diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:12:30 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 20:12:30 -0700 |
| commit | 24fe2d3c7b61b1a00c1af0a3de24c8921f8aaa26 (patch) | |
| tree | 0054460d5b5ded05171f70374dfc21ba9aabe2ba /39334-h | |
Diffstat (limited to '39334-h')
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/39334-h.htm | 17506 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp000frontis.png | bin | 0 -> 46458 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp017.png | bin | 0 -> 31947 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp049.png | bin | 0 -> 55347 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp081.png | bin | 0 -> 39990 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp105.png | bin | 0 -> 57569 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp113.jpg | bin | 0 -> 17577 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp145.png | bin | 0 -> 38419 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp193.jpg | bin | 0 -> 17249 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp209.jpg | bin | 0 -> 18587 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp241.jpg | bin | 0 -> 19719 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp257.png | bin | 0 -> 43230 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp273.jpg | bin | 0 -> 46680 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp289.jpg | bin | 0 -> 40331 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp337.png | bin | 0 -> 42614 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp369.png | bin | 0 -> 39087 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp385.png | bin | 0 -> 35148 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp401.jpg | bin | 0 -> 46190 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp481.png | bin | 0 -> 35158 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp489.jpg | bin | 0 -> 19322 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39334-h/images/opp493.jpg | bin | 0 -> 15794 bytes |
21 files changed, 17506 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/39334-h/39334-h.htm b/39334-h/39334-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0ce4aee --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/39334-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17506 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Blazing The Way, by Emily Inez Denny. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + h1 { text-align:center; line-height:1.5; } + +h2,h3 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +p.title { text-align:center; text-indent:0; + font-weight:bold; + line-height:1.4; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-top: 2em; +} + +p.quotsig { + margin-left: 35%; + text-indent: -4em; + } + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} + +blockquote { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%; + font-size: 90%; +} + +big { font-size:140%; } + +.caption { + margin-top: 0; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; +} +.center {text-align: center;} + +.gap4 {margin-top: 4em;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +small { font-size:60%; } + +.smaller {font-size: 80%;} + +.ralign {position: absolute;right: 11%; top: auto;} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; + margin-bottom: 1em; +} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + div.poem {border:none; + text-align:left; + margin: 1em auto; + } + .poem .stanza { + margin-top: 1em; + } + + .poem .i0 {display:block; margin-left: 0em;} + .poem .i1 {display:block; margin-left: 1em;} + .poem .i2 {display:block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem .i4 {display:block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem .i5 {display:block; margin-left: 5em;} + .poem .i6 {display:block; margin-left: 6em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blazing The Way, by Emily Inez Denny + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: Blazing The Way + True Stories, Songs and Sketches of Puget Sound + +Author: Emily Inez Denny + +Release Date: April 1, 2012 [EBook #39334] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLAZING THE WAY *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Pat McCoy, Bruce Jones and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="I" name="I">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/opp000frontis.png" width="500" height="324" alt="" title="Frontispiece" /> +<span class="caption">FORT DECATUR. JANUARY 26, 1856</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 2]</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 3]</span></p> +<h1> +BLAZING THE WAY</h1> + +<p class="title"><small>OR</small><br /> +<br /> +TRUE STORIES, SONGS AND SKETCHES<br /> +OF PUGET SOUND AND OTHER<br /> +PIONEERS +</p> + +<p class="center gap4"><big>BY<br /> +EMILY INEZ DENNY<br /> +<br /> +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR AND<br /> +FROM AUTHENTIC PHOTOGRAPHS</big></p> + +<p class="center gap4">SEATTLE:<br /> +RAINIER PRINTING COMPANY, Inc.<br /> +1909</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 4]</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p class="center gap4"> +Copyright 1899<br /> +By<br /> +EMILY INEZ DENNY<br /> + +Published 1909</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 5]</span></p> + +<blockquote><p class="center gap4"> +To My Dear Father and Mother,<br /> +Faithful Friends and Counselors,<br /> +Whose pioneer life I shared,<br /> +This book is affectionately dedicated<br /> +By THE AUTHOR<br /></p></blockquote> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 6]</span></p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">A star stood large and white awest,</span> +<span class="i0">Then Time uprose and testified;</span> +<span class="i0">They push’d the mailed wood aside,</span> +<span class="i0">They toss’d the forest like a toy,</span> +<span class="i0">That great forgotten race of men,</span> +<span class="i0">The boldest band that yet has been</span> +<span class="i0">Together since the siege of Troy,</span> +<span class="i0">And followed it and found their rest.</span> +<br /> +<span class="i6">—Miller</span><br /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 7]</span></p> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> + +<p class="title">BLAZING THE WAY.</p> + +<p>In the early days when a hunter, explorer +or settler essayed to tread the mysterious depths +of the unknown forest of Puget Sound, he took +care to “blaze the way.” At brief intervals he +stopped to cut with his sharp woodman’s ax a +generous chip from the rough bark of fir, hemlock +or cedar tree, leaving the yellow inner bark +or wood exposed, thereby providing a perfect +guide by which he retraced his steps to the canoe +or cabin. As the initial stroke it may well be +emblematical of the beginnings of things in the +great Northwest.</p> + +<p>I do not feel moved to apologize for this +book; I have gathered the fragments within my +reach; such or similar works are needed to set +forth the life, character and movement of the +early days on Puget Sound. The importance +of the service of the Pioneers is as yet dimly +perceived; what the Pilgrim Fathers were to +New England, the Pioneers were to the Pacific +Coast, to the “nations yet to be,” who, following +in their footsteps, shall people the wilds +with teeming cities, a “human sea,” bearing on +its bosom argosies of priceless worth.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 8]</span>It does contain some items and incidents +not generally known or heretofore published. I +hope others may be provoked to record their +pioneer experiences.</p> + +<p>I have had exceptional opportunities in +listening to the thrice-told tales of parents and +friends who had crossed the plains, as well as +personal recollections of experiences and observation +during a residence of over fifty years +in the Northwest, acknowledging also the good +fortune of having been one of the first white +children born on Puget Sound.</p> + +<p>Every old pioneer has a store of memories +of adventures and narrow escapes, hardships +bravely endured, fresh pleasures enjoyed, rude +but genial merrymakings, of all the fascinating +incidents that made up the wonder-life of long +ago.</p> + +<p>Chronology is only a row of hooks to hang +the garments of the past upon, else they may +fall together in a confused heap.</p> + +<p>Not having a full line of such supports on +which to hang the weaving of my thoughts—I +simply overturn my Indian basket of chips +picked up after “Blazing the Way,” they being +merely bits of beginnings in the Northwest.</p> + +<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">E. I. DENNY.</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p><span class="smcap">Note</span>—The poem referred to on page 144 will appear in another +work.—<span class="smcap">Author.</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 9]</span></p> +<h3>INDEX</h3> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" style="width:90%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="index"> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="3"><b>PART I—THE GREAT MARCH</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" colspan="2">CHAPTER</td><td align="right"><span class="smcap">page</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Crossing the Plains</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page17">17</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Down the Columbia in ’51</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page34">34</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">III.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Settlement at Alki</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page41">41</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IV.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Founding of Seattle and Indian War</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page63">63</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">V.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The Murder of McCormick</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page96">96</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VI.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Killing Cougars</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page105">105</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VII.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pioneer Child Life</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page113">113</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Marching Experiences of Esther Chambers</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page151">151</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IX.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">An Olympia Woman’s Trip Across the Plains in 1851</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page168">168</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">X.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Captain Henry Roeder on the Trail</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page177">177</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align="center" colspan="3"><b>PART II—MEN, WOMEN AND ADVENTURES</b></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Song of the Pioneers</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page182">182</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Biographical Notes and Sketches, +John Denny, Sarah Latimer Denny</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page186">186</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">III.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">David Thomas Denny</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page203">203</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IV.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">The First Wedding on Elliot Bay</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page257">257</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">V.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Louisa Boren Denny</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page272"> 272</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">V<i>a</i>. <span class="smcap">Madge Decatur Denny</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page288">288</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">V<i>b</i>. <span class="smcap">Anna Louisa Denny</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page294">294</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">V<i>c</i>. <span class="smcap">William Richard Boren</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page300">300</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VI.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Arthur A. Denny, Mary A. Denny</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page305">305</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 10]</span>VII.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Henry Van Asselt of Duwamish</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page320">320</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Thomas Mercer</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page329">329</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IX.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Dr. Henry A. Smith, the Brilliant +Writer</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page344">344</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">X.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Famous Indian Chiefs</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page358">358</a></td></tr> +<tr><td colspan="3"> </td></tr> + +<tr><td align="center" colspan="3"><b>PART III—INDIAN LIFE AND SETTLERS’ BEGINNINGS</b></td></tr> + +<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Savage Deeds of Savage Men</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page391">391</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Pioneer Jokes and Anecdotes</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page415">415</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">III.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Trails of Commerce</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page436">436</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IV.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Building of the Territorial University</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page452">452</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">V.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">A Chehalis Letter, Penned in</span> ’52</td><td align="right"><a href="#page467">467</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VI.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Some Pioneers of Port Townsend</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page479">479</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VII.</td><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Personnel of the Pioneer Army</span></td><td align="right"><a href="#page489">489</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 11]</span></p> +<h3>SYNOPSIS OF INCIDENTS.</h3> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" style="width:90%" cellspacing="0" summary="synopsis of incidents"> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="3"><b>Part I.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td> </td><td align="right">Page</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter I—</td><td align="left">Crossing the Plains—Names of the Denny Company</td><td align="right"><a href="#page20">20</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Attacked by Indians at American Falls</td><td align="right"><a href="#page27">27</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter II—</td><td align="left">A Narrow Escape from Going Over the Cascades</td><td align="right"><a href="#page36">36</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">About to Sink in the Cold Waters of the Columbia</td><td align="right"><a href="#page38">38</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter III—</td><td align="left">Tramping a Long Trail</td><td align="right"><a href="#page42">42</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Landing of J. N. Low, D. T. Denny and Lee Terry at Sgwudux (West Seattle)</td><td align="right"><a href="#page43">43</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Exploring the Duwampsh River</td><td align="right"><a href="#page44">44</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Names of Party from "Exact"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page50">50</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter IV—</td><td align="left">A Visit from Wolves</td><td align="right"><a href="#page66">66</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">A Flight to Fort Decatur</td><td align="right"><a href="#page76"> 76</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Battle of Seattle</td><td align="right"><a href="#page80"> 80</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Story of John I. King’s Capture</td><td align="right"><a href="#page91"> 91</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter V—</td><td align="left">A Tragedy of the Trail</td><td align="right"><a href="#page98">98</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter VI—</td><td align="left">A Hair-raising Hunt for a Cougar</td><td align="right"><a href="#page107">107</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter VII—</td><td align="left">Seeking the Dead Among the Living</td><td align="right"><a href="#page121">121</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">The Strawberry of Memory</td><td align="right"><a href="#page126"> 126</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Three Little Girls and a Pioneer "Fourth"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page131"> 131</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">A Rescue from Drowning</td><td align="right"><a href="#page138">138</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter VIII—</td><td align="left">Frontier Experiences</td><td align="right"><a href="#page151">151</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter IX—</td><td align="left">Placating Indians on the Plains</td><td align="right"><a href="#page171">171</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter X—</td><td align="left">Capt. Roeder’s Meeting with the Bandit Joaquin</td><td align="right"><a href="#page180">180</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right"><span class="pagenum">[Pg 12]</span></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="3"><b>Part II.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter I—</td><td align="left">Poem—Song of the Pioneers</td><td align="right"><a href="#page182">182</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter II—</td><td align="left">A Notable Pioneer Reformer, John Denny</td><td align="right"><a href="#page188">188</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter III—</td><td align="left">A Tireless Foundation Builder, David Thomas Denny</td><td align="right"><a href="#page203"> 203</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Threats from Anti-Chinese Agitators</td><td align="right"><a href="#page211">211</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">His Own Account of Arrival on Elliott Bay</td><td align="right"><a href="#page214">214</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Surrounded by Indians</td><td align="right"><a href="#page243">243</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Trials and Triumph</td><td align="right"><a href="#page256">256</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter IV—</td><td align="left">A Lively Celebration of the First Wedding on Elliott Bay</td><td align="right"><a href="#page258">258</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Story of a Bear Hunt</td><td align="right"><a href="#page268"> 268</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter V—</td><td align="left">Indian Courtship</td><td align="right"><a href="#page275">275</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">On the Day of Battle</td><td align="right"><a href="#page276">276</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter VI—</td><td align="left">Discovery of Shilshole or Salmon Bay</td><td align="right"><a href="#page310"> 310</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">An Escape from Murderous Savages</td><td align="right"><a href="#page313"> 313</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Defense with a Hatchet</td><td align="right"><a href="#page316">316</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter VII—</td><td align="left">Immune Because of Indian Superstition</td><td align="right"><a href="#page323">323</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter VIII—</td><td align="left">Saving an Auburn-haired Girl</td><td align="right"><a href="#page341"> 341</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter IX—</td><td align="left">A Grand Description of a Vast Forest Fire</td><td align="right"><a href="#page350">350</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Poem—"The Mortgage"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page352">352</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Poem—"Pacific’s Pioneers"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page354">354</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter X—</td><td align="left">Hanging of Leschi</td><td align="right"><a href="#page370">370</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Poem—"The Chief’s Reply"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page388"> 388</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td align="center" colspan="3"><b>Part III.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter I—</td><td align="left">Shooting of Lachuse</td><td align="right"><a href="#page392">392</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">The Fight at Fort Nesqually</td><td align="right"><a href="#page395"> 395</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Abbie Casto’s Fate</td><td align="right"><a href="#page409">409</a><span class="pagenum">[Pg 13]</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter II—</td><td align="left">How the Old Shell Blew Up a Stump and Cautioned Mr. Horton</td><td align="right"><a href="#page423">423</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Mr. Beaty and the Cheese</td><td align="right"><a href="#page425">425</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter III—</td><td align="left">Poem—"The Beaver’s Requiem"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page436"> 436</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter IV—</td><td align="left">Poem—"The Voice of the Old University Bell"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page459"> 459</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter V—</td><td align="left">Charming Description of Early Days on the Chehalis</td><td align="right"><a href="#page467">467</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter VI—</td><td align="left">Founding of Port Townsend</td><td align="right"><a href="#page481">481</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">Chapter VII—</td><td align="left">A Number of Noted Names</td><td align="right"><a href="#page489">489</a></td></tr> +<tr><td> </td><td align="left">Poem—"Hail, and Farewell"</td><td align="right"><a href="#page503">503</a></td></tr> +</table></div><p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 14]</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 15]</span></p> +<h3>ILLUSTRATIONS</h3> + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" style="width:90%" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="illustrations"> +<tr><td align="right">I.</td><td align="left"><a href="#I">Fort Decatur, Jan. 26, 1856</a></td><td> </td><td> </td><td align="right">Frontispiece</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">II.</td><td align="left"><a href="#II">Chips Picked Up</a></td><td align="center">Facing</td><td align="center">page</td><td align="right">17</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">III.</td><td align="left"><a href="#III">Bargaining with Indians at Alki</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">49</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#IV">Indian Canoes Sailing with North Wind</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">81</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">V.</td><td align="left"><a href="#V">Log Cabin in the Swale</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">105</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#VI">Where We Wandered Long Ago</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">113</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#VII">A Visit from Our Tillicum</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">145</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#VIII">Sarah, John and Loretta Denny</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">193</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#IX">David Thomas Denny</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">209</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">X.</td><td align="left"><a href="#X">Sons of L. B. and D. T. Denny</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">241</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XI">Louisa B. Denny</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">257</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XII">A Flower Garden Planted by L. B. Denny</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">273</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XIII">Daughters of D. T. and L. B. Denny</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">289</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XIV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XIV">Erythronium of Lake Union</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">337</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XV.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XV">Types of Indian Houses</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">369</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XVI.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XVI">Last Voyage of the Lumei</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">385</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XVII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XVII">A Few Artifacts of P. S. Indians</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">401</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XVIII.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XVIII">Ship Belle Isle</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">481</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XIX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XIX">Rev. Blaine, C. D. and Wm. R. Boren</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">489</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">XX.</td><td align="left"><a href="#XX">Mrs. L. C. Low</a></td><td align="center">"</td><td align="center">"</td><td align="right">493</td></tr> +</table></div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 16]</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page17" name="page17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> +<h2>BLAZING THE WAY</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="title"><big>PART I.—THE GREAT MARCH</big></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER I<br /> + +<span class="smaller">CROSSING THE PLAINS.</span></h2> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">With Faith’s clear eye we saw afar</span> +<span class="i0">In western sky our empire’s star,</span> +<span class="i0">And strong of heart and brave of soul,</span> +<span class="i0">We marched and marched to reach the goal.</span> +<span class="i0">Unrolled a scroll, the great, gray plains,</span> +<span class="i0">And traced thereon our wagon trains;</span> +<span class="i0">Our blazing campfires marked the road</span> +<span class="i0">As night succeeding night they glowed.</span> + +<p class="quotsig">—Song of the Pioneers.</p> +</div> + + +<p>The noble army of courageous, enduring, +persistent, progressive pioneers who from time +to time were found threading their way across +the illimitable wilderness, forty or fifty years +ago, in detached companies, often unknown and +unknowing each other, have proved conclusively +that an age of marvelous heroism is but recently +past.</p> + +<p><a id="II" name="II"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 427px;"> +<img src="images/opp017.png" width="427" height="450" alt="" title="CHIPS PICKED UP AFTER BLAZING THE WAY" /> +<span class="caption">“CHIPS PICKED UP AFTER BLAZING THE WAY”</span> +</div> + +<p>The knowledge, foresight, faith and force +exhibited by many of these daring men and +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 18]</span>women proclaimed them endowed with the +genius of conquerors.</p> + +<p>The merely physical aspect of the undertaking +is overpowering. To transport themselves +and their effects in slow and toilsome +ways, through hundreds of miles of weary +wilderness, uninhabited except by foes, over +beetling mountain ranges, across swift and dangerous +rivers, through waterless deserts, in the +shadow of continual dread, required a fortitude +and staying power seldom equaled in the history +of human effort.</p> + +<p>But above and beyond all this, they carried +the profound convictions of Christian men and +women, of patriots and martyrs. They battled +with the forces of Nature and implacable +enemies; they found, too, that their moral battles +must be openly fought year after year, often in +the face of riotous disregard of the laws of God +and man. Arrived at their journey’s end, they +planted the youngest scions of the Tree of Liberty; +they founded churches and schools, carefully +keeping the traditions of civilization, yet +in many things finding greater and truer freedom +than they had left behind.</p> + +<p>The noblest of epics, masterpieces of painting, +stupendous operas or the grandest spectacular +drama could but meagerly or feebly express +the characters, experiences and environment of +those who crossed the plains for the Pacific slope +in the midst of the nineteenth century.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 19]</span></p> +<div class="poem" style="width:28em;"> +<span class="i0">“A mighty nation moving west,</span> +<span class="i0">With all its steely sinews set</span> +<span class="i0">Against the living forests. Hear</span> +<span class="i0">The shouts, the shots of pioneers!</span> +<span class="i0">The rended forests, rolling wheels,</span> +<span class="i0">As if some half-checked army reels,</span> +<span class="i0">Recoils, redoubles, comes again,</span> +<span class="i0">Loud-sounding like a hurricane.”</span> + +<p class="quotsig">—Joaquin Miller.</p> +</div> + +<p>It is my intention to speak more especially +of one little company who were destined to take +a prominent part in the laying of foundations in +the State of Washington.</p> + +<p>Previous to 1850, glowing accounts of the +fertility, mildness, beauty and general desirability +of Oregon Territory, which then included +Washington, reached the former friends and acquaintances +of Farley Pierce, Liberty Wallace, +the Rudolphs and others who wrote letters concerning +this favored land. Added to the impression +made thereby, the perusal of Fremont’s +travels, the desire for a change of climate from +the rigorous one of Illinois, the possession of a +pioneering spirit and the resolution was taken, +“To the far Pacific Coast we will go;” acting +upon it, they took their places in the great movement +having for its watchword, “Westward +Ho!”</p> + +<p>John Denny, a Kentuckian by birth, a pioneer +of Indiana and Illinois, whose record as a +soldier of 1812, a legislator in company and fraternal +relations with Lincoln, Baker, Gates and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page20" name="page20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +Trumbull, distinguished him for the most admirable +qualities, was the leading spirit; his +wife, Sarah Latimer Denny, a Tennessean, +thrifty, wise, faithful and far-seeing, who had +for many widowed years previous to her marriage +to John Denny, wrought out success in +making a home and educating her three children +in Illinois, was a fit leader of pioneer women.</p> + +<p>These, with their grown-up sons and daughters, +children and grandchildren, began the great +journey across the plains, starting from Cherry +Grove, Knox County, Illinois, on April 10th, +1851. Four “prairie schooners,” as the canvas-covered +wagons were called, three of them drawn +by four-horse teams, one with a single span, a +few saddle horses and two faithful watchdogs, +whose value is well known to those who have +traveled the wilds, made up the train.</p> + +<p>The names of these brave-hearted ones, +ready to dare and endure all, are as follows:</p> + +<p>John Denny, Sarah Latimer Denny and their +little daughter, Loretta; A. A. Denny, Mary A. +Denny and their two children, Catherine and +Lenora; C. D. Boren, Mrs. Boren and their +daughter, Gertrude; the only unmarried woman, +Miss Louisa Boren, sister of Mrs. A. A. Denny +and C. D. Boren; C. Crawford and family; four +unmarried sons of John Denny, D. T. Denny, +James, Samuel and Wiley Denny.</p> + +<p>The wrench of parting with friends made +a deep and lasting wound; no doubt every old<span class="pagenum">[Pg 21]</span> +pioneer of the Pacific Coast can recall the +anguish of that parting, whose scars the healing +years have never effaced.</p> + +<p>The route followed by our pioneers was the +old emigrant road along the north side of the +Platte River, down the Columbia and up the +Willamette to Portland, Oregon Territory, +which they afterwards left for their ultimate +destination, Puget Sound, where they found +Nature so bountiful, a climate so moderate and +their surroundings so ennobling that I have +often heard them say they had no wish to return +to dwell in the country from whence they came.</p> + +<p>Past the last sign of civilization, the Mormon +town of Kanesville, a mile or two east of +the Missouri River, the prairie schooners were +fairly out at sea. The great Missouri was +crossed at Council Bluffs by ferryboat on the +5th of May. The site of the now populous city +of Omaha was an untrodden waste. From thence +they followed the beaten track of the many who +had preceded them to California and Oregon.</p> + +<p>Hundreds of wagons had ground their way +over the long road before them, and beside this +road stretched the narrower beaten track of the +ox-drivers.