the craft that came into the Sound and passed up towards its head. It was doubtless a reason for locating the city here that vessi^ls would only have to bring to and stop in order to be in the place, while at the head of an inlet they must spend a few hours tacking in and go a few miles out of their course. It is not necessary to stop here to reflect ujmn the enterprise of tliese young men or to moralize ujMjn how their dream has come true. Low, having found the sjxJt for a home, hired D. T. Denny to take charge of his place while he went back to Portland for his familv. Lee Terrv and David Denny at once began work felling trees suital)lc for a log house, and laid the first beam of this structure on the 2Sth of September, I80I. ^

At Portland, Low found the rest of the paiiy waiting and ready to start. It happened (piite opj)()rtunely that at this place during the autumn a gold hunting party was fitting out with the intention of prospecting the (^ueen Charlotte Islands, where it was thought gold was abundant. The schooner Exact, Captain Folger, was the craft by which the journey was to be peribrmed. A very considerable party was to go, adventurers, but sterling good men. By this scliooner the New Yorkers were also accommodated with pjussage to their city. Among these were now numbered A. A. Denny and family; John N. Low and family: C. D. Horen and family; Wm. N. Bell and family, and Charles C. Terrv. Thev made the somi^what lengthy and tedious voyage in safety, clearing at Astoria on November 7tli, and crossing out the same day. Without unusual delay or l)ad weather, they passed up the coast, in view of the many romantic caj)es and headlands, sighting the Olympic mountains, and entered the straits. In six days they reached tlie point, on November l.'Uh,* and stepped ashore. The

* The Alki Point settlers arrived at their destination on the 13th, and were disembarked the same day at low tide, spending the dull November afternoon in carrying their goods by hand out of reach of high water, assisted by the women and children. -'And then," says Bell artlessly, "the women sat down and cried." Poor women ! Is it any wonder? Think of it; the long journey overland, the wearisome detention at Portland, the sea voyage in the little schooner, and all to be set down on the beach of this lonely inland sea at the beginning of a long winter, without a .shelter from the never-ceasing rain for themselves or their babes. - Bancroft Wash. pp. 22-2iJ. [Courageous women after all and not so poor, in the long run, each one becoming owner in her own right of land worth a fortune. There was shelter, moreover, and before winter l:)egan the log and *' shake " houses were completed. The winter too, was mild and l>eautiful. Nevertheless this is a touch not to be overlooked. Karly life on this coast involved a great draft on the spirits.]

party numbered just two dozen, all told, including D. T. Denny and Lee Terry, who had stayed at the point. It is a matter of interest to note that this party of twenty-four, had in thirty-six years become by natural increase 103, the number of deaths in that time having been 12, leaving 91.

With great cheerfulness and good courage they at once set about completing the house already begun, and although the weather was rainy, did not slacken work on that account. This first of all the houses at the present site of Alki Point, was long and low, and without windows.

A piece of land about an acre in extent was partly cleared, and the trees which in wise of wind might endanger the building, were felled. The site of this place was but a few rods from the water's edge and looked north. For twenty-four persons, accommodations were rather narrow, and as soon as possible a second house was built for A. A. Denny and family. A peculiarity of this cabin w^as the door cut in two crosswise, so that the low^er section miglit be closed and fastened by a button, to keep the Indians out, and the upper opened at the same time for light.

It will not be inferred that life was carried on here in great splendor, neither must it be tliought that it was passed in misery or without refinement. These were all men and women of intelligence and native and ac(juircd culture. Much in the way of romance was woven in with the duller threads of life here, as among cultivated people everywhere.

Two more cabins wore soon put u}), one each for Bell and Boren, and these, as the logs suitable for making cabins which were available without the use of teams were exhausted, were constructed of split cedar boards, wrought tast(ifully. They w(av not regarded as so substantial as the others. Nevertheless, as the winter })roved very mild, they were (]uite sufficient.

Although on the edge* of a pathless wilderness and an unknown sea, the settlers were not lacking in visits of white men. Of course the Duwamish folks came over to see them. But a few davs after they were landed V. W. IVttygrove and F^. B. Hastings, of Portland, paid them a friendly visit on ihviv way exploring down the Sound to Port Townsend. Xor was the young city obliged to wait long for commerce. Soon after the cabins were completed a ship hove in sight, seeking a load of timbers for piling, and those on board, seeing a settlement of white men, steered thither and came to anchor ofl' the beach. This was the brig Leonesa, Captain Daniel S. Howard. The settlers were quite ready to take the contract for supplying the piling, and, although they had no teams, set to work at once with crowl)ars and hand-power to get the timbers out. Lee Terry, however, was detailed to go up the Sound for a yoke of oxen, which he obtained and brought down the beach from Puyallup ; but before he returned, very considerable progress was made in loading the cargo. Many of the navigators during these early times were intelligent and entertiiining men, and the officers of the LeoncMi were no exception. Their visit was a most agreeable break in the monotony of the woo<ls life.

There was no great danger of loneliness, however, as in the course* of the winter as many as one thousand Indians gathered and made here their camp for the winter. Alki Point, to which the si^ttlers had now agreed to change the name, as they learned that this word meant " Bye and bye," or " Before long," and thought it significant of their effort, had not hitherto been a rendezvous of the savages ; but as the ground was cleared they began to C()ngregat(\ coining by canoe loads and putting in place their little shanties, ])ringing with them the rush mat^s and hollow sliingles of which they made them. They were i)erfectly good natured and showed no signs of hostility; and, in fact, it was evident that their object in wintering here was for the siike of protection from other Indians, resj)ect for the American riHe having even before this extended to the remotest tribes. It may be sup})()sed that, with their ill odors and in some respects squalid habits, they were not the most agreeable neighbors. Nevertheless the whites thought it prudent to make no objection to their coming and building next door.

that a general battle would be brought on. Some Muckleshoot Indians came with a chief called Nelson at their head, and as a result of the boasting and braggart challenges that the savages were always fond of passing, the Snoqualmies under John Kanim became em-aged. To the number of thirty or forty on a side, the opposing parties drew up in front of Low's house with their Hudson's Bay muskets in their hands. They stood close enough together to burn each other witli powder in case the guns should happen to be discharged ; and the insults and epithets cast back and forth along the lines seemed likely to lead directly to an exchange of bullets. Mr. Denny, however, put a stop to the broil by taking John Kanim and keeping him away until Nelson and his band went off. It was not regarded as certiiin, however, that there would have been bloodshed, as the Indians were fond of exciting wars of words and seldom fought drawn battles, preferring, when they really intended to kill, to take their victim unawares, and to do the talking afterwards. If the talking came first there w^as no killing.

As the Indians were an imj)ortant factor in matter on the Sound, and as the citv took its name from one of their chiefs, some brief description of the tribes about Elliott Bay with their noted men will make a more definite background for the historic scene.

The Indians at the time the first settlers came were very numerous, congregating in great numbers upon any occasion of importance. In a great "pot latch" on Whidby island in 1848, when Glassgow was beginning settlement there, A. B. Rabbeson also being present, the number gathered was estimated at about eight thousand, including nearly all the ]\iget Sound tribes, from the Nisquallies on the south to tJie Clallams on the north. At Alki Point they gathered in numbers of from seven hundred to one thousand.

Tliey were at that time in a practically wild state. The chiefs and princij)al warriors had Hudson l^ay muskets as weapons, but the great majority were armed only with bows and arrows, knives, and clubs and hatchets. Their knives they made by laborous hammering from scrap iron or files obtained from tlie trading vessels. They soon learned the great value of steel files, and aecjuired the knowledge of bringing tlieni to the point of malleability, making a fire of sufficient heat by use of broken j)ieces of fir bark.

Tlieir liuts were made of si)lit cedar boards. Vov the walls they rived planks of considerable dimensions, six or eight feet long and a foot or more in width and several inches tliick. In erecting the walls they set the plank uj)right. For tin* roof they, had small boards, whose upper or weather side was skillfully hollowed out, leaving a rim around all the edges except the lower, and such imperfections as knots or knot holes were carefully left with a surrounding rim so as not to convey a stream of water through. Their hig houses were substantial structures, large enough to accommodate a small tribe, and these were not removed. But they put up many temporary huts, carrying their roof hoards and mats about with them in their canoes. Every tribe had a big house which was a fortress as well as a domicile. The entrance to these was by a door hung on a pin at the top so that being swung either to the right or to the left, it returned to its place, closing the aperture. Light was admitted only through cracks or the hole in the roof which served as an exit for the smoke of their fires kindled on the ground. Often they had a number of places for fires and as many holes for the smoke to escape.

