USA > Washington > History of Washington; the rise and progress of an American state, Vol. III > Part 10
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* "Pioneer Days on Puget Sound."
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and like old wine improving with age. Possibly it is still afloat somewhere on the broad Pacific, driven hither and thither by the ceaseless action of the winds and tides, and vainly endeavoring to find an owner and get to port, after more than fifty years of wandering. Who shall say? So far as Mr. Denny and those who have succeeded him are concerned, it was but is not, and most likely never again will be.
The loss of this barrel of pork was so severely felt by the little community that all its members turned out at extreme low tide, which at that season occurs at night, and searched the shore by torchlight as far as Smith's Cove, without finding it. Then their other provisions seemingly failed more rapidly than before. Their flour and hard bread soon gave out, "but fortunately," Mr. Denny says, "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 Black 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 be 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 demon- strated the fact that some substantial life-supporting food can always be obtained on Puget Sound, though it is hard for a civilized man to live without bread."
Just as this hard winter was beginning-in October 1852- Henry Yesler arrived. He was a native of Maryland, though after becoming of age he went to Ohio, where he remained for several years, and in 1851, accompanied by his family, crossed the plains to Oregon. After working for a time at
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his trade as a carpenter and millwright he went to Cali- fornia, where for a short time he engaged in mining. There he learned something of the attractions of the Puget Sound country, and perceiving that California would, for a long time to come, furnish an excellent market for the timber that the Sound could so abundantly supply, he returned north to build a mill and engage in the lumber trade. The little colony on Elliot Bay quickly saw the value to them of what he was proposing to do, if he should locate his mill in their neighborhood. It would make a market for the timber of which they had an abundance, and also furnish them constant employment in cutting it.
The ground along the little stream, which entered the Sound near the curious mound that stood almost on the line between Boren and Maynard's claims, was well suited for a saw mill site, and as Mr. Yesler was pleased with it, a rearrangement of claims was made, so as to give him as much waterfront as he desired, and a long strip of ground about five hundred feet wide, stretching back over the hill into the unclaimed lands, where as much more might be added as would complete his claim, was set off to him. Thus by taking only a small strip from Boren and Maynard's claims, which they were at liberty to make up from the unclaimed lands on the east and south, if they so desired, Yesler was provided for.
On the ground thus assigned the first steam saw mill in Washington was soon after built. Either at the beginning, or soon afterwards, its capacity was 15,000 feet per day. Indian laborers were employed for the most part during the earlier years, in and about it, and Mr. Yesler managed these people so successfully as to be able to keep about him all the laborers he required, and to so far win the confidence
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and esteem of their tribesmen, that he was able to go among them without much risk to himself during the troublous times that soon after followed, and he was very useful to Governor Stevens, for this reason, in the negotiations at the close of the Indian war.
Near the mill was a cookhouse that became famous in the early days, and is still remembered by many old settlers who took their meals there in early days. Every way- faring man got a meal there as he passed, if he required it, and sometimes he lodged in or near it. Officers and men from such ships as visited the harbor were often seen there. Occasionally the officers from some war ship, or from the fort at Steilacoom visited it. Around its broad fireplace many stories of adventure by land and sea were told. For several years it was the one place on the Sound where news from the world was surest to be obtained. At the outbreak of the Indian war the volunteers made it their rendezvous. Judge Lander had his office in one corner of it, and the county auditor also had his office there. It served, as Mr. Yesler has said, "for townhall, courthouse, jail, military headquarters, storehouse, hotel and church. Elections, social parties and religious services were held under its roof. The first sermon preached in King County was delivered there by Clark, and the first suit at law, which was the case of the mate of the Franklin Adams for selling the ship's stores on his own account, was tried there before Justice Maynard." Many people, not only in Seattle, but in other parts of the territory, were sorry when it was torn down, in 1865, to make room for a larger building.
Boren, Denny and Maynard agreed together early in 1853 to lay out a townsite on their claims, but they apparently did not agree in all respects as to the details of the plat.