</p> + +<p>On the Platte, shortly after crossing the +Missouri, a violent thunderstorm with sheets of +rain fell upon them at night, blowing down their +tents and saturating their belongings, thereby +causing much discomfort and inconvenience. Of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 22]</span> +necessity the following day was spent in drying +out the whole equipment.</p> + +<p>It served as a robust initiation in roughing +it; up to that time they had carefully dressed in +white night robes and lay down in neatly made +beds, but many a night after this storm were +glad to rest in the easiest way possible, when +worn by travel and too utterly weary of the long +day’s heat and dust, with grinding and bumping +of wheels, to think of the niceties of dainty living.</p> + +<p>For a time spring smiled on all the land; +along the Platte the prairies stretched away on +either hand, delightfully green and fresh, on the +horizon lay fleecy white clouds, islands of vapor +in the ethereal azure sea above; but summer came +on apace and the landscape became brown and +parched.</p> + +<p>The second day west of the Missouri our +train fell in with a long line of eighteen wagons +drawn by horses, and fraternizing with the occupants, +joined in one company. This new company +elected John Denny as Captain. It did not +prove a harmonious combination, however; discord +arose, and nowhere does it seem to arise so +easily as in camp. There was disagreement +about standing guard; fault was found with the +Captain and another was elected, but with no +better results. Our pioneers found it convenient +and far pleasanter to paddle their own canoes,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 23]</span> +or rather prairie schooners, and so left the contentious +ones behind.</p> + +<p>Long days of travel followed over the monotonous +expanse of prairie, each with scarcely +varying incidents, toils and dangers. The stir +of starting in the morning, the morning forward +movement, the halt for the noonday meal, cooked +over a fire of buffalo chips, and the long, weary +afternoon of heat and dust whose passing +brought the welcome night, marked the journey +through the treeless region.</p> + +<p>At one of the noonings, the hopes of the +party in a gastronomic line were woefully disappointed. +A pailful of choice home-dried +peaches, cooked with much care, had been set on +a wagon tongue to cool and some unlucky movement +precipitated the whole luscious, juicy mass +into the sand below. It was an occurrence to +make the visage lengthen, so far, far distant were +the like of them from the hungry travelers.</p> + +<p>Fuel was scarce a large part of the way until +west of Fort Laramie, the pitch pine in the Black +Hills made such fires as delight the hearts of +campers. In a stretch of two hundred miles but +one tree was seen, a lone elm by the river Platte, +which was finally cut down and the limbs used +for firewood. When near this tree, the train +camped over Sunday, and our party first saw +buffaloes, a band of perhaps twenty. D. T. +Denny and C. D. Boren of the party went hunting +in the hills three miles from the camp but<span class="pagenum">[Pg 24]</span> +other hunters had been among them and scattered +the band, killing only one or two; however +they generously divided the meat with the +new arrivals. Our two good hunters determined +to get one if possible and tried stalking a shaggy-maned +beast that was separated from the herd, +a half mile from their horses left picketed on +the grassy plain. Shots were fired at him without +effect and he ran away unhurt, fortunately +for himself as well as his pursuers. One of the +hunters, D. T. Denny, said it might have been a +very serious matter for them to have been +charged by a wounded buffalo out on the treeless +prairie where a man had nothing to dodge +behind but his own shadow.</p> + +<p>On the prairie before they reached Fort +Laramie a blinding hailstorm pelted the travelers.</p> + +<p>D. T. Denny, who was driving a four-horse +team in the teeth of the storm, relates that the +poor animals were quite restive, no doubt suffering +much from their shelterless condition. They +had been well provided for as to food; their +drivers carried corn which lasted for two hundred +miles. The rich grass of five hundred miles +of prairie afforded luxurious living beyond this, +and everywhere along the streams where camp +was made there was an abundance of fresh herbage +to be found.</p> + +<p>Many lonely graves were seen, graves of +pioneers, with hopes as high, mayhap, as any,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 25]</span> +but who pitched their silent tents in the wilderness +to await the Judgment Day.</p> + +<p>A deep solemnity fell upon the living as the +train wound along, where on the side of a mountain +was a lone grave heaped up with stones to +protect it from the ravages of wolves. Tall pines +stood around it and grass and flowers adorned +it with nature’s broidery. Several joined in singing +an old song beginning</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">“I came to the place</span> +<span class="i0">Where the white pilgrim lay,</span> +<span class="i0">And pensively stood by his tomb,</span> +<span class="i0">When in a low whisper I heard something say,</span> +<span class="i0">‘How sweetly I sleep here alone.’”</span> +</div> + +<p>Echoed only by the rustling of the boughs of +scattered pines, moving gently in the wind.</p> + +<p>As they approached the upheaved mountainous +country, lively interest, a keen delight in +the novelty of their surroundings, and surprise +at unexpected features were aroused in the minds +of the travelers.</p> + +<p>A thoughtful one has said that the weird +beauty of the Wind River Mountains impressed +her deeply, their image has never left her memory +and if she were an artist she could faithfully +represent them on canvas.</p> + +<p>A surprise to the former prairie dwellers +was the vast extent of the mountains, their imaginations +having projected the sort of mountain +range that is quite rare, a single unbroken ridge<span class="pagenum">[Pg 26]</span> +traversed by climbing up one side and going down +the other! But they found this process must be +repeated an indefinite number of times and over +such roughness as their imaginations had never +even suggested.</p> + +<p>What grinding, heaving and bumping over +huge boulders! What shouting and urging of +animals, what weary hours of tortured endurance +dragged along! One of them remembers, +too, perhaps vaguely, the suffering induced by an +attack of the mysterious mountain fever.</p> + +<p>The desert also imposed its tax of misery. +Only at night could the desert be safely crossed. +Starting at four o’clock in the afternoon they +traveled all the following night over an arid, +desolate region, the Green River desert, thirty +miles, a strange journey in the dimness of a +summer night with only the star-lamps overhead. +In sight of the river, the animals made a rush +for the water and ran in to drink, taking the +wagons with them.</p> + +<p>Often the names of the streams crossed were +indicative of their character, suggestive of adventure +or descriptive of their surroundings. +Thus “Sweetwater” speaks eloquently of the refreshing +draughts that slaked the thirst in contrast +with the alkaline waters that were bitter; +Burnt River flowed past the blackened remains +of an ancient forest and Bear River may have +been named for the ponderous game secured by +a lucky hunter.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page27" name="page27">[Pg 27]</a></span>By July of 1851 the train reached Old Fort +Hall, composed of a stockade and log houses, +situated on the Snake River, whose flood set toward +the long-sought Pacific shore.</p> + +<p>While camped about a mile from the fort the +Superintendent wrote for them directions for +camping places where wood and water could be +obtained, extending over the whole distance from +Fort Hall to the Dalles of the Columbia River. +He told James Denny, brother of D. T. Denny, +that if they met Indians they must on no account +stop at their call, saying that the Indians of that +vicinity were renegade Shoshones and horse +thieves.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the fifth of July an old +Indian visited the camp, but no significance was +attached to the incident, and all were soon moving +quietly along in sight of the Snake River; +the road lay on the south side of the river, which +is there about two hundred yards wide. An encampment +of Indians was observed, on the north +side of the river, as they wound along by the +American Falls, but no premonition of danger +was felt, on the contrary, they were absorbed in +the contemplation of the falls and basin below. +Dark objects were seen to be moving on the surface +of the wide pool and all supposed them to +be ducks disporting themselves after the manner +of harmless water fowl generally. What was +their astonishment to behold them swiftly and +simultaneously approach the river bank, spring<span class="pagenum">[Pg 28]</span> +out of the water and reveal themselves full grown +savages!</p> + +<p>With guns and garments, but few of the +latter probably, on their heads, they swam across +and climbed up the bank to the level of the +sage brush plain. The leader, attired in a plug +hat and long, black overcoat flapping about his +sinewy limbs, gun in hand, advanced toward the +train calling out, “How-de-do! How-de-do! Stop! +Stop!” twice repeating the words. The Captain, +Grandfather John Denny, answered “Go back,” +emphasizing the order by vigorous gestures. +Mindful of the friendly caution of the Superintendent +at Fort Hall, the train moved on. The +gentleman of the plains retired to his band, who +dodged back behind the sagebrush and began +firing at the train. One bullet threw up the dust +under the horse ridden by one of the company. +The frightened women and children huddled +down as low as possible in the bottoms of the +wagons, expecting the shots to penetrate the canvas +walls of their moving houses. In the last +wagon, in the most exposed position, one of the +mothers sat pale and trembling like an aspen +leaf; the fate of the young sister and two little +daughters in the event of capture, beside the +danger of her own immediate death were too +dreadful to contemplate. In their extremity one +said, “O, why don’t they hurry! If I were driving +I would lay on the lash!”</p> + +<p>When the Indians found that their shots<span class="pagenum">[Pg 29]</span> +took no effect, they changed their tactics and ran +down along the margin of the river under shelter +of the bank, to head off the train at a point where +it must go down one hill and up another. There +were seven men with five rifles and two rifle-pistols, +but these would have been of little avail +if the teams had been disabled. D. T. Denny +drove the forward wagon, having one rifle and +the pistols; three of the men were not armed.</p> + +<p>All understood the maneuver of the Indians +and were anxious to hurry the teams unless it +was Captain John Denny, who was an old soldier +and may have preferred to fight.</p> + +<p>Sarah Denny, his wife, looked out and saw +the Indians going down the river; no doubt she +urged him to whip up. The order was given and +after moments that seemed hours, down the long +hill they rushed pell-mell, without lock or brake, +the prairie schooners tossing like their namesakes +on a stormy sea. What a breathless, panting, +nightmare it seemed! If an axle had broken or a +linchpin loosened the race would have been lost. +But on, madly careening past the canyon where +the Indians intended to intercept them, tearing +up the opposite hill with desperate energy, expecting +every moment to hear the blood-curdling +warwhoop, nor did they slacken their speed to +the usual pace for the remainder of the day. As +night approached, the welcome light of a campfire, +that of J. N. Low’s company, induced them +to stop. This camp was on a level near a bluff;<span class="pagenum">[Pg 30]</span> +a narrow deep stream flowed by into the Snake +River not far away. The cattle were corraled, +with the wagons in a circle and a fire of brushwood +built in the center.</p> + +<p>Around the Denny company’s campfire, the +women who prepared the evening meal were in +momentary fear of receiving a shot from an ambushed +foe, lit as they were against the darkness, +but happily their fears were not realized. +Weary as the drivers were, guards were posted +and watched all night. The dogs belonging to +the train were doubtless a considerable protection, +as they would have given the alarm had the +enemy approached.</p> + +<p>One of the women went down to the brook +the next morning to get water for the camp and +saw the tracks of Indian ponies in the dust on the +opposite side of the stream. Evidently they had +followed the train to that point, but feared to attack +the united forces of the two camps.</p> + +<p>After this race for life the men stood guard +every night; one of them, D. T. Denny, was on +duty one-half of every other night and alternately +slept on the ground under one of the wagons.</p> + +<p>This was done until they reached the Cayuse +country. On Burnt River they met thirty warriors, +the advance guard of their tribe who were +moving, women, children, drags and dogs. The +Indians were friendly and cheeringly announced +“Heap sleep now; we are <i>good</i> Indians.”</p> + +<p>The Denny and Low trains were well pleased<span class="pagenum">[Pg 31]</span> +to join their forces and traveled as one company +until they reached their journey’s end.</p> + +<p>The day after the Indian attack, friendly +visits were made and Mrs. J. N. Low recalls that +she saw two women of Denny’s company frying +cakes and doughnuts over the campfire, while +two others were well occupied with the youngest +of the travelers, who were infants.</p> + +<p>There were six men and two women in Low’s +company and when the two companies joined +they felt quite strong and traveled unmolested +the remainder of the way.</p> + +<p>An exchange of experiences brought out the +fact that Low’s company had crossed the Missouri +the third day of May and had traveled on +the south side of the Platte at the same time the +Denny company made their way along the +north side of the same stream.</p> + +<p>At a tributary called Big Blue, as Mrs. Low +relates, she observed the clouds rolling up and +admonished her husband to whip up or they +would not be able to cross for days if they delayed; +they crossed, ascended the bluffs where +there was a semicircle of trees, loosed the cattle +and picketed the horses. By evening the storm +reached them with lightning, heavy thunder and +great piles of hail. The next morning the water +had risen half way up tall trees.</p> + +<p>The Indians stole the lead horse of one of the +four-horse teams and Mrs. Low rode the other on +a man’s saddle. Many western equestriennes<span class="pagenum">[Pg 32]</span> +have learned to be not too particular as to horse, +habit or saddle and have proven also the greater +safety and convenience of cross-saddle riding.</p> + +<p>In the Black Hills while traveling along the +crest of a high ridge, where to get out of the road +would have been disastrous, the train was met by +a band of Indians on ponies, who pressed up to +the wagons in a rather embarrassing way, bent +apparently upon riding between and separating +the teams, but the drivers were too wise to permit +this and kept close together, without stopping +to parley with them, and after riding alongside +for some distance, the designing but baffled redskins +withdrew.</p> + +<p>The presence of the native inhabitants sometimes +proved a convenience; especially was this +true of the more peaceable tribes of the far west. +On the Umatilla River the travelers were glad +to obtain the first fresh vegetable since leaving +the cultivated gardens and fields of their old +homes months before. One of the women traded +a calico apron for green peas, which were regarded +as a great treat and much enjoyed.</p> + +<p>Farther on, as they neared the Columbia, +Captain Low, who was riding ahead of the train, +met Indians with salmon, eager to purchase so +fine a fish and not wishing to stop the wagon, +pulled off an overshirt over his head and exchanged +it for the piscatorial prize.</p> + +<p>The food that had sustained them on the +long march was almost military in its simplic<span class="pagenum">[Pg 33]</span>ity. +Corn meal, flour, rice (a little, as it was not +then in common use), beans, bacon and dried +fruits were the main dependence. They could +spend but little time hunting and fishing. On +Bear River “David” and “Louisa” each caught +a trout, fine, speckled beauties. “David” and +the other hunters of the company also killed sage +hens, antelope and buffalo.</p> + +<p>After leaving the Missouri River they had +no opportunity to buy anything until they +reached the Snake River, where they purchased +some dried salmon of the Indians.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page34" name="page34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II<br /> + +<span class="smaller">DOWN THE COLUMBIA IN ’51.</span></h2> + +<p>After eighty days travel over one thousand +seven hundred sixty-five miles of road these +weary pilgrims reached the mighty river of the +West, the vast Columbia.</p> + +<p>At The Dalles, the road Across the Plains +was finished, from thence the great waterways +would lead them to their journey’s end.</p> + +<p>It was there the immigrants first feasted on +the delicious river salmon, fresh from the foaming +waters. The Indians boiled theirs, making +a savory soup, the odor of which would almost +have fed a hungry man; the white people cooked +goodly pieces in the trusty camp frying pan.</p> + +<p>Not then accustomed to such finny monsters, +they found a comparison for the huge cuts as +like unto sides of pork, and a receptacle for the +giant’s morsels in a seaworthy washingtub. However, +high living will pall unto the taste; one may +really tire of an uninterrupted piscatorial banquet, +and one of the company, A. A. Denny, declared +his intention of introducing some variety +in the bill of fare. “Plague take it,” he said, +“I’m tired of salmon—I’m going to have some +chicken.”</p> + +<p>But alas! the gallinaceous fowl, roaming +freely at large, had also feasted frequently on<span class="pagenum">[Pg 35]</span> +fragments no longer fresh of the overplus of salmon, +and its flavor was indescribable, wholly impossible, +as the French say. It was “fishy” fish +rather than fowl.</p> + +<p>At The Dalles the company divided, one +party composed of a majority of the men started +over the mountains with the wagons and teams; +the women and children prepared to descend the +river in boats.</p> + +<p>In one boat, seated on top of the “plunder” +were Mrs. A. A. Denny and two children, Miss +Louisa Boren, Mrs. Low and four children and +Mrs. Boren and one child. The other boat was +loaded in like manner with a great variety of useful +and necessary articles, heaped up, on top of +which sat several women and children, among +whom were Mrs. Sarah Denny, grandmother of +the writer, and her little daughter, Loretta.</p> + +<p>A long summer day was spent in floating +down the great canyon where the majestic Columbia +cleaves the Cascade Range in twain. The +succeeding night the first boat landed on an +island in the river, and the voyagers went ashore +to camp. During the night one of the little girls, +Gertrude Boren, rolled out of her bed and narrowly +escaped falling into the hurrying stream; +had she done so she must have certainly been +lost, but a kind Providence decreed otherwise. +Re-embarking the following day, gliding swiftly +on the current, they traversed a considerable<span class="pagenum"><a id="page36" name="page36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +distance and the second night approached the +Cascades.</p> + +<p>Swifter and more turbulent, the rushing +flood began to break in more furious foam-wreaths +on every jagged rock, impotently striving +to stay its onward rush to the limitless ocean.</p> + +<p>Sufficient light enabled the observing eye to +perceive the writhing surface of the angry waters, +but the boatmen were stupified with drink!</p> + +<p>All day long they had passed a bottle about +which contained a liquid facetiously called “Blue +Ruin” and near enough their ruin it proved.</p> + +<p>I have penned the following description +which met with the approval of one of the principal +actors in what so nearly proved a tragedy:</p> + +<p>It was midnight on the mighty Columbia. +A waning moon cast a glowworm light on the +dark, rushing river; all but one of the weary women +and tired little children were deeply sunken +in sleep. The oars creaked and dipped monotonously; +the river sang louder and louder every +boat’s length. Drunken, bloated faces leered +foolishly and idiotically; they admonished each +other to “Keep ’er goin’.”</p> + +<p>The solitary watcher stirred uneasily, looked +at the long lines of foam out in midstream and +saw how fiercely the white waves contended, and +far swifter flew the waters than at any hour before. +What was the meaning of it? Hark! that +humming, buzzing, hissing, nay, bellowing roar! +The blood flew to her brain and made her senses<span class="pagenum">[Pg 37]</span> +reel; they must be nearing the last landing above +the falls, the great Cascades of the Columbia.</p> + +<p>But the crew gave no heed.</p> + +<p>Suddenly she cried out sharply to her sleeping +sister, “Mary! Mary! wake up! we are nearing +the falls, I hear them roar.”</p> + +<p>“What is it, Liza?” she said sleepily.</p> + +<p>“O, wake up! we shall all be drowned, the +men don’t know what they are doing.”</p> + +<p>The rudely awakened sleepers seemed dazed +and did not make much outcry, but a strong +young figure climbed over the mass of baggage +and confronting the drunken boatmen, plead, +urged and besought them, if they considered +their own lives, or their helpless freight of humanity, +to make for the shore.</p> + +<p>“Oh, men,” she pleaded, “don’t you hear the +falls, they roar louder now. It will soon be too +late, I beseech you turn the boat to shore. Look +at the rapids beyond us!”</p> + +<p>“Thar haint no danger, Miss, leastways not +yet; wots all this fuss about anyhow? No danger,” +answered one who was a little disturbed; +the others were almost too much stupified to understand +her words and stood staring at the bareheaded, +black haired young woman as if she were +an apparition and were no more alarmed than +if the warning were given as a curious mechanical +performance, having no reference to themselves.</p> + +<p>Repeating her request with greater earnestness, +if possible, a man’s voice broke in saying,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page38" name="page38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +“I believe she is right, put in men quick, none of +us want to be drowned.”</p> + +<p>Fortunately this penetrated their besotted +minds and they put about in time to save the lives +of all on board, although they landed some distance +below the usual place.</p> + +<p>A little farther and they would have been +past all human help.</p> + +<p>One of the boatmen cheerfully acknowledged +the next day that if it “hadn’t been fur that purty +girl they had a’ gone over them falls, shure.”</p> + +<p>The other boat had a similar experience; it +began to leak profusely before they had gone +very far and would soon have sunk, had not the +crew, who doubtless were sober, made all haste to +land.</p> + +<p>My grandmother has often related to me +how she clapsed her little child to her heart and +resigned herself to a fate which seemed inevitable; +also of a Mrs. McCarthy, a passenger likewise, +becoming greatly excited and alternately +swearing and praying until the danger was past. +An inconvenient but amusing feature was the +soaked condition of the “plunder” and the way +the shore and shrubbery thereon were decorated +with “hiyu ictas,” as the Chinook has it, hung +out to dry. Finding it impossible to proceed, +this detachment returned and took the mountain +road.</p> + +<p>A tramway built by F. A. Chenoweth, around +the great falls, afforded transportation for the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 39]</span> +baggage of the narrowly saved first described. +There being no accommodations for passengers, +the party walked the tramroad; at the terminus +they unloaded and stayed all night. No “commodious +and elegant” steamer awaited them, but +an old brig, bound for Portland, received them +and their effects.</p> + +<p>Such variety of adventure had but recently +crowded upon them that it was almost fearfully +they re-embarked. A. A. Denny observed to +Captain Low, “Look here, Low, they say women +are scarce in Oregon and we had better be careful +of ours.” Presumably they were, as both +survive at the present day.</p> + +<p>From a proud ranger of the dashing main, +the old brig had come down to be a carrier of salt +salmon packed in barrels, and plunder of immigrants; +as for the luckless passengers, they accommodated +themselves as best they could.</p> + +<p>The small children were tied to the mast to +keep them from falling overboard, as there were +no bulwarks.</p> + +<p>Beds were made below on the barrels before +mentioned and the travel-worn lay down, +but not to rest; the mosquitos were a bloodthirsty +throng and the beds were likened unto a corduroy +road.</p> + +<p>One of the women grumbled a little and an +investigation proved that it was, as her husband +said, “Nothing but the tea-kettle” wedged in between +the barrels.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 40]</span>Another lost a moccasin overboard and having +worn out all her shoes on the way, went with +one stockinged foot until they turned up the +Willamette River, then went ashore to a farmhouse +where she was so fortunate as to find the +owner of a new pair of shoes which she bought, +and was thus able to enter the “city” of Portland +in appropriate footgear.</p> + +<p>After such vicissitudes, dangers and anxiety, +the little company were glad to tarry in the embryo +metropolis for a brief season; then, having +heard of fairer shores, the restless pioneers +moved on.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page41" name="page41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III<br /> + +<span class="smaller">THE SETTLEMENT AT ALKI.</span></h2> + +<p>Midway between Port Townsend and Olympia, +in full view looking west from the city of +Seattle, is a long tongue of land, washed by the +sparkling waves of Puget Sound, called Alki +Point. It helps to make Elliott Bay a beautiful +land-locked harbor and is regarded with interest +as being the site of the first settlement by white +people in King County in what was then the +Territory of Oregon. <i>Alki</i> is an Indian word +pronounced with the accent on the first syllable, +which is <i>al</i> as in altitude; <i>ki</i> is spoken as <i>ky</i> in +silky. Alki means “by and by.”</p> + +<p>It doth truly fret the soul of the old settler +to see it printed and hear it pronounced Al-ki.</p> + +<p>The first movement toward its occupancy +was on this wise: A small detachment of the +advancing column of settlers, D. T. Denny and +J. N. Low, left Portland on the Willamette, on +the 10th of September, 1851, with two horses +carrying provisions and camp outfit.</p> + +<p>These men walked to the Columbia River to +round up a band of cattle belonging to Low. The +cattle were ferried over the river at Vancouver +and from thence driven over the old Hudson Bay +Company’s trail to the mouth of Cowlitz River, +a tributary of the Columbia, up the Cowlitz to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page42" name="page42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +Warbass Landing and on to Ford’s prairie, a +wide and rich one, where the band were left to +graze on the luxuriant pasturage.</p> + +<p>On a steep, rocky trail along the Cowlitz +River, Denny was following along not far behind +a big, yellow ox that was scrambling up, trying +vainly to get a firm foothold, when Low, foreseeing +calamity, called to him to “Look out!” +Denny swerved a little from the path and at that +moment the animal lost its footing and came tumbling +past them, rolling over several times until +it landed on a lower level, breaking off one of its +horns. Here was a narrow escape although not +from a wild beast. They could not then stop to +secure the animal although it was restored to the +flock some time after.</p> + +<p>From Ford’s prairie, although footsore and +weary, they kept on their way until Olympia was +reached. It was a long tramp of perhaps two +hundred fifty miles, the exact distance could not +be ascertained as the trail was very winding.</p> + +<p>As described by one of our earliest historians, +Olympia then consisted of about a dozen +one-story frame cabins, covered with split cedar +siding, well ventilated and healthy, and perhaps +twice as many Indian huts near the custom house, +as Olympia was then the port of entry for Puget +Sound.</p> + +<p>The last mentioned structure afforded space +on the ground floor for a store, with a small room +partitioned off for a postoffice.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page43" name="page43">[Pg 43]</a></span>Our two pioneers found here Lee Terry, who +had been engaged in loading a sailing vessel with +piles. He fell in with the two persistent pedestrians +and thus formed a triumvirate of conquerors +of a new world. The pioneers tarried not in +the embryo city but pushed on farther down the +great Inland Sea.</p> + +<p>With Captain Fay and several others they +embarked in an open boat, the Captain, who +owned the boat, intending to purchase salmon of +the Indians for the San Francisco market. Fay +was an old whaling captain. He afterwards +married Mrs. Alexander, a widow of Whidby +Island, and lived there until his death.</p> + +<p>The little party spent their first night on the +untrod shores of Sgwudux, the Indian name of +the promontory now occupied by West Seattle, +landing on the afternoon of September 25th, +1851, and sleeping that night under the protecting +boughs of a giant cedar tree.</p> + +<p>On the 26th, Low, Denny and Terry hired +two young Indians of Chief Sealth’s (Seattle’s) +tillicum (people), who were camped near by, to +take them up the Duwampsh River in a canoe. +Safely seated, the paddles dipped and away they +sped over the dancing waves. The weather was +fair, the air clear and a magnificent panorama +spread around them. The whole forest-clad encircling +shores of Elliott Bay, untouched by fire +or ax, the tall evergreens thickly set in a dense +mass to the water’s edge stood on every hand.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page44" name="page44">[Pg 44]</a></span> +The great white dome of Mount Rainier, 14,444 +feet high, before them, toward which they traveled; +behind them, stretched along the western +horizon, Towiat or Olympics, a grand range of +snow-capped mountains whose foothills were covered +with a continuous forest.</p> + +<p>Entering the Duwampsh River and ascending +for several miles they reached the farther +margin of a prairie where Low and Terry, having +landed, set out over an Indian trail through +the woods, to look at the country, while Denny +followed on the river with the Indians. On and +on they went until Denny became anxious and +fired off his gun but received neither shot nor +shout in answer. The day waned, it was growing +dark, and as he returned the narrow deep river +took on a melancholy aspect, the great forest was +gloomy with unknown fears, and he was alone +with strange, wild men whose language was almost +unintelligible. Nevertheless, he landed and +camped with them at a place known afterward +as the Maple Prairie.</p> + +<p>Morning of the 27th of September saw them +paddling up the river again in search of the other +two explorers, whom they met coming down in a +canoe. They had kept on the trail until an Indian +camp was reached at the junction of Black +and Duwampsh Rivers the night before. All +returned to Sgwudux, their starting point, to +sleep under the cedar tree another night.</p> + +<p>On the evening of the 27th a scow appeared<span class="pagenum">[Pg 45]</span> +and stopped near shore where the water was +quite deep. Two women on board conversed with +Captain Fay in Chinook, evidently quite proud +of their knowledge of the trade jargon of the +Northwest. The scow moved on up Elliott Bay, +entered Duwampsh River and ascended it to the +claim of L. M. Collins, where another settlement +sprang into existence.</p> + +<p>On the 28th the pioneers moved their camp +to Alki Point or Sma-qua-mox as it was named +by the Indians.</p> + +<p>Captain Fay returned from down the Sound +on the forenoon of the 28th. That night, as they +sat around the campfire, the pioneers talked of +their projected building and the idea of split stuff +was advanced, when Captain Fay remarked, +“Well, I think a log house is better in an Indian +country.”</p> + +<p>“Why, do you think there is any danger +from the Indians?” he was quickly asked.</p> + +<p>“Well,” he replied, with a sly twinkle in his +eye, “It would keep off the stray bullets when +they <i>poo mowich</i>” (shoot deer).</p> + +<p>These hints, coupled with subsequent experiences, +awoke the anxiety of D. T. Denny, who +soon saw that there were swarms of savages to +the northward. Those near by were friendly, +but what of those farther away?</p> + +<p>One foggy morning, when the distance was +veiled in obscurity, the two young white men, +Lee and David, were startled to see a big canoe<span class="pagenum">[Pg 46]</span> +full of wild Indians from away down the Sound +thrust right out of the dense fog; they landed +and came ashore; the chief was a tall, brawny fellow +with a black beard. They were very impudent, +crowding on them and trying to get into the +little brush tent, but Lee Terry stood in the door-way +leaning, or braced rather, against the tree +upon which one end of the frail habitation was +fastened. The white men succeeded in avoiding +trouble but they felt inwardly rather “shaky” +and were much relieved when their rude visitors +departed. These Indians were Skagits.</p> + +<p>The brush shelter referred to was made of +boughs laid over a pole placed in the crotch of +another pole at one end, the other end being held +by a crotch fastened to a tree. In it was placed +their scanty outfit and supplies, and there they +slept while the cabin was building.</p> + +<p>A townsite was located and named “New +York,” which no doubt killed the place, exotics +do not thrive in the Northwest; however, the +name was after changed to Alki.</p> + +<p>D. T. Denny and Lee Terry were left to +take care of the “townsite” while J. N. Low returned +with Captain Fay to Olympia and footed +it over the trail again to the Columbia. He carried +with him a letter to A. A. Denny in Portland, +remarkable as the first one penned by D. T. +Denny on Puget Sound, also in that upon it and +the account given by Low depended the decision +of the rest of the party to settle on the shores of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 47]</span> +the great Inland Sea. The substance of the letter +was, “Come as soon as you can; we have found a +valley that will accommodate one thousand families,” +referring to that of the Duwampsh River.