Their clothing was very limited. Originally the Indians were well clad, having skins and furs, but as soon as the trade for pelts began they dickered them ofi* for trinkets, iron, muskets, and at the time of the settlement of Seattle were as nearly unclothed as they had ever been in their liistory. The women still wore aprons or pelisses or girdles made of finely wrought cedar bark, which was gathered up on a string to be tied about the waist, and fell in a tassel work of strings to the knee. As an outer covering or protection from the cold or rain, they usually had a blanket or a piece of cloth. The men and children often went without any clothing whatever, or only the outer cloth or blanket. They shortly began, however, to want clothing, and a hickory shirt was willingly purchased at the price of a whole venison.

Their boats were, of coui*se, canoes hollowed from cedar logs by means of chisels or adzes and the use of fire. The adz was their most common tool. It was made of iron or steel with an edge like a chisel, and hung on a stick long enough to be easily manipulated with both hands. P'or the handle thev selected a stick with a crotch at the farther end, and cut the two arms of the crotch so as to have one longer than the other, and between the two tied the iron by means of sinews, which as they shrank, made a very firm binding. By this means the cutting edge of the tool was brought diagonal to the handle, and in chopping or cutting the stroke was brought diagonal to the grain of the wood, not directly across it. Not only was their work facilitated but the fine gouging in the sides and edges was done as it could not otherwise have been. It was a most ingenious contrivance.

Like most Indians, these were shrewd, suspicious, taciturn and obdurate, but in many cases they showed much kindness. Among themselves they were boastful, domineering, and when in liquor, very quarrelsome. A case is told of one, who, when partly intoxicated, fatally stabbed his own brother. The members of the various tribes constantly engaged in petty quarrels, leading sometimes to affairs of violence, though anything like wars seem to have been uncommon. Though great braggarts, they were often cowardly, as is instanced by an incident in the experience of Mr. Van Asselt. He happened to be working at Alki Point, hewing timber. He heard a drunken brave inside an Indian, house near by boasting in a loud voice that he was afraid of no one. Si wash or Boston, and would soon be displaying his prowess. Van Asselt, to test his courage, quietly left his work, and although a little dubious of the experiment, went to the shanty and looked for this big-hearted brave. The moment he appeared the Indian came forward, all smiles and blandisliments, saying " clihi-i-am, dihii-i-am," in tlie most friendly manner. Their braggadocio did not mean fight, yet they were desperate fighters when it came to the pinch.

The indians were divided off' into numerous tribes, almost every bay, lake and stream having one that claimed it as home. They seem to have had no great chief to begin with, but their head men met in council, and they also had great councils of all the tribes to form alliances for special purposes. At Port Madison there was a tribe over wliich Seattle presided. On the present si t-e of the city of Seattle lived one with Curlv, so called bv the whites from his curlv hair, at its head. On tlie Duwaniish was a distinct tribe, with Old Dick as cliief There were also distinct tribes on Black river. Cedar river, (Jreen river and at Muckleshoot prairie on W]iit(? riv(M*; and on Lake Samaniish was one properly called "Simumps." The biggest tribe was tlie Snocjualmies, on Snocjuahnie river and ])rairie. Pat Kanim was their chief, probably the shrewdest and most powerful Indian on the Sound at that earlv da v.

To speak now of some of the chiefs, it is most uatuml to l)egiii with this one. Pat Kanim was a man of bright, intelH^ent face, whicli was broad and full, eyes large and lustrous, set straight in his head, a straight Greek nose, delicate mouth and with thin lij)s and graceful curves at the corners and at the ''Cupids bow." He was ambitious and knew how to gain ascendency over others. Our first knowledge of him begins with the great feast at Whidby Island in 1848. It would seem that it was by his pre-arrangement that it took place, or if it were a regular occurrence, that he gained control of its movements. Assembling the trilx^s to the number of eight thousi\nd, he made a great display, ha<l a grand hunt, driving up the game by means of dogs and runners, into a corral made of bnish and sc^aweed, obtaining ui)wards of sixty large animals, such as deer, and many small ones. Thus was provided a magnificent feast. This was followed by a war dance in which over two thousand braves took part. After such feeding and display as was calculated to put a big heart into the Indians, a council was called the third day, and the business he had in view was laid before the council of the chiefs. The proposition was to form an alliance of all the tribes to exterminate the Hudson's Bay people on the Sound. The fact that I^it Kanim was the first speaker shows his })rimacy in the affair. He displayed great hatred of the King George men,* and advocated attacking Fort Nis- (pially, taking the plun<ler and killing or driving off the men. He was an impassioned speaker, and seems to have carried the sentiment of the council, for another chief, known as John Taylor, who followed Pat Kanim, taking it for granted that his plan would be adopte<l, rose to urge that they include the Americans at Tumwater. He had been in the Willamette valley, he said, and had there seen the Ik)stons, and

* Soon after their arrival, a general council of the triljes of the Sound was held on the island at the instigation of Pat Kanim, chief of the Snoqualmies, to confer upon the policy of permitting the American settlements in their country. - Bancroft, Wash. p. 11. [It is astonishing with what pertinacity this author seeks to make the Americans the object of the Indians' hate. According to Rabbeson, who with Glassgow, was the only one to hear this conference, it was to urge extermination of the British at Nisqually and to seize their goods and cattle, that Pat Kanim addressed the council, and it was only because the tribes could not agree upon including the Americans that his plan failed.]

learned that in their own country tliev were as numerous as the sands on the beach, and if they were allowed to keep on coming they would soon overwhelm the Indians, making them shives; or else put them on their fire canoes and transport them to a far off land where the sun never shone. Pat Kanim did not opi)Ose this sugge,stion, but it was nevertheless what broke up the council, for Gray Head or Snohodumtah, of the Nisquallies, who was a friend of the Americans at Tumwater, rose to withstiind their destruction. He was a Huent speaker, and recounted how the larger tribes, as of Pat Kanim and John Taylor, had in former times made incursions into the country of the smaller ones, carrying them ofl* for slaves ; but since the Americans had come they had not dared to do it. Who would there be to protect the Nis([uallies if the Americans were killed? The chief of the Duwamish said that as his tribe was between the Snoqualmies and the Nisquallies, he would do it. Gray Head spoke with contempt of such protection, and said that he would rather have one American with his * rifle than anv number of Duwamishes.

At this the council broke up in confusion, the various tribes probably tiiunting each other, and Pat Kanim trying to carry his jwint by appeal to passion. It ai)peared to the whites who secretly overheard the proceedings, that a general figlit was imminent, and they took the precaution to get out of the way. But Pat Kanim would not connnit the blunder of dividing the tribes, but sought rather to compel Gray Head by strategy to unite with them. His plan was to kill (iJassgow and Rabbeson, the white men on the island, at once, and to send word of their murder to the Americans at Tumwater. They, thinking the deed was committed with the consent of Gray Head, wouM retaliiate on the Nisquallies, and thus compel him to resist them in selfdefense and to save his own tribe. The i)lan was shrewd, but Rabbeson and Ghissgow learning of it through Glassgow's Indian wife, and liaving objections to certain of the details, made a prompt departure.

Althougli tlie plan failed for that season, the next year the Snoqualmies made an attack on Fort Nisqually. Pat Kanim was at their head, llv brought his men to the fort in their war j)aint, giving as a reason that he was on a hostile excursion against the Nisquallies. He himself went into the fort, but while he was tliere his brother, Kassas, led a charge or dash upon the door of the fort, which was closed at once; hut some Americans outside were shot down. Dr. Tolmie, commandant, was aimed at, hut an Indian seeing that the}' could not succeed, directed the gun away. Pat Kanim, inside, seeing the assault a failure, affected surprise an<l drew off liis men. It has been doubted that he had anv hostile intention, but it is hard to believe that he did not direct the attack of Kassas, or that Kassas would have made an assiiult on his own motion, knowing that the chief was inside and would be the first one kille<l, unless he knew what was coming and could either use force or dissimulation according to the result. In connection with the plan hroaelied by him the year before it scH^ms certain Ihat he intended to take the fort. The killing of the Americans was, however, a mistake, as he was not {)repared to incur the enmity of Gray Head. For this reason probably he made no objection to delivering uj) his brother for execution for the murder of Wallace, the American that was killed. It was this diplomatic statesman and cunning warrior that came around among tlic little band of Americans at Alki. They knew nothing of his history, Imt soon marked him as a man of strong character and great al)ility. They found him ever friendly and considerate and learned to repose in him implicit confidence. He proved fullv worthv of it, and thev cannot to this dav believe that he was the sinister savage that h(^ seemed to be on Whidby Island and at Niscpially, and tlie dissimilarity is inexplicable except on the supposition that he hated the Englisli but liked the Americans.