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They did agree, however, to file their plats for record at the same time. Mr. Denny, who was a surveyor, thought the principal streets should run, as nearly as possible, parallel with the shore of the Sound, and the cross streets straight up the hill; Maynard made his plat with the streets running due north and south and east and west. Both used the boundary between Boren and Maynard's claims as a base line, and along it laid out a street which was known for many years as Mill Street, but is now Yesler Way. North of this line Mr. Denny laid out twelve blocks, of eight lots each 60 x 120 feet, with an alley sixteen feet wide between them. There were three streets, Front, Second and Third, running parallel with the shore line, and five cross streets, James, Cherry, Columbia, Marion and Madison. The first block north of Yesler Way was triangular and was bounded by Yesler Way, James and Second streets. This plat was filed some time in the forenoon of May 23, 1853.
There is a tradition that Maynard was displeased, for some reason, with Denny's action, and that he changed his plat, which covered only a few squares south of Yesler Way, so that the streets would not be continuous. At any rate they do not meet with those on the north side of Yesler Way, as everybody familiar with the city knows. His plat was filed on the same day as Mr. Denny's, but later in the after- noon.
After the fire the name of Front Street was changed to First Avenue, and a right of way was purchased, or con- demned, through enough of the Denny plat to unite it with the principal street in Maynard's plat, and so make a con- tinuous thoroughfare. The remainder of the block was dedicated to the public as Pioneer Square. It is a curious fact that the land on the west side of First Avenue, opposite
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this little park, and for some distance northward, has never been platted. It is now very valuable and is owned by many different people, being described in their several deeds by metes and bounds.
The name of the new city was not chosen without some difficulty. None of the party seem to have wished to adopt the name of some other city, as Terry had done for his town at Alki Point. All apparently preferred an Indian name, if a suitable one could be discovered, and Mr. Denny was at some pains to inquire about these, and to know their meaning. But none of those which the Indians had given to places in the neighborhood were sufficiently pro- nounceable, or otherwise suitable. They were, for the most part, such combinations of sounds as Mulkmuckum, Smoquamps, Mechalalitch, Dewampsh or Suquampsh, and he was surprised to find that none of these, or any other of the Indian names had any meaning. Even their individual names meant nothing, as most names among the eastern tribes do. Mr. Denny did not believe this for a long time, and persisted in his inquiries. He found great difficulty in making the Indians understand what he wished to know, so strange did it appear to them that a name should have a meaning, and after a long explanation in each case he would invariably receive the same reply: "Ah, Cultus!"-Meaning no good .*
* Mr. James G. Swan, in his "Three Years in the Northwest," has noticed this same peculiarity about the Indian names in the neighborhood of Shoalwater Bay. In later years he found a few names among the Makahs at Neah Bay, and some among the Clallams, that seemed to have a mean- ing. In his address to the pioneers in 1887 he mentions the name of a Makah chief, Kobetsibis, which he says means frost. He also says: "Mount Rainier is also sometimes called by its Indian name, Tahoma, meaning white, or snow mountain. Mount Baker is called by the Clal- lams P'Kowits, from Puk'h (white) and h'Kowitz (mountain)." Rev.
CHIEF SEATTLE.
The Indian for whom the city of Seattle was named. He was chief of the Duwamish band; one of the little tribes of the Nisqually family of Indians, which inhab- ited the whole coast of the Sound from the Skokomish River at the head of Hood's Canal, to and beyond the Skagit. The engraving is from a photograph in the possession of Clarence B. Bagley.
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
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name of the new.la ang ost that some Multy. None of the party seem to have wished to adopt the name of some other city, an Terry Had done for his www at Alki Point. All apparently preferred an Indian name, if a suitable one could be dueerverek and Mr- Denny was at some pains to inquire deur the, and to know their meaning. But none of tuwe which abe Indians had viven to places in the neighborhood were sufficiently pro- wounceable, or otherwise suitable. They were, for the most part, such combinations of sounds as Mulkmuckum, maquamps, Mechalalitch, Dewampsh or Suquampsh, and be was surprised to find that none of these, or any other of the Indian names had any meaning. Even their individual name» meant nothing, as most names among the eastern trihes do. Mr. Denny did not believe this for a long time, and persisted in his inquiries, He found great difficulty in making the Indians undermand what he wished to know, so strange did it appear to them that a name should have a meaning, and after a ligexplanation in each case he would myvariably receive the same reply: "Ah, Cultus!"-Meaning 00 good .*
· Me James G. Swan, in his "Three Your co ler ," Das noticed peculiarity about the guiborhood of Bay. In later years he und ang the Makahs Daj, and some among the Cout nos Quo - id to have a mean- Iv address to the pioneers in wie; he mentions the name of a . Kubelmibis, which he ays mewis frost. He also says: dky 19 also sometimes called by its Indian name, Tahoma, pr snow mountain. Mount Baker is called by the Clal- Noi | koelA from Puk'h (white) and h'Kowitz (mountain)." Rev.