</p> + +<p>These two, David T. Denny and Lee Terry, +proceeded to lay the foundation of the first cabin +built on Elliott Bay and also the first in King +County. Their only tools were an ax and a hammer. +The logs were too heavy for the two white +men to handle by themselves, and after they were +cut, passing Indians, muscular braves, were +called on to assist, which they willingly did, Mr. +Denny giving them bread as a reward, the same +being an unaccustomed luxury to them.</p> + +<p>Several days after the foundation was laid, +L. M. Collins and “Nesqually John,” an Indian, +passed by the camp and rising cabin, driving +oxen along the beach, on their way to the claim +selected by Collins on the fertile banks of the +Duwampsh River.</p> + +<p>When D. T. Denny and Lee Terry wrote +their names on the first page of our history, they +could not fully realize the import of their every +act, yet no doubt they were visionary. Sleeping +in their little brush tent at night, what dreams +may have visited them! Dreams, perhaps, of +fleets of white-winged ships with the commerce +of many nations, of busy cities, of throngs of people. +Probably they set about chopping down the +tall fir trees in a cheerful mood, singing and +whistling to the astonishment of the pine squir<span class="pagenum">[Pg 48]</span>rels +and screech owls thus rudely disturbed. +Their camp equipage and arrangements were of +the simplest and rudest and Mr. Denny relates +that Lee Terry would not cook so he did the cooking. +He made a “johnny cake” board of willow +wood to bake bread upon.</p> + +<p>Fish and game were cooked before the camp +fire. The only cooking vessel was a tin pail.</p> + +<p>One evening Old Duwampsh Curley, whose +Indian name was Su-whalth, with several others, +visited them and begged the privilege of camping +near by. Permission given, the Indians built a +fire and proceeded to roast a fine, fat duck transfixed +on a sharp stick, placing a large clam shell +underneath to catch the gravy. When it was +cooked to their minds, Curley offered a choice cut +to the white men, who thanked him but declined +to partake, saying that they had eaten their supper.</p> + +<p>Old Curley remembered it and in after years +often reminded his white friend of the incident, +laughing slyly, “He! He! Boston man halo tikke +Siwash muck-a-muck” (white man do not like +Indian’s food), knowing perfectly well the reason +they would not accept the proffered dainty.</p> + +<p>J. N. Low had returned to Portland and +Terry went to Olympia on the return trip of +Collins’ scow, leaving David T. Denny alone with +“New York,” the unfinished cabin and the Indians. +For three weeks he was the sole occupant +and was ill a part of the time.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 49]</span>Meanwhile, the families left behind had not +been idle, but having made up their minds that +the end of their rainbow rested on Puget Sound, +set sail on the schooner “Exact,” with others who +intended to settle at various points on the Inland +Sea, likewise a party of gold hunters bound for +Queen Charlotte’s Island.</p> + +<p>They were one week getting around Cape +Flattery and up the Sound as far as Alki Point. +It was a rough introduction to the briny deep, +as the route covered the most tempestuous portion +of the northwest coast. Well acquainted as +they were with prairie schooners, a schooner on +the ocean was another kind of craft and they +enjoyed (?) their first experience of seasickness +crossing the bar of the Columbia. As may be +easily imagined, the fittings were not of the most +luxurious kind and father, mother and the children +gathered socially around a washing tub to +pay their respects to Neptune.</p> + +<p>The gold miners, untouched by mal de mer, +sang jolly songs and played cards to amuse themselves. +Their favorite ditty was the round +“Three Blind Mice” and they sang also many +good old campmeeting songs. Poor fellows! they +were taken captive by the Indians of Queen Charlotte’s +Island and kept in slavery a number of +years until Victorians sent an expedition for +their rescue, paid their ransom and they were +released.</p> + +<p><a id="III" name="III"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/opp049.png" width="500" height="298" alt="" title="BARGAINING WITH INDIANS AT ALKI, 1851" /> +<span class="caption">BARGAINING WITH INDIANS AT ALKI, 1851</span> +</div> + +<p>On a dull November day, the thirteenth of +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page50" name="page50">[Pg 50]</a></span>the month, this company landed on Alki Point.</p> + +<p>There were A. A. Denny, his wife, Mary +Boren Denny, and their three little children; +Miss Louisa Boren, a younger sister of Mrs. +Denny; C. D. Boren and his family; J. N. Low, +Mrs. Low and their four children and Wm. N. +Bell, Mrs. Sarah Bell and their family.</p> + +<p>John and Sarah Denny with their little +daughter, Loretta, remained in Oregon for several +years and then removed to the Sound.</p> + +<p>On that eventful morning the lonely occupant +of the unfinished cabin was startled by an +unusual sound, the rattling of an anchor chain, +that of the “Exact.” Not feeling well he had +the night before made some hot tea, drank it, +piled both his own and Lee Terry’s blankets over +him and slept long and late. Hearing the noise +before mentioned he rose hastily, pushed aside +the boards leaned up for a door and hurried out +and down to the beach to meet his friends who +left the schooner in a long boat. It was a gloomy, +rainy time and the prospect for comfort was so +poor that the women, except the youngest who +had no family cares, sat them down on a log on +the beach and wept bitter tears of discouragement. +Not so with Miss Louisa Boren, whose +lively curiosity and love of nature led her to examine +everything she saw, the shells and pebbles +of the beach, rank shrubbery and rich evergreens +that covered the bank, all so new and interesting +to the traveler from the far prairie country.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 51]</span>But little time could be spent, however, indulging +in the luxury of woe as all were obliged +to exert themselves to keep their effects from being +carried away by the incoming tide and forgot +their sorrow in busily carrying their goods upon +the bank; food and shelter must be prepared, and +as ever before they met the difficulties courageously.</p> + +<p>The roof of the cabin was a little imperfect +and one of the pioneer children was rendered +quite uncomfortable by the more or less regular +drip of the rain upon her and in after years recalled +it saying that she had forever after a +prejudice against camping out.</p> + +<p>David T. Denny inadvertantly let fall the +remark that he wished they had not come. A. A. +Denny, his brother, came to him, pale with agitation, +asking what he meant, and David attempted +to allay his fears produced by anxiety +for his helpless family, by saying that the cabin +was not comfortable in its unfinished state.</p> + +<p>The deeper truth was that the Sound country +was swarming with Indians. Had the pioneers +fully realized the risk they ran, nothing would +have induced them to remain; their very unconsciousness +afterward proved a safeguard.</p> + +<p>The rainy season was fairly under way and +suitable shelter was an absolute necessity.</p> + +<p>Soon other houses were built of round fir +logs and split cedar boards.</p> + +<p>The householders brought quite a supply of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 52]</span> +provisions with them on the “Exact;” among +other things a barrel of dried apples, which +proved palatable and wholesome. Sea biscuit, +known as hard-bread, and potato bread made of +mashed potatoes and baked in the oven were oft +times substitutes for or adjuncts of the customary +loaf.</p> + +<p>There was very little game in the vicinity of +the settlement and at first they depended on the +native hunters and fishermen who brought toothsome +wild ducks and venison, fresh fish and clams +in abundance.</p> + +<p>One of the pioneers relates that some wily +rascals betrayed them into eating pieces of game +which he afterward was convinced were cut from +a cougar. The Indians who brought it called it +“mowich” (deer), but the meat was of too light +a color for either venison or bear, and the conformation +of the leg bones in the pieces resembled +<i>felis</i> rather than <i>cervus</i>.</p> + +<p>But the roasts were savory, it was unseemly +to make too severe an examination and the food +supply was not then so certain as to permit indulgence +in an over-nice discrimination.</p> + +<p>The inventive genius of the pioneer women +found generous exercise in the manufacture of +new dishes. The variations were rung on fish, +potatoes and clams in a way to pamper epicures. +Clams in fry, pie, chowder, soup, stew, boil and +bake—even pickled clams were found an agreeable +relish. The great variety of food fishes<span class="pagenum">[Pg 53]</span> +from the kingly salmon to the tiny smelt, with +crabs, oysters, etc., and their many modes of +preparation, were perpetually tempting to the +pioneer appetite.</p> + +<p>The question of food was a serious one for +the first year, as the resources of this land of +plenty were unknown at first, but the pushing +pioneer proved a ready and adaptable learner.</p> + +<p>Flour, butter, syrup, sugar, tea and coffee +were brought at long intervals over great distances +by sailing vessels. By the time these +articles reached the settlement their value became +considerable.</p> + +<p>Game, fish and potatoes were staple articles +of diet and judging from the stalwart frames +of the Indians were safe and substantial.</p> + +<p>Trading with the Indians brought about +some acquaintance with their leading characteristics.</p> + +<p>On one occasion, the youngest of the white +women, Louisa Boren, attempted to barter some +red flannel for a basket of potatoes.</p> + +<p>The basket of “wapatoes” occupied the center +of a level spot in front of the cabin, backed +by a semicircle of perhaps twenty-five Indians. +A tall, bronze tyee (chief) stood up to wa-wa +(talk). He wanted so much cloth; stretching +out his long arms to their utmost extent, fully +two yards.</p> + +<p>“No,” she said, “I will give you so much,” +about one yard.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 54]</span>“Wake, cultus potlatch” (No, that is just +giving them away) answered the Indian, who +measured several times and insisted that he +would not trade for an inch less. Out of patience +at last, she disdainfully turned her back and +retired inside the cabin behind a mat screen. No +amount of coaxing from the savages could induce +her to return, and the disappointed spectators +filed off, bearing their “hyas mokoke” (very +valuable) potatoes with them, no doubt marveling +at the firmness of the white “slanna” (woman).</p> + +<p>A more successful deal in potatoes was the +venture of A. A. Denny and J. N. Low, who traveled +from Alki to Fort Nesqually, in a big canoe +manned by four Indians and obtained fifty bushels +of little, round, red potatoes grown by Indians +from seed obtained from the “Sking George” +men. The green hides of beeves were spread in +the bottom of the canoe and the potatoes piled +thereon.</p> + +<p>Returning to Alki it was a little rough and +the vegetables were well moistened with salt +chuck, as were the passengers also, probably, deponent +saith not.</p> + +<p>It is not difficult for those who have traveled +the Sound in all kinds of weather to realize +the aptness of the expression of the Chinese cook +of a camping party who were moving in a large +canoe; when the waves began to rise, he exclaimed +in agitation, “Too littlee boat for too<span class="pagenum">[Pg 55]</span> +muchee big waters.” It is well to bear in mind +that the “Sound” is a great inland sea. A tenderfoot’s +description of the water over which he +floated, the timorous occupant of a canoe, testifies +that it looked to him to be “Two hundred +feet deep, as clear as a kitten’s eye and as cold +as death.”</p> + +<p>All the different sorts of canoes of which I +shall speak in another chapter look “wobbly” +and uncertain, yet the Indians make long voyages +of hundreds of miles by carefully observing +the wind and tide.</p> + +<p>A large canoe will easily carry ten persons +and one thousand pounds of baggage. One of +these commodious travelers, with a load of natives +and their “ictas” (baggage) landed on a +stormy day at Alki and the occupants spent several +hours ashore. While engaged with their +meal one of them exclaimed, “Nannitch!” (look) +at the same time pointing at the smoke of the +campfire curling steadily straight upward. +Without another word they tumbled themselves +and belongings aboard and paddled off in silent +satisfaction.</p> + +<p>The ascending column of smoke was their +barometer which read “Fair weather, no wind.”</p> + +<p>The white people, unacquainted with the +shores, tides and winds of the great Inland Sea, +did well to listen to their Indian canoemen; +sometimes their unwillingness to do so exposed +them to great danger and even loss of life.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 56]</span>The Indians living on Elliott Bay were +chiefly the indigenous tribe of D’wampsh or Duwampsh, +changed by white people into “Duwamish.”</p> + +<p>They gave abundant evidence of possessing +human feeling beneath their rough exterior.</p> + +<p>One of the white women at Alki, prepared +some food for a sick Indian child which finally +recovered. The child’s father, “Old Alki John,” +was a very “hard case,” but his heart was tender +toward his child, and to show his gratitude he +brought and offered as a present to the kind +white “slanna” (woman) a bright, new tin pail, +a very precious thing to the Indian mind. Of +course she readily accepted his thanks but persuaded +him to keep the pail.</p> + +<p>Savages though they were, or so appeared, +the Indians of Elliott Bay were correctly described +in these words:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">“We found a race, though rude and wild,</span> +<span class="i0">Still tender toward friend or child,</span> +<span class="i0">For dark eyes laughed or shone with tears</span> +<span class="i0">As joy or sorrow filled the years.</span> +<span class="i0">Their black-eyed babes the red men kissed</span> +<span class="i0">And captive brothers sorely missed;</span> +<span class="i0">With broken hearts brown mothers wept</span> +<span class="i0">When babes away by death were swept.”</span> + +<p class="quotsig">—Song of the Pioneers.</p> +</div> + +<p>But there were amusing as well as pathetic +experiences. The Indians were like untaught +children in many things. Their curiosity over-<span class="pagenum">[Pg 57]</span>came +them and their innocent impertinence +sometimes required reproof.</p> + +<p>In a cabin at Alki one morning, a white +woman was frying fish. Warming by the fire +stood “Duwampsh Curley;” the odor of the fish +was doubtless appetizing; Curley was moved +with a wish to partake of it and reached out a +dark and doubtful-looking hand to pick out a +piece. The white woman had a knife in her hand +to turn the pieces and raised it to strike the imprudent +hand which was quickly and sheepishly +withdrawn.</p> + +<p>Had he been as haughty and ill-natured as +some savages the result might have been disastrous, +but he took the reproof meekly and mended +his manners instead of retaliating.</p> + +<p>Now and then the settlers were spectators in +dramas of Indian romance.</p> + +<p>“Old Alki John” had a wife whose history +became interesting. For some unknown reason +she ran away from Puyallup to Alki. Her husband +followed her, armed with a Hudson Bay +musket and a frame of mind that boded no good. +While A. A. Denny, D. T. Denny and Alki John +were standing together on the bank one day Old +John’s observing eye caught sight of a strange +Indian ascending the bank, carrying his gun +muzzle foremost, a suggestive position not indicative +of peaceful intentions. “Nannitch” +(look) he said quietly; the stranger advanced +boldly, but Old John’s calm manner must have<span class="pagenum">[Pg 58]</span> +had a soothing effect upon the bloodthirsty savage, +as he concluded to “wa-wa” (talk) a little +before fighting.</p> + +<p>So the gutturals and polysyllables of the native +tongue fairly flew about until evidently, as +Mr. D. T. Denny relates, some sort of compromise +was effected. Not then understanding the +language, he could not determine just the nature +of the arrangement, but has always thought it +was amicably settled by the payment of money by +“Old Alki John” to her former husband. This +Indian woman was young and fair, literally so, +as her skin was very white, she being the whitest +squaw ever seen among them; her head was not +flattened, she was slender and of good figure. +Possibly she had white blood in her veins; her +Indian name was “Si-a-ye.”</p> + +<p>Being left a widow, she was not left to pine +alone very long; another claimed her hand and +she became Mrs. Yeow-de-pump. When this one +joined his brethren in the happy hunting ground, +she remained a widow for some time, but is now +the wife of the Indian Zacuse, mentioned in another +place.</p> + +<p>There were women cabin builders. Each +married woman was given half the donation +claim by patent from the government; improvement +on her part of the claim was therefore +necessary.</p> + +<p>On a fine, fair morning in the early spring +of 1852, two women set forth from the settlement<span class="pagenum">[Pg 59]</span> +at Alki, to cross Elliott Bay in a fishing canoe, +with Indians to paddle and a large dog to protect +them from possible wild animals in the forest, +for in that wild time, bears, cougars and +wolves roamed the shores of Puget Sound.</p> + +<p>Landed on the opposite shore, the present +site of Seattle, they made their way slowly and +with difficulty through the dense undergrowth of +the heavy forest, there being not so much as a +trail, over a long distance. Arrived at the chosen +spot, they cut with their own hands some small +fir logs and laid the foundation of a cabin. While +thus employed the weather underwent a change +and on the return was rather threatening. The +wind and waves were boisterous, the canine passenger +was frightened and uneasy, thus adding to +the danger. The water washed into the canoe +and the human occupants suffered no little anxiety +until they reached the beach at home.</p> + +<p>One of the conditions of safe travel in a canoe +is a quiet and careful demeanor, the most +approved plan being to sit down in the bottom +of the craft and <i>stay there</i>.</p> + +<p>To have a large, heavy animal squirming +about, getting up and lying down frequently, +must have tried their nerve severely and it must +have taken good management to prevent a serious +catastrophe. The Bell family were camped +at that time on their claim in a rude shelter of +Indian boards and mats.</p> + +<p>The handful of white men at Alki spent<span class="pagenum">[Pg 60]</span> +their time and energy in getting out piles for the +San Francisco market. At first they had very +few appliances for handling the timber. The +first vessel to load was the brig Leonesa, which +took a cargo of piles, cut, rolled and hauled by +hand, as there were no cattle at the settlement.</p> + +<p>There were also no roads and Lee Terry +went to Puyallup for a yoke of oxen, which he +drove down on the beach to Alki. Never were +dumb brutes better appreciated than these useful +creatures.</p> + +<p>But the winter, or rather rainy season, wore +away; as spring approached the settlers explored +the shores of the Sound far and near and it +became apparent that Alki must wait till “by and +by,” as the eastern shore of Elliott Bay was +found more desirable and the pioneers prepared +to move again by locating donation claims on a +portion of the land now covered by a widespread +city, which will bring us to the next chapter, +“The Founding of Seattle and Indian War.”</p> + +<p>The following is a brief recapitulation of the +first days on Puget Sound; in these later years +we see the rapid and skillful construction of elegant +mansions, charming cottages and stately +business houses, all in sight of the spot where +stood the first little cabin of the pioneer. The +builders of this cabin were D. T. Denny, J. N. +Low and Lee Terry, assisted by the Indians, the +only tools, an ax and a hammer, the place Alki +Point, the time, the fall of 1851.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 61]</span>They baked their bread before the fire on a +willow board hewed from a piece of a tree which +grew near the camp; the only cooking vessel was +a tin pail; the salmon they got off the Indians was +roasted before the fire on a stick.</p> + +<p>The cabin was unfinished when the famous +landing was made, November 13th, 1851, because +J. N. Low returned to Portland, having been on +the Sound but a few days, then Lee Terry +boarded Collins’ scow on its return trip up Sound +leaving D. T. Denny alone for about three weeks, +during most of which time he was ill. This was +Low’s cabin; after the landing of Bell, Boren +and A. A. Denny and the others of the party, +among whom were Low and C. C. Terry, a roof +was put on the unfinished cabin and they next +built A. A. Denny’s and then two cabins of split +cedar for Bell and Boren and their families.</p> + +<p>When they moved to the east side of Elliott +Bay, Bell’s was the first one built. W. N. Bell +and D. T. Denny built A. A. Denny’s on the east +side, as he was sick. D. T. Denny had served an +apprenticeship in cabin building, young as he +was, nineteen years of age, before he came to +Puget Sound.</p> + +<p>The first of D. T. Denny’s cabins he built +himself with the aid of three Indians. There +was not a stick or piece of sawed stuff in it.</p> + +<p>However, by the August following his marriage, +which took place January 23rd, 1853, he +bought of H. L. Yesler lumber from his sawmill<span class="pagenum">[Pg 62]</span> +at about $25.00 per M. to put up a little board +house, sixteen by twenty feet near the salt water, +between Madison and Marion streets, Seattle.</p> + +<p>This little home was my birthplace, the first +child of the first white family established at Elliott +Bay. Mr. and Mrs. D. T. Denny had been +threatened by Indians and their cabin robbed, so +thought it best to move into the settlement.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page63" name="page63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV<br /> + +<span class="smaller">FOUNDING OF SEATTLE AND INDIAN WAR.</span></h2> + +<p>The most astonishing change wrought in the +aspect of nature by the building of a city on +Puget Sound is not the city itself but the destruction +of the primeval forest.</p> + +<p>By the removal of the thick timber the country +becomes unrecognizable; replaced by thousands +of buildings of brick, wood and stone, +graded streets, telephone and electric light systems, +steam, electric and cable railways and all +the paraphernalia of modern civilization, the contrast +is very great. The same amount of energy +and money expended in a treeless, level country +would probably have built a city three times as +large as Seattle.</p> + +<p>In February, 1852, Bell, Boren and the +Dennys located claims on the east side of Elliott +Bay. Others followed, but it was not until May, +1853, that C. D. Boren and A. A. Denny filed the +first plat of the town, named for the noted chief, +“Seattle.” The second plat was filed shortly +after by D. S. Maynard. Maynard was a physician +who did not at first depend on the practice +of his profession; perhaps the settlers were too +vigorous to require pills, powders and potions, +at any rate he proposed to engage in the business +of packing salmon.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 64]</span>The settlers at Alki moved over to their +claims in the spring of 1852, some of them camping +until they could build log cabins.</p> + +<p>Finally all were well established and then +began the hand to hand conflict for possession +of the ground. The mighty forest must yield to +fire and the ax; then from the deep bosom of the +earth what bounty arose!</p> + +<p>The Indians proved efficient helpers, guides +and workers in many ways. One of the pioneers +had three Indians to help him build his cabin.</p> + +<p>To speak more particularly of the original +architecture of the country, the cabins, built usually +of round logs of the Douglas fir, about six +inches in diameter, were picturesque, substantial +and well suited to the needs of the pioneer. A +great feature of the Seattle cabin was the door +made of thick boards hewed out of the timber as +there was no sawmill on the bay until H. L. Yesler +built the first steam sawmill erected on the +Sound. This substantial door was cut across in +the middle with a diagonal joint; the lower half +was secured by a stout wooden pin, in order that +the upper half might be opened and the “wa-wa” +(talk) proceed with the native visitor, who +might or might not be friendly, while he stood on +the outside of the door and looked in with eager +curiosity, on the strange ways of the “Bostons.”</p> + +<p>The style of these log cabins was certainly +admirable, adapted as they were to the situation +of the settler. They were inexpensive as the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 65]</span> +material was plentiful and near at hand, and +required only energy and muscle to construct +them; there were no plumber’s, gas or electric +light bills coming in every month, no taxes for +improvements and a man could build a lean-to +or hay-shed without a building permit. The interiors +were generally neat, tasteful and home-like, +made so by the versatile pioneer women who +occupied them.</p> + +<p>These primitive habitations were necessarily +scattered as it was imperative that they should +be placed so as to perfect the titles of the donation +claims. Sometimes two settlers were able +to live near each other when they held adjoining +claims, others were obliged to live several miles +away from the main settlement and far from a +neighbor, in lonely, unprotected places.</p> + +<p>What thoughts of the homes and friends +they had left many weary leagues behind, visited +these lonely cabin dwellers!</p> + +<p>The husband was engaged in clearing, slashing +and burning log heaps, cutting timber, hunting +for game to supply the larder, or away on +some errand to the solitary neighbor’s or distant +settlement. Often, during the livelong day the +wife was alone, occupied with domestic toil, all +of which had to be performed by one pair of +hands, with only primitive and rude appliances; +but there were no incompetent servants to annoy, +social obligations were few, fashion was remote +and its tyranny unknown, in short, many dis<span class="pagenum"><a id="page66" name="page66">[Pg 66]</a></span>agreeable +things were lacking. The sense of isolation +was intensified by frequently recurring incidents +in which the dangers of pioneer life became +manifest. The dark, mysterious forest +might send forth from its depths at any moment +the menace of savage beast or relentless man.</p> + +<p>The big, grey, timber wolf still roamed the +woods, although it soon disappeared before the +oncoming wave of invading settlers. Generally +quite shy, they required some unusual attraction +to induce them to display their voices.</p> + +<p>On a dark winter night in 1853, the lonely +cabin of D. T. and Louisa Denny was visited by +a pair of these voracious beasts, met to discuss +the remains of a cow, belonging to W. N. Bell, +which had stuck fast among some tree roots and +died in the edge of the clearing. How they did +snarl and howl, making the woods and waters resound +with their cries as they greedily devoured +the carcass. The pioneer couple who occupied +the cabin entered no objection and were very +glad of the protection of the solid walls of their +primitive domicile. The next day, Mr. Denny, +with dog and gun, went out to hunt them but they +had departed to some remote region.</p> + +<p>On another occasion the young wife lay sick +and alone in the cabin above mentioned and a +good neighbor, Mrs. Sarah Bell, from her home +a mile away, came to see her, bringing some wild +<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a>pheasant’s eggs the men had found while cut<span class="pagenum">[Pg 67]</span>ting +spars. While the women chatted, an Indian +came and stood idly looking in over the half-door +and his companion lurked in the brush near by.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Ruffed grouse.</p></div> + +<p>John Kanem, a brother of the chief, Pat +Kanem, afterward told the occupants of the +cabin that these Indians had divulged their intention +of murdering them in order to rob their +dwelling, but abandoned the project, giving as a +reason that a “haluimi kloochman” (another or +unknown woman) was there and the man was +away.</p> + +<p>Surely a kind Providence watched over these +unprotected ones that they might in after years +fulfill their destiny.</p> + +<p>During the summer of 1855, before the Indian +war, Mr. and Mrs. D. T. Denny were living +in a log cabin in the swale, an opening in the +midst of a heavy forest, on their donation claim, +to which they had moved from their first cabin on +Elliott Bay.</p> + +<p>Dr. Choush, an Indian medicine man, came +along one day in a state of ill-suppressed fury. +He had just returned from a Government “potlatch” +at the Tulalip agency. In relating how +they were cheated he said that the Indians were +presented with strips of blankets which had +been torn into narrow pieces about six or eight +inches wide, and a little bit of thread and a needle +or two. The Indians thereupon traded among +themselves and pieced the strips together.</p> + +<p>He was naturally angry and said menacing<span class="pagenum">[Pg 68]</span>ly +that the white people were few, their doors +were thin and the Indians could easily break +them in and kill all the “Bostons.”</p> + +<p>All this could not have been very reassuring +to the inmates of the cabin; however they were +uniformly kind to the natives and had many +friends among them.</p> + +<p>Just before the outbreak a troop of Indians +visited this cabin and their bearing was so +haughty that Mrs. Denny felt very anxious. +When they demanded “Klosh mika potlatch wapatoes,” +(Give us some potatoes) she hurried out +herself to dig them as quickly as possible that +they might have no excuse for displeasure, and +was much relieved when they took their departure. +One Indian remained behind a long time +but talked very little. It is supposed that he +thought of warning them of the intended attack +on the white settlement but was afraid to do so +because of the enmity against him that might +follow among his own people.</p> + +<p>Gov. Stevens had made treaties with the +Indians to extinguish their title to the lands of +the Territory. Some were dissatisfied and +stirred up the others against the white usurpers. +This was perfectly natural; almost any American +of whatever color resents usurpation.</p> + +<p>Time would fail to recount the injuries and +indignities heaped upon the Indians by the evil-minded +among the whites, who could scarcely<span class="pagenum">[Pg 69]</span> +have been better than the same class among the +natives they sought to displace.</p> + +<p>As subsequently appeared, there was a difference +of opinion among the natives as to the +desirability of white settlements in their domain: +Leschi, Coquilton, Owhi, Kitsap, Kamiakin +and Kanasket were determined against +them, while Sealth (Seattle) and Pat Kanem +were peaceable and friendly.</p> + +<p>The former, shrewd chieftains, well knew +that the white people coveted their good lands.</p> + +<p>One night before the war, a passing white +man, David T. Denny, heard Indians talking together +in one of their “rancherees” or large +houses; they were telling how the white men +knew that the lands belonging to Tseiyuse and +Ohwi, two great Yakima chiefs, were very desirable.</p> + +<p>Cupidity, race prejudice and cruelty caused +numberless injuries and indignities against the +Indians. In spite of all, there were those among +them who proved the faithful friends of the white +race.</p> + +<p>Hu-hu-bate-sute or “Salmon Bay Curley,” a +tall, hawk-nosed, eagle-eyed Indian with very +curly hair, was a staunch friend of the “Bostons.”</p> + +<p>Thlid Kanem or “Cut-Hand” sent Lake +John Che-shi-a-hud to Shilshole to inform this +“Curley,” who lived there, of the intended attack +on Seattle. Curley told Ira W. Utter, a<span class="pagenum">[Pg 70]</span> +white settler on Shilshole or Salmon Bay, and +brought him up to Seattle in his own canoe during +the night.</p> + +<p>“Duwampsh Curley” or Su-whalth, appears +in a very unfavorable light in Bancroft’s history. +My authority, who speaks the native tongue fluently +and was a volunteer in active duty on the +day of the battle of Seattle, says it was not Curley +who disported himself in the manner therein +described. I find this refreshing note pencilled +on the margin: “Now this is all a lie about +Curley.”</p> + +<p>Curley rendered valuable assistance on +the day of the fight. D. T. Denny saw him go on +a mission down the bay at the request of the +navy officers, to ascertain the position of the +hostiles in the north part of the town.</p> + +<p>“Old Mose” or Show-halthlk brought word +to Seattle of the approach of the hostile bands in +January, 1856.</p> + +<p>But I seem to anticipate and hasten to refer +again to the daily life of the Founders of Seattle.</p> + +<p>Trade here, as at Alki, consisted in cutting +piles, spars and timber to load vessels for San +Francisco. These ships brought food supplies +and merchandise, the latter often consisting of +goods, calicoes, blankets, shawls and tinware, +suitable for barter with the Indians to whom the +settlers still looked for a number of articles of +food.</p> + +<p>Bread being the staff of life to the white<span class="pagenum">[Pg 71]</span> +man, the supply of flour was a matter of importance. +In the winter of 1852 this commodity +became so scarce, from the long delay of ships +carrying it, that the price became quite fancy, +reaching forty dollars per barrel. Pork likewise +became a costly luxury; A. A. Denny relates +that he paid ninety dollars for two barrels and +when by an untoward fate one of the barrels of +the precious meat was lost it was regarded as a +positive calamity.</p> + +<p>Left on the beach out of reach of high tide, +it was supposed to be safe, but during the night +it was carried away by the waves that swept the +banks under the high wind. At the next low tide +which came also at night, the whole settlement +turned out and searched the beach, with pitchwood +torches, from the head of the Bay to +Smith’s Cove, but found no trace of the missing +barrel of pork.