Another brother of his was John Kanim, who came so near having a fight wuth Nelson of the Muckleshoots at Alki, and who was afterwards killed in a brawl at Tulalip.

Chief Dick of the Duwamish was a man of great integrity and piety. It was his custom to assemble his family and conduct what we should call family worship to the Socalee Tyee. He spoke no language but his own native Indian, not even understanding the Chinook jargon. It was due to him that the settlers on the Duwamish were not killed, for, although he did not or could not restrain his Indians, he sent his daughter Sally to them secretly to warn tliem, so that \^in Asselt recognized as assassins five certain Indians who earner to his cabin in the absence of his partner and waited around, not asking for food.

The chief for whom Seattle was named Hved across the inlet on Bainbridge Island at Port Madison, at the great lodge known as the " Old Man House, " pronounced ol-e-man. This singular name is explained by saying that the Indians conceived of inanimate objects as masculine or feminine, but had no way of expressing the distinction in Chinook but by using the prefix "olc man" or "ole woman." This house, being large and strong, was thought of as a strong chief, " ole man.". Seattle's father was a Suquamish and his mother a Duwamish, and by this he was recognized as a superior chief of both. By the whites too, he was recognized as a high chief. This distinction was not due so much to his greater ability as to liis well known friendliness. He was much uj) and down the Sound, stopping often at Olympia as well as at the Old Man House. It was at the former place that he met Dr. Maynard and gave him his grand-daughter' Betsy. liater on this young woman led a dismal life, having as husband a dissolute white man who deserted her and her child. Some time after the settlement at Seattle she ended her own life by hanging. There were two sons of Seattle, one of whom is r(;membered as a tall and fine looking Indian, but both died of consumption long before the death of their father. In person Seattle was short and heavy, weighing as much as 180 pounds. He was round-shouldered, and bv some it was fancied that he ri\*^emble(l in feature Senator Benton of Missouri. His lace was refined and benevolent but not particularly strong. He was a good friend to the whites, yet when the Klickitats b(»gan the war on the whites did not manifest the concern of Pat Kanim for their safety. He died in 18()(), at an age estimated as about 80. He professed to remember Vancouver, which might very likely have been the case as he must have been a boy of from six to ten when the great navigator visited Puget Sound. He was neat in his dress, wearing a shirt, pantaloons, coat and often a blanket, with a high peaked hat of nativ(* manufacture. He became a Catholic in faith and his grave is marked by a sliaft inscribed with his name, the symbols of his faith and a bri(^f word indicating his services to the whites. This was raised but a few vears since bv citizens of Seattle. His name, as ])rou()unee(l hy tlie Indians, was " Sealth. "

It would l)c unfair and untrue to regard tliese tribes of natives as altogether an evil and a hinderance to settlement, for they were essential as workers, as rowers or paddlers, as tish(»nnen and in handling timbers. There Wiis also mueh in thein to res[>eet and love, and there is an unlimited pathos al>out their atttMupts "to be good," and their futile efforts to imitate the white men, and alx)ut thrir fate - for by the coming of the whites all the ust^s and courses of life sei'm to have been turned for them into poison. Nevertheless they were not pleasant neighbors.

Skttlkmext At Skattlk

As Low and Teiry intended making a city at Alki,and as the other members of the colony desired laud of their own - more than the lots that the proprietors of Alki offered to give them - it became necessary to look further for claims.* Bell, Boren and A. A. Denny made an ex[)edition to the Puyallup <luring the winter, but were not satisfied with what they found. In a state of nature that country was a tangle, almost a jungle, with wild beasts and wild men in abundance, but no settlers. In the next place, they looked across Elliott Bay as affording a possible chance for homes. Their immediate necessity had to take precedence of ulterior advantag(\*<. They must find j)laces where they could make a living, and the main source of this was to furnish piling to the ships; while they d(»j)ended also on their cattle, both their cows for milk and their oxen for hauling out the timbei-s to the shore. In Februarv an examination of thel)av was made, in onler io determine whether it would admit ships near the shore for their primitive lading. They wished also to see what was the prospect for timber

* Low and Terry laid outlets at Alki Point caUing it New York, and offering lots to those members of the company who would remain and build upon them. Ihit the Indians gave information during the winter concerning a pass in the Cascade mountains, which induced the majority to remove in the spring to the east side of the bay, where they founded a town of their own. - Bancroft Hist. Wash. p. 23. [As stated by Denny, the immediate object in moving across the bay was to obtain donation claims of their own, having particularly abundance of tini1>er for piling, with facilities for loading ships, deep water in shore. The fact of a pass in the mountains by which a road might be made for immigrants from Umatilla, could have had very little to do with determining which side of the bay the city was to l>e on.]

and for pasture along the shore. They used a eanoe as their craft, and Bell and Boren handled the oars. Denny, using a clothes line with a bunch of horse shoes attached, "heaved the lead." This was the first hydrographic survey of the harl)or.

They began their work about daylight, passing over to the north shore and taking soundings from Smith's Cove southward. The water proved to be very deep in the bay, and the soundings brought them near the hind. Toward noon they had passed as far southward as the present site of the Arlington hotel. Stopping here for lunch at a spring that trickled out of the bhiffy shore, they rested a little on the pebbly and sandy beach. Looking up over the impending bluff, Mr. Denny observed a break in the forest through which he Siiw the skj^ beyond. Thinking this to indicate an oj)ening in the continuous woods, he climbed up the bank and discovered a gently slopuig hillside over which a fire had i)assed, deadening the trees. Some of these, particularly the alders, of which there were many at that particular place, had fallen over, leaving an opening in the boscage. It was this place, which was his by right of discovery, that he afterwards chose for his home. During the afternoon the party ])addled south, up the 1)ay. As they passed slowly along the shore from their noon resting ])hice, they found the bluff diminish in licight, hiwering from thirty or forty feet down to fifteen, and, in less than half a mile, to but five or less. Then it disaj)peare(l, and they came upon a little crooked tide stream, with muddy banks and salt grass on the margin and along the tiny meadow. Near this j)oint was a curious circular mound or knoll thirty or forty leet high, with steep hut not hluffv sides. Beyond was observed an Indian house, no longer inhabited, but left to stand and it was now partly overgrown with wild rose bushes, which flourislicd along this shore. South of the little tide stream they coasted ])ast a low, wooded plat, but little above the tide water, but bearing fir trees. Thev continuiMl their vova<re to th(^ tide-flats and around the head of the hay, reaching honii' by nightfall, not only "well pleased with the excursion," but thoroughly satisfied as to tin* fitness of the l)ay f"or a harbor and as to its eastern shore tor a home and a place to build a citv.

alsc) that here was the Ix'tt^r harhor an<l site lor a citv, thev decided to locate here their donation chiinis. Thev hlockiMl olV in a hodv a tract that would serve as farms or timber lots at first and afterwards as a townsite. This tract lay just o])i)osite the entrance of the hay about a mile an<l a half alon^ the shore. The southern boundary was below the little ti<le stream near \\io curious knoll just north of the low land covered with lir trees. Off this point the water shoaled and a spit ran out. It was here that the tide-hmds bepin and the bluff broke down.

Dividing the tract into tlirce picc(»s, Horcn took the one to the south and Bell that to the north, while l)(Minv had the center. As the plan of laying off a town was ukm-c talkid of, I). T. Denny wjis invited to locate on this site, the others offering to rearrange their boundaries so as to let him in. liut \\v would not take advantage of their generosity, saying that as he was a bachelor he could attbrd to wait, lie therefore laid a claim north of Bell's.

As the cattle had been left to winter in the Willamette vallev it was decided to get them over bc^fore moving to the claims. Opportunely, about this time, March 2:)d, the Krnrf, on \\vv return voyage from the north where she had tbund nothing of interest, touched at Alki on her wav U]> the Sound, and bv her Boren and David Dennv were furthered on their wav to Portland as far as ()lvm])ia, and Bell and A. A. Dennv were left to take chary-e of the claims and families. This proved no easy task as they still had in their systems the remnants of Eastern ague, and during all that spring and sununer had their regular paroxysms of chilling and burning.