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Failing to find any Indian name for a place that was suitable, Mr. Denny and his associates bethought them of the old chief who had guided Dr. Maynard from Olympia to their neighborhood, and so in reality brought the first recruit to their little colony. His name was a novel one, and sufficiently striking for their purpose. Cities in various States had been named for Pontiac and Tecumpseh and Blackhawk and Osceola. Why not name one for Seattle ? There seemed to be no good reason except that the old fellow himself objected. There was a superstition among the coast Indians that the names of the dead ought not to be mentioned; it would make serious trouble for their spirits, in the undiscovered country to which all must sooner or later go, and from which none would ever return. Their ideas of this country were not very clear, nor were their expectations in regard to it very comforting, and they were particularly anxious therefore to avoid all things which their traditions told them would be likely to make matters worse than they might be. But in course of time his anxi- eties were allayed, and before his death he become very proud of the distinction he had thus acquired, and his conduct was such that the settlers had no reason to regret their choice.
So was the city founded and named. Like the early Dutch settlers who founded New York they had made their first location in an unfavorable place, but once started, their
Myron Eells has also left a short list of names that seem to have a meaning, though most of them are merely descriptive. During the the seven years that I was engaged in selling the lands of the Puyallups, under the act of Congress of March 3, 1893, I frequently inquired of the Indians whether some name, which I had just heard for the first time, had a meaning. They would invariably look at me in evident astonish- ment and make no reply. I would then have the interpreter explain to them what it was that I wished to know, and after some conversation the reply would invariably be returned: "It is just a name." C.A.S.
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city grew and prospered. The Terry brothers continued their efforts for some time to build up a rival city at Alki Point. C. C. Terry started a store there which he adver- tised, liberally for that day, in the "Columbian," after it began to be published at Olympia in September 1852, and the paper for a long time kept his name standing among those who were authorized to receive subscriptions for it. Smith's express, carried by the clipper yacht Laplete, which made "weekly trips between Olympia and Port Townsend, stop- ping at Poe's Point, Johnson's ranch, Nisqually, Steilacoom, New York, Whidby Island and all intermediate points," received packages there, and did not apparently go to Seattle at all .*
In due time Terry laid off two rows of six blocks each, on the northwest side of the point, with two principal streets parallel with the shore, and duly filed it for record. Like all other plats made at the time, and for long afterwards, the street nearest the shore was run so close to the water line that the outer row of lots were for the most part covered by water at high tide. A study of this and other plats made in these early times give the impression that those who made them regarded the amount of dry land on the earth's surface as so limited that their duty was to reclaim as much as possible from the sea, and allow as little of the remainder for street uses as conscience would permit. Their stinginess in this respect, their carelessness and stinginess combined in attending to street connections, in platting additions and ex- tensions in growing towns and cities, have cost those who have followed them a vast deal of money to correct their work.
* The first mention of Seattle in the "Columbian" is in its fifth number, published on October 9th, 1852, in which Dr. Maynard advertises for a blacksmith to locate there.
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Neither Low nor the Terrys ever perfected title to their claim. C. C. Terry made a filing on it in the land office, in May 1852, but never took out a patent for it nor for any other claim under the donation act. In time he joined his old associates across the bay, and became as active as they were in building up the settlement which they had started.
Bell did not join with Denny, Boren, Yesler and Maynard in making the first plat of the town, but in time made one of his own, which was for a long time known as Belltown, and is sometimes so mentioned at the present day, though it was never so named. D. T. Denny took his claim beyond Bell's, and in 1852 Dr. H. A. Smith arrived and took a claim still further down the bay. It included the indenture of the shore line afterwards known as Smith's Cove.