</p> + +<p>An extenuating circumstance was the fact +that a large salmon might be purchased for a +brass button, while red flannel, beads, knives and +other “ictas” (things) were legal tender for potatoes, +venison, berries and clams.</p> + +<p>Domestic animals were few; I do not know +if there was a sheep, pig or cow, and but few +chickens, on Elliott Bay at the beginning of the +year 1852.</p> + +<p>As late as 1859, Charles Prosch relates that +he paid one dollar and a half for a dozen eggs and +the same price for a pound of butter.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 72]</span>There were no roads, only a few trails +through the forest; a common mode of travel +was to follow the beach, the traveler having to +be especially mindful of the tide as the banks +are so abrupt in many places that at high tide +the shore is impassable. The Indian canoe was +pressed into service whenever possible.</p> + +<p>Very gradually ways through the forest were +tunneled out and made passable, by cutting the +trees and grubbing the larger stumps, but small +obstructions were disdained and anything that +would escape a wagon-bed was given peaceable +possession.</p> + +<p>Of the original settlement, J. N. Low and +family remained at Alki.</p> + +<p>D. T. and Louisa Denny, who were married +at the cabin home of A. A. Denny, January 23rd, +1853, moved themselves and few effects in a +canoe to their cabin on the front of their donation +claim, the habitation standing on the spot +for many years occupied by numerous “sweetbrier” +bushes, grown from seeds planted by the +first bride of Seattle.</p> + +<p>Stern realities confronted them; a part of +the time they were out of flour and had no bread +for days; they bought fish of the Indians, which, +together with game from the forest, brought +down by the rifle of the pioneer, made existence +possible.</p> + +<p>And then, too, the pioneer housewife soon +became a shrewd searcher for indigenous articles<span class="pagenum">[Pg 73]</span> +of food. Among these were nettle greens gathered +in the woods.</p> + +<p>In their season the native berries were very +acceptable; the salmonberry ripening early in +June; dewberries and red and black huckleberries +were plentiful in July and August.</p> + +<p>The first meal partaken of in this cabin consisted +of salt meat from a ship’s stores and potatoes. +They afterward learned to make a whole +meal of a medium sized salmon with potatoes, +the fragments remaining not worth mention.</p> + +<p>The furniture of their cabin was meager, a +few chairs from a ship, a bedstead made of fir +poles and a ship’s stove were the principle articles. +One window without glass but closed by +a wooden shutter with the open upper half-door +served to light it in the daytime, while the glimmer +of a dog-fish-oil lamp was the illumination +at night.</p> + +<p>The stock consisted of a single pair of chickens, +a wedding present from D. S. Maynard. The +hen set under the door-step and brought out a +fine brood of chicks. The rooster soon took +charge of them, scratched, called and led them +about in the most motherly manner, while the +hen, apparently realizing the fact that she was +literally a rara avis prepared to bring out another +brood.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. D. T. Denny while visiting +their friends at Alki on one occasion witnessed a +startling scene.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 74]</span>An Indian had come to trade, “Old Alki +John,” and a misunderstanding appears to have +arisen about the price of a sack of flour. The +women, seated chatting at one end of the cabin, +were chilled with horror to see the white man, +his face pale with anger and excitement, raise an +ax as if to strike the Indian, who had a large +knife, such as many of them wore suspended +from the wrist by a cord; the latter, a tall and +brawny fellow, regarded him with a threatening +look.</p> + +<p>Fortunately no blow was struck and the +white man gradually lowered the ax and dropped +it on the floor. The Indian quietly departed, +much to their relief, as a single blow would likely +have resulted in a bloody affray and the massacre +of all the white people.</p> + +<p>At that time there were neither jails, nor +courthouse, no churches, but one sawmill, no +steamboats, railways or street cars, not even a +rod of wagon road in King County, indeed all +the conveniences of modern civilization were +wanting.</p> + +<p>There were famous, historic buildings erected +and occupied, other than the cabin homes; the +most notable of these was Fort Decatur.</p> + +<p>The commodious blockhouse so named after +the good sloop-of-war that rescued the town of +Seattle from the hostiles, stood on an eminence +at the end of Cherry Street overlooking the Bay.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 75]</span> +At this time there were about three hundred +white inhabitants.</p> + +<p>The hewn timbers of this fort were cut by +D. T. Denny and two others, on the front of the +donation claim, and hauled out on the beach +ready to load a ship for San Francisco, but ultimately +served a very different purpose from the +one first intended.</p> + +<p>The mutterings of discontent among the Indians +portended war and the settlers made haste +to prepare a place of refuge. The timbers were +dragged up the hill by oxen and many willing +hands promptly put them in place; hewn to the +line, the joints were close and a good shingle +roof covered the building, to which were added +two bastions of sawed stuff from Yesler’s mill. +D. T. Denny remembers the winter was a mild +one, and men went about without coats, otherwise +“in their shirtsleeves.” While they were +building the fort, the U. S. Sloop-of-war <i>Decatur</i>, +sailed up the Bay with a fair breeze, came to +anchor almost directly opposite, swung around +and fired off the guns, sixteen thirty-two-pounders, +making thunderous reverberations far and +wide, a sweet sound to the settlers.</p> + +<p>Several of the too confident ones laughed +and scoffed at the need of a fort while peace +seemed secure. One of these doubters was told +by Mrs. Louisa Denny that the people laughed +at Noah when he built the ark, and it transpired +that a party was obliged to bring this objector<span class="pagenum"><a id="page76" name="page76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +and his family into the fort from their claim two +miles away, after dark of the night before the +battle.</p> + +<p>A few nights before the attack, a false alarm +sent several settlers out in fluttering nightrobes, +cold, moonlight and frosty though it was. Mr. +Hillory Butler and his wife, Mrs. McConaha and +her children calling to the former “Wait for +me.” It is needless to say that Mr. Butler waited +for nobody until he got inside the fort.</p> + +<p>The excitement was caused by the shooting +of Jack Drew, a deserter from the Decatur. He +was instantly killed by a boy of fifteen, alone with +his sister whom he thus bravely defended. This +was Milton Holgate and the weapon a shotgun, +the charge of which took effect in the wanderer’s +face. As the report rang out through the still +night air it created a panic throughout the settlement.</p> + +<p>A family living on the eastern outskirts of +the village at the foot of a hill were driven in and +their house burned. The men had been engaged +in tanning leather and had quite a number of +hides on hand that must have enriched the +flames. The owners had ridiculed the idea that +there was danger of an Indian attack and would +not assist in building the fort, scoffed at the man-of-war +in the harbor and were generally contemptuous +of the whole proceeding. However, when +fired on by the Indians they fled precipitately to +the fort they had scorned. One of them sank<span class="pagenum">[Pg 77]</span> +down, bareheaded, breathless and panting on a +block of wood inside the fort in an exceedingly +subdued frame of mind to the great amusement +of the soldiery, both Captain and men.</p> + +<p>The first decided move of the hostiles was +the attack on the White River settlers, burning, +killing and destroying as is the wont of a savage +foe.</p> + +<p>Joe Lake, a somewhat eccentric character, +had one of the hairbreadth escapes fall to his +share of the terrible times. He was slightly +wounded in an attack on the Cox home on White +River. Joe was standing in the open door when +an Indian not far away from the cabin, seeing +him, held his ramrod on the ground for a rest, +placed his gun across it and fired at Joe; the +bullet penetrated the clothing and just grazed +his shoulder. A man inside the cabin reached +up for a gun which hung over the door; the Indian +saw the movement and guessing its purpose +made haste to depart.</p> + +<p>The occupants of the Cox residence hurriedly +gathered themselves and indispensable effects, +and embarking in a canoe, with energetic +paddling, aided by the current, sped swiftly down +the river into the Bay and safely reached the +fort.</p> + +<p>Beside the Decatur, a solitary sailing vessel, +the Bark Brontes, was anchored in the harbor.</p> + +<p>Those to engage in the battle were the de<span class="pagenum">[Pg 78]</span>tachments +of men from the Decatur, under Lieutenants +Drake, Hughes, Morris and Phelps, ninety-six +men and eighteen marines, leaving a small +number on board.</p> + +<p>A volunteer three months’ company of settlers +of whom C. C. Hewitt was Captain, Wm. +Gilliam, First Lieutenant, D. T. Denny, Corporal +and Robert Olliver, Sergeant, aided in the defense.</p> + +<p>A number of the settlers had received friendly +warning and were expecting the attack, some +having made as many as three removals from +their claims, each time approaching nearer to the +fort.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. D. T. Denny forsook their +cabin in the wilderness and spent an anxious +night at the home of W. N. Bell, which was a mile +or more from the settlement, and the following +day moved in to occupy a house near A. A. Denny’s, +where the Frye block now stands. From +thence they moved again to a little frame house +near the fort.</p> + +<p>Yoke-Yakeman, an Indian who had worked +for A. A. Denny and was nicknamed “Denny +Jim,” played an important part as a spy in a +council of the hostiles and gave the warning to +Captain Gansevoort of the Decatur of the impending +battle.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Blaine, the pioneer M. E. minister, +and his wife, who was the first school teacher +of Seattle, went on board the man-of-war on<span class="pagenum">[Pg 79]</span> +the 22nd of January, 1856, with their infant son, +from their home situated where the Boston Block +now stands.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 26th, while not yet +arisen, she was urging her husband to get a boat +so that she might go ashore; he demurred, parleying, +with his hand upon the doorknob. Just +then they heard the following dialogue:</p> + +<blockquote><p>Mr. H. L. Yesler (who had come aboard in +some haste): “Captain, a klootchman says there +are lots of Indians back of Tom Pepper’s house.”</p> + +<p>Captain Gansevoort (who was lying in his +berth): “John bring me my boots.”</p> + +<p>H. L. Yesler: “Never mind Captain, just +send the lieutenant with the howitzer.”</p> + +<p>Captain G.: “No sir! Where my men go, I +go too John bring me my boots.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>And thus the ball opened; a shell was dropped +in the neighborhood of “Tom Pepper’s +house” with the effect to arouse the whole horde +of savages, perhaps a thousand, gathered in the +woods back of the town.</p> + +<p>Unearthly yells of Indians and brisk firing +of musketry followed; the battle raged until +noon, when there was a lull.</p> + +<p>A volume of personal experiences might be +written, but I will give here but a few incidents. +To a number of the settlers who were about +breakfasting, it was a time of breathless terror; +they must flee for their lives to the fort. The +bullets from unseen foes whistled over their<span class="pagenum"><a id="page80" name="page80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +heads and the distance traversed to the fort was +the longest journey of their lives. It was remembered +afterward that some very amusing +things took place in the midst of fright and +flight. One man, rising late and not fully attired, +donned his wife’s red flannel petticoat instead of +the bifurcated garment that usually graced his +limbs. The “pants” were not handy and the +petticoat was put on in a trice.</p> + +<p>Louisa Boren Denny, my mother, was alone +with her child about two years old, in the little +frame house, a short distance from the fort. She +was engaged in baking biscuits when hearing the +shots and yells of the Indians she looked out to +see the marines from the Decatur swarming up +out of their boats onto Yesler’s wharf and concluded +it was best to retire in good order. With +provident foresight she snatched the pan from +the oven and turned the biscuits into her apron, +picked up the child, Emily Inez Denny, with her +free hand and hurried out, leaving the premises +to their fate. Fortunately her husband, David +T. Denny, who had been standing guard, met her +in the midst of the flying bullets and assisted her, +speedily, into the friendly fort.</p> + +<p>A terrible day it was for all those who were +called upon to endure the anxiety and suspense +that hovered within those walls; perhaps the moment +that tried them most was when the report +was circulated that all would be burned alive as +the Indians would shoot arrows carrying fire on<span class="pagenum">[Pg 81]</span> +the roof of cedar shingles or heap combustibles +against the walls near the ground and thus set +fire to the building. To prevent the latter maneuver, +the walls were banked with earth all +around.</p> + +<p>But the Indians kept at a respectful distance, +the rifle-balls and shells were not to their +taste and it is not their way to fight in the open.</p> + +<p>A tragic incident was the death of Milton +Holgate. Francis McNatt, a tall man, stood in +the door of the fort with one hand up on the +frame and Jim Broad beside him; Milton Holgate +stood a little back of McNatt, and the bullet +from a savage’s gun passed either over or +under the uplifted arm of McNatt, striking the +boy between the eyes.</p> + +<p>Quite a number of women and children were +taken on board the two ships in the harbor, but +my mother remained in the fort.</p> + +<p>The battle was again renewed and fiercely +fought in the afternoon.</p> + +<p>Toward evening the Indians prepared to +burn the town, but a brisk dropping of shells +from the big guns of the Decatur dispersed them +and they departed for cooler regions, burning +houses on the outskirts of the settlement as they +retreated toward the Duwamish River.</p> + +<p><a id="IV" name="IV"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/opp081.png" width="500" height="295" alt="" title="INDIAN CANOES SAILING WITH NORTH WIND" /> +<span class="caption">INDIAN CANOES SAILING WITH NORTH WIND</span> +</div> + +<p>Leschi, the leader, threatened to return in a +month with his bands and annihilate the place. +In view of other possible attacks, a second block +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 82]</span>house was built and the forest side of the town +barricaded.</p> + +<p>Fort Decatur was a two-story building, forty +feet square; the upper story was partitioned +off into small rooms, where a half dozen or more +families lived until it was safe or convenient to +return to their distant homes. Each had a stove +on which to cook, and water was carried from a +well inside the stockade.</p> + +<p>There were a number of children thus shut +in, who enlivened the grim walls with their shifting +shadows, awakened mirth by their playfulness +or touched the hearts of their elders by their +pathos.</p> + +<p>Like a ray of sunlight in a gloomy interior +was little Sam Neely, a great pet, a sociable, affectionate +little fellow, visiting about from corner +to corner, always sure of attention and a +kindly welcome. The marines from the man-of-war +spoiled him without stint. One of the Sergeants +gave his mother a half worn uniform, +which she skilfully re-made, gold braid, buttons +and all, for little Sam. How proud he was, with +everybody calling him the “Little Sergeant;” +whenever he approached a loquacious group, +some one was sure to say, “Well, Sergeant, +what’s the news?”</p> + +<p>When the day came for the Neely family to +move out of the fort, his mother was very busy +and meals uncertain.</p> + +<p>He finally appealed to a friend, who had be<span class="pagenum">[Pg 83]</span>fore +proven herself capable of sympathy, for +something to appease his gnawing hunger, and +she promptly gave him a bowl of bread and milk. +Down he sat and ate with much relish; as he +drained the last drop he observed, “I was just so +hungry, I didn’t know how hungry I was.”</p> + +<p>Poor little Sam was drowned in the Duwampsh +River the same year, and buried on its +banks.</p> + +<p>Laura Bell, a little girl of perhaps ten years, +during her stay in the fort exhibited the courage +and constancy characterizing even the children in +those troublous times.</p> + +<p>She did a great part of the work for the family, +cared for her younger sisters, prepared and +carried food to her sick mother who was heard to +say with tender gratitude, “Your dear little +hands have brought me almost everything I have +had.” Both have passed into the Beyond; one +who remembers Laura well says she was a beautiful, +bright, rosy cheeked child, pleasant to look +upon.</p> + +<p>In unconscious childhood I was carried into +Fort Decatur, on the morning of the battle, yet +by careful investigation it has been satisfactorily +proven that one lasting impression was recorded +upon the palimpsest of my immature mind.</p> + +<p>A shot was accidentally fired from a gun inside +the fort, by which a palefaced, dark haired +lady narrowly escaped death. The bullet passed +through a loop of her hair, below the ear, just be<span class="pagenum">[Pg 84]</span>side +the white neck. Her hair was dressed in an +old fashioned way, parted in the middle on the +forehead and smoothly brushed down over the +ears, divided and twisted on each side and the two +ropes of hair coiled together at the back of the +head. Like a flashlight photograph, her face is +imprinted on my memory, nothing before or after +for sometime can I claim to recall.</p> + +<p>A daughter, the second child of David T. and +Louisa Denny, was born in Fort Decatur on the +sixteenth of March, 1856, who lived to mature +into a gifted and gracious womanhood and passed +away from earth in Christian faith and hope on +January seventeenth, 1889.</p> + +<p>Other children who remained in the fort for +varying periods, were those of the Jones, Kirkland, +Lewis, McConaha and Boren families.</p> + +<p>Of the number of settlers who occupied the +fort on the day of the battle, the following are +nearly, if not quite all, the families: Wm. N. +Bell, Mrs. Bell and several young children; John +Buckley and Mrs. Buckley; D. A. Neely and family, +one of whom was little Sam Neely spoken of +elsewhere; Mr. and Mrs. Hillory Butler, gratefully +remembered as the best people in the settlement +to visit and help the sick; the Holgates, Mrs. +and Miss Holgate, Lemuel Holgate, and Milton +Holgate who was killed; Timothy Grow, B. L. +Johns and six children, whose mother died on the +way to Puget Sound; Joe Lake, the Kirkland<span class="pagenum">[Pg 85]</span> +family, father and several daughters; Wm. Cox +and family and D. T. Denny and family.</p> + +<p>During the Indian war, H. L. Yesler took +Yoke-Yakeman, or “Denny Jim,” the friendly +Indian before mentioned, with him across Lake +Washington to the hiding place of the Sammumpsh +Indians who were aiding the hostiles. +Yesler conferred with them and succeeded in persuading +the Indians to come out of their retreat +and go across the Sound.</p> + +<p>While returning, Denny Jim met with an accident +which resulted fatally. Intending to shoot +some ducks, he drew his shotgun toward him, +muzzle first, and discharged it, the load entering +his arm, making a flesh wound. Through lack of +skill, perhaps, in treating it, he died from the +effects, in Curley’s house situated on the slope in +front of Fort Decatur toward the Bay.</p> + +<p>This Indian and the service he rendered +should not be forgotten; the same may be appropriately +said of the faithful Spokane of whom the +following account has been given by eye witnesses:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“At the attack of the Cascades of the Columbia, +on the 26th of March, 1856, the white people +took refuge in Bradford’s store, a log structure +near the river. Having burned a number of other +buildings, the Indians, Yakimas and Klickitats, +attempted to fire the store also; as fast as the +shingles were ignited by burning missiles in the +hands of the Indians, the first was put out by<span class="pagenum">[Pg 86]</span> +pouring brine from a pork barrel, with a tin cup, +on the incipient blazes, not being able to get any +water.</p> + +<p>“The occupants, some wounded, suffered for +fresh water, having only some ale and whisky. +They hoped to get to the river at night, but the +Indians illuminated the scene by burning government +property and a warehouse.</p> + +<p>“James Sinclair, who was shot and instantly +killed early in the fight, had brought a Spokane +Indian with him. This Indian volunteered to get +water for the suffering inmates. A slide used in +loading boats was the only chance and he stripped +off his clothing, slid down to the river and returned +with a bucket of water. This was made +to last until the 28th, when, the enemy remaining +quiet the Spokane repeated the daring performance +of going down the slide and returning with a +pailful of water, with great expedition, until he +had filled two barrels, a feat deserving more than +passing mention.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>On Elliott Bay, the cabins of the farther +away settlers had gone up in smoke, fired by the +hostile Indians. Some were deserted and new +ones built far away from the Sound in the depths +of the forest. It required great courage to return +to their abandoned homes from the security of the +fort, yet doubtless the settlers were glad to be at +liberty after their enforced confinement. One +pioneer woman says it was easy to see <i>Indians</i><span class="pagenum">[Pg 87]</span> +among the stumps and trees around their cabin +after the war.</p> + +<p>Many remained in the settlement, others left +the country for safer regions, while a few cultivated +land under volunteer military guard in order +to provide the settlement with vegetables.</p> + +<p>The Yesler mill cookhouse, a log structure, +was made historical in those days. The hungry +soldiers after a night watch were fed there and +rushed therefrom to the battle.</p> + +<p>While there was no church, hotel, storehouse, +courthouse or jail it was all these by turns. No +doubt those who were sheltered within its walls, +ran the whole gamut of human emotion and experience.</p> + +<p>In the <span class="smcap">Puget Sound Weekly</span> of July 30th, +1866, published in Seattle, it was thus described:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“There was nothing about this cook house +very peculiar, except the interest with which old +memories had invested it. It was simply a dingy-looking +hewed log building, about twenty-five feet +square, a little more than one story high, with a +shed addition in the rear, and to strangers and +newcomers was rather an eye-sore and nuisance +in the place—standing as it did in the business +part of the town, among the more pretentious +buildings of modern construction, like a quaint +octogenarian, among a band of dandyish sprigs +of young America. To old settlers, however, its +weather-worn roof and smoke-blackened walls, +inside and out, were vastly interesting from long<span class="pagenum">[Pg 88]</span> +familiarity, and many pleasant and perhaps a +few unpleasant recollections were connected with +its early history, which we might make subjects +of a small volume of great interest, had we time +to indite it. Suffice it to say, however, that this +old cook house was one among the first buildings +erected in Seattle; was built for the use of the saw +mill many years since, and though designed especially +for a cook house, has been used for almost +every conceivable purpose for which a log +cabin, in a new and wild country, may be employed.</p> + +<p>“For many years the only place for one hundred +miles or more along the eastern shores of +Puget Sound, where the pioneer settlers could be +hospitably entertained by white men and get a +square meal, was Yesler’s cook house in Seattle, +and whether he had money or not, no man ever +found the latch string of the cook house drawn in, +or went away hungry from the little cabin door; +and many an old Puget Sounder remembers the +happy hours, jolly nights, strange encounters and +wild scenes he has enjoyed around the broad fireplace +and hospitable board of Yesler’s cook +house.</p> + +<p>“During the Indian war this building was +the general rendezvous of the volunteers engaged +in defending the thinly populated country against +the depredations of the savages, and was also the +resort of the navy officers on the same duty on the +Sound. Judge Lander’s office was held in one<span class="pagenum">[Pg 89]</span> +corner of the dining room; the auditor’s office, for +some time, was kept under the same roof, and, +indeed, it may be said to have been used for more +purposes than any other building on the Pacific +coast. It was the general depository from which +law and justice were dispensed throughout a +large scope of surrounding country. It has, at +different times, served for town hall, courthouse, +jail, military headquarters, storehouse, hotel and +church; and in the early years of its history +served all these purposes at once. It was the +place of holding elections, and political parties of +all sorts held their meetings in it, and quarreled +and made friends again, and ate, drank, laughed, +sung, wept, and slept under the same hospitable +roof. If there was to be a public gathering of the +settlers of any kind and for any purpose, no one +ever asked where the place of meeting was to be, +for all knew it was to be at the cook house.</p> + +<p>“The first sermon, by a Protestant, in King +county was preached by the Rev. Mr. Close in the +old cook house. The first lawsuit—which was the +trial of the mate of the Franklin Adams, for selling +ship’s stores and appropriating the proceeds—came +off, of course, in the old cook house. Justice +Maynard presided at this trial, and the accused +was discharged from the old cook house +with the wholesome advice that in future he +should be careful to make a correct return of all +his private sales of other people’s property.</p> + +<p>“Who, then, knowing the full history of this<span class="pagenum">[Pg 90]</span> +famous old relic of early times, can wonder that +it has so long been suffered to stand and moulder, +unused, in the midst of the more gaudy surroundings +of a later civilization? And who can think +it strange, when, at last, its old smoky walls were +compelled to yield to the pressure of progression, +and be tumbled heedlessly into the street, that the +old settler looked sorrowfully upon the vandal +destruction, and silently dropped a tear over its +leveled ruins. Peace to the ashes of the old cook +house.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>While the pioneers lingered in the settlement, +they enjoyed the luxury of living in houses +of sawed lumber. Time has worked out his revenges +until what was then disesteemed is much +admired now. A substantial and picturesque +lodge of logs, furnished with modern contrivances +is now regarded as quite desirable, for summer +occupation at least.</p> + +<p>The struggle of the Indians to regain their +domain resulted in many sanguinary conflicts. +The bloody wave of war ran hither and yon until +spent and the doom of the passing race was +sealed.</p> + +<p>Seattle and the whole Puget Sound region +were set back ten years in development. Toilsome +years they were that stretched before the +pioneers. They and their families were obliged +to do whatever they could to obtain a livelihood; +they were neither ashamed nor afraid of honest<span class="pagenum"><a id="page91" name="page91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +work and doubtless enjoyed the reward of a good +conscience and vigorous health.</p> + +<p>Life held many pleasures and much freedom +from modern fret besides. As one of them observed, +“We were happy then, in our log cabin +homes.”</p> + +<p>Long after the incidents herein related occurred, +one of the survivors of the White River +massacre wrote the following letter, which was +published in a local paper:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Burgh Hill, Ohio, Sept. 8.—I notice occasionally +a pioneer sketch in the Post-Intelligencer +relating some incident in the war of 1855-56. +I have a vivid recollection of this, being a +member of one of the families concerned therein. +I remember distinctly the attack upon the fort at +Seattle in January, 1856. Though a child, the +murdering of my mother and step-father by the +Indians a few weeks before made such an impression +upon my mind that I was terror-stricken +at the thought of another massacre, and the details +are indelibly and most vividly fixed in my +mind. When I read of the marvelous growth of +Seattle I can hardly realize that it is possible. I +add my mite to the pioneer history of Seattle and +vicinity.</p> + +<p>“I was born in Harrison township, Grant +county, Wisconsin, November 13, 1848. When I +was five months old my father started for the +gold diggings in California, but died shortly after +reaching that state. In the early part of 1851 my<span class="pagenum">[Pg 92]</span> +mother married Harvey Jones. In the spring of +1854 we started for Washington territory, overland, +reaching our destination on White river in +the fall, having been six months and five days in +making the trip. Our route lay through Iowa, +Nebraska, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Washington +territory. To speak in detail of all my +recollections of this journey would make this article +too lengthy.</p> + +<p>“My step-father took up land on White river +some twenty miles up the stream from Seattle. +At that time there were only five or six families +in the settlement, the nearest neighbor to us being +about one-fourth mile distant. During the summer +of 1855 I went some two and a half miles to +school along a path through the dense woods in +danger both from wild animals and Indians. +Some of the settlers became alarmed at reports +of hostile intentions by the Indians upon our +settlement and left some two weeks before the +outbreak. Among those who thought their fears +groundless and remained was our family.</p> + +<p>“On Sunday morning, October 28, 1855, +while at breakfast we were surprised, and the +house surrounded by a band of hostile Indians, +who came running from the grass and bushes, +whooping and discharging firearms. They seemed +to rise from the ground so sudden and stealthy +had been the attack. Our family consisted of my +step-father (sick at the time), my mother, a half-sister, +not quite four years old, a half-brother,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 93]</span> +not quite two, a hired man, Cooper by name, and +myself.</p> + +<p>“As soon as the Indians began firing into the +house my mother covered us children over with a +feather bed in the corner of one of the rooms +farthest from the side attacked. In a short time +it became evident we were entirely at the mercy +of the savages, and after a hurried consultation +between my mother and the hired man, he concluded +to attempt to escape by flight; accordingly +he came into the room where I was, and with an +ax pried off the casing of the window and removed +the lower sash, and then jumped out, but +as was afterward learned he was shot when only +a few rods from the house.</p> + +<p>“My step-father was shot about the same time +inside the house while passing from his room to +the one in which my mother was. In a short time +there appeared to be a cessation of the firing, and +upon looking out from under the bed over us I +saw an Indian in the next room carrying something +out. Soon we were taken out by them. I +did not see my mother. We were placed in the +charge of the leader of the band who directed +them in their actions. They put bedclothes and +other combustible articles under the house and set +fire to them, and in this way burned the house. +When it was well nigh burned to the ground, we +were led away by one of the tribe, who in a short +time allowed us to go where we pleased. I first +went to the nearest neighbor’s, but all was con<span class="pagenum">[Pg 94]</span>fusion, +and no one was about. I then came back +to the burned house.</p> + +<p>“I found my mother a short distance from +the house, or where it had stood, still alive. She +warned me to leave speedily and soon. I begged +to stay with her but she urged me to flee. We +made a dinner of some potatoes which had been +baked by the fire. I carried my little half-brother +and led my half-sister along the path to where I +had gone to school during the summer, but there +was no one there. I went still further on, but +they, too, had gone. I came back to the school +house, not knowing what to do. It was getting +late. I was tired, as was my sister. My little +brother was fretful, and cried to see his mother. +I had carried him some three and a half or four +miles altogether.</p> + +<p>“While trying to quiet them I saw an Indian +coming toward us. He had not seen us. I hid the +children in the bushes and moved toward him to +meet him. I soon had the relief to recognize in +him an acquaintance I had often seen while attending +school. We knew him as Dave. He told +me to bring the children to his wigwam. His +squaw was very kind, but my sister and brother +were afraid of her. In the night he took us in a +canoe down the river to Seattle. I was taken on +board the man-of-war, Decatur, and they were +placed in charge of some one in the fort. An +uncle, John Smale, had crossed the plains when +we did, but went to California. He was written<span class="pagenum">[Pg 95]</span> +to about the massacre, and reached us in June, +1856. We went to San Francisco and then to the +Isthmus, and from there we went to New York +city. From there we were taken to Wisconsin, +where my sister and brother remained. I was +brought back to Ohio in September, 1856. They +both died in October, 1864, of diphtheria, in Wisconsin.”</p> + +<p class="quotsig">“<span class="smcap">John I. King</span>, M. D.”</p></blockquote> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page96" name="page96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> +<h2>>CHAPTER V.