On the 31st of ihirch, the same year, came an indej)endent settler, a business nnm, who, if the TiMTy's and Denny's had not i)receded him, might i)erhaps have become known as the father of the citv. This was Dr. D. S. Ahivnard, originallv from \'erm()nt. He was a man of much education and enterpri.^e. lie had been st()pi)ing at Olympia over winter, and, making an examination of the run of salmon, conclu<led that there was a fortune in [jickling or salting them. Finding Seattle he in(|uired of him tla? best place for obtaining the fish. Seattle said he would .*^how him and in March, accordingly, brought him to Elliott iky, landing him at Alki and agreeing to catch the fisli for him. After examining the bay and particularly that part on the southwest at the place formerly called Milton, now West Seattle, Dr. Maynard found nothing that suited him so well as the point on the east side at the southern end of the tract set off for claims. He was readily accommodated with a site here, and the others offered to change their lines so that he might take a claim.

At first he declined this liberal offer, saying that he only wished space enough for a fishing station temporarily, but he afterwards concluded to accept their offer and they set their lines north to make room for him. During the summer the salmon business flourished, Seattle keeping canoes of fishermen on the bay, to the number it .is said of fifty to one hundred. An air of thrift and business activity therefore pervaded the place almost from the first.

It was not initil April - the third day - that the claimants on the east shore of Elliott Bay were ready to move over ; and then it was but to camp, as no cabins had been built. Boren set his tent on the south side of the townsite, and Bell on the north. Denny was not well enough, however, to move, and remained at Alki until a house could be built for him. His comrades first put up cabins for themselves, and then one for Denny on the bluff. This did not prove a convenient place, however, on account of the ruggtMlness of the shore, which made access to and from tlie beach difticuh. Indeed, the water could be reached from the shore onlv bv a roundal)()ut path. He therefore soon afterwards built another house on the site now occupied by the Frye l)lock on Front street, and thus the chiinis were adjusted so as to give all convenient ways to tlie water. One of the difliculties of settlement was to obtain good drinking water. Denny sunk a well forty feet deep in the gulcli, but found only (juicksand and a very small supply of water.

timber, but also for bringing their supplies. There was then ])ut little produced on the Sound, and groceries of all kinds were to be obtained only from ships, all of which carried a small stock of goods as they traded along the coast. From such craft they were supplied at P^lliott Bay with pork and butter brought around Cape Horn from the East, flour in barrels from Chili, and sugar in mats from China. The coming and going of such vessels was something to keep up the life of the place and to mark the progress of events. In the autumn of the same year - October - occurred one of the most im portent events of the early history of the place. This was tlie coming of Henry L. Yesler.

Mr. Yesler proved to be a wortliy comrade of the men who had selected the place a few months before. He was a man of practical education, business experience, broad ideas and liberal means. From his native state, Maryland, he liad come to the Pacific Coast with the intention of establishing here a busini^ss of large proportions. Satisfying himself of tlie permanence of the mining interests of California, he concluded that the demands of that state, and particularly of San Francisco, for lumber would make lumbering a great business. He therefore came up to Portland, expecting to establish himself there. But because of the wreck of the steamer Gciural Wairetij which occurred about that time, and some otlier discouraging things, he decided to look further. At Elliott Bav he found what he wanted. Here was an unrivaled harbor, an outlet to the sea impeded by no shoals or bars, and a world of tlie best of timber. Looking al)out the harbor he preferred as a site the point where Maynard and Boren joined claims, and their lines were accordingly so changed as to let him in. Nothing seems to the historian more kindly and good tempered than the disposition of these pioneers, who had a city already in view and knew something of the value of their land, to give to new arrivals an equal advantage with themselves. It was, it is true, good policy to favor active men with business interests, and to offer inducements to locate here ; but such a liberal line of action is seen and appreciated only by the liberal.

Late in the year - December - occurred the discovery of Salmon Bay, the original Shilshole of the Indians. It illustrates fairly well the perfect satisfaction of the first occupants of Elliott Bay that they had made no examination further north for a better site than their own. The discovery of this water Mas quite accidental, and the incident is most entei'tainine:lv narrated bv Mr. Dennv :

'- When we selected our claims we had fears for the maintenance of our animals as our stock would not afford them sufficient feed in the winter and it was not possible to provide feed for them, which caused us a great deal of anxiety. From statements made by Indians, which we could then but imperfectly understand, we were led to believe that there were prairie or grass lands to the northwest, where w*e might find feed in case of necessity ; but we were too busy to explore until in December, 1852, when Bell, my brother and myself, determined to look for the prairie. It was slow and laborious traveling through the unbroken forest, and before we had gone far Bell gave out and returned home, leaving us to proceed alone. In the afternoon we unexpectedly came to a body of water, and at first thought that we had inclined too far eastward and struck the lake, but on examination we found it to be tide water. From our point of observation we could not see the outlet to the Sound, and our anxiety to learn more about it caused us to spend so much time, that when we turned homeward it soon became so dark that we were compelled to camp for the night without dinner, supper or blankets, and we came near being without fire also, as it had rained on us nearly all day and wet our matches so that we could only get fire by the flash of a rifle, which was exceedingly difficult to do under the circumstances. Our camp was about midway between the mouth of the bay and the cove, and in the morning we made our way to the cove and took the beach for home. Of course our failing to return at night caused great anxiety at home, and soon after we got on the beach we met Bell coming on hunt of us, and the thing of most interest to us just then was he had his pockets filled with hard bread.

" This was our first knowledge of Shilshole Hay, which we soon afterward fully explored, and were ready to point new comers in that direction for locations. The first to locate were Dr. H. A. Smith, Kdnunid Carr, }\. M. Smithers, David Stanley, John Ross, F. McNatt, Joseph Overholts, Henry R. Pierce, Hurley Pierce and William Strickler. McNalt and the Pierces afterwards changed their location, and of them had the impression that the bay must be a great resort for salmon in their season, and therefore named it Sahnon Hay, but time proved it not to be a very appropriate name. The narrative of our travels and discovery will doubtless sound strange to some now, but it was not uncommon for inexperienced persons to get lost between the bay and the lake, and in some cases it was necessary to look after them to prevent their suffering."

warn ish, September 16th; moved on them, Septemlx^r 27th ; location at Alki Point, Se{)tember 2r)th or 26th ; foundation of cabin hiid at Alki, September 28th ; arrival of the Ejcact with twenty-two passengers, making twenty-four at "New York," November I3th: visit of V. W. Pettygrove and L. B. Hastings at Alki, in November; visit of the brig Lconesa, Captain 1). II. Howard, for piling, in winter, perhaps Decemlx^r; survev of Elliott Hav bv Hell, Hohmi and Dennv followed bv location of claims on the east shore, Februarv loth, 1802; return of D. T. Denny and Boren to the Willamette for the cattle, March 2.*^d ; arrival of Dr. Mavnard with ScattltN to estal)lish a salmon fisherv, March .*nst; during the summer of '02, arrival at various times of the brigs Franklin Adama and John /Mr/.s*; arrival ofll. L. Yesler, October ; discoverv of Salmon l)av, in December.

The winter of 18r)2-'o.3 was characterized ns a time of scarcitv. It is tol<l so gra[)hically and with so much humor l)y Mr. Denny that his account mav be inserted here. It is seen bv this that the settlement of the place was not by any means a ])icnic, though the hardships were borne with cheerfulness and good humor.

**ln the year l8»')2-'o3, but few vessels visited the Sound for several months, and as a consequence it was a time of great scarcity, amounting almost to distress. Our pork and butter came around Cape Horn and flour in barrels from Chili, sugar mostly in mats from China. That fall I paid $SH) for two barrels of pork, and flli) for a barrel of flour. I left one barrel of the pork on the beach in front of my cabin, as I supposed above high tide, until it was needed. Just about the time to roll it up and open it there came a high tide and heavy wind at night, and like the house that was built upon the sand it fell, or anyway it disappeared. It was the last barrel of pork in King county, and the loss of it was felt by the whole community to l>e a very serious matter. There were different theories about it. Some said it would float and had gone out to sea. Others thought it had rolled down by the action of the waves into deep water. We all turned out at low tide in the night with torches and searched the l>each from the head of the bay to Smith's Cove, but the pork has not yet been heard from. After the loss of the pork our flour and hard bread gave out, but fortunately we had a good supply of sugar, syrup, tea and coffee, and with fish and venison, we got along quite well while we had potatoes, but finally they gave out. We then had to make a canoe voyage to the Indian settlement on Hlack river to get a fresh stock of potatoes. Flour sold as high as $40 a barrel, but finally the stock was exhausted so that it could not l>e had on the Sound at any price until the arrival of a vessel, which did not occur for six weeks or more. This was the hardest experience our people ever had, but it demonstrated the fact that some substantial life-sup j)orting food can always be obtained on Puget Sound, though it is hard for a civilized man to live without bread."