Early in 1853 Thomas Mercer and Dexter Horton arrived, and later John C. Holgate returned to find that the claims he had selected three years earlier, for himself and his sis- ter's family, had been taken by others. He accordingly made a new choice, taking the claim next south of May- nard's while Edward Hanford, his brother-in-law, and Lemuel J. Holgate, his brother, and Seymour Hanford selected claims adjoining this, getting hill land which became a part of Seattle much earlier than the farms he had hoped to get in the Duwamish Valley.
Mercer brought the first wagon to Elliot Bay. When it arrived there was not a piece of road in King County long enough to receive it, but road-making began soon after its arrival, and for a considerable time it was used to do all the hauling done on the bay. Mercer was a native of Ohio, but had removed thence to Illinois, from which State he came to Oregon. On the journey his wife died, leaving him with a family of motherless children, the oldest of whom
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THE RISE AND PROGRESS
was a girl of thirteen, who, after their arrival, kept house for her father and so kept the family together. Mercer selected a claim on the shore of Lake Union, a part of which subsequently came to be known as Queen Ann Hill, because of the style of architecture of one or two of the first houses built there. A part of this claim was contested on the ground that Mercer was a single man, and rather than fight for the whole, he resolved to content himself with that part of it which fronted on the lake. A part of this was subsequently claimed by the State as shore lands, which still further reduced its area.
Dexter Horton was a native of New York, from which State his family early removed to Illinois. He came to Oregon in 1852 with his wife and one daughter, and thence over the Cowlitz trail with Mercer and others to Seattle, where he arrived without a dollar in his pocket, and fifty dollars in debt. He soon found work at the new saw mills then building on the Sound, and in clearing land at Port Townsend. He quickly paid what he owed and accumu- lated a little capital with which he, for a time, engaged in trade, and then started a bank, the first in the territory, and which still exists as Dexter Horton & Co., the name he gave it. He seems never to have taken a donation claim .*
* Those who took donation claims on the site of, or in the neighbor- hood of, Seattle were the following:
W. N. Bell, April 3, 1852.
C. C. Terry, May 1, 1852.
A. A. Denny, June 12, 1852. John C. Holgate, Jan. 21, 1850. Edmund Carr, August 8, 1853. E. M. Smithers, December 1, 1853. Edward Hanford, March 1, 1854. L. J. Holgate, March 26, 1855. David Stanley, April 15, 1855. John H. Nahle, September 29, 1855.
D. S. Maynard, April 3, 1852.
C. D. Boren, May 13, 1852.
H. L. Yesler, Nov. 20, 1852.
D. T. Denny, January 24, 1853.
H. A. Smith, September 5, 1853. Wm. Strickler, February 1, 1854. Thos. Mercer, July 13, 1854.
Jno. Ross, March 26, 1855.
Ira W. Utter, July 3, 1855.
DEXTER HORTON.
Founder of the first bank in the territory of Wash- ington. He was born in Schuyler County, New York, in 1825; crossed the plains in 1852; settled in Seattle in 1853, where he began business by chopping piles at $2.50 per day. Later he became interested in merchan- dising and finally established the bank, which still bears his name.
Дебеч Кыйон
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
.хотяон ятхай
Lurteen, who, after their arrival, kept house -das W to protimet ary mi and fain auf to isbnbot MY we want These rithedfemin together. Mercer
atagd Ttlte didw chrisdott herafideas ofsea basfanleibfirst houses Bolithere. A part of this claim was conten ted on the ground Wbw Mercer was a single man, and rather than fight for the whole, he resolved to content him it with that part of it which fronted on the lake. A part of this was subsequently daimed by the State as shore lands, which still further reduced its area.