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">THE MURDER OF MCCORMICK.</span></h2> + +<p>The shores of Lake Union, in Seattle, now +surrounded by electric and steam railways, saw +mills and manufactories, dwellings and public +buildings, were clothed with a magnificent, dense, +primeval forest, when the adventurous pioneers +first looked upon its mirror-like surface. The +shadowy depths of the solemn woods held many +a dark and tragic secret; contests between enemies +in both brute and human forms were doubtless +not infrequently hidden there.</p> + +<p>Many men came to the far northwest unheralded +and unknown to the few already established, +and wandering about without guides, unacquainted +with the dangers peculiar to the +region, were incautious and met a mysterious +fate.</p> + +<p>For a long time the “Pioneer and Democrat,” +of Olympia, Washington, one of the +earliest newspapers of the northwest, published +an advertisement in its columns inquiring for +James Montgomery McCormick, sent to it from +Pennsylvania. It is thought to have been one and +the same person with the subject of this sketch. +Even if it were not, the name will do as well as +any other.</p> + +<p>One brilliant summer day in July of 1853,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 97]</span> +a medium sized man, past middle age, was pushing +his way through the black raspberry jungle +on the east side of Lake Union, gathering handfuls +of the luscious fruit that hung in rich purple +clusters above his head. A cool bubbling spring, +that came from far up the divide toward Lake +Washington, tempted him and stooping down he +drank of the refreshing stream where it filled a +little pool in the shadow of a mossy log. Glancing +about him, he marked with a keen delight the +loveliness of the vegetation, the plumy ferns, velvet +mosses and drooping cedars; how grateful to +him must have been the cool north breeze wandering +through the forest! No doubt he thought +it a pleasant place to rest in before returning to +the far away settlement. Upon the mossy log he +sat contentedly, marveling at the stillness of the +mighty forest.</p> + +<p>The thought had scarcely formed itself when +he was startled by the dipping of paddles, wild +laughter and vociferous imitations of animals +and birds. A canoe grated on the beach and +after a brief expectant interval, tramping feet +along the trail betokened an arrival and a group +of young Indians came in sight, one of whom +carried a Hudson Bay musket.</p> + +<p>“Kla-how-ya” (How do you do), said the +leader, a flathead, with shining skin recently +oiled, sinister black brows, and thick black hair +cut square and even at the neck.</p> + +<p>At first they whistled and muttered, affect<span class="pagenum"><a id="page98" name="page98">[Pg 98]</a></span>ing +little interest in his appearance, yet all the +while were keenly studying him.</p> + +<p>The white man had with him a rifle, revolver +and camp ax. The young savages examined +the gun, lifting it up and sighting at a knot-hole +in a distant tree; then the ax, the sharp edge of +which they fingered, and the revolver, to their +minds yet more fascinating.</p> + +<p>They were slightly disdainful as though not +caring to own such articles, thereby allaying any +fears he may have had as to their intentions. +Being able to converse but little with the natives, +the stranger good-naturedly permitted them to +examine his weapons and even his clothing came +under their scrutiny. His garments were new, +and well adapted to frontier life.</p> + +<p>When he supposed their curiosity satisfied, +he rose to go, when one of the Indians asked him, +“Halo chicamum?” (Have you any money?) he +incautiously slapped his hip pocket and answered +“Hiyu chicamum” (plenty of money), perhaps +imagining they did not know its use or value, +then started on the trail.</p> + +<p>They let him go a little way out of sight and +in a few, half-whispered, eager, savage words +agreed to follow him, with what purpose did not +require a full explanation.</p> + +<p>Noiselessly and swiftly they followed on his +track. One shot from the musket struck him in +the back of the head and he fell forward and +they rushed upon him, seized the camp ax and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 99]</span> +dealt repeated blows; life extinct, they soon +stripped him of coat, shirt, and pantaloons, +rifled the pockets, finding $200 and a few small +trinkets, knife or keys. With the haste of guilt +they threw the body still clothed in a suit of undergarments, +behind a big log, among the bushes +and hurried away with their booty, paddling +swiftly far up the lake to their camp.</p> + +<p>A dark, cloudy night followed and the Indians +huddled around a little fire, ever and anon +starting at some sound in the gloomy forest. Already +very superstitious, their guilt made them +doubly afraid of imaginary foes. On a piece of +mat in the center of the group lay the money, +revolver, etc., of which they had robbed the unfortunate +white man. They intended to divide +them by “slahal,” the native game played with +“stobsh” and “slanna” (men and women), as +they called the round black and white disks with +which they gambled. A bunch of shredded cedar +bark was brought from the canoe and the game +began. All were very skillful and continued for +several hours, until at last they counted the +clothes to one, all the money to another, and the +revolver and trifles to the rest. One of the less +fortunate in a very bad humor said “The game +was not good, I don’t want this little ‘cultus’ +(worthless) thing.”</p> + +<p>“O, you are stupid and don’t understand +it,” they answered tauntingly, thereupon he +rolled himself in his blanket and sulked himself<span class="pagenum">[Pg 100]</span> +to sleep, while the others sat half dreamily planning +what they would do with their booty.</p> + +<p>Very early they made the portage between +Lakes Union and Washington and returned to +their homes.</p> + +<p>But they did not escape detection.</p> + +<p>Only a few days afterward an Indian woman, +the wife of Hu-hu-bate-sute or “Salmon Bay +Curley,” crossed Lake Union to the black raspberry +patch to gather the berries. Creeping here +and there through the thick undergrowth, she +came upon a gruesome sight, the disfigured body +of the murdered white man. Scarcely waiting +for a horrified “Achada!” she fled incontinently +to her canoe and paddled quickly home to tell her +husband. Hu-hu-bate-sute went back with her +and arrived at the spot, where one log lay across +another, hollowed out the earth slightly, rolled +in and covered the body near the place where it +was discovered.</p> + +<p>Suspecting it was the work of some wild, +reckless Indians he said nothing about it.</p> + +<p>Their ill-gotten gains troubled the perpetrators +of the deed, brought them no good fortune +and they began to think there was “tamanuse” +about them; they gave the revolver away, +bestowed the small articles on some unsuspecting +“tenas” (children) and gave a part of the +money to “Old Steve,” whose Indian name was +Stemalyu.</p> + +<p>The one who criticised the division of the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 101]</span> +spoils, whispered about among the other Indians +dark hints concerning the origin of the suddenly +acquired wealth and gradually a feeling arose +against those who had the money. Quarreling +one day over some trifle, one of them scornfully +referred to the other’s part of the cruel deed: +“You are wicked, you killed a white man,” said +he. The swarthy face of the accused grew livid +with rage and he plunged viciously at the speaker, +but turning, eel-like, the accuser slipped +away and ran out of sight into the forest. An +old Indian followed him and asked “What was +that you said?”</p> + +<p>“O nothing, just idle talk.”</p> + +<p>“You had better tell me,” said the old man +sternly.</p> + +<p>After some hesitation he told the story. The +old man was deeply grieved and so uneasy that +he went all the way to Shilshole (Salmon Bay) +to see if his friend Hu-hu-bate-sute knew anything +about it and that discreet person astonished +him by telling him his share of the story. By +degrees it became known to the Indians on both +lakes and at the settlement.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the wife of the one accused in +the contention, took the money and secretly dropped +it into the lake.</p> + +<p>One warm September day in the fall of the +same year, quite a concourse of Indians were +gathered out doors near the big Indian house a +little north of D. T. Denny’s home in the set<span class="pagenum">[Pg 102]</span>tlement +(Seattle); they were having a great +“wa-wa” (talk) about something; he walked +over and asked them what it was all about.</p> + +<p>“Salmon Bay Curley,” who was among +them, thereupon told him of the murder and the +distribution of the valuables.</p> + +<p>Shortly after, W. N. Bell, D. T. Denny, Dr. +Maynard, E. A. Clark and one or two others, +with Curley as a guide, went out to the lake, +found the place and at first thought of removing +the body, but that being impossible, Dr. Maynard +placed the skull, or rather the fragments of it, +in a handkerchief and took the two pairs of +spectacles, one gold-rimmed, the other steel-rimmed, +which were left by the Indians, and all +returned to the settlement to make their report.</p> + +<p>Investigation followed and as a result four +Indians were arrested. A trial before a Justice +Court was held in the old Felker house, which +was built by Captain Felker and was the first +large frame house of sawed lumber erected on +the site of Seattle.</p> + +<p>At this trial, Klap-ke-lachi Jim testified positively +against two of them and implicated two +others. The first two were summarily executed +by hanging from a tall sharply leaning stump +over which a rope was thrown; it stood where +the New England Hotel was afterward built. A +young Indian and one called Old Petawow were +the others accused.</p> + +<p>Petawow was carried into court by two<span class="pagenum">[Pg 103]</span> +young Indians, having somehow broken his leg. +There was not sufficient evidence against him to +convict and he was released.</p> + +<p>C. D. Boren was sheriff and for lack of a +jail, the young Indian accused was locked in a +room in his own house.</p> + +<p>Not yet satisfied with the work of execution, +a mob headed by E. A. Clark determined to hang +this Indian also. They therefore obtained the +assistance of some sailors with block and tackle +from a ship in the harbor, set up a tripod of +spars, cut for shipment, over which they put the +rope. In order to have the coast clear so they +could break the “jail,” a man was sent to Boren’s +house, who pretended that he wished to buy +some barrels left in Boren’s care by a cooper +and stacked on the beach some distance away.</p> + +<p>The unsuspecting victim of the ruse accompanied +him to the beach where the man detained +him as long as he thought necessary, talking of +barrels, brine and pickling salmon, and perhaps +not liking to miss the “neck-tie party,” at last +said, “Maybe we’d better get back, the boys are +threatening mischief.”</p> + +<p>Taking the hint instantly, Boren started on +a dead run up the beach in a wild anxiety to save +the Indian’s life. In sight of the improvised +scaffold he beheld the Indian with the noose +around his neck, E. A. Clark and D. Livingston +near by, a sea captain, who was a mere-on-looker,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 104]</span> +and the four sailors in line with the rope in their +hands, awaiting the order to pull.</p> + +<p>The sheriff recovered himself enough to +shout, “Drop that rope, you rascals!”</p> + +<p>“O string him up, he’s nothing but a Siwash,” +said one.</p> + +<p>“Dry up! you have no right to hang him, he +will be tried at the next term of court,” said +Boren. The sailors dropped the rope, Boren removed +the noose from the neck of the Indian, +who was silent, bravely enduring the indignity +from the mob. The majesty of the law was recognized +and the crowd dispersed.</p> + +<p>The Indian was sent to Steilacoom, where he +was kept in jail for six months, but when tried +there was no additional evidence and he was +therefore released. Returning to his people he +changed his name, taking that of his father’s +cousin, and has lived a quiet and peaceable life +throughout the years.</p> + +<p>Sad indeed seems the fate of this unknown +wanderer, but not so much so as that of others +who came to the Northwest to waste their lives +in riotous living and were themselves responsible +for a tragic end of a wicked career, so often sorrowfully +witnessed by the sober and steadfast.</p> + +<p>Of the participants in this exciting episode, +D. T. Denny, C. D. Boren and the Indian, whose +life was so promptly and courageously saved +by C. D. Boren from an ignominious death, are +(in 1892) still living in King County, Washington.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page105" name="page105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">KILLING COUGARS.</span></h2> + +<p>It was springtime in an early year of pioneer +times. D. T. and Louisa Denny were living +in their log cabin in the swale, an opening +in the midst of the great forest, about midway +between Elliott Bay and Lake Union. Not very +far away was their only neighbor, Thomas +Mercer, with his family of several young daughters.</p> + +<p>On a pleasant morning, balmy with the +presage of coming summer, as the two pioneers, +David T. Denny and Thomas Mercer, wended, +their way to their task of cutting timber, they +observed some of the cattle lying down in an +open space, and heard the tinkling bell of one +of the little band wandering about cropping fresh +spring herbage in the edge of the woods. They +looked with a feeling of affection at the faithful +dumb creatures who were to aid in affording +sustenance, as well as a sort of friendly companionship +in the lonely wilds.</p> + +<p>After a long, sunny day spent in swinging +the ax, whistling, singing and chatting, they returned +to their cabins as the shadows were deepening +in the mighty forest.</p> + +<p><a id="V" name="V"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 328px;"> +<img src="images/opp105.png" width="328" height="500" alt="" title="LOG CABIN IN THE SWALE" /> +<span class="caption">LOG CABIN IN THE SWALE</span> +</div> + +<p>In the first cabin there was considerable +anxiety manifested by the mistress of the same, +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 106]</span>revealed in the conversation at the supper table:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“David,” said she, “there was something +wrong with the cattle today; I heard a calf bawl +as if something had caught it and ‘Whiteface’ +came up all muddy and distressed looking.”</p> + +<p>“Is that so? Did you look to see what it +was?”</p> + +<p>“I started to go but the baby cried so that I +had to come back. A little while before that I +thought I heard an Indian halloo and looked out +of the door expecting to see him come down to +the trail, but I did not see anything at all.”</p> + +<p>“What could it be? Well, it is so dark now +in the woods that I can’t see anything; I will +have to wait until tomorrow.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Early the next morning, David went up to +the place where he had seen the calves the day +before, taking “Towser,” a large Newfoundland +dog with him, also a long western rifle he +had brought across the plains.</p> + +<p>Not so many rods away from the cabin he +found the remnants of a calf upon which some +wild beast had feasted the day previous.</p> + +<p>There were large tracks all around easily +followed, as the ground was soft with spring +rains. Towser ran out into the thick timber hard +after a wild creature, and David heard something +scratch and run up a tree and thought it must be +a wild cat.</p> + +<p>No white person had ever seen any larger +specimen of the feline race in this region.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page107" name="page107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>He stepped up to a big fir log and walked +along perhaps fifty feet and looking up a giant +cedar tree saw a huge cougar glaring down at +him with great, savage yellow eyes, crouching +motionless, except for the incessant twitching, +to and fro, of the tip of its tail, as a cat does +when watching a mouse.</p> + +<p>Right before him in so convenient a place +as to attract his attention, stood a large limb +which had fallen and stuck into the ground +alongside the log he was standing on, so he +promptly rested his gun on it, but it sank into the +soft earth from the weight of the gun and he +quickly drew up, aiming at the chest of the +cougar.</p> + +<p>The gun missed fire.</p> + +<p>Fearing the animal would spring upon him, +he walked back along the log about twenty feet, +took a pin out of his coat and picked out the +tube, poured in fresh powder from his powder +horn and put on a fresh cap.</p> + +<p>All the time the yellow eyes watched him.</p> + +<p>Advancing again, he fired; the bullet struck +through its vitals, but away it went bolting up +the tree quite a distance. Another bullet was +rammed home in the old muzzle loader. The +cougar was dying, but still held on by its claws +stuck in the bark of the tree, its head resting on +a limb. Receiving one more shot in the head it +let go and came hurtling down to the ground.</p> + +<p>Towser was wild with savage delight and bit<span class="pagenum">[Pg 108]</span> +his prostrate enemy many times, chewing at the +neck until it was a mass of foam, but not once did +his sharp teeth penetrate the tough, thick hide.</p> + +<p>Hurrying back, David called for Mercer, a +genial man always ready to lend a hand, to help +him get the beast out to the cabin. The two men +found it very heavy, all they could stagger under, +even the short distance it had to be carried.</p> + +<p>As soon as the killing of the cougar was reported +in the settlement, two miles away, everybody +turned out to see the monster.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Catherine Blaine, the school teacher, +who had gone home with the Mercer children, +saw the animal and marveled at its size.</p> + +<p>Henry L. Yesler and all the mill hands repaired +to the spot to view the dead monarch of +the forest, none of whom had seen his like before. +Large tracks had been seen in various +places but were credited to timber wolves. This +cougar’s forearm measured the same as the leg +of a large horse just above the knee joint.</p> + +<p>Such an animal, if it jumped down from a +considerable height, would carry a man to the +ground with such force as to stun him, when he +could be clawed and chewed up at the creature’s +will.</p> + +<p>While the curious and admiring crowd were +measuring and guessing at the weight of the +cougar, Mr. Yesler called at the cabin. He kept +looking about while he talked and finally said, +“You are quite high-toned here, I see your house<span class="pagenum">[Pg 109]</span> +is papered,” at which all laughed good-naturedly. +Not all the cabins were “papered,” but this +one was made quite neat by means of newspapers +pasted on the walls, the finishing touch being a +border of nothing more expensive than blue +calico.</p> + +<p>At last they were all satisfied with their inspection +of the first cougar and returned to the +settlement.</p> + +<p>A moral might be pinned here: if this cougar +had not dined so gluttonously on the tender calf, +which no doubt made excellent veal, possibly he +would not have come to such a sudden and violent +end.</p> + +<p>Had some skillful taxidermist been at hand +to mount this splendid specimen of Felis Concolor, +the first killed by a white man in this region, +it would now be very highly prized.</p> + +<p>Some imagine that the danger of encounters +with cougars has been purposely exaggerated by +the pioneer hunters to create admiring respect +for their own prowess. This is not my opinion, +as I believe there is good reason to fear them, +especially if they are hungry.</p> + +<p>They are large, swift and agile, and have +the advantage in the dense forest of the northwest +Pacific coast, as they can station themselves +in tall trees amid thick foliage and pounce upon +deer, cattle and human beings.</p> + +<p>Several years after the killing of the first +specimen, a cow was caught in the jaw by a coug<span class="pagenum">[Pg 110]</span>ar, +but wrenched herself away in terror and pain +and ran home with the whole frightened herd at +her heels, into the settlement of Seattle.</p> + +<p>The natives have always feared them and +would much rather meet a bear than a cougar, +as the former will, ordinarily, run away, while +the latter is hard to scare and is liable to follow +and spring out of the thick undergrowth.</p> + +<p>In one instance known to the pioneers first +mentioned in this chapter, an Indian woman who +was washing at the edge of a stream beat a cougar +off her child with a stick, thereby saving its life.</p> + +<p>In early days, about 1869 or ’70, a Mr. T. +Cherry, cradling oats in a field in Squowh Valley, +was attacked by a cougar; holding his cradle +between him and the hungry beast, he backed +toward the fence, the animal following until the +fence was reached. A gang of hogs were feeding +just outside the enclosure and the cougar +leaped the fence, seized one of the hogs and ran +off with it.</p> + +<p>A saloon-keeper on the Snohomish River, +walking along the trail in the adjacent forest one +day with his yellow dog, was startled by the +sudden accession to their party of a huge and +hungry cougar. The man fled precipitately, +leaving the dog to his fate. The wild beast fell +to and made a meal of the hapless canine, devouring +all but the tip of his yellow tail, which +his sorrowing master found near the trail the +next day.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 111]</span>A lonely pioneer cabin on the Columbia +River was enclosed by a high board fence. One +sunny day as the two children of the family were +playing in the yard, a cougar sprang from a +neighboring tree and caught one of the children; +the mother ran out and beat off the murderous +beast, but the child was dead.</p> + +<p>She then walked six or seven miles to a settlement +carrying the dead child, while leading +the other. What a task! The precious burden, +the heavier load of sorrow, the care of the remaining +child, the dread of a renewed attack +from the cougar and the bodily fatigue incident +to such a journey, forming an experience upon +which it would be painful to dwell.</p> + +<p>Many more such incidents might be given, +but I am reminded at this point that they would +appropriately appear in another volume.</p> + +<p>Since the first settlement there have been +killed in King County nearly thirty of these animals.</p> + +<p>C. Brownfield, an old settler on Lake Union, +killed several with the aid of “Jack,” a yellow +dog which belonged to D. T. Denny for a time, +then to A. A. Denny.</p> + +<p>C. D. Boren, with his dog, killed others.</p> + +<p>Moses Kirkland brought a dog from Louisiana, +a half bloodhound, with which Henry Van +Asselt hunted and killed several cougars.</p> + +<p>D. T. Denny killed one in the region occupied +by the suburb of Seattle known as Ross. It<span class="pagenum">[Pg 112]</span> +had been dining off mutton secured from Dr. H. +A. Smith’s flock of sheep. It was half grown +and much the color of a deer.</p> + +<p>Toward Lake Washington another flock of +sheep had been visited by a cougar, and Mr. Wetmore +borrowed D. T. Denny’s little dog +“Watch,” who treed the animal, remaining by +it all night, but it escaped until a trap was set, +when, being more hungry than cautious, it was +secured.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page113" name="page113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">PIONEER CHILD LIFE.</span></h2> + +<p>The very thought of it makes the blood tingle +and the heart leap. No element was wanting +for romance or adventure. Indians, bears, panthers, +far journeys, in canoes or on horseback, +fording rivers, camping and tramping, and all +in a virgin wilderness so full of grandeur and +loveliness that even very little children were impressed +by the appearance thereof. The strangeness +and newness of it all was hardly understood +by the native white children as they had +no means of comparing this region and mode of +life with other countries and customs.</p> + +<p>Traditions did not trouble us; the Indians +were generally friendly, the bears were only +black ones and ran away from us as fast as their +furry legs would carry them; the panthers did +not care to eat us up, we felt assured, while there +was plenty of venison to be had by stalking, and +on a journey we rode safely, either on the pommel +of father’s saddle or behind mother’s, clinging +like small kittens or cockleburs.</p> + +<p>Familiarity with the coquettish canoe made +us perfectly at home with it, and in later years +when the tenderfoot arrived, we were convulsed +with inextinguishable laughter at what seemed to +us an unreasoning terror of a harmless craft.</p> + +<p><a id="VI" name="VI"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 288px;"> +<img src="images/opp113.jpg" width="288" height="500" alt="" title="WHERE WE WANDERED LONG AGO" /> +<span class="caption">WHERE WE WANDERED LONG AGO</span> +</div> + +<p>Ah! we lived close to dear nature then! Our +play-grounds were the brown beaches or the hillsides +covered with plumy young fir trees, the +alder groves or the slashings where we hacked +and chopped with our little hatchets in imitation +of our elders or the Father of His Country and +namesake of our state. Running on long logs, +the prostrate trunks of trees several hundred +feet long, and jumping from one to another was +found to be an exhilarating pastime.</p> + +<p>When the frolicsome Chinook wind came +singing across the Sound, the boys flew home +built kites of more or less ambitious proportions +and the little girls ran down the hills, performing +a peculiar skirt dance by taking the gown by the +hem on either side and turning the skirt half +over the head. Facing the wind it assumed a +baloonlike inflation very pleasing to the small +performer. It was thought the proper thing to +let the hair out of net or braids at the time, as +the sensation of air permeating long locks was +sufficient excuse for its “weirdness” as I suppose +we would have politely termed it had we ever +heard the word. Instead we were more likely to +be reproved for having such untidy heads and +perhaps reminded that we looked as wild as Indians. +“As wild as Indians,” the poor Indians! +How they admired the native white children! +Without ceremony they claimed blood brotherhood, +saying, “You were born in our ‘illahee’ +(country) and are our ‘tillicum’ (people).<span class="pagenum">[Pg 115]</span> +You eat the same food, will grow up here and +belong to us.”</p> + +<p>Often we were sung to sleep at night by their +“tamanuse” singing, as we lived quite near the +bank below which many Indians camped, on Elliott +Bay.</p> + +<p>I never met with the least rudeness or suffered +the slightest injury from an Indian except +on one occasion. Walking upon the beach one +day three white children drew near a group of +Indian camps. Almost deserted they were, probably +the inhabitants had gone fishing; the only +being visible was a boy about ten years of age. +Snarling out some bitter words in an unknown +tongue, he flung a stone which struck hard a +small head, making a slight scalp wound. Such +eyes! they fairly glittered with hatred. We hurried +home, the victim crying with the pain inflicted, +and learned afterward that the boy was +none of our “tillicum” but a stranger from the +Snohomish tribe. What cruel wrong had he +witnessed or suffered to make him so full of bitterness?</p> + +<p>The Indian children were usually quite amiable +in disposition, and it seemed hard to refuse +their friendly advances which it became necessary +to do. In their primitive state they seemed +perfectly healthy and happy little creatures. +They never had the toothache; just think of that, +ye small consumers of colored candies! Unknown +to them was the creeping horror that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 116]</span> +white children feel when about to enter the terrible +dentist’s den. They had their favorite fear, +however, the frightful “statalth,” or “stick siwash,” +that haunted the great forest. As near +as we could ascertain, these were the ghosts of a +long dead race of savages who had been of gigantic +stature and whose ghosts were likewise very +tall and dreadful and very fond of chasing people +out of the woods on dark nights. Plenty of +little white people know what the sensation is, +produced by imagining that something is coming +after them in the dark.</p> + +<p>I have seen a big, brawny, tough looking Indian +running as fast as he could go, holding a +blazing pitchwood torch over his head while he +glanced furtively over his shoulder for the approaching +statalth.</p> + +<p>Both white and Indian children were afraid +of the Northern Indians, especially the Stickeens, +who were head-takers.</p> + +<p>We were seldom panic stricken; born amid +dangers there seemed nothing novel about them +and we took our environment as a matter of +course. We were taught to be courageous but +not foolhardy, which may account for our not +getting oftener in trouble.</p> + +<p>The boys learned to shoot and shoot well at +an early age, first with shot guns, then rifles. +Sometimes the girls proved dangerous with firearms +in their hands. A sister of the writer +learned to shoot off the head of a grouse at long<span class="pagenum">[Pg 117]</span> +range. A girl schoolmate, when scarcely grown, +shot and killed a bear. My brothers and cousin, +Wm. R. Boren, were good shots at a tender age +and killed numerous bears, deer, grouse, pheasants, +ducks, wild pigeon, etc., in and about the +district now occupied by the city of Seattle.</p> + +<p>The wild flowers and the birds interested us +deeply and every spring we joyfully noted the +returning bluebirds and robins, the migrating +wren and a number of other charming feathered +friends. The high banks, not then demolished by +grades, were smothered in greenery and hung +with banners of bloom every succeeding season.</p> + +<p>We clambered up and down the steep places +gathering armfuls of lillies (trillium), red currant +(ribes sanguineum), Indian-arrow-wood +(spiraea), snowy syringa (philadelphus) and +blue forgetmenots and the yellow blossoms of the +Oregon grape (berberis glumacea and aquifolium), +which we munched with satisfaction for +the <i>soursweet</i>, and the scarlet honeysuckle to bite +off the honeyglands for a like purpose.</p> + +<p>The salmonberry and blackberry seasons +were quite delightful. To plunge into the thick +jungle, now traversed by Pike Street, Seattle, +was a great treat. There blackberries attained +Brobdignagian hugeness, rich and delicious.</p> + +<p>On a Saturday, our favorite reward for lessons +and work well done, was to be allowed to +go down the lovely beach with its wide strip of +variegated shingle and bands of brown, ribbed<span class="pagenum">[Pg 118]</span> +sand, as far as the “three big stones,” no farther, +as there were bears, panthers and Indians, as +hereinbefore stated, inhabiting the regions +round about.</p> + +<p>One brilliant April day we felt very brave, +we were bigger than ever before, five was quite +a party, and the flowers were O! so enchanting +a little farther on. Two of us climbed the bank +to gather the tempting blossoms.</p> + +<p>Our little dog, “Watch,” a very intelligent +animal, took the lead; scarcely had we gained +the top and essayed to break the branch of a +wild currant, gay with rose colored blossoms, +when Watch showed unusual excitement about +something, a mysterious something occupying +the cavernous depths of an immense hollow log. +With his bristles up, rage and terror in every +quivering muscle, he was slowly, very slowly, +backing toward us.</p> + +<p>Although in the woods often, we had never +seen him act so before. We took the hint and +to our heels, tumbled down the yielding, yellow +bank in an exceedingly hasty and unceremonious +manner, gathered up our party of thoroughly +frightened youngsters and hurried along the sand +homeward, at a double quick pace.</p> + +<p>Hardly stopping for a backward glance to +see if the “something” was coming after us, we +reached home, safe but subdued.</p> + +<p>Not many days after the young truants were +invited down to an Indian camp to see the car<span class="pagenum">[Pg 119]</span>cass +of a cougar about nine feet long. There it +lay, stretched out full length, its hard, white +teeth visible beyond the shrunken lips, its huge +paws quite helpless and harmless.</p> + +<p>It is more than probable that this was the +“something” in the great hollow log, as it was +killed in the vicinity of the place where our +stampede occurred.</p> + +<p>Evidently Watch felt his responsibility and +did the best he could to divert the enemy while +we escaped.</p> + +<p>The dense forest hid many an unseen danger +in early days and it transpired that I never +saw a live cougar in the woods, but even a dead +one may produce real old fashioned fright in a +spectator.</p> + +<p>Having occasion, when attending the University, +at the age of twelve, to visit the library +of that institution, a strange adventure befell +me; the selection of a book absorbed my mind +very fully and I was unprepared for a sudden +change of thought. Turning from the shelves, +a terrible sight met my eyes, a ferocious wild +beast, all its fangs exhibited, in the opposite corner +of the room. How did each particular hair +stand upright and perspiration ooze from every +pore! A moment passed and a complete collapse +of the illusion left the victim weak and +disgusted; it was only the stuffed cougar given +to the Faculty to be the nucleus of a great collection.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 120]</span>The young Washingtonians, called “clam-diggers,” +were usually well fed, what with venison, +fish, grouse and berries, game of many +kinds, and creatures of the sea, they were really +pampered, in the memory of the writer. But it +is related by those who experienced the privations +incident to the first year or two of white +settlement, that the children were sometimes +hungry for bread, especially during the first +winter at Alki. Fish and potatoes were plentiful, +obtained from the Indians, syrup from a +vessel in the harbor, but bread was scarce. On +one occasion, a little girl of one of the four white +families on Elliott Bay, was observed to pick +up an old crust and carry it around in her pocket. +When asked what she intended to do with that +crust, with childish simplicity she replied, “Save +it to eat with syrup at dinner.” Not able to resist +its delicious flavor she kept nibbling away at +the crust until scarcely a crumb remained; its +dessicated surface had no opportunity to be +masked with treacle.