This was a time of growth. Alki Point became the sole property of C. C. Terry, his brother having returned East, and Low early in the year having sold to him his interest.*

In April of 1853, arrived Dexter Horton and Thomas Mercer. Mercer brought the first wagon, and when it was unloaded on the beach, there was not a rod of road to run it on. But the rest turned to and widened out the trail to roll the vehicle out to the place which he took on Lake Union. The wagon, however, proved afterwards very serviceable to the town, as a team wiis wanted for moving wood and lumber.

This season others also came in and the claims along the bay and the lakes began to be occupied. The wilderness began therefore to seem less solitary.

The event, however, by which the year was distinguished was the laying off of a townsite and the filing of the plat before a notary. This was done in May.

The town was laid off so as to conform to the trend of the shore line, which here is toward the northwest. In the original plat of Denny and Boron there were but three streets f)arallel w^ith the shore. These wore Front, Second and Third. Front ran about as it now does, with its western edge alontij the rim of the l)luf!*. These streets were laid l)ut four rods wide, but through the blocks a sixteen-foot alley was run parallel to them. On the south line, in a course east and west, was Mill street, now YesKir avenue. At an angle to this, northeast, came James street, then ('herry, Columbia, Marion and Madison ;

* The embryo city of New York never advanced beyond a chrysalis condition, but after having achieved a sawmill, (soon after removed to Port Orchard,) a public house and two or three stores, and after having changed iis name to Alki, an Indian word signifying " in the future " or "by and by,' which was both name and motto, it gave way to its more fortunate rival. It had a better landing than Seattle, at that time, but the harbor was exposed to the winds from the north, where vessels were sometimes blown ashore, and was otherwise inferior in position. Terry at the end of the two years removed to Seattle, where he died in 18()7. Low went to California and the East, but finally returned to Tuget Sound where he settled on Snohomish river near Snohomish City. - Bancroft, p. 2."). [It was not only a quieter harbor at Seattle, but more convenient to the timber, which first Denny and soon Yesler were seeking.]

and that was all. All the streets were sixty -six feet wide. In each block there were eight lots and a middle alley. The lots were sixty by one hundred and twenty feet. There were twelve blocks, the one numered "one" at the intersection of Mill and James being fractional. Dr. Maynard had a few blocks laid off south of Mill street, and his plat was filed the same day.

The naming of the city was accomplished without difficulty. It was easily decided to give it an Indian name, although it was suggested by some to call it Elliott for the p]nglish admiral in honor of whom the bay had been christened ; but that was too little significant of anything connected with the iuti^rosts or history of the place. Indian names were not lacking, but those of the shores and points were hardly usable. Alki Point went by the name "Smoc^uampsh." The shore of the bay by Belltown was called "Mulkmuckum**; and the spot where the town was first laid ofi' was *'Zecluilalitcli." These were pure Indian words and the whiti's were not able to find what they meant. The Indians would answer '^cultus" to their inquiries, meaning that it was no good to try to find out, or for them to try to explain ; the meaning probably having been forgotten, as in the case of most of our names. Discarding, therefore, these meaningless and barbaroussounding appellations, Mr. Denny and Boren and Dr. Maynard decided to call it Seattle for the chief of the Suciuanipsh and Dewampsh. The name, as we pronounce it, is a corruption, the original Indian being "Sealth." Seattle was at lirst very angry that his name should be used in that way, thinking that harm might result to his spirit in the future life, Indians being very superstitious as to their names, pictures, etc.; but he soon beciime very proud of it. It is the name of a brave man, a good friend of the whites, and is suggestive of the origin of the city at a time when savage life still abounded.

the place and vicinity, some of the arrivals having come by the new road built that year through the Natchess pass of the Cascade mountains. The list is given as follows :

In the fall of 1855, A. L. Porter located a claim on the prairie, which takes its name from him, and Dominick Corcoran and James Riley located at Muckleshoot prairie, the three being at the time the farthest out in that direction. Lower down the valley were Wm. H. Brannatj, George King, Harvey J Dues, Enos Cooper, Moses Kirkland, William Cox, Joe and Arnold Lake, John M. Thomas, R. H. Beaty and D. A. Neely. At and near the junction of White and Black rivers were Wm. H. Gilliam, Joseph Foster, Stephen Foster, A. F. Bryant, Charles E. Brownell, and further up the Black river O. M. Raton, Joseph Fanjoy, IL H. Tobin, and Dr. R. M. Bigelow. On the Dewampsh river, of those now remembered who have not already been mentioned, we have John Buckley, August Hograve, George ^lolt, Dr. S. L. Grow, G. T. Grow, J. C. Averv', Kli B. Maple, C. C. Lewis, Bennel L. Johns.

On the lake John Harvey, E. A. Clark, T. I). Hinkley, I^emuel J. Holgate; on the bay south of town John C. Holgate, Edward Hanford, John J. Moss, and at the mouth of the river Charles Walker.

On the Puyallup were R. A. Finnell, Abiel Morrison and family, John Carson and family, J. W. McCarty and family, Isaac Woolery and family, Willis Boatman and family, Adam Benson, Daniel E. Lane, William Kincaid and family, and others not now remembered - Nicholas Delin was located at the mouth of the river.

The year IHo^ was nlso (listiiigui.sliO(.l as a time for iindertiiking j)ul)lic works. Anion*:: the first of these was that of road-making. Although the region was well supplied with waterways the need of wagon roads was adniittiMl, and a publie highway was projected to extend from Seattle to Steilaeoom. This was laid out by the commissioners of Thurston county, but before it was opened King county was set ofli' on the north. At the time of the division A. A. Denny wtis a menil)er of the l>oni'(l of countv connnissioners for Thurston

This vear must be marked as an rra of extraordinary road building in the territory, and Seattle was doing its part to keep up. The idea upon which Pugct Sound was settliMl, that it was not only a harbor but also the natural terminus of overland routes, le<l to the conclusion that the route from Umatilla must ])e openi'd by a wagon road. Immi<z;rants to the Willametti* vallev W(*nt all the way in wagons, using the I>arlow roa<l to Portland which ci'ossed the mountains at the foot <>f Mt. Hood. An iMpially good pass could be found oyer tlu* mountains for a road to \\\o Sound, and until an ecpially good road was made the immigranis would go to the \'alley instead of the Sound. As eai'lv as iS.^iO the subject was discussed at Tumwater and Olympia, and Simmons and others mad(* an attem])t to put the road tlirougli. In |s.")2 K. II. Lansdale ex])lored the Natchess ])ass and made an ellort to have a r<»ad opened by tlu^ territory. Col. Ebev tailed to cari'v tlii' measure ot' his iVieml, but secured a road tax of four mills on the dollar which would have been enough to do the work. The legislature, however, memorialized congress on the subject and an appropriation of $2(),(MK) was granted for a military road from Fort Stoilacoom, on the Sound, to Fort Walla Walhi.

In the meantime the i<lea of a Pacitic railway, which had long been working in the mind of tlu' ])ropIc of the Tnitcd States, had taken fonn as a Northern Pacific road, and by the session of congress of 1852-3 a survey of a route from the upper Mississippi was authorized, to be directe<l bv the secretary of war, Jefferson - Davis. lie placed in charge of this survey Isaac I. St(*V(*ns, who had also been appointed as first governor of tlie territory. Stevens was to begin at the east end and survev west, and at t4ie same time a nartv was to begin on the Sound and survev east, to meet Stevens somewhere near the upper Columbia. This j)aity from the Sound was put in charge of GcK)rge B. McC'lellan, then a captain. lie was also entrusted with the work of oi)ening the military road from Steilacoom to Walla Walla.

The peoi)le on the Sound waited anxiously foi* him to come and begin work. They had good reason todou])t his getting the work done that year, and concluded to begin upon it themselves. One hundred and fifty men j)ledg(Ml money for the enterprise and about forty began work at once, under Edward Jay Allen, of ()lymj)ia, as superintendent and engineer, and made a good track fnnn the settlements to the foot of the mount^iins. McClellan did not ai rive until about the last of June, and was then so straitc^ied for time to look through the mountains and meet Stevens, that all he could do was to tell Allen to go ahead and finish the road and he would use his influence to hav(* the government pay him. He used tlu* settlers' road and pass to get over the mountains, but the settlers have never Ikhmi paid for their work. Nevertheless, they got their road through the mountains - in a fashion ; blazing a trail and making over the logs a sort of corduroy bridges, which were simply j)oles piled against the logs. While a In'lp to horses they were rather a hinderance to wagons. Th(» road-builders met the immigrants at Wallula, however, and gave them such information of the road as induced a considerable numlxM* to ('omc* hither. Thev had slow work getting over the mountains, being obliged to cut their

It was to meet this road that the Seattle people began work and made a track that summer by which a number of families reached the place. But the road was difficult to keep up, and the military road was but little improved in 1854, although the rest of the $20,000 was expended, and in the spring of 1855 a trail was cut through direct across the mountiiins from Seattle by the Meridian prairie country and the Green river trail to Rattlesnake prairie. But the Indian war so soon following put an end to road-making of all kinds. Even the road from Steilacoom to Seattle and Alki could not be kept open.