Dexter Horton was a native of New York, from which State his family early removed to Illinois. He came to Oregon in 1852 with his wife and one daughter, and thence over the Cowlitz trail with Mercer and others to Seattle, where he arrived without a dollar in his pocket, and fifty dollar in debt. He soon found work at the new saw mills then building on the Sound, and in clearing land at Port Townsend He quickly paid what he owed and accumu- lated a little capital with which he, for a time, engaged in trade, and then started a bank, the first in the territory, and which still exists as Deveer Horton & Co., the name he gave it. He seems nowo mo have taken a donation claim .*
* Those who took donat . the site of, or in the neighbor- hood of, Seattle were the follow
W. N. Bell, April 3, 1852. C Terry, May 1, 1852.
& Denny, June 12, 1852. Kolin C. Holgate, Jan. 21, 1850. Morow! Carr, August 8, 1853. 1 W. Smithers, December 1, 1853. Filsard Hanford, March 1, 1854. T. T Fleste, March 26, 1855. De 3 Monday, April 15, 1855. T-o D +, September 29, 1855.
Ti & Hinol, April., 1852.
Dx DOwary 24, 1853. It & Smith, September 5, 1853. Win Swickler, February 1, 1854. Thos. Mercer, July 13, 1854. Jno. Ross, March 26, 1855. Ira W. Utter, July 3, 1855.
Dexter Horton
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OF AN AMERICAN STATE
Some time in 1852 Captain William Pattle, while looking for suitable timber that could be got to the water easily, to fill a contract he had made with the Hudson's Bay Com- pany at Victoria, found a seam of coal showing on the beach in Bellingham Bay .* He was accompanied by two men named Morrison and Thomas, and all three at once located donation claims along the beach, marking them and posting notices in the usual form. Pattle took the northernmost of the three, which fronted the town of Sehome of later days. Something like a hundred and fifty tons of coal were sub- sequently taken from these claims, and then the mine was abandoned, coal of a better quality being discovered on ground further north, by Henry Hewitt and William Brown, who had come to the bay with Henry Roeder and R. V. Peabody, and others, in the schooner William Allen. Roeder and Peabody had been in California, which they had left to try salmon fishing at Oregon City. At the latter place they learned of the prospects of the lumber business on the Sound, and crossed over to investigate it. In California Roeder had met Edmond Eldridge, who had come out in 1849, to the mines, but had not been as successful as he had hoped. He had married and was thinking of going to Aus- tralia when Roeder persuaded him to try Oregon. William Utter and H. C. Page were also of the party, and they found the prospect so inviting that they agreed to form a milling company. At Port Townsend they met Pattle, who advised them to examine the shore of Bellingham Bay for a mill
William P. Smith, Osmyn Frost, John J. Moss, Charles Plummer and Walker probably arrived in time to secure claims if they had desired them, but like many others they did not take them.
* This may have been the coal that the British war ship Cormorant went from Fort Nisqually to examine in 1846, and probably was, since it is so near the water.
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site. This they did, and with the aid of another man named Brown, a millwright, whose acquaintance they had made in Olympia, they built a mill, which they soon had in opera- tion. During that season, or soon after, they were joined by C. E. Roberts, J. W. Lyle and one or two others. They adopted the Indian name Whatcom as the name of their settlement .*
It was while getting out logs for the mill in the summer in 1853, on land that Roeder and Peabody had once selected for their claims, but subsequently abandoned for another piece that had better timber on it, that Hewitt and Brown made their coal discovery. A tall fir tree, which stood immediately over the vein, had been blown down, and its roots had torn up the earth so as to expose the coal. They subsequently sold the claim to the Bellingham Bay Coal Company, of San Francisco, for $18,000.
As early as March 1852, B. J. Madison, an Indian trader, had chosen a claim on the south shore of de Fuca's Strait near New Dungeness. Soon afterwards he was joined by General Daniel F. Brownfield, who had stopped for a time on the Cowlitz, and been elected a representative from . Lewis County in the Oregon legislature. Later Thomas Abernethy, J. J. Barrows, J. C. Brown, J. W. Donnell,
* Those who took donation claims in this neighborhood were the following, some of whom arrived much earlier than the dates given would seem to indicate:
R. V. Peabody, Dec. 16, 1852.
W. R. Pattels, April 18, 1853. Ellis Barnes, June 13, 1853.
A. M. Poe, Sept. 17, 1853.
E. C. Fitz Hugh, Feb. 23, 1854.
H. C. Page, June 1, 1854.
C. E. Roberts, July 10, 1854.
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