</p> + +<p>To look back upon our pioneer menu is quite +tantalizing.</p> + +<p>The fish, of many excellent kinds, from the +“salt-chuck,” brought fresh and flapping to our +doors, in native baskets by Indian fishermen, +cooked in many appetizing ways; clams of all +sizes from the huge bivalves weighing three-quarters +of a pound a piece to the tiny white soup +clam; sustain me, O my muse, if I attempt to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page121" name="page121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +describe their excellence. Every conceivable +preparation, soup, stew, baked, pie, fry or chowder +was tried with the happiest results. The +Puget Sound oyster, not the stale, globe-trotting +oyster of however aristocratic antecedents, the +enjoyment in eating of which is chiefly as a reminiscence, +but the fresh western oyster, was much +esteemed.</p> + +<p>The crab, too, figured prominently on the bill +of fare, dropped alive in boiling water and served +in scarlet, <i>a la naturel</i>.</p> + +<p>A pioneer family gathered about the table +enjoying a feast of the stalk-eyed crustaceans, +were treated to a little diversion in this wise. +The room was small, used for both kitchen and +diningroom, as the house boasted of but two or +three rooms, consequently space was economized.</p> + +<p>A fine basket of crabs traded from an Indian +were put in a tin pan and set under the +table; several were cooked, the rest left alive. +As one of the children was proceeding with the +dismemberment necessary to extract the delicate +meat, as if to seek its fellows, the crab slipped +from her grasp and slid beneath the table. Stooping +down she hastily seized her crab, as she supposed, +but to her utter astonishment it seemed to +have come to life, it <i>was</i> alive, kicking and +snapping. In a moment the table was in an uproar +of crab catching and wild laughter. The +mother of the astonished child declares that to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 122]</span> +this day she cannot help laughing whenever she +thinks of the crab that came to life.</p> + +<p>It was to this home that John and Sarah +Denny, and their little daughter, Loretta, came +to visit their son, daughter and the grandchildren, +in the winter of 1857-8.</p> + +<p>Grandmother was tall and straight, dressed +in a plain, dark gown, black silk apron and lace +cap; her hair, coal black, slightly gray on the +temples; her eyes dark, soft and gentle. She +brought a little treat of Oregon apples from their +farm in the Waldo Hills, to the children, who +thought them the most wonderful fruit they had +ever seen, more desirable than the golden apples +of Hesperides.</p> + +<p>We were to return with them, joyful news! +What visions of bliss arose before us! new places +to see and all the nice things and good times we +children could have at grandfather’s farm.</p> + +<p>When the day came, in the long, dark canoe, +manned by a crew of Indians, we embarked for +Olympia, the head of navigation, bidding “good-bye” +to our friends, few but precious, who +watched us from the bank, among whom were an +old man and his little daughter.</p> + +<p>A few days before he had been sick and one +of the party sent him a steaming cup of ginger +and milk which, although simple, had proved +efficacious; ere we reached our home again he +showed his gratitude in a substantial manner, as +will be seen farther on.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 123]</span>At one beautiful resting place, the canoe +slid up against a strip of shingle covered with +delicate shells; we were delighted to be allowed +to walk about, after sitting curled up in the bottom +of the canoe for a long time, to gather crab, +pecten and periwinkle shells, even extending our +ramble to a lovely grove of dark young evergreens, +standing in a grassy meadow.</p> + +<p>The first night of the journey was spent in +Steilacoom. It was March of 1858 and it was +chilly traveling on the big salt water. We were +cold and hungry but the keeper of the one hotel +in the place had retired and refused to be +aroused, so we turned to the only store, where +the proprietor received us kindly, brought out +new blankets to cover us while we camped on the +floor, gave us bread and a hot oyster stew, the +best his place afforded. His generous hospitality +was never forgotten by the grateful recipients +who often spoke of it in after years.</p> + +<p>I saw there a “witches’ scene” of an old +Indian woman boiling devilfish or octopus in a +kettle over a campfire, splendidly lit against the +gloom of night, and all reflected in the water.</p> + +<p>At the break of day we paddled away over +the remainder of the salt-chuck, as the Indians +call the sea, until Stetchas was reached. Stetchas +is “bear’s place,” the Indian name for the site +of Olympia.</p> + +<p>From thence the mail stage awaited us to +Cowlitz Landing. The trip over this stretch of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 124]</span> +country was not exactly like a triumphal progress. +The six-horse team plunged and floundered, +while the wagon sank up to the hub in +black mud; the language of the driver has not +been recorded.</p> + +<p>At the first stop out from Olympia, the Tilley’s, +famous in the first annals, entertained us. +At a bountiful and appetizing meal, one of the +articles, boiled eggs, were not cooked to suit +Grandfather John Denny. With amusing bluntness +he sent the chicken out to be killed before +he ate it, complaining that the eggs were not hard +enough. Mrs. Tilly made two or three efforts and +finally set the dish down beside him saying, +“There, if that isn’t hard enough you don’t deserve +to have any.”</p> + +<p>The long rough ride ended at Warbass’ +Landing on the Cowlitz River, a tributary of the +Columbia, and another canoe trip, this time on a +swift and treacherous stream, was safely made +to Monticello, a mere little settlement. A tiny +steamboat, almost microscopic on the wide water, +carried us across the great Columbia with its +sparkling waves, and up the winding Willamette +to Portland, Oregon.</p> + +<p>From thence the journey progressed to the +falls below Oregon City.</p> + +<p>At the portage, we walked along a narrow +plank walk built up on the side of the river bank +which rose in a high rounded hill. Its noble outline +stood dark with giant firs against a blue<span class="pagenum">[Pg 125]</span> +spring sky; the rushing, silvery flood of the +Willamette swept below us past a bank fringed +with wild currants just coming into bloom.</p> + +<p>At the end of the walk there stood a house +which represented itself as a resting place for +weary travelers. We spent the night there but +Alas! for rest; the occupants were convivial and +“drowned the shamrock” all night long; as no +doubt they felt obliged to do for wasn’t it “St. +Patrick’s Day in the mornin’?”</p> + +<p>Most likely we three, the juveniles, slumbered +peacefully until aroused to learn that we +were about to start “sure enough” for grandfather’s +farm in the Waldo Hills.</p> + +<p>At length the log cabin home was reached +and our interest deepened in everything about. +So many flowers to gather as they came in lively +processional, blue violets under the oaks, blue-flags +all along the valley; such great, golden buttercups, +larkspurs, and many a wildling we +scarcely called by any name.</p> + +<p>All the affairs of the house and garden, field +and pasture seemed by us especially gotten up, +for our amusement and we found endless entertainment +therein.</p> + +<p>If a cheese was made or churning done we +were sure to be “hanging around” for a green +curd or paring, a taste of sweet butter or a +chance to lift the dasher of the old fashioned +churn. The milking time was enticing, too, and +we trotted down to the milking pen with our<span class="pagenum"><a id="page126" name="page126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +little tin cups for a drink of fresh, warm milk +from the fat, lowing kine, which fed all day on +rich grasses and waited at the edge of the flower +decked valley for the milkers with their pails.</p> + +<p>As summer advanced our joys increased, for +there were wild strawberries and such luscious +ones! no berries in after years tasted half so +good.</p> + +<p>Some artist has portrayed a group of children +on a sunny slope among the hills, busy with +the scarlet fruit and called it “The Strawberry +of Memory;” such was the strawberry of that +summer.</p> + +<p>One brilliant June day when all the landscape +was steeped in sunshine we went some distance +from home to gather a large supply. It is +needless to say that we, the juvenile contingent, +improved the opportunity well; and when we sat +at table the following day and grandfather +helped us to generous pieces of strawberry +“cobbler” and grandmother poured over them +rich, sweet cream, our satisfaction was complete. +It is likely that if we had heard of the boy who +wished for a neck as long as a giraffe so that he +could taste the good things all the way down, we +would have echoed the sentiment.</p> + +<p>Mentioning the giraffe, of the animal also +we probably had no knowledge as books were +few and menageries, none at all.</p> + +<p>No lack was felt, however, as the wild animals +were numerous and interesting. The birds,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 127]</span> +rabbits and squirrels were friendly and fearless +then; the birds were especially loved and it was +pleasing to translate their notes into endearments +for ourselves.</p> + +<p>But the rolling suns brought round the day +when we must return to our native heath on +Puget Sound. Right sorry were the two little +“clam-diggers” to leave the little companion of +delightful days, and grandparents. With a +rush of tears and calling “good-bye! good-bye!” +as long as we could see or hear we rode +away in a wagon, beginning the long journey, +full of variety, back to the settlement on Elliott +Bay.</p> + +<p>Ourselves, and wagon and team purchased +in the “web-foot” country, were carried down +the Willamette and across the sweeping Columbia +on a steamer to Monticello. There the wagon +was loaded into a canoe to ascend the Cowlitz +River, and we mounted the horses for a long +day’s ride, one of the children on the pommel +of father’s saddle, the other perched behind on +mother’s steed.</p> + +<p>The forest was so dense through which we +rode for a long distance that the light of noonday +became a feeble twilight, the way was a mere +trail, the salal bushes on either side so tall that +they brushed the feet of the little riders. The +tedium of succeeding miles of this weird wilderness +was beguiled by the stories, gentle warnings +and encouragement from my mother.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 128]</span>The cicadas sang as if it were evening, the +dark woods looked a little fearful and I was +advised to “Hold on tight and keep awake, there +are bears in these woods.”</p> + +<p>The trail led us to the first crossing of the +Cowlitz River, where father hallooed long and +loud for help to ferry us over, from a lonely +house on the opposite shore, but only echo and +silence returned. The deep, dark stream, sombre +forest and deserted house made an eerie impression +on the children.</p> + +<p>The little party boarded the ferryboat and +swimming the horses, alongside crossed without +delay.</p> + +<p>The next afternoon saw us nearing the crossing +of the Cowlitz again at Warbass Landing.</p> + +<p>The path crossed a pretty open space covered +with ripe yellow grass and set around with +giant trees, just before it vanished in the hurrying +stream.</p> + +<p>Father rode on and crossed, quite easily, the +uneven bed of the swift river, with its gravelly +islands and deep pools.</p> + +<p>When it came our turn, our patient beast +plunged in and courageously advanced to near +the middle of the stream, wavered and stood still +and seemed about to go down with the current. +How distinctly the green, rapid water, gravelly +shoals and distant bank with its anxious onlookers +is photographed on my memory’s page!</p> + +<p>Only for a moment did the brave animal<span class="pagenum">[Pg 129]</span> +falter and then sturdily worked her way to the +shore. Mr. Warbass, with white face and trembling +voice, said “I thought you were gone, +sure.” His coat was off and he had been on the +point of plunging in to save us from drowning, +if possible. Willing hands helped us down and +into the hospitable home, where we were glad +to rest after such a severe trial. A sleepless night +followed for my mother, who suffered from the +reaction common to such experience, although +not panic stricken at the time of danger.</p> + +<p>It was here I received my first remembered +lesson in “meum et tuum.” While playing under +the fruit trees around the house I spied a +peach lying on the ground, round, red and fair +to see. I took it in to my mother who asked +where I got it, if I had asked for it, etc. I replied +I had found it outdoors.</p> + +<p>“Well, it isn’t yours, go and give it to the +lady and never pick up anything without asking +for it.”</p> + +<p>A lesson that was heeded, and one much +needed by children in these days when individual +rights are so little regarded.</p> + +<p>The muddy wagon road between this point +and Olympia over which the teams had struggled +in the springtime was now dry and the wagon +was put together with hope of a fairly comfortable +trip. It was discovered in so doing that the +tongue of the vehicle had been left at Monticello. +Not to be delayed, father repaired to the woods<span class="pagenum">[Pg 130]</span> +and cut a forked ash stick and made it do duty +for the missing portion.</p> + +<p>At Olympia we were entertained by Mr. and +Mrs. Dickinson with whom we tarried as we went +to Oregon.</p> + +<p>My mother preferred her steed to the steamer +plying on the Sound; that same trip the selfsame +craft blew up.</p> + +<p>On horseback again, we followed the trail +from Olympia to the Duwampsh River, over hills +and hollows, out on the prairie or in the dark +forest, at night putting up at the house of a hospitable +settler. From thence we were told that +it was only one day’s travel but the trail stretched +out amazingly. Night, and a stormy one, overtook +the hapless travelers.</p> + +<p>The thunder crashed, the lightning flamed, +sheets of rain came down, but there was no escape.</p> + +<p>A halt was called at an open space in a grove +of tall cedar trees, a fire made and the horses +hitched under the trees.</p> + +<p>The two children slept snugly under a fir +bark shed made of slabs of bark leaned up +against a large log. Father and mother sat by +the fire under a cedar whose branches gave a +partial shelter. Some time in the night I was +awakened by my mother lying down beside me, +then slept calmly on.</p> + +<p>The next morning everything was dripping +wet and we hastened on to the Duwampsh cross<span class="pagenum"><a id="page131" name="page131">[Pg 131]</a></span>ing +where lived the old man who stood on the +bank at Seattle when we started.</p> + +<p>What a comfort it was to the cold, wet, hungry, +weary quartette to be invited into a dry +warm place! and then the dinner, just prepared +for company he had been expecting; a bountiful +supply of garden vegetables, beets, cabbage, potatoes, +a great dish of beans and hot coffee. These +seemed veritable luxuries and we partook of +them with a hearty relish.</p> + +<p>A messenger was sent to Seattle to apprise +our friends of our return, two of them came to +meet us at the mouth of the Duwampsh River and +brought us down the bay in a canoe to the landing +near the old laurel (Madrona) tree that +leaned over the bank in front of our home.</p> + +<p>The first Fourth of July celebration in which +I participated took place in the old M. E. Church +on Second Street, Seattle, in 1861.</p> + +<p>Early in the morning of that eventful day +there was hurrying to and fro in the Dennys’ +cottage, on Seneca Street, embowered in flowers +which even luxuriant as they were we did not +deem sufficient. The nimble eldest of the children +was sent to a flower-loving neighbor’s for blossoms +of patriotic hues, for each of the small +Americans was to carry a banner inscribed with +a strong motto and wreathed with red, white and +blue flowers. Large letters, cut from the titles +of newspapers spelled out the legends on squares +of white cotton, “Freedom for All,” “Slavery<span class="pagenum">[Pg 132]</span> +for none,” “United we stand, divided we fall,” +each surrounded with a heavy wreath of beautiful +flowers.</p> + +<p>Arrived at the church, we found ourselves +a little late, the orator was just rounding the first +of his eloquent periods; the audience, principally +men, turned to view the disturbers as they +sturdily marched up the aisle to a front seat, and +seeing the patriotic family with their expressive +emblems, broke out in a hearty round of applause. +Although very young we felt the spirit +of the occasion.</p> + +<p>The first commencement exercises at the University +took place in 1863. It was a great event, +an audience of about nine hundred or more, including +many visitors from all parts of the +Sound, Victoria, B. C., and Portland, Oregon, +gathered in the hall of the old University, then +quite new.</p> + +<p>I was then nine years of age and had been +trained to recite “Barbara Frietchie,” it “goes +without the saying” that it was received with acclaim, +as feeling ran high and the hearts of the +people burned within them for the things that +were transpiring in the South.</p> + +<p>Still better were they pleased and much affected +by the singing of “Who Will Care for +Mother Now,” by Annie May Adams, a lovely +young girl of fifteen, with a pure, sympathetic, +soprano voice and a touching simplicity of style.</p> + +<p>How warm beat the hearts of the people on<span class="pagenum">[Pg 133]</span> +this far off shore, as at the seat of war, and even +the children shouted, sang and wept in sympathy +with those who shed their lifeblood for their +country.</p> + +<p>The singing of “Red, White and Blue” by +the children created great enthusiasm; war tableaux +such as “The Soldier’s Farewell,” “Who +Goes There?” “In Camp,” were well presented +and received with enthusiastic applause, and +whatever apology might have been made for the +status of the school, there was none to be made +for its patriotism.</p> + +<p>Our teachers were Unionists without exception +and we were taught many such things; +“Rally Round the Flag” was a favorite and up +went every right hand and stamped hard every +little foot as we sang “Down With the Traitor +and Up With the Stars” with perhaps more energy +than music.</p> + +<p>The children of my family, with those of A. +A. Denny’s, sometimes held “Union Meetings;” +at these were speeches made that were very intense, +as we thought, from the top of a stump or +barrel, each mounting in turn to declaim against +slavery and the Confederacy, to pronounce sentence +of execution upon Jeff. Davis, Captain +Semmes, et al. in a way to have made those +worthies uneasy in their sleep. Every book, picture, +story, indeed, every printed page concerning +the war was eagerly scanned and I remember +sitting by, through long talks of Grandfather<span class="pagenum">[Pg 134]</span> +John Denny with my father, to which I listened +intently.</p> + +<p>We finally burned Semmes in effigy to express +our opinion of him and named the only +poor, sour apple in our orchard for the Confederate +president.</p> + +<p>For a time there were two war vessels in +the harbor, the “Saranac” and “Suwanee,” afterwards +wrecked in Seymour Narrows. The +Suwanee was overturned and sunk by the shifting +of her heavy guns, but was finally raised. +Both had fine bands that discoursed sweet music +every evening. We stood on the bank to listen, +delighted to recognize our favorites, national airs +and war songs, from “Just Before the Battle, +Mother” to “Star Spangled Banner.”</p> + +<p>Other beautiful music, from operas, perhaps, +we enjoyed without comprehending, although +we did understand the stirring strains +with which we were so familiar.</p> + +<p>In those days the itinerant M. E. ministers +were often the guests of my parents and many +were the good natured jokes concerning the fatalities +among the yellow-legged chickens.</p> + +<p>On one occasion a small daughter of the +family, whose discretion had not developed with +her hospitality, rushed excitedly into the sitting +room where the minister was being entertained +and said, “Mother, which chicken shall I catch?” +to the great amusement of all.</p> + +<p>One of the reverend gentlemen declared that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 135]</span> +whenever he put in an appearance, the finest and +fattest of the flock immediately lay down upon +their backs with their feet in the air, as they +knew some of them would have to appear on the +festal board.</p> + +<p>Like children everywhere we lavished our +young affections on pets of many kinds. Among +these were a family of kittens, one at least of +which was considered superfluous. An Indian +woman, who came to trade clams for potatoes, +was given the little “pish-pish,” as she called it, +with which she seemed much pleased, carrying it +away wrapped in her shawl.</p> + +<p>Her camp was a mile away on the shore of +Elliott Bay, from whence it returned through +the thick woods, on the following day. Soon +after she came to our door to exhibit numerous +scratches on her hands and arms made by the +“mesachie pish-pish” (bad cat), as she now considered +it. My mother healed her wounds by +giving her some “supalel” (bread) esteemed a +luxury by the Indians, they seldom having it +unless they bought a little flour and made ash-cake.</p> + +<p>Now this same ash-cake deserves to rank +with the southern cornpone or the western Johnny +cake. Its flavor is sweet and nut-like, quite +unlike that of bread baked in an ordinary oven.</p> + +<p>The first Christmas tree was set up in our +own house. It was not then a common American +custom; we usually called out “Christmas Gift,”<span class="pagenum">[Pg 136]</span> +affecting to claim a present after the Southern +“Christmas Gif” of the darkies. One early +Christmas, father brought in a young Douglas +fir tree and mother hung various little gifts on +its branches, among them, bright red Lady apples +and sticks of candy; that was our very first +Christmas tree. A few years afterward the +whole village joined in loading a large tree with +beautiful and costly articles, as times were good, +fully one thousand dollars’ worth was hung upon +and heaped around it.</p> + +<p>When the fourth time our family returned to +the donation claim, now a part of the city of +Seattle, we found a veritable paradise of flowers, +field and forest.</p> + +<p>The claim reached from Lake Union to Elliott +Bay, about a mile and a half; a portion of +it was rich meadow land covered with luxuriant +grass and bordered with flowering shrubs, the +fringe on the hem of the mighty evergreen forest +covering the remainder.</p> + +<p>Hundreds of birds of many kinds built their +nests here and daily throughout the summer +chanted their hymns of praise. Robins and +wrens, song-sparrows and snow birds, thrushes +and larks vied with each other in joyful song.</p> + +<p>The western meadow larks wandered into +this great valley, adding their rich flute-like +voices to the feathered chorus.</p> + +<p>Woodpeckers, yellow hammers and sap-suckers, +beat their brave tattoo on the dead tree<span class="pagenum">[Pg 137]</span> +trunks and owls uttered their cries from the thick +branches at night. Riding to church one Sunday +morning we beheld seven little owls sitting in a +row on the dead limb of a tall fir tree, about fourteen +feet from the ground. Winking and blinking +they sat, silently staring as we passed by.</p> + +<p>Rare birds peculiar to the western coast, the +rufous-backed hummingbird, like a living coal +of fire, and the bush-titmouse which builds a curious +hanging nest, also visited this natural park.</p> + +<p>The road we children traveled from this +place led through heavy forest and the year of +the drouth (1868) a great fire raged; we lost but +little time on this account; it had not ceased before +we ran past the tall firs and cedars flaming +far above our heads.</p> + +<p>Returning from church one day, when about +half way home, a huge fir tree fell just behind +us, and a half mile farther on we turned down a +branch road at the very moment that a tree fell +across the main road usually traveled.</p> + +<p>The game was not then all destroyed; water +fowl were numerous on the lakes and bays and +the boys of the family often went shooting.</p> + +<p>Rather late in the afternoon of a November +day, the two smaller boys, taking a shot gun with +them, repaired to Lake Union, borrowed a little +fishing canoe of old Tsetseguis, the Indian who +lived at the landing, and went to look at some +muskrat traps they had set.</p> + +<p>It was growing quite dark when they thought<span class="pagenum"><a id="page138" name="page138">[Pg 138]</a></span> +of returning. For some reason they decided to +change places in the canoe, a very “ticklish” +thing to do. When one attempted to pass the +other, over went the little cockle-shell and both +were struggling in the water. The elder managed +to thrust one arm through the strap of the +hunting bag worn by the younger and grasped +him by the hair, said hair being a luxuriant mass +of long, golden brown curls. Able to swim a little +he kept them afloat although he could not keep +the younger one’s head above water. His cries +for help reached the ears of a young man, Charles +Nollop, who was preparing to cook a beefsteak +for his supper—he threw the frying pan one way +while the steak went the other, and rushed, coatless +and hatless, to the rescue with another man, +Joe Raber, in a boat.</p> + +<p>An older brother of the two lads, John B. +Denny, was just emerging from the north door +of the big barn with two pails of milk; hearing, +as he thought, the words “I’m drowning,” rather +faintly from the lake, he dropped the pails unceremoniously +and ran down to the shore swiftly, +found only an old shovel-nosed canoe and no paddle, +seized a picket and paddled across the little +bay to where the water appeared agitated; there +he found the boys struggling in the water, or +rather one of them, the other was already unconscious. +Arriving at the same time in their boat +Charley Nollop and Joe Raber helped to pull +them out of the water. The long golden curls of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 139]</span> +the younger were entangled in the crossed cords +of the shot pouch and powder flask worn by the +older one, who was about to sink for the last time, +as he was exhausted and had let go of the younger, +who was submerged.</p> + +<p>Their mother reached the shore as the unconscious +one was stretched upon the ground and +raised his arms and felt for the heart which was +beating feebly.</p> + +<p>The swimmer walked up the hill to the +house; the younger, still unconscious, was carried, +face downward, into a room where a large +fire was burning in an open fireplace, and laid +down before it on a rug. Restoratives were +quickly applied and upon partial recovery he +was warmly tucked in bed. A few feverish days +followed, yet both escaped without serious injury.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Tsetseguis was much grieved and repeated +over and over, “I told the Oleman not to +lend that little canoe to the boys, and he said, +‘O it’s all right, they know how to manage a +canoe.’”</p> + +<p>Tsetseguis was also much distressed and +showed genuine sympathy, following the rescued +into the house to see if they were really +safe.</p> + +<p>The games we played in early days were +often the time-honored ones taught us by our +parents, and again were inventions of our own. +During the Rebellion we drilled as soldiers or<span class="pagenum">[Pg 140]</span> +played “black man;” by the latter we wrought +excitement to the highest pitch, whether we +chased the black man, or returning the favor, he +chased us.</p> + +<p>The teeter-board was available when the +neighbor’s children came; the wonder is that no +bones were broken by our method.</p> + +<p>The longest, strongest, Douglas fir board +that could be found, was placed across a large +log, a huge stone rested in the middle and the +children, boys and girls, little and big, crowded +on the board almost filling it; then we carefully +“waggled” it up and down, watching the stone in +breathless and ecstatic silence until weary of it.</p> + +<p>Our bravado consisted in climbing up the +steepest banks on the bay, or walking long logs +across ravines or on steep inclines.</p> + +<p>The surroundings were so peculiar that old +games took on new charms when played on Puget +Sound. Hide-and-seek in a dense jungle of +young Douglas firs was most delightful; the +great fir and cedar trees, logs and stumps, afforded +ample cover for any number of players, +from the sharp eyes of the one who had been +counted “out” with one of the old rhymes.</p> + +<p>The shadow of danger always lurked about +the undetermined boundary of our play-grounds, +wild animals and wild men might be not far beyond.</p> + +<p>We feared the drunken white man more +than the sober Indian, with much greater rea<span class="pagenum">[Pg 141]</span>son. +Even the drunken Indian never molested +us, but usually ran “amuck” among the inhabitants +of the beach.</p> + +<p>Neither superstitious nor timid we seldom +experienced a panic.</p> + +<p>The nearest Indian graveyard was on a hill +at the foot of Spring Street, Seattle. It sloped +directly down to the beach; the bodies were +placed in shallow graves to the very brow and +down over the face of the sandy bluff. All this +hill was dug down when the town advanced.</p> + +<p>The childrens’ graves were especially pathetic, +with their rude shelters, to keep off the +rain of the long winter months, and upright +poles bearing bits of bright colored cloth, tin +pails and baskets.</p> + +<p>Over these poor graves no costly monuments +stood, only the winds sang wild songs there, the +sea-gulls flitted over, the fair, wild flowers +bloomed and the dark-eyed Indian mothers tarried +sometimes, human as others in their sorrow.</p> + +<p>But the light-hearted Indian girls wandered +past, hand in hand, singing as they went, pausing +to turn bright friendly eyes upon me as they +answered the white child’s question, “Ka mika +klatawa?” (Where are you going?)</p> + +<p>“O, kopa yawa” (O, over yonder), nodding +toward the winding road that stretched along the +green bank before them. Without a care or sorrow, +living a healthy, free, untrammeled life,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 142]</span> +they looked the impersonation of native contentment.</p> + +<p>The social instinct of the pioneers found expression +in various ways.</p> + +<p>A merry party of pioneer young people, invited +to spend the evening at a neighbor’s, were +promised the luxury of a candy-pull. The first +batch was put on to boil and the assembled +youngsters engaged in old fashioned games to +while away the time. Unfortunately for their +hopes the molasses burned and they were obliged +to throw it away. There was a reserve in the +jug, however, and the precious remainder was +set over the fire and the games went on again. +Determined to succeed, the hostess stirred, while +an equally anxious and careful guest held the +light, a small fish-oil lamp. The lamp had a leak +and was set on a tin plate; in her eagerness to +light the bubbling saccharine substance and to +watch the stirring-down, she leaned over a little +too far and over went the lamp directly into the +molasses.</p> + +<p>What consternation fell upon them! The +very thought of the fish-oil was nauseating, and +that was all the molasses. There was no candy-pulling, +there being no grocery just around the +corner where a fresh supply might be obtained, +indeed molasses and syrup were very scarce articles, +brought from a great distance.</p> + +<p>The guests departed, doubtless realizing<span class="pagenum">[Pg 143]</span> +that the “best laid plans ... gang aft +agley.”</p> + +<p>The climate of Puget Sound is one so mild +that snow seldom falls and ice rarely forms as +thick as windowglass, consequently travel, traffic +and amusement are scarcely modified during +the winter, or more correctly, the rainy season. +Unless it rained more energetically than usual, +the children went on with their games as in summer.</p> + +<p>The long northern twilight of the summertime +and equally long evenings in winter had +each their special charm.</p> + +<p>The pictures of winter scenes in eastern +magazines and books looked strange and unfamiliar +to us, but as one saucy girl said to a tenderfoot +from a blizzard-swept state, “We see +more and deeper snow everyday than you ever +saw in your life.”</p> + +<p>“How is that?” said he.</p> + +<p>“On Mount Rainier,” she answered, laughing.</p> + +<p>Even so, this magnificent mountain, together +with many lesser peaks, wears perpetual robes +of snow in sight of green and blooming shores.</p> + +<p>When it came to decorating for Christmas, +well, we had a decided advantage as the evergreens +stood thick about us, millions of them. +Busy fingers made lavish use of rich garlands +of cedar to festoon whole buildings; handsome +Douglas firs, reaching from floor to ceiling, load<span class="pagenum">[Pg 144]</span>ed +with gay presents and blazing with tapers, +made the little “clam-diggers’” eyes glisten and +their mouths water. In the garden the flowers +bloomed often in December and January, as +many as twenty-six varieties at once.</p> + +<p>One New Year’s day I walked down the garden +path and plucked a fine, red rosebud to decorate +the New Year’s cake.</p> + +<p>The pussy-willows began the floral procession +of wildlings in January and the trilliums +and currants were not far behind unless a “cold +snap” came on in February and the flowers <i>dozed +on</i>, for they never seem to <i>sleep</i> very profoundly +here. By the middle of February there was, +occasionally, a general display of bloom, but +more frequently it began about the first of +March, the seasons varying considerably.</p> + +<p>The following poem tells of favorite flowers +gathered in the olden time “i’ the spring o’ +the year!”</p> + +<p>In the summertime we had work as well as +play, out of doors. The garden surrounding our +cottage in 1863, overflowed with fruits, vegetables +and flowers. Nimble young fingers were +made useful in helping to tend them. Weeding +beds of spring onions and lettuce, sticking peas +and beans, or hoeing potatoes, were considered +excellent exercise for young muscles; no need +of physical “culchuah” in the school had dawned +upon us, as periods of work and rest, study and +play, followed each other in healthful succession.