As a general sUitement of beginnings at Seattle - such as erection of county, the postoffice, first steamers, schools, church services, celebrations, etc., nothing could be better than the following from Denny. No apology is necessary to the reader for making this extensive quotation, and to Mr. Denny we can only say that since he has cut out so plain and direct a road he cannot complain if the narrator take^ it in preference to a more circuitous and more unsatisfactory route. A quotation here is better than a summary.

Yesler's was the first steam sawmill on the Sound, and when he began to cut lumber we built frame hou.ses and vacated our log cabins as speedily as possible, and I believe his cook house for the mill was the last log house in use in the place. In the spring of 1858 J.J. Felt located at Apple-tree Cove and built a mill, which, after the first winter, was moved to Port Madison and afterward bought, enlarged and improved by G. A. Meigs. Isaac Parker, Delos Watterman and S. B. Hinds came up on the brig John Davis to assist Felt in building at Apple-tree Cove, arriving in Seattle February 9th, 1858, and began work early in March. Also in the spring of 1858 Ca|>- tain Wm. Renton came to Alki and built a mill, which, early in 1854, he moved to Port Orchard. It now seems strange that men of such marked intelligence and experience as they possessed could have overlooked and passed by such superior locations as Madison and Blakely, but I suppose it was upon the theory that Puget Sound is all a harbor, and it was not necessary to be particular, a mistake that has been made in many other cases on the Sound.

In July, 1858, Captain William C. Talbot came to the Sound in command of the schooner Julius Prin^le, to select a site for a sawmill, in the interest of Wm. C. Talbot & Co., the firm being composed of himself and A. J. Pope, of San Francisco, and Clias. Foster and Captain J. P. Keller, of Fast Machias, Maine. Among others on the schooner were Cyrus Walker, present manager of the Pugct Mill Company, E. S. Brown, millwright, Nathaniel Harmon, Hill Harmon, David Foster and James White, all of the state of Maine. The cargo of the Pr ingle consisted of lum- ber, tools and supplies necessary for beginning the proposed enterprise. They first anchored in Port Discovery Bay, from whence they made explorations round the Sound as far south as Commencement Bay, and finally determined to locate at Port Gamble, to which point the schooner was brought and discharged as soon as possible, and building commenced. On the 5th day of September, 18>>3, the schooner L, P. Foster, commanded by Captain J. P. Keller, arrived 154 days from Boston, having on board his wife and daughter, who were the first white women to land at Port Gamble.

The Foster brought the mill machinery and general outfit, and after loading with piles at the head of the bay, was taken to San Francisco by Captain Talbot, Captain Keller remaining in charge of the mill, where he continued as resident partner and manager until his death.

This trio of noble pioneers. Pope, Talbot and Keller, l)eing now all dead, I think I may with propriety speak of their high character for business integrity and enterprise. They belonged to that class of men who do not idly wait for something to turn up, but were full of energy and push, and not only helped themselves, bnt were ever ready to extend a helping liand to the needy and unfortunate.

When Captain Talbot and party were looking for a location they found Captain Wm. P. Sayward and J. K. Thomdyke busily engaged in building a mill at Port Ludlow, which in time became one of the principal mills on the Sound and has finally become the property of the Port Gamble or Puget Mill Company. Sayward, one of the founders, died suddenly in California, and Tliorndykc, I think, is still living.

The Oregon legislature, session of 1852-'63, divided Thurston county, forming on the north Pierce, King, Island and Jefferson, and appointed as a county board for King, J. N. Low, L. M. Collins and myself, county commissioners; H. L. Yesler, clerk, and C. D. Boren, sheriff. We all qualified except J. N. I/)w, and held the first commissioners* court March 5th, 1H58.

We obtained our mail from Olynipia, the nearest postoflBce, by a canoe express, for which service we hired Robert Moxlie to make weekly trips between Seattle and Olympia. All were required to pay twenty-five cents a letter, and nearly all subscribed something in addition to support the express. For this service I gave the lot now owned by M. R. Maddox, upon which the City Drug Store now stands. Our last express was received August 15th, 1858, and brought, us twenty-two letters and fourteen newspapers. August 27th, having been appointed postmaster, I received the first United States mail ever delivered in Seattle, and opened the office in a log cabin where Frye*s opera house now stands. I, however, was not permitted to enjoy the distinguished honors and immense emoluments of the position long. Dr. Maynard and two or three kindred spirits very secretly represented to the department that I was not in sympathy with the administration ; in fact that I was not only a Whig but an "offensive partisan,*' and got me relieved October 11th, 1853, by the appointment of W^ J. Wright, a little drunken doctor.

This intrigue was discovered not long afler the petition had gone on, and Geo. N. McConnaha and other friends of the administration - in other words Democrats - forwarded a protest, and on May 4th, 1854, I was recommissioned by Horatio King, First Assistant Postmaster-General, but I declined the appointment. About this time

In early times we occasionally saw the Hudson Bay steamers Beaver and Otter passing to and from the station at Nisqually, but as yet no American steamer had ever navigated ihese waters. The first Americart steamboat was brought to the Sound by her owners, A. B. David and Warren Gove, on tHe deck of the bark Sarah Warren in October, I808. She was a small sidewheeler called the Fairy, and made several trips to Seattle, and occasionally lower down the Sound, taking the place of our cinoe express in carrying the mail, but she proved insufficient as a sea boat on the lower Sound and a small sloop called the Sarah Stone, was for a time put on the line by Slater & Webber. In the fall of 18.")4, James M. Hunt and John N. Scranton brought up the Major Tompkins and contracted to carry the mail on the Sound, running through to Victoria, and in March, 1H5'), she was wrecked in entering Victoria harbor. The next steamer was the iron propeller Traveler, which came in the summer of 1855, and was commande<l by Capt. J. G. Parker. Next was the Water Lily, a small sidewheel boat brought up by Capt. Wm. Webster.

The first religious service in Seattle was by Bishop Demers, a Catholic, in 1852. The next was by Rev. Benjamin V. Close, a Methodist, who came to Olympia in the spring or early summer of 185.'J. and made several visits to Seattle during the summer and fall, and the same season Rev. J. I'. DeVore located at Steilacoom. C. D. Boren donated two lots for a Methodist Ivpiscopal church, and in November, 1S58, Rev. 1). E. Blaine and wife arrived and Mr. Blaine at once engaged in the work of building a church on the lots donated by Boren. This was the first and only church in the place until 18()4, when Rev. Daniel Baglcy built the Methodist rrotcstant church, which he painted brown, and the other being white, they were ever afterward desiijnated as the "white" church and "brown" church. Mrs. Blaine taught the first school. Miss Dorcas Phillips the second and H. .-X. Clark the third.

The first fourth of July celel)ration north of the Columbia river, of which I have any knowledge, was held at Olyinpia, July 4th, 1S.')*J, on the hill where the old school house stood, bnt it was then new and unfinished. I). R. Bijj;elow was orator and B. V . Shaw ni irshal, but I do not now remember who read the declaration.

It was quite a respectable celebration, and was attended by most of the population within a day's travel, and (juite a number like myself, from a greater distance. Those times we traveled almost entirely by canoe, and never expected to make the trip from Seattle to Olympia in less than two days. In the winter I have frequently been three days, and camped on the beach at night ; and on one trip. I well remember, in December 1<S")-. the weather was so stormy I had to camp two nights before reaching Steilacoom.

In after years I have })aid as high as ten dollars steamer fare to Olympia, and when it got down to six dollars we thought it very reasonable. It always cost me more than that amount by canoe, when travelinir alone with an Indian crew, to say nothing of the comfort and time saved by steamer, and time was (juite as much of an object with us capitalists then as now.

Ships And Craft In Thk Early Timk

Seuttlo was not at first a place whore a majority of the ships that entered the Sound must hmd. It was for the purj)ose of ohtainin^i; timbers that the crafts sought thesc^ waters, and they stopped at whatever cove or inlet or shore gave hest promise of supj)ly. Some did not proceed above Port Townsend. Some went on to Budd's Inlet. A considerable numl>er did not go above Elliott Hay. To a large extent these vessels were the common interest of all the places on the Sound and their history here l)el<»ngs to no one exclusively. St^attle may claim an int(»rest in them even though they did not all make at her dock the terminus of their vova<j:e. Xearlv all sailed to or bevond Elliott Hav, and from AIki and from the Seattle shore thi^ people saw them go by. To tliis extent, therefore, they became a part of the daily life of the i)eople. It was from the ships also that the dry goods and groceries were obtained. It will be (juite impossible, therefore, to convev anv definite idea of the earlv times without telling something of the sliips that the people hen^ all knew. A ship is, oil the whole, the most nearly personal of any inanimat(Mhing. It is affect ionatelv called -' she," and has a life and character of its <»wn. The great relief to tlie feeling of isolntion and loneliness was the coming and going of these white-winged messengers. The pleasure of tlie seamen in coming ushore was only e(jualled by that of the ])eople in the little settlements in bewaring and seeing something from the great world outside. The n(»ws and talk of the ships with their familiar names and histories, forme<l a certain stock of i)ublic knowledge and common interest that was ([uite distinctive of tlu* early life of the Sound and of such settlements as that at Seattle before the day, not only of ftxilroads, but even of wagon roads. The whites did not look upon them with the wonder and awe of the Indians, who regarded them as if from another planet, but th(\v formed a hardly k\ss, indeed much more, striking eleuKMit of their existence, for though they did not come from another world, they came from ihr. world bringing civilized food and clothing, books and papers and sometimes letters from home. It was niainlv bv them that couraire and hope were kept alive and life made endurable.

The Indians still talked of the ships of Vancouver and those that since the last century had traded on the northern coast. All these, however, had long before this been superseded by the coasters of the Hudson's Bay Company, who operated, among other craft, the steamer Beaver. This vessel made regular trips from Nisqually to the stations to the north. She was brought out from England as early as 1836. She came as a sailer, but the machinery for converting her into a steamer was brought out on a consort at the same time and was put in position at Vancouver, on the Columbia. The trial trip was made around Sauvie's Island, and she was soon put on the northern route as a coaster. In 1846 she was re])aired and her trips were confined to the route from Nisqually to Linn Sound at the head of Chatham Inlet. She was used for the business of the company, carrying supplies to the posts and gathering furs. Her later career has been interesting. Some time in the sixties she was dniwn off from the company's line and leased to the British government for use under Lieutenant Pender, in completing the survey of the northern waters, and ten years later was sold to private parties who still make use of her as a tug boat at Victoria.

As it was the gold excitement and building of San Francisco in 1849 that stimulated the lumber busijiess, it was not until aftor that date that American vess(»ls began to enter the Sound. The first of these is rememl)ere<l as the OrJrit, a l)rig that came up to Tum water in Januarv, 1850. She was an adventurous craft and had an eventful liistorv. She came to the coast from Calais, Maine, where probably she was built. She was brought to California by a party of Argonauts, wlio upon touching the soil of tlie Golden State were ready to sell their craft. A party of Puget Sound men, wanting to come up to their homes, decided to buy her and take passage in their own ship. These were I. N. Ehev, B. F. Shaw, J]dmund Sylvester and Jackson. With them as passenger they l)rought C.H. Smith. At Tumwater Michael Simmons had just sold his claim to Crosby and Gray for ^'^'),000, and, seeking investment for his money, bought a controlling interest in the brig with tlie intention of importing goods and going into merchandising. The Orh'ii was accordingly sc^it to San Francisco, making the voyage in July, with Smith as supercargo, and William II. Dunham, the old master, in charge. Soon after his return the hitter was killed hy a fall from his horse at the prairie alx)ve()lympia wherehe was taking up land. Simmons began selling his goods and, iin<ling his hrig of little further use, traded her oft* to a company that sent her the next year by a Captain Butler to the Columbia river. In crossing the bar she was drawn into the breakei*s and abandontMl l)v the crew ; but on the turn of the tide she was floated off and drifted safclv into Bakers bay. Being picked up here by a wrecking party from Astoria, she was held forsalvage, but finally was brought around by Simmons to the Sound and knocked down at marshal's sale, going to John M. Swan, II. A. Goldsborough and others. She was loaded with piles by her new ow^lers and started to the Sandwich Islands. In the Straits of Kuca, however, she was met by a furious gale c)f wind that carried away the rigging but did not prevent her taking refuge in the port of Escjuimault, where she was again sold, going this time to the Hudson's Bay Company for $1,000. By her British owners she was refitted, and named the TH^covery - perhajis to be rid of \\vv unhicky history - and used as a coaster. In iHoo she was set to collecting licenses on the Frazer. After this she passed once more into the lian<lsof Americans, Leonard and (rreen of Portland, by whom she was sent to China where she was sold again - and there she disappears.

In April a British vessel, the Alhioti, cam<* up to get timber at Dungeness. Her ownei^s directcMl the captain to cut on the Ishuid of Vancouver, in pursuance of permission from the Hudson's Bay Company, unless he could l)uy it very cheap on the American side of the Straits. This officer, finding the timber at Dungeness but no one to buy it of, nor apparently anyone standing guard over it, began helping himself, employing Indians. This was reported, however, to the collector, General John Adair, at Astoria, and by his order the vessel was seized for entering without reporting, and for depredations on public; land. She was brought up to Steilacoom and hehl until reU^ased by negotiation ; but the country gained at least three settlers l)y the affair - Wm. Bolton, Frederick Rabjohn, and William KldcM-s, who staid in the territory and took claims at Steilacoom prairie. About the same time the Hudson's Bay schooner Cadboro is mentioned as in the Upper Sound, she, too, having got into difficulty with the customs authorities

While the Albion was at Dungenoss, Rabbeson, of Olympia, with Eaton and others, took a canoe voyage down to her, and on the way back fell in with an American vessel coming for timber, and they piloted her to the upper Sound and got the contract to furnish the cargo. This was the Pkiades. The Robert Bowen is spoken of as the next.

In July appeared the historic brig, the Geo. W. Emory, under Captain Lafayette Balch. By her a lot of merchandise was brought to Olympia, but as terms to suit the capUiin could not be obtained at this point he sailed down to Steilacoom and there put up a house that he had on his ship in sections, and ultimately founded the city. On the second trip, completed in November, the brig brought up, among others, Plummer and Batchelder, who settled Port Townsend. Out of the loins of this ship, therefore, sj)rang two cities. Port Townsend became thereafter a busy shii)ping i)oint for those early days, exporting both round and square timber. The brig Wellingsly, brig Javies Marshal, shij) Talmer and l)ark Marij Adavis came here once or more in the two years following.

The Mary Dare was a Hudson's Bay brigantine plying on the Sound and tlu? northern watc^rs. She and the Bearer were at one time detaiuinl, like the Alhian and Cadhoro, for customs irregularities.

A gr(»at excitement was created l)y a man named Duncan McEwan, recently from Australia, wlio exliihited cliunks of gold whicli he said had been cut from quartz on tliat island. This report gave rise to three distinct expeditions, two from ()lyni])ia and one from Portland. The first was l)v tlie schooncM* (Jr(n'(/inna. A com])anv of twentv-two, besides five as cn^w, made up tlie party and sailed to the island. They were wreeke*! in the eountrv the eniel iiaidali Indians, who maltreated them, tnkin<j^ their elotliing and all otlier articles of value, and hurncMl tlie ship to u'et the iron. Tlie mh-oikI (^x])edition was that in the schooner J)(in(trl.s C/o/v, under (aptain IJaleh. The lirst that he learned of the gold was in the Straits of Fuca, where he, eoniing in, met the Georglxinn going out. Upon the news l)eing eonnnunieated to him he promised to go too, hut said that he must tirst sail to Olympia. On reaching home he prepared to follow in the course of the (ieorgiana, and started in December. On reaching the ishind he found the wrecked adventurers, but Inking too weak handed to assist them, put back at once for help. At Steilacoom an<l Olympia he, on authority of subcollector Moses, made uj) a rescuing party whom he took to the scene of the disiister, and succeeded in bringing off the unfoilunate gold hunters.*

The third expedition was from Poilland l>y tlu^ steamer Exact, of which we have heard before, and tin* mention of whose name recalls the fact that we have now brought this ship history up to the date of the beginning of Seattle. This (expedition was made in saft^ty and no disasters wa.s met at the island, but there was found no gold excepting quartz that rec|uire<l blasting. Other fruitless st^arebes were made, but none of these were from the Sound.

The Una, i\ brigantine of the Hudson's Bay Company, was stranded about this time at (ape Flattery, and the passenger-^ were taken from the wreck by the Dctnnrl.s Our. In the spring of IS.VJ the Mnri/ Taylor brought Pettygrove, Hastings, ('linger and otluM's from Portland to Port Townseild. Earlv in the same vear tbe Lrom-f^d loaded at Alki Point and the Franklin Admns and John Dari.s made trips during the following sunnner.

* Particulars of Uie wreck and rescue are briefly as foUows : Capt Rowland, on the Georgianay having a crew of five, and twenty-two passengers, was driven out of his course to the east side of Queen Charlotte's Island, but sought to reach Gold Harbor on the west side by directing his vessel through Skidegate channel which divides the island. She was anchored on the evening of November ISth in a little harbor called by the natives Kom-she-nah. Two Haidahs boarded her here and refused to leave on account of a rising southeast gale. By this same wind the schooner was'^unmoored[and driven ashore, and the whites as they sought safety on land were seized by the Haidahs, part of whom were then camping and part congregating, and plundered of their^clothing. By the savages the wreck was also seized and rifled of its goods The nearly naked white men were set to menial service but not otherwise maltreated. On promise of reward, the Indians consented to take three of them, Samuel Howe, McKwan and Gibbs, to Fort Simpson, the nearest Hudson Bay station - a five days' voyage in open boat without blankets. Though aid was asked at once of the commandant, Captain McNeil, four weeks were spent here, and nothing was accomplished to relieve the men among the Haidahs, who were not rescued until the arrival of the Demaris Cove.

From November 15, 1851, to June 30, 1852, the vessels reporting at Olympia are given as follows : Brigs, Orbits Geo. W. Emory, G. W, Kendall, John Davis, Franklin Adams, Danid, Leonesa, Jane, Eagle; brigantine, Mary Dare ; schooners, Exact, Demuris Cove, Susan Sturges, Alice, Franklin, Mary Taylor, Cynosure, Honolulu Paeket, Mexican, Cecil; bark, Brontes; steamer, Beaver ; schooner Georgiana wrecked at Queen Charlotte's Island. The schooner Harriet, bound from the Columbia to San Francisco and blown out of her course, put into the straits from stress of weather.

Other vessels, as the Cabot, arrived in 1853, but the list need not be further enlarged. Enough has been mentioned to show that there was a tolerably lively commerce on the Sound even from the earliest settlement. After the sawmills came into operation in 1853 the water began to be lively with flying ships, but this more properly belongs to the chapter on commerce and will be referred to that head.

The Town And People

By the summer of 1855, preceding the siege, the number of houses of all descriptions had reached about forty or forty-five. They were clustered on the shore by the i)oint. There were no houses nortli of Madison street and none east of Second, except a building or two between James and Columbia, and a house near where the gas works now stand. South of the old Mill street, now Yesler avenue, there were a number of buildings along Commercial street as far as King.

The most inii)ortant structure in the village was Yesler's sawmill at the foot of Mill street. In more senses than one it was the life of the place. Here most of the men in the town earned their money ; here the ships came for cargoes and discharged their groceries. Its I)u(!ing, buzzing and blowing of steam made the music of the bay, and the hum of its saws was the undertone of every household. By its whistle all the clocks were regulated and the whole village economy was carric'd on. It was not a large mill, having only some fifteen thousand feet cai)acity, but as the price of lumber was three to five times as much as now, the value of its output was not inconsiderable. The house next in interest was the log mess-house. As the name implies, this was the eating house of the mill hands. But in addition to this use it was town hall, court room, meeting house and hotel. All the legal business was transactol here and nearly all social gatherings met here. It was the lounging phice where the men collected and heard the news and told stories. A low, long, nunbling ali'air without architectural pretentions, it j>ossessed a certain homely attractiveness and was the last log building to'be taken down. ISoon after the mill began running the people built frame houses in a style that we should now call old fashioned, with clapboards and white paint, and one-story or story and a half in height. Such comi)aratively good houses, however, were (|uite few, tht^ rest were shanties or cabins. The street.s were unimproved, full of stumps and mud holes, and a single team <lid the carting. Hell's house, in what is now known as Belltown, was not in the town at all, and was burned by the Indians. Mercer's house was far in the country on Lake Union, and was the only dwelling out of town spared at the time of the attack. The forest closed down on the city and it was deep woods beyond Third street.

Thomiis Mercer was one of the most useful meni])ers of the little community. By trade and education he was far from a pioneer, having worked until he was twenty-one in a woolen mill. He went, however, from his native Ohio to Illinois and learned some of the hooks and crooks of pioneer life on the jirairie, finding that hands as soft as a girFs might soon be made strong and hard enough to swing tln^ axe and maul, and guide the plough.

But the exceasive cold of the prairies led him to look at length for a milder climate, and for a number of vears he made a studv of Oregon. He became so thoroughly conversant with the subject that he was fref[uently called upon by the neighbors to come and tell them alx)ut Oregon as if he had been there. Indeed, he fell to dreaming of being here and in one of liis dreams appeared to be in a forest wIhtc there was a sidehill swamp with a lake beyond and bay upon which one might come to his home all the way in a boat - his home in Illinois being some eight miles above river navigation. The particulars of this dream correspond curiously well with the surroundings of his present home on Lake Union, and the dream is a sort of life touch showing the somewhat mystical element which entered into early life on our coast ; although Mr. Mercer is not in the least a superstitious man. When he stiirted from Illinois he planned to come to Puget Sound, thus l)eing an exception to the general rule, as most of the settlers were directed hither after reaching Oregon. On the way, just as he was nearing the end of the tcnlious journey, being at the Cascades, he met with the greatest bereavement that can befall a man - the loss by death of his wife. With his four little motherless girls he came on to the end of his journey. At Portland he was invited by Lot Whitcomb and ThomjLs Carter to join a j)arty for Gray's Harbor, but declined on the ground that he was too old - nearly forty - to wait for the development of that region. As for his children, there were kind people that offered to take thorn and bring them up, but his oldest daughter said that she could keej) house for him - she w^as thirteen - and the\" must all st^y together. She kept her word nobly, denying herself that she might send her three little sisters oif through the wood path to the log school house. It is a comfort to reflect that the endeavors of these brave children met before long the attainments of education and culture tliat thev so much valued. For seven years Mr. Mercer had to be both father and mother to his girls.

Among the ellects that he brought to the Sound was a wagon - alluded to heretofore - and a span of horses. One of these animals was an old mare useful eliielly in l)ucking straw from tlie thresher. He was about to sell this animal upon liis departure for Illinois. A neiglibor, however, advised him tliat she would be his best animal on the i)lains, and after due deliberation he decided to take her. He found that she proved ecpial to tlie occasion, and for eleven yeai's served her master most faithfully. Slie was the j)ione(T horse of Seattle; Tib was her name, and her grave near the old Mercer homestead is still carefullv marked. With his horses and wa^on, the onlv team in town, Mr. Mercer had a nionojKily of the express business, and recalls with great enjoyment the* fact that he was the first of all the teamsters. The roads were far from good, but he boasts that he surmounted all the diflieulties of driving about the stumps and ])acking his loads of lumber even into tlu* houses to which thev were destined. He also did much in the line of delivering wood on the wharf for the steamers, among which he remembers the historic Mai^achnsettH. Sometimes he did the wood-choppiug liimself, but ho usually found it more profitable to hire Indians. Among the Indians he was able to move with perfect security, even going out for loa<ls of wood tluring the time of the siege. Of all tlie houses in the county left to the depredations of the savages his alone was left unburntand unharmed. The Indians were afterwards asked the reason of this and answered that they thought he might want to use it again. It was said to him by a neighbor that if he had stayed on his phut* with his little girls the Indians would not have hurt a hair of his head. He was always exceedingly kind to them.

To him must be given the credit of naming the lakes. Up to 1854 they had gone without a name other than the Indian designation "tenas chuck" and "bias chuck," (little water and big water), barren of even proper Indian names. All agreed that distinctive names should be given to the lakes, but for some reason it was not easy to find satisfactory ones. A i>ublic meeting was called to settle the question, and Mercer's suggestion, that the larger one be named Washington for the father of his country, and the smaller Tnion, iis sometime to become^ the connecting or uniting link between the larger lake and the Sound, met with hearty approval, and these names were adopted. The name of the little lake contained a i>ropliecy that still awaits fulfillment, yet this was the reason why it was so acceptable. Mr. Mercer lived a i>art of the time on his farm and a part in the town until the city spread out to include the farm. He nuide a filing to include 320 acres, the west half extending upon that sightly traet now known as Queen Anne town, but another made a filing on this part on the ground that Mercer was a single man. Not wishing to carry the matter to court, Mr. Mercer was contented with the portion fronting on Lake Union.