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 145]</span>Having a surplus of good things, the children +often went about the village with fresh +vegetables and flowers, more often the latter, +generous bouquets of fragrant and spicy roses +and carnations, sweet peas and nasturtiums, to +sell. Two little daughters in pretty, light print +dresses and white hats were flower girls who +were treated like little queens.</p> + +<p>There was no disdain of work to earn a living +in those days; every respectable person did +something useful.</p> + +<p>For recreation, we went with father in the +wagon over the “bumpy” road when he went to +haul wood, or perhaps a long way on the county +road to the meadow, begging to get off to gather +flowers whenever we saw them peeping from +their green bowers.</p> + +<p>Driving along through the great forest +which stood an almost solid green wall on either +hand, we called “O father, stop! stop; here is +the lady-slipper place.”</p> + +<p>“Well, be quick, I can’t wait long.”</p> + +<p>Dropping down to the ground, we ran as fast +as our feet could carry us to gather the lovely, +fragrant orchid, Calypso Borealis, from its mossy +bed.</p> + +<p>When the ferns were fully grown, eight or +ten feet high, the little girls broke down as many +as they could drag, and ran along the road, great +ladies, with long green trains!</p> + +<p><a id="VII" name="VII"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 293px;"> +<img src="images/opp145.png" width="293" height="500" alt="" title="A VISIT FROM OUR TILLICUM" /> +<span class="caption">A VISIT FROM OUR TILLICUM</span> +</div> + +<p>We found the way to the opening in the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 146]</span>woods, where in the midst thereof, grandfather +sat making cedar shingles with a drawing knife. +Huge trees lay on the ground, piles of bolts had +been cut and the heap of shingles, clear and +straight of the very best quality, grew apace.</p> + +<p>Very tall and grand the firs and cedars stood +all around, like stately pillars with a dome of +blue sky above; the birds sang in the underbrush +and the brown butterflies floated by.</p> + +<p>Among all the beautiful things, there was +one to rivet the eye and attention; a dark green +fir tree, perhaps thirty feet high, around whose +trunk and branches a wild honeysuckle vine had +twined itself from the ground to the topmost +twig.</p> + +<p>It had the appearance of a giant candelabrum, +with the orange-scarlet blossoms that tipped +the boughs like jets of flame.</p> + +<p>Many a merry picnic we had in blackberry +time, taking our lunch with us and spending the +day; sometimes in an Indian canoe we paddled +off several miles, to Smith’s Cove or some other +likely place.</p> + +<p>It was necessary to watch the tide at the +Cove or the shore could not be reached across the +mudflat.</p> + +<p>Once ashore how happy we were; clambering +about over the hills, gathering the ripe fruit, +now and then turning about to gaze at the snowy +sentinel in the southern sky, grand old Mount +Rainier.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 147]</span>How wide the sparkling waters of the bay! +the sky so pure and clear, the north wind so cool +and refreshing. The plumy boughs stirred gently +overhead and shed for us the balsamic odors, +the flowers waved a welcome at our feet.</p> + +<p>In the winter there was seldom any “frost +on the rills” or “snow on the hills,” but when it +did come the children made haste to get all the +possible fun out of the unusual pastime of coasting. +Mothers were glad when the Chinook wind +came and ate up the snow and brought back the +ordinary conditions, as the children were frequently +sick during a cold spell.</p> + +<p>Now the tenderfoot, as the newcomer is called +in the west, is apt to be mistaken about the +Chinook wind; there is a wet south wind and a +dry south wind on Puget Sound. The Chinook, +as the “natives” have known it, is a dry wind, +clears the sky, and melts and dries up the snow +at once. Wet south wind, carrying heavy rain +often follows after snow, and slush reigns for a +few days. Perhaps this is a distinction without +much difference.</p> + +<p>Storms rarely occur, I remember but two +violent ones in which the gentle south wind +seemed to forget its nature and became a raging +gale.</p> + +<p>The first occurred when I was a small child. +The wind had been blowing for some time, gradually +increasing in the evening, and as night +advanced becoming heavier every hour. Large<span class="pagenum">[Pg 148]</span> +stones were taken up from the high bank on the +bay and piled on the roof with limbs broken from +tough fir trees. Thousands of giant trees fell +crashing and groaning to the ground, like a continuous +cannonade; the noise was terrific and we +feared for our lives.</p> + +<p>At midnight, not daring to leave the house, +and yet fearing that it might be overthrown, +we knelt and commended ourselves to Him who +rules the storm.</p> + +<p>About one o’clock the storm abated and +calmly and safely we lay down to sleep.</p> + +<p>The morning broke still and clear, but many +a proud monarch of the forest lay prone upon the +ground.</p> + +<p>Electric storms were very infrequent; if +there came a few claps of thunder the children +exclaimed, “O mother, hear the thunder storm!”</p> + +<p>“Well, children, that isn’t much of a thunder +storm; you just ought to hear the thunder +in Illinois, and the lighting was a continual +blaze.”</p> + +<p>Our mother complained that we were scarcely +enough afraid of snakes; as there are no deadly +reptiles on Puget Sound, we thrust our hands +into the densest foliage or searched the thick +grass without dread of a lurking enemy.</p> + +<p>The common garter snake, a short, thick +snake, whose track across the dusty roads I have +seen, a long lead-colored snake and a small brown +one, comprise the list known to us.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 149]</span>Walking along a narrow trail one summer +day, singing as I went, the song was abruptly +broken, I sprang to one side with remarkable +agility, a long, wiggling thing “swished” through +the grass in an opposite direction. Calling for +help, I armed myself with a club, and with my +support, boldly advanced to seek out the serpent. +When discovered we belabored it so earnestly +that its head was well-nigh severed from +its body.</p> + +<p>It was about five feet long, the largest I had +even seen, whether poisonous or not is beyond +my knowledge.</p> + +<p>There are but two spiders known to be dangerous, +a white one and a small black “crab” +spider. A little girl acquaintance was bitten by +one of these, it was supposed, though not positively +known; the bite was on the upper arm and +produced such serious effects that a large piece +of flesh had to be removed by the surgeon’s knife +and amputation was narrowly escaped.</p> + +<p>A mysterious creature inhabiting Lake +Union sometimes poisoned the young bathers. +One of my younger brothers was bitten on the +knee, and a lameness ensued, which continued +for several months. There was only a small +puncture visible with a moderate swelling, which +finally passed away.</p> + +<p>The general immunity from danger extends +to the vegetable world, but very few plants are<span class="pagenum">[Pg 150]</span> +unsafe to handle, chief among them being the +Panax horridum or “devil’s club.”</p> + +<p>So the happy pioneer children roamed the +forest fearlessly and sat on the vines and moss +under the great trees, often making bonnets of +the shining salal leaves pinned together with +rose thorns or tiny twigs, making whistles of +alder, which gave forth sweet and pleasant +sounds if successfully made; or in the garden +making dolls of hollyhocks, mallows and morning +glories.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page151" name="page151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">MARCHING EXPERIENCES OF ESTHER CHAMBERS.</span></h2> + +<p>The following thrilling account, written by +herself and first published in the “Weekly +Ledger” of Tacoma, Washington, of June 3, +1892, is to be highly commended for its clear +and forcible style:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“My father, William Packwood, left Missouri +in the spring of 1844 with my mother and +four children in an ox team to cross the plains to +Oregon.</p> + +<p>“My mother’s health was very poor when we +started. She had to be helped in and out of the +wagon, but the change by traveling improved her +health so much that she gained a little every day, +and in the course of a month or six weeks she was +able to get up in the morning and cook breakfast, +while my father attended his team and did +other chores. I had one sister older than myself, +and I was only six years old. My little sister +and baby brother, who learned to walk by +rolling the water keg as we camped nights and +mornings, were of no help to my sick mother.</p> + +<p>“The company in which we started was Captain +Gilliam’s and we traveled quite a way when +we joined Captain Ford’s company, making upward +of sixty wagons in all.</p> + +<p>“Our company was so large that the Indians<span class="pagenum">[Pg 152]</span> +did not molest us, although we, after letting our +stock feed until late in the evening, had formed +a large corral of the wagons, in which we drove +the cattle and horses, and stood guard at night, +as the Indians had troubled small companies by +driving off their stock, but they were not at all +hostile to us.</p> + +<p>“We came to a river and camped. The next +morning we were visited by Indians, who seemed +to want to see us children, so we were terribly +afraid of the Indians, and, as father drove in the +river to cross, the oxen got frightened at the Indians +and tipped the wagon over, and father +jumped and held the wagon until help came. We +thought the Indians would catch us, so we +jumped to the lower part of the box, where there +was about six inches of water. The swim and +fright I will never forget—the Indian fright, +of course.</p> + +<p>“I was quite small but I do remember the +beautiful scenery. We could see antelope, deer, +rabbits, sage hens and coyotes, etc., and in the +camp we children had a general good time. All +joined at night in the plays. One night Mr. Jenkins’ +boys told me to ask their father for his +sheath knife to cut some sticks with. When using +it on the first stick, I cut my lefthand forefinger +nail and all off, except a small portion +of the top of my finger, and the scar is still +visible.</p> + +<p>“On another evening we children were hav<span class="pagenum">[Pg 153]</span>ing +a nice time, when a boy by the name of Stephen, +who had been in the habit of hugging around +the children’s shoulders and biting them, hugged +me and bit a piece almost out of my shoulder. +This was the first time I remember seeing my +father’s wrath rise on the plains, as he was a +very even-tempered man. He said to the offending +boy, ‘If you do that again, I shall surely +whip you.’</p> + +<p>“A few days later we came to a stream that +was deep but narrow. Mr. Stephens, this boy’s +father, was leading a cow by a rope tied around +his waist and around the cow’s head for the purpose +of teaching the rest of the cattle to swim. +The current being very swift, washed the cow +down the stream, dragging the man. The women +and children were all crying at a great rate, +when one of the party went to Mrs. Stephens, +saying, ‘Mr. Stephens is drowning.’ ‘Well,’ +she replied, ‘there is plenty of more men where +he came from.’ Mr. Stephens, his cow and all +lodged safely on a drift. They got him out safely, +but he did not try to swim a stream with a +cow tied to his waist again.</p> + +<p>“We could see the plains covered with buffalo +as we traveled along, just like the cattle of our +plains are here.</p> + +<p>“One day a band of buffalo came running toward +us, and one jumped between the wheel cattle +and the wheels of the wagon, and we came +very near having a general stampede of the cat<span class="pagenum">[Pg 154]</span>tle; +so when the teamsters got their teams quieted +down, the men, gathering their guns, ran and +killed three of the buffalo, and all of the company +were furnished with dried beef, which was +fine for camping.</p> + +<p>“We came to a place where there was a boiling +spring that would cook eggs, and a short distance +from this was a cold, clear spring, and a +short distance from this was a heap of what +looked like ashes, and when we crossed it the +cattles’ feet burned until they bawled. Another +great sight I remember of seeing was an oil +spring.</p> + +<p>“Then we reached the Blue Mountains. Snow +fell as we traveled through them.</p> + +<p>“We then came down in the Grande Ronde +valley, and it seemed as if we had reached a +paradise. It was a beautiful valley. Here Indians +came to trade us dried salmon, la camas +cakes and dried crickette cakes. We traded for +some salmon and the la camas cakes, but the +crickette cakes we did not hanker after.</p> + +<p>“A man in one train thought he would fool an +Indian chief, so he told the Indian he would +swap his girl sixteen years old, for a couple of +horses. The bargain was made and he took the +horses, and the Indian hung around until near +night. When the captain of the company found +out that the Indian was waiting for his girl to go +with him, the captain told the man that we might +all be killed through him, and made him give up<span class="pagenum">[Pg 155]</span> +the horses to the chief. The Indian chief was +real mad as he took the horses away.</p> + +<p>“We went on down to The Dalles, where we +stopped a few days. There was a mission at The +Dalles where two missionaries lived, Brewer and +Waller. We emigrants traded some of our poor, +tired cattle off to them for some of their fat +beef, and some coarse flour chopped on a hand +mill, like what we call chop-feed nowadays.</p> + +<p>“Then we had to make a portage around the +falls, and the women and children walked. I +don’t remember the distance, but we walked until +late at night, and waded in the mud knee-deep, +and my mother stumped her toe and fell +against a log or she might have gone down into +the river. We little tots fell down in the mud +until you’d have thought we were pigs.</p> + +<p>“The men drove around the falls another +way, and got out of provisions.</p> + +<p>“My father, seeing a boat from the high +bluffs, going down to the river hailed it, and +when he came down to the boat he found us. He +said he had gotten so hungry that he killed a +crow and ate it, and thought it tasted splendid. +He took provisions to the cattle drivers and we +came on down the river to Fort Vancouver. It +rained on us for a week and our bedclothes were +drenched through and through, so at night we +would open our bed of wet clothes and cuddle in +them as though we were in a palace car, and all +kept well and were not sick a day in all of our<span class="pagenum">[Pg 156]</span> +six months’ journey crossing the plains. My +mother gained and grew fleshy and strong.</p> + +<p>“Next we arrived in what is now the city +of Portland, which then consisted of a log cabin +and a few shanties. We stayed there a few days +to dry our bedding.</p> + +<p>“Then we moved out to the Tualatin Plains, +where we wintered in a barn, with three other +families, each family having a corner of the barn, +with fire in the center and a hole in the roof for +the smoke to go out. My father went to work +for a man by the name of Baxton, as all my +father was worth in money, I think, was twenty-five +cents, or something like that. He arrived +with a cow, calf and three oxen, and had +to support his family by mauling rails in the +rain, to earn the wheat, peas and potatoes we ate, +as that was all we could get, as bread was out +of the question. Shortly after father had gone +to work my little brother had a rising on his +cheek. It made him so sick that mother wanted +us little tots to go to the place where my father +was working. It being dark, we got out of our +way and went to a man, who had an Indian woman, +by the name of Williams. In the plains there +are swales that fill up with water when the heavy +rains come, and they are knee deep. I fell in +one of these, but we got to Mr. Williams all +right. But when we found our neighbor we began +crying, so Mr. Williams persuaded us to +come in and he would go and get father, which<span class="pagenum">[Pg 157]</span> +he did, and father came home with us to our +barn house. My little brother got better, and my +father returned to his work again.</p> + +<p>“Among the settlers on the Tualatin Plains +were Mr. Lackriss, Mr. Burton, Mr. Williams +and General McCarver, who had settled on farms +before we came, and many a time did we go to +their farms for greens and turnips, which were +something new and a great treat to us.</p> + +<p>“Often the Indians used to frighten us +with their war dances, as we called them, as we +did not know the nature of Indians, so, as General +McCarver was used to them, we often asked +him if the Indians were having a war dance for +the purpose of hostility. He told us, that was +the way they doctored their sick.</p> + +<p>“General McCarver settled in Tacoma when +the townsite was first laid out and is well known. +He died in Tacoma, leaving a family.</p> + +<p>“After we moved out to the Tualatin Plains, +many a night when father was away we lay +awake listening to the dogs barking, thinking the +Indians were coming to kill us, and when father +came home I felt safe and slept happily.</p> + +<p>“In the spring of 1845 my father took a nice +place in West Yamhill, about two miles from +the Willamette River and we had some settlers +around, but our advantage for a school was +poor, as we were too far from settlers to have +a school, so my education, what little I have, was +gotten by punching the cedar fire and studying<span class="pagenum">[Pg 158]</span> +at night, but, however, we were a happy family, +hoping to accumulate a competency in our new +home.</p> + +<p>“One dog, myself and elder sister and brother +were carrying water from our spring, which was +a hundred yards or more from our house, when +a number of Indians came along. We were +afraid of them and all hid. I hid by the trail, +when an old Indian, seeing me, yelled out, +‘Adeda!’ and I began to laugh, but my sister +was terribly frightened and yelled at me to hide, +so they found all of us, but they were friendly +to us, only a wretched lot to steal, as they stole +the only cow we had brought through, leaving +the calf with us without milk.</p> + +<p>“My father was quite a hunter, and deer were +plenty, and once in a while he would get one, so +we did get along without milk. During the first +year we could not get bread, as there were no +mills or places to buy flour. A Canadian put up +a small chop mill and chopped wheat something +like feed is chopped now.</p> + +<p>“My father being a jack-of-all-trades, set to +work and put up a turning lathe and went to +making chairs, and my mother and her little tots +took the straw from the sheaves and braided and +made hats. We sold the chairs and hats and +helped ourselves along in every way we could +and did pretty well.</p> + +<p>“One day, while my father’s lathe was running, +some one yelled ‘Stop!’ A large black<span class="pagenum">[Pg 159]</span> +bear was walking through the yard. The men +gave him a grand chase, but bruin got away from +them.</p> + +<p>“My father remained on this place until the +spring of 1847, when he and a number of other +families decided to move to Puget Sound. During +that winter they dug two large canoes, lashed +them together as a raft or flatboat to move on, +and sold out their places, bought enough provisions +to last that summer, and loading up with +their wagons, families and provisions, started +for Puget Sound.</p> + +<p>“Coming up the Cowlitz River was a hard +trip, as the men had to tow the raft over rapids +and wade. The weather was very bad. Arriving +at what was called the Cowlitz Landing we +stayed a few days and moved out to the Catholic +priest’s place (Mr. Langlay’s) where the +women and children remained while the men +went back to Oregon for our stock. They had +to drive up the Cowlitz River by a trail, and swim +the rivers. My father said it was a hard trip.</p> + +<p>“On arriving at Puget Sound we found a +good many settlers. Among them, now living +that I know of, was Jesse Ferguson, on +Bush Prairie. We stayed near Mr. Ferguson’s +place until my father, McAllister and Shager, +who lives in Olympia, took them to places in the +Nisqually bottoms. My father’s place then, is +now owned by Isaac Hawk.</p> + +<p>“Mr. McAllister was killed in the Indian war<span class="pagenum">[Pg 160]</span> +of 1855-6, leaving a family of a number of children, +of whom one is Mrs. Grace Hawk. The +three families living in the bottom were often +frightened by the saucy Indians telling us to +leave, as the King George men told them to make +us go, so on one occasion there came about 300 +Indians in canoes. They were painted and had +knives, and said they wanted to kill a chief that +lived by us by the name of Quinasapam. When +he saw the warriors coming he came into our +house for protection, and all of the Indians who +could do so came in after him. Mr. Shager and +father gave them tobacco to smoke. So they +smoked and let the chief go and took their departure. +If there were ever glad faces on this +earth and free hearts, ours were at that time.</p> + +<p>“My father and Mr. McAllister took a job +of bursting up old steamboat boilers for Dr. Tolmie +for groceries and clothing, and between their +improving their farms they worked at this. +While they were away the Indians’ dogs were +plenty, and, like wolves, they ran after everything, +including our only milch cow, and she +died, so there was another great loss to us, but +after father got through with the old boilers, he +took another job of making butter firkins for Dr. +Tolmie and shingles also. This was a great help +to the new settlers. The Hudson Bay Company +was very kind to settlers.</p> + +<p>“In 1849 the gold fever began to rage and +my father took the fever. I was standing before<span class="pagenum">[Pg 161]</span> +the fire, listening to my mother tell about it, +when my dress caught fire, and my mother and +Mrs. Shager got the fire extinguished, when I +found my hair was off on one side of my head +and my dress missing. I felt in luck to save my +life.</p> + +<p>“In the spring of 1850 all arrangements were +made for the California gold mines and we +started by land in an ox team. We went back +through Oregon and met our company in Yamhill, +where we had lived. They joined our company +of about thirty wagons. Portions of our +journey were real pleasant, but the rest was terribly +rough. In one canyon we crossed a stream +seventy-five times in one day, and it was the most +unpleasant part of our journey.</p> + +<p>“After two months’ travel we arrived in Sacramento +City, Cal., and found it tolerably warm +for us, not being used to a warm climate.</p> + +<p>“Father stayed in California nearly two +years. Our fortune was not a large one. We +returned by sea to Washington and made our +home in the Nisqually Bottom.</p> + +<p>“On April 30, 1854, I was married to a man +named G. W. T. Allen and lived with him on +Whidby Island seven years, during which time +four children were born. We finally agreed to +disagree. Only one of our children by my first +husband is living. She is Mrs. L. L. Andrews of +Tacoma, Washington. He is in the banking business. +On July 7, 1863, I was married to my<span class="pagenum">[Pg 162]</span> +present husband, McLain Chambers. We have +lived in Washington ever since. We have had +nine children. Our oldest, a son, I. M. Chambers, +lives on a farm near Roy, Wash. Others +are married and live at Roy, Yelm and Stampede. +We have two little boys at home. Have +lost three within the last three years. We live a +mile and a half southeast of Roy, Wash.</p> + +<p>“I have lived here through all the hostilities +of the war. Dr. Tolmie sent wagons to haul us +to the fort for safety. My present husband was +a volunteer and came through with a company +of scouts, very hungry. They were so hungry +that when they saw my mother take a pan of biscuits +from the stove, one of them saying, ‘Excuse +me, but we are almost starved,’ grabbed the +biscuits from the pan, eating like a hungry dog.</p> + +<p>“I suppose you have heard of the murder of +Col. I. N. Ebey of Whidby Island? He was beheaded +by the Northern or Fort Simpson Indians +and his family and George Corliss and his +wife made their escape from the house by climbing +out of the windows, leaving even their clothes +and bushwhacking it until morning. I was on +Whidby Island about seven miles from where he +was killed, that same night, alone with my little +girl, now Mrs. Andrews. When one of our +neighbors called at the gate and said, ‘Colonel +Ebey was beheaded last night,’ I said ‘Captain +Barrington, it cannot be, as I have been staying +here so close by alone without being disturbed.’<span class="pagenum">[Pg 163]</span> +Shortly after the Indians came armed, and one +of them came up to me, shaking a large knife in +his hand saying, ‘Iskum mika tenas and klatawa +copa stick or we will kill you.’ I said to him, ‘I +don’t understand; come and go to the field where +my husband and an Indian boy are,’ but they +refused to go and left me soon. I started for the +field with my child, and the further I went the +more scared I got until when I reached my husband, +I cried like a child. He ran to the house +and sent a message to the agent on the reservation, +but they skipped out of his reach, and never +bothered me again, but I truly suffered as though +I were sick, although I stayed alone with a boy +eight or nine years old.”</p></blockquote> + +<p class="title">“A BOY OF SEVEN WHO CAME TO SHOW HIS FATHER +THE WAY.”</p> + +<p>In the same columns with the preceding +sketch appeared R. A. Bundy’s story of his juvenile +adventures:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“I will try to give an account of my trip +crossing the plains in the pioneer days. You +need not expect a flowery story, as you will observe +before I get through. The chances for an +education in those days were quite different from +what they are today. Here goes with my story, +anyway:</p> + +<p>“My father left his old home in the State of +Illinois in the month of April in the year 1865. +As I was a lad not seven years of age until the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 164]</span> +27th of the month, of course I was obliged to go +along to show the old man the way.</p> + +<p>“We were all ready to start, and a large number +of others that were going in the same train +had gathered at our place. There were also +numerous relatives present to bid us good-bye, +and warn us of the big undertaking we were +about to embark in, and tell of the dangers we +would encounter. But a lad of my age always +thinks it is a great thing to go along with a covered +wagon, especially if ‘pap’ is driving. I +crawled right in and did not apprehend anything +dangerous or wearisome about a short trip +like that. I will have to omit dates and camping +places, as I was too young to pay any attention +to such things; and you may swear that I was +always around close. Everything went along +smoothly with me for a short time. Riding in +a covered wagon was a picnic, but my father’s +team was composed of both horses and cattle, +and the oxen soon became tenderfooted and had +to be turned loose and driven behind the wagons.</p> + +<p>“About this time A. L. McCauley, whose account +of the trip has appeared in the ‘Ledger,’ +fell in with the train. He thought himself a +brave man and as he had had a ‘right smart’ +experience in traveling, especially since the war +broke out, and was used to going in the lead and +had selected a great many safe camping places +for himself during that time, the men thought he<span class="pagenum">[Pg 165]</span> +would be a good man to hide from the Indians, +so he was elected captain. He went ahead and +showed my old man the way. I being now relieved +of this responsibility, stayed behind the +train and drove the tenderfooted oxen. When +McCauley found a camping place I always +brought up the rear.</p> + +<p>“That was not quite so much of a picnic as +some of us old-timers have nowadays at Shilo. I +found out after driving oxen a few days, that I +was going ‘with’ the old man.</p> + +<p>“For a week or two my job was not as bad +as some who have never tried it might imagine. +But six months of travel behind the wagons +barefooted, over sagebrush, sand toads, hot sand +and gravel, rattlesnakes, prickly pears, etc., +made me sometimes wish I had gone back home +when the old dog did, or that ‘pap’ had sold +me at the sale with the other property. In spite +of my disagreeable situation, however, I kept +trudging alone, bound to stay with the crowd. +I thought my lot was a rough one when I saw +other boys older than myself riding and occasionally +walking just for pleasure. I could not +see where the fun came in, and thought that if +the opportunity was offered I could stand it to +ride all the time. I thought I had the disadvantage +until the Indians got all the stock.</p> + +<p>“I remember one night that our famous captain +said he had found us a good, safe camping +place. The next morning the people were all<span class="pagenum">[Pg 166]</span> +right but the horses and cattle were all gone. +For a while it looked like the whole train would +have to walk. I did not care so much for myself +but I thought it would be hard on those that +were not used to it.</p> + +<p>“During the day the men got a part of the +horses back, and I was feeling pretty good, thinking +the rest would get to ride, but along in the +afternoon my joyful mood was suddenly +changed. All the men, excepting a few on the +sick list, were out after the stock, when the captain +and some other men came running into camp +as fast as their horses could carry them. The +captain got off his horse, apparently almost +scared to death. He told the women that they +would never see their men again; that the Indians +were coming from every direction. That +was in the Wood River country, and it made me +feel pretty bad after walking so far. We were +all frightened, and some boys and myself found +a hiding place in a wagon. We got under a +feather bed and waited, expecting every minute +that the Indians would come. They did not come +so we came out and found that the captain was +feeling rather weak and had laid down to have a +rest. Shortly after we came out, one of the men +came in leading an Indian pony. It was then +learned that the captain and some of the men +with him had been running from some of the +men belonging to the train, thinking they were +Indians. They found all their horses but two<span class="pagenum">[Pg 167]</span> +and captured two Indian ponies. The next day +we journeyed on and I felt more like walking, +knowing that the others could ride. We did +not meet with any other difficulty that seriously +attracted my attention.</p> + +<p>“We arrived on the Touchet at Waitsburg +in October or November, and don’t you forget it, +I had spent many a hot, tiresome day, having +walked all the way across the plains.”</p></blockquote> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page168" name="page168">[Pg 168]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX<br /> + +<span class="smaller">AN OLYMPIA WOMAN’S TRIP ACROSS THE PLAINS IN +1851.</span></h2> + +<p>Mrs. C. J. Crosby of Olympia, Washington, +contributes this narrative of her personal experience, +to the literature of the Northwest:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“It was in the early spring of ’51 that my +father took the emigrant fever to come West, to +what was then termed Oregon Territory, and get +some of Uncle Sam’s land which was donated to +any one who had the perseverance and courage +to travel six long weary months, through a wild, +savage country with storms and floods as well as +the terrible heat and dust of summer to contend +against. Our home was in Covington, Indiana, +and my father, Jacob Smith, with his wife and +five children, myself being the eldest, started +from there the 24th day of March for a town called +Council Bluffs on the Missouri River, where +all the emigrants bought their supplies for their +long journey in the old time prairie schooner. +Our train was composed of twenty-four wagons +and a good number of people. A captain was +selected, whose duty it was to ride ahead of the +train and find good camping place for the day or +night, where there was plenty of wood, water +and grass.</p> + +<p>“The first part of our journey we encoun<span class="pagenum">[Pg 169]</span>tered +terrible floods, little streams would suddenly +become raging torrents and we were +obliged to cross them in hasilty-constructed boats; +two incidents I distinctly remember.</p> + +<p>“We had traveled all day and in the evening +came to a stream called the Elk Horn, where we +had some trouble and only part of the train +crossed that night—we were among the number; +well, we got something to eat as best we +could, and being very tired all went to bed as +early as possible; the river was a half mile from +where we camped, but in the night it overflowed +and the morning found our wagons up to the +hubs in water, our cooking utensils floating off +on the water, except those that had gone to the +bottom, and all the cattle had gone off to find dry +ground, and for a while things in general looked +very discouraging. However, the men started +out at daylight in search of the stray cattle, soon +found them and hitched them to the wagons and +started for another camping place, and to wait +until we were joined by those who were left behind +the night before. We all rejoiced to leave +that river as soon as possible, but not many days +expired before we came to another river which +was worse than the first one—it was exceedingly +high and very swift, but by hard work and perseverance +they got all the wagons across the river +without any accident, with the exception of my +father’s, which was the last to cross. They got +about half way over when the provision wagon<span class="pagenum">[Pg 170]</span> +slid off the boat and down the river it went. +Well, I can hardly imagine how any one could +understand our feelings unless they had experienced +such a calamity; to see all the provisions +we had in the world floating away before our +eyes and not any habitation within many hundred +miles of us; for a while we did indeed feel +as though the end had come this time sure. We +could not retrace our footsteps, or go forward +without provisions; each one in the train had +only enough for their own consumption and dare +not divide with their best friend; however, while +they were debating what was best to do, our +wagon had landed on a sandbar and the men +waded out and pulled it ashore. It is needless +for me to say there was great rejoicing in +the camp that day; of course, nearly everything +in the wagon was wet, but while in camp they +were dried out. Fortunately the flour was sealed +up in tin cans; the corn meal became sour before +it got dry, but it had to be used just the same. +In a few days we were in our usual spirits, but +wondering what new trials awaited us, and it +came all too soon; the poor cattle all got poisoned +from drinking alkali water; at first they +did not know what to do for them, but finally +someone suggested giving them fat bacon, which +brought them out all right in a day or two. Then +their feet became very sore from constant traveling +and thorns from the cactus points, and we<span class="pagenum"><a id="page171" name="page171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +would be obliged to remain in camp several days +for them to recruit.</p> + +<p>“As we proceeded farther on our way we began +to fear the Indians, and occasionally met +strolling bands of them all decked out with bows +and arrows, their faces hideous with paint and +long feathers sticking in their top-knots, they +looked very fierce and savage; they made us understand +we could not travel through their country +unless we paid them. So the men gave them +some tobacco, beads and other trinkets, but would +not give them any ammunition; they went away +angry and acted as though they would give us +trouble.</p> + +<p>“Some of the men stood guard every night +to protect the camp as well as the horses and +cattle, as they would drive them off in the night +and frequently kill them.</p> + +<p>“Thus we traveled from day to day, ever +anxious and on the lookout for a surprise from +some ambush by the wayside, they were so +treacherous, but kind Providence protected us +and we escaped the fate of the unfortunate emigrants +who preceded us.</p> + +<p>“Fortunately there was but little sickness in +our train and only one death, that of my little +brother; he was ill about two weeks and we never +knew the cause of his death. At first it seemed +an impossibility to go away and leave him alone +by the wayside, and what could we do without a +coffin and not any boards to make one? A trunk<span class="pagenum">[Pg 172]</span> +was thought of and the little darling was laid +away in that. The grave had to be very deep +so the wild animals could not dig up the body, +and the Indians would plunder the graves, too, +so it was made level with the ground. We felt +it a terrible affliction; it seemed indeed the climax +of all we had endured. It was with sad +hearts we once again resumed our toilsome journey.</p> + +<p>“We saw the bones of many people by the +wayside, bleaching in the sun, and it was ever a +constant reminder of the dear little one that was +left in the wilderness. However, I must not +dwell too long over this dark side of the picture, +as there was much to brighten and cheer us many +times; there were many strange, beautiful things +which were a great source of delight and wonder, +especially the boiling springs, the water so hot +it would cook anything, and within a short distance +springs of ice water, and others that made +a noise every few minutes like the puffing of a +steamer. Then there were rocks that resembled +unique old castles, as they came into view in the +distance. All alone in the prairie was one great +rock called Independence Rock; it was a mile +around it, half a mile wide and quite high in +some places; there were hundreds of emigrants’ +names and dates carved on the side of the rock +as high as they could reach. It reminded one of +a huge monument. I wonder if old Father Time +has effaced all the names yet?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 173]</span>“In the distance we saw great herds of buffalo +and deer; the graceful, swift-footed antelope +was indeed a sight to behold, and we never grew +tired of the lovely strange flowers we found along +the road.</p> + +<p>The young folks, as well as the old, had their +fun and jokes, and in the evening all would +gather ’round the campfire, telling stories and +relating the trials and experiences each one had +encountered during the day, or meditating what +the next day would bring forth of weal or woe. +Thus the months and days passed by, and our +long journey came to an end when we reached +the Dalles on the Columbia River, where we embarked +on the small steamer that traveled down +the river and landed passengers and freight at +a small place called the Cascades. At this place +there was a portage of a half mile; then we traveled +on another steamer and landed in Portland +the last day of October, the year 1851, remained +there during the winter and in the spring of +1852 came to Puget Sound with a number of +others who were anxious for some of Uncle +Sam’s land.</p> + +<p>“Olympia, a very small village, was the only +town on the Sound except Fort Steilacoom, +where a few soldiers were stationed. We spent a +short time in Olympia before going to Whidby +Island, where my father settled on his claim, and +we lived there five years, when we received a +patent from the government, but before our home<span class="pagenum">[Pg 174]</span> +was completed he had the misfortune to break +his arm, and, not being properly set, he was a +cripple the remainder of his life.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>In 1852 there were a couple of log houses +at Alki Point, occupied by Mr. Denny and others; +they called the “town” New York. We +went ashore from the schooner and visited +them.</p> + +<p>To the above properly may be added an account +published in a Seattle paper:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Mrs. C. J. Crosby, of Olympia, gives the +following interesting sketch of her early days +on Whidby Island:</p> + +<p>“As I am an old settler and termed a moss-back +by those who have come later, I feel urged +to relate a few facts pertaining to my early life +on Whidby Island in the days of 1852. My +father, Jacob Smith, with his wife and five children, +crossed the plains the year of 1851. We +started from Covington, Indiana, on the 24th day +of March and arrived in Portland, Oregon, the +last day of October.</p> + +<p>“We remained there during the winter, coming +to Olympia the spring of 1852, where we +spent a short time before going down to the +island. My father settled on a claim near Pen’s +Cove, and almost opposite what is now called +Coupeville. We lived there five years, when he +sold his claim to Capt. Swift for three thousand +five hundred dollars and we returned to Olympia.</p> + +<p>“The year ’52 we found several families<span class="pagenum">[Pg 175]</span> +living on the island; also many bachelors who +had settled on claims. I have heard my mother +say she never saw the face of a white woman for +nine months. My third sister was the second +white child born on the island. I remember once +we did not have any flour or bread for six weeks +or more. We lived on potatoes, salmon and +clams. Finally a vessel came in the Sound bringing +some, but the price per barrel was forty-five +dollars and it was musty and sour. Mother +mixed potatoes with the flour so that we could +eat it at all, and also to make it last a long time.</p> + +<p>“There is also another incident impressed +on my memory that I never can forget. One +morning an Indian came to the house with some +fish oil to sell, that and tallow candles being the +only kind of light we had in those days. She +paid him all he asked for the oil, besides giving +him a present, but he wanted more. He got very +angry and said he would shoot her. She told +him to shoot and took up the fire shovel to him. +Meantime she told my brother to go to a neighbor’s +house, about half a mile distant, but before +the men arrived the Indian cleared out. However, +had it not been for the kindness of the Indians +we would have suffered more than we did.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>From other published accounts I have culled +the following:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Peter Smith crossed the plains in 1852 and +settled near Portland. When it was known the +Indians would make trouble, Mr. Smith, being<span class="pagenum">[Pg 176]</span> +warned by a friendly Indian, took his family to +Fort Steilacoom and joined the ‘Home Guard,’ +but shortly afterward joined a company of +militia and saw real war for three months.</p> + +<p>“Just before the hostilities in 1855, two Indians +visited his house. One of them was a magnificent +specimen of physical manhood and chief +of his tribe. They wanted something to eat. +Now several settlers had been killed by Indians +after gaining access to their houses, but, nothing +daunted, Mrs. Smith went to work and prepared +a very fine dinner, and Mr. S. made them sandwiches +for their game bag, putting on an extra +allowance of sugar, and appeared to be as bold +as a lion. He also accepted an invitation to visit +their camp, which he did in their company, and +formed a lasting friendship.</p> + +<p>“The mince, fruit and doughnuts did their +good work.</p> + +<p>“During the war Mr. Smith had his neck +merely bruised by a bullet. On his return home +he found the Indians had been there before him +and stolen his hogs and horses and destroyed his +grain, a loss of eleven hundred dollars, for which +he has never received any pay.”</p></blockquote> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page177" name="page177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">CAPT. HENRY ROEDER ON THE TRAIL.</span></h2> + +<p>Capt. Roeder came by steamer to Portland +and thence made his way to Olympia overland +from the mouth of the Cowlitz River. This was +in the winter of 1852. The story of this journey +is best told in the words of the veteran pioneer +himself, who has narrated his first experiences +in the then Territory of Oregon as follows:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“In company with R. V. Peabody, I traveled +overland from the mouth of the Cowlitz, through +the mud to Olympia. We started early in December +from Portland. It took us four days to +walk from the Cowlitz River to Olympia, and +it was as hard traveling as I have ever seen. +Old residents will remember what was known as +Sanders’ Bottom. It was mud almost to your +waist. We stopped one night with an old settler, +whose name I cannot now recall, but whom we +all called in those days ‘Old Hardbread.’ On +the Skookumchuck we found lodging with Judge +Ford, and on arriving at Olympia we put up +with Mr. Sylvester, whose name is well known +to all the old residents on the Sound. I remember +that at Olympia we got our first taste of the +Puget Sound clam, and mighty glad we were, +too, to get a chance to eat some of them.</p> + +<p>“From Olympia to Seattle we traveled by<span class="pagenum">[Pg 178]</span> +Indian canoe. I remember distinctly rounding +Alki Point and entering the harbor of Elliott +Bay. I saw what was, perhaps, the first house +that was built, where now stands the magnificent +city of Seattle. This was a cabin that was being +erected on a narrow strip of land jutting out +into the bay, which is now right in the heart of +Seattle. Dr. Maynard was the builder. It was +situated adjoining the lot at Commercial and +Main Streets, occupied by the old Arlington just +before the fire of 1889. The waters of the Sound +lapped the shores of the narrow peninsula upon +which it was built, but since then the waters have +been driven back by the filling of earth, sawdust +and rock, which was put on both sides of the +little neck of land.</p> + +<p>“After a few days’ stay here, Peabody and +I journeyed by Indian canoe to Whatcom. We +carried our canoe overland to Hood Canal. On +the second day out we encountered a terrible +storm and put into shelter with a settler on the +shore of the canal. His name was O’Haver, and +he lived with an Indian wife. We had white +turnips and dried salmon for breakfast and dried +salmon and white turnips for dinner. This bill +of fare was repeated in this fashion for three +days, and I want to tell you that we were glad +when the weather moderated and we were enabled +to proceed.</p> + +<p>“We were told that we could procure something +in the edible line at Port Townsend, but<span class="pagenum">[Pg 179]</span> +were disappointed. The best we could obtain at +the stores was some hard bread, in which the +worms had propagated in luxuriant fashion. +This food was not so particularly appetizing, as +you may imagine. A settler kindly took pity on +us and shared his slender stock of food. Thence +we journeyed to Whatcom, where I have resided +nearly ever since.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Capt. Roeder told also before he had finished +his recital of an acquaintance he had formed in +California with the noted Spanish murderer and +bandit, Joaquin, and his tribe of cutthroats and +robbers. Joaquin’s raids and his long career +in crime among the mining camps of the early +days of California are part of the history of that +state. Capt. Roeder was traveling horseback on +one occasion between Marysville and Rush +Creek. This was in 1851. The night before he +left Marysville the sheriff and a posse had attempted +to capture Joaquin and his band. The +authorities had offered a reward of $10,000 for +Joaquin and $5,000 for his men, dead or alive. +The sheriff went out from Marysville with a +cigar in his mouth and his sombrero on the side +of his head, as if he were attending a picnic. It +was his own funeral, however, instead of a picnic, +for his body was picked out of a fence corner, +riddled with bullets.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“I was going at a leisurely gait over the +mountain road or bridle path that led from +Marysville to Rush Creek,” said Capt. Roeder.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page180" name="page180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +“Suddenly, after a bend in the road, I found +myself in the midst of a band of men mounted +on bronchos. They were dark-skinned and of +Spanish blood. Immediately I recognized Joaquin +and ‘Three-Fingered Jack,’ his first lieutenant. +My heart thumped vigorously, and I +thought that it was all up with me. I managed +somehow to control myself and did not evince +any of the excitement I felt or give the outlaws +any sign that I knew or suspected who they were.</p> + +<p>“One of the riders, after saluting me in +Spanish, asked me where I was from and +whither I was traveling. I told them freely and +frankly, as if the occurrence were an everyday +transaction. Learning that I had just come from +Marysville, the seat of their last outrage, they +inquired the news. I told them the truth—that +the camp was in a state of great excitement, due +to the late visit of the outlaw, Joaquin, and his +band; that the sheriff had been murdered and +three or four miners and others in the vicinity +had been murdered and robbed. It was Joaquin’s +pleasant practice to lariat a man, rob him and +cut his throat, leaving the body by the roadside. +They asked me which way Joaquin had gone and +I told them that he was seen last traveling towards +Arizona. As a matter of fact, the outlaw +and his band were then traveling in a direction +exactly opposite from that which I had given.</p> + +<p>“My replies apparently pleased them. +‘Three-Fingered Jack’ proposed a drink, after<span class="pagenum">[Pg 181]</span> +asking me which way I traveled. I said, ‘I would +have proposed the compliment long ago had I +any in my canteen,’ whereat Jack drew his own +bottle and offered me a drink.</p> + +<p>“You may imagine my feelings then. I +knew that if they believed I had recognized them +they would give me poison or kill me with a knife. +I took the canteen and drank from it. You may +imagine my joy when I saw Jack lift the bottle +to his lips and drain it. Then I knew that I had +deceived them. We exchanged adieus in Spanish, +and that is the last I saw of Joaquin and his +associate murderers.”</p></blockquote> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page182" name="page182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> +<h2>PART II.<br /> +<br /> +MEN, WOMEN AND ADVENTURES</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">SONG OF THE PIONEERS.</span></h2> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">With faith’s clear eye we saw afar</span> +<span class="i0">In western sky our empire’s star</span> +<span class="i0">And strong of heart and brave of soul,</span> +<span class="i0">We marched and marched to reach the goal.</span> +<span class="i0">Unrolled a scroll, the great gray plains,</span> +<span class="i0">And traced thereon our wagon trains,</span> +<span class="i0">Our blazing campfires marked the road</span> +<span class="i0">As each succeeding night they glowed.</span> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Gaunt hunger, drouth, fierce heat and cold</span> +<span class="i0">Beset us as in days of old</span> +<span class="i0">Great dragons sought to swallow down</span> +<span class="i0">Adventurous heroes of renown.</span> +<span class="i0">There menaced us our tawny foes,</span> +<span class="i0">Where any bank or hillock rose;</span> +<span class="i0">A cloud of dust or shadows’ naught</span> +<span class="i0">Seemed ever with some danger fraught.</span> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Weird mountain ranges crossed our path</span> +<span class="i0">And frowned on us in seeming wrath;</span> +<span class="i0">Their beetling crags and icy brows</span> +<span class="i0">Well might a hundred fears arouse.</span> +<span class="i0">Impetuous rivers swirled and boiled,</span> +<span class="i0">As though from mischief ever foiled.</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 183]</span>At length in safety all were crossed,<br /> +<span class="i0">Though roughly were our “schooners” tossed.</span> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">With joy we saw fair Puget Sound,</span> +<span class="i0">White, glistening peaks set all around.</span> +<span class="i0">At Alki Point our feet we stayed,</span> +<span class="i0">(The women wept, the children played).</span> +<span class="i0">On Chamber’s prairie, Whidby’s isle,</span> +<span class="i0">Duwamish river, mile on mile</span> +<span class="i0">Away from these, on lake or bay</span> +<span class="i0">The lonely settlers blazed the way</span> +<span class="i0">For civilization’s march and sway.</span> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The mountains, forests, bays and streams,</span> +<span class="i0">Their grandeur wove into our dreams;</span> +<span class="i0">Our thoughts grew great and undismayed,</span> +<span class="i0">We toiled and sang or waiting, prayed.</span> +<span class="i0">As suns arose and then went down</span> +<span class="i0">We gazed on Rainier’s snowy crown.</span> +<span class="i0">God’s battle-tents gleamed in the west,</span> +<span class="i0">So pure they called our thoughts above</span> +<span class="i0">To heaven’s joy and peace and love.</span> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">We found a race tho’ rude and wild,</span> +<span class="i0">Still tender toward friend or child,</span> +<span class="i0">For dark eyes laughed or shone with tears</span> +<span class="i0">As joy or sorrow filled the years;</span> +<span class="i0">Their black-eyed babes the red men kissed</span> +<span class="i0">And captive brothers sorely missed.</span> +<span class="i0">With broken hearts, brown mothers wept</span> +<span class="i0">When babes away by death were swept.</span> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Chief Sealth stood the white man’s friend,</span> +<span class="i0">With insight keen he saw the end</span> +<span class="i0">Of struggles vain against a foe</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 184]</span>Whose coming forced their overthrow.<br /> +<span class="i0">For pity oft he freed the slaves,</span> +<span class="i0">To reasoning cool he called his braves;</span> +<span class="i0">But bitter wrongs the pale-face wrought—</span> +<span class="i0">Revenge and hatred on us brought.</span> +</div></div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">With life the woods and waters teemed,</span> +<span class="i0">A boundless store we never dreamed,</span> +<span class="i0">Of berries, deer and grouse and fish,</span> +<span class="i0">Sufficient for a gourmand’s wish.</span> +<span class="i0">Our dusky neighbors friendly-wise</span> +<span class="i0">Brought down the game before our eyes;</span> +<span class="i0">They wiled the glittering finny tribe,</span> +<span class="i0">Well pleased to trade with many a jibe.</span> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">We lit the forests far and wide</span> +<span class="i0">With pitchwood torches, true and tried,</span> +<span class="i0">We traveled far in frail canoes,</span> +<span class="i0">Cayuses rode, wore Indian shoes,</span> +<span class="i0">And clothes of skin, and ate clam stews,</span> +<span class="i0">Clam frys and chowder; baked or fried</span> +<span class="i0">The clam was then the settler’s pride;</span> +<span class="i0">“Clam-diggers” then, none dared deride.</span> +</div></div> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A sound arose our hearts to thrill,</span> +<span class="i0">From whirring saws in Yesler’s mill;</span> +<span class="i0">The village crept upon the hill.</span> +<span class="i0">On many hills our city’s spread,</span> +<span class="i0">As fair a queen as one that wed</span> +<span class="i0">The Adriatic, so ’tis said.</span> +<span class="i0">Our tasks so hard are well nigh done—</span> +<span class="i0">Today our hearts will beat as one!</span> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Each one may look now to the west</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 185]</span>For end of days declared the best,<br /> +<span class="i0">Since sunset here is sunrise there,</span> +<span class="i0">Our heavenly home is far more fair.</span> +<span class="i0">As up the slope of coming years</span> +<span class="i0">Time pushes on the pioneers,</span> +<span class="i0">With peace may e’er our feet be shod</span> +<span class="i0">And press at last the mount of God.</span> +</div> +<span class="ralign">E. I. DENNY.</span> +<br /> +Seattle, June, 1893.<br /> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page186" name="page186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES AND SKETCHES.</span></h2> + +<p class="title">JOHN DENNY.</p> + +<p>As elsewhere indicated, only a few of the +leading characters will be followed in their +careers. Of these, John Denny is fittingly placed +first.</p> + +<p>John Denny was born of pioneer parents +near Lexington, Kentucky, May 4th, 1793. In +1813 he was a volunteer in Col. Richard M. Johnson’s +regiment of mounted riflemen, and served +through the war, participated in the celebrated +battle of the Thames in Canada, where Tecumseh +was killed and the British army under Proctor +surrendered. Disaster fell upon him, the results +of which followed him throughout his life. The +morning gun stampeded the horses in camp while +the soldiers were still asleep, and they ran over +John Denny where he lay asleep in a tent, +wounding his knee so that the synovial fluid ran +out and also broke three of his ribs. In 1823 he +removed to Putnam County, Indiana, then an +unknown wilderness, locating six miles east of +Greencastle, where he resided for the succeeding +twelve years. He is remembered as a leading +man of energy and public spirit.</p> + +<p>In 1835 he removed to Illinois and settled in +Knox County, then near the frontier of civiliza<span class="pagenum">[Pg 187]</span>tion, +where he lived for the next succeeding sixteen +years, during which time he represented his +county in both branches of the state legislature, +serving with Lincoln, Douglas, Baker, Yates, +Washburn and Trumbull, with all of whom he +formed warm personal friendships, which lasted +through life, despite political differences.</p> + +<p>In 1851, at an age when most men think they +have outlived their usefulness and seek the repose +demanded by their failing physical strength, +accompanied by his children and grandchildren, +he braved the toils and perils of an overland +journey to this then remote wilderness upon the +extreme borders of civilization and settled upon +a farm in Marion County, Oregon, while his sons, +Arthur A. and David T., took claims on Elliott +Bay and were among the founders of Seattle, +where they command universal respect for their +intelligence, integrity and public spirit, Arthur +having represented the territory as delegate in +congress and served several terms in the Territorial +Legislature.</p> + +<p>David has held many responsible public +positions, including Probate Judge and Regent +of the University, and is respected by all as a +clear-headed and scrupulously honest man and +most estimable citizen.</p> + +<p>John Denny remained in Oregon about six +years, but held no official position there, for the +reason that he was an uncompromising Whig and +Oregon was overwhelmingly Democratic, includ<span class="pagenum"><a id="page188" name="page188">[Pg 188]</a></span>ing +among the leaders of the Democratic party +George H. Williams, Judge Deady, Gov. Gibbs +and much of the best intellect of the state.</p> + +<p>He, however, entered warmly into the political +discussions of the times, and many incidents +are remembered and many anecdotes told of the +astonishment and discomfiture of some of the +most pretentious public speakers when meeting +the unpretending pioneer farmer in public discussion. +He was a natural orator and had improved +his gift by practice and extensive reading.</p> + +<p>Few professional men were better posted in +current history and governmental philosophy or +could make a better use of their knowledge in +addressing a popular audience.</p> + +<p>In 1859 he removed to Seattle, and from that +time on to the day of his death was a recognized +leader in every enterprise calculated to promote +the prosperity of the town or advance its educational +and social interests. No public measure, +no public meeting to consider public enterprise, +was a success in which he was not a central +figure, not as an assumed director, but as an +earnest co-operator, who enthused others by his +own undaunted spirit of enterprise, and when +past eighty years of age his voice was heard stirring +up the energies of the people, and by his +example, no less than his precepts, he shamed +the listless and selfish younger men into activity +and public spirit.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 189]</span>When any special legislative aid was desired +for this section, John Denny was certain to be +selected to obtain it; by his efforts mainly the +Territorial University was located at this place.</p> + +<p>He passed his long and active life almost +wholly upon the frontiers of civilization, not +from any aversion to the refinements and restraints +of social life, for few men possessed +higher social qualities or had in any greater +degree the nicer instincts of a gentleman—he +held a patent of nobility under the signet of the +Almighty, and his intercourse with others was +ever marked by a courtesy which betokened not +only self-respect but a due regard for the rights +and opinions of others. He was impelled by as +noble ambition as ever sought the conquest of +empire or the achievement of personal glory—the +subduing of the unoccupied portions of his +country to the uses of man, with the patriotic +purpose of extending his country’s glory and +augmenting its resources.</p> + +<p>His first care in every settlement was to +establish and promote education, religion and +morality as the only true foundation of social +as well as individual prosperity, and with all his +courage and manly strength he rarely, if ever, +was drawn into a lawsuit.</p> + +<p>John Denny was of that noble race of men, +now nearly extinct, who formed the vanguard of +Western civilization and were the founders of +empire. Their day is over, their vocation ended,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 190]</span> +because the limit of their enterprise has been +reached. Among the compeers of the same stock +were Dick Johnson, Harrison, Lincoln, Harden +and others famous in the history of the country, +who only excelled him in historic note by biding +their opportunities in waiting to reap the fruits +of the harvest which they had planted. He was +the peer of the best in all the elements of manhood, +of heart and brain. In all circumstances +and surroundings he was a recognized leader of +men, and would have been so honored and so +commanded that leading place in public history +had he waited for the development of the social +institutions which he helped to plant in the Western +states, now the seat of empire. All who +entered his presence were instinctively impressed +by his manhood. Yet no man was less pretentious +or more unostentatious in his intercourse +with others.</p> + +<p>He reverenced his manhood, and felt himself +here among men his brethren under the eye of a +common Father.</p> + +<p>He felt that he was bound to work for all +like a brother and like a son.</p> + +<p>So he was brave, so he was true, so his integrity +was unsullied, so not a stain dims his +memory; so he rebuked vice and detested meanness +and hated with a cordial hate all falsehood, +all dishonesty and all trickery; so he was the +chivalrous champion of the innocent and oppressed; +so he was gentle and merciful, because<span class="pagenum">[Pg 191]</span> +he was working among a vast family as a brother +“recognizing the Great Father, Who sits over +all, Who is forever Truth and forever Love.”</p> + +<p>Such words as these were said of him at the +time of his death, when the impressions of his +personality were fresh in the minds of the people.</p> + +<p>He entered into rest July 28th, 1875.</p> + +<p>It is within my recollection that the keen +criticisms and droll anecdotes of John Denny +were often repeated by his hearers. The power +with which he swayed an audience was something +wonderful to behold; the burning enthusiasm +which his oratory kindled, inciting to action, +the waves of convulsive laughter his wit evoked +were abundant evidence of his influence.</p> + +<p>In repartee, he excelled. At one time when +A. A. Denny was a member of the Territorial +Legislature, John Denny was on his way to the +capital to interview him, doubtless concerning +some important measure; he received the hospitality +of a settler who was a stranger to him +and moreover very curious with regard to the +traveler’s identity and occupation. At last this +questioning brought forth the remarkable statement +that he, John Denny, had a son in the +lunatic ass-ylum in Olympia whom he intended +visiting.</p> + +<p>The questioner delightedly related it afterward, +laughing heartily at the compliment paid +to the Legislature.</p> + +<p>In a published sketch a personal friend<span class="pagenum">[Pg 192]</span> +says: “He was so full of humor that it was +impossible to conceal it, and his very presence +became a mirth-provoking contagion absolutely +irresistible in its effects.</p> + +<p>“Let him come when he would, everybody +was ready to drop everything else to listen to a +story from Uncle John.</p> + +<p>“He went home to the States during the +war, via the Isthmus of Panama. On the trip +down from San Francisco the steamer ran on a +rock and stuck fast. Of course, there was a +great fright and excitement, many crying out +‘We shall all be drowned,’ ‘Lord save us!’ etc. +Amid it all Uncle John coolly took in the chances +of the situation, and when a little quiet had been +restored so he could be heard by all in the cabin, +he said: ‘Well, I reckon there was a fair bargain +between me and the steamship company to +carry me down to Panama, and they’ve got their +cash for it, and now if they let me drown out +here in this ornery corner, where I can’t have a +decent funeral, I’ll sue ’em for damages, and +bust the consarned old company all to flinders.’</p> + +<p>“This had the effect to divert the passengers, +and helped to prevent a panic, and not a +life was lost.</p> + +<p>“In early life he had been a Whig and in +Illinois had fought many a hard battle with the +common enemy. He had represented his district +repeatedly in the legislature of that state, and +he used to tell with pride, and a good deal of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 193]</span> +satisfaction, how one day a handful of the Whigs, +Old Abe and himself among the number, broke +a quorum of the house by jumping from a +second-story window, thereby preventing the +passage of a bill which was obnoxious to the +Whigs.</p> + +<p>“The Democrats had been watching their +opportunity, and having secured a quorum with +but few of the Whigs in the house, locked the +doors and proposed to put their measure +through. But the Whigs nipped the little game +in the manner related.”</p> + +<p>After Lincoln had become President and +John Denny had crossed the Plains and pioneered +it in Oregon and Washington Territories, +the latter visited the national capital on important +business.</p> + +<p>While there Mr. Denny attended a presidential +reception and tested his old friend’s +memory in this way: Forbidding his name to +be announced, he advanced in the line and gave +his hand to President Lincoln, then essayed to +pass on. Lincoln tightened his grasp and said, +“No you don’t, John Denny; you come around +back here and we’ll have a talk after a while.”</p> + +<p>On the stump he was perfectly at home, +never coming off second best. His ready wit +and tactics were sure to stand him in hand at +the needed moment.</p> + +<p><a id="VIII" name="VIII"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 297px;"> +<img src="images/opp193.jpg" width="297" height="500" alt="" title="SARAH DENNY, JOHN DENNY, S. LORETTA DENNY" /> +<span class="caption">SARAH DENNY<br /> JOHN DENNY, S. LORETTA DENNY</span> +</div> + +<p>In one of the early campaigns of Washington +Territory, which was a triangular combat +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 194]</span>waged by Republicans, Democrats and “Bolters,” +John Denny, who was then a Republican, +became one of the third party. At a political +meeting which was held in Seattle, at which I +was present, a young man recently from the +East and quite dandyish, a Republican and a +lawyer, made quite a high-sounding speech; +after he sat down John Denny advanced to +speak.</p> + +<p>He began very coolly to point out how they +had been deceived by the rascally Republican +representative in his previous term of office, and +suddenly pointing his long, lean forefinger directly +at the preceding speaker, his voice gathering +great force and intensity, he electrified +the audience by saying, “And no little huckleberry +lawyer can blind us to the facts in the +case.”</p> + +<p>The audience roared, the “huckleberry lawyer’s” +face was scarlet and his curly locks fairly +bristled with embarrassment. The hearers were +captivated and listened approvingly to a round +scoring of the opponents of the “bolters.”</p> + +<p>He was a fearless advocate of temperance, +or prohibition rather, of woman suffragists +when they were weak, few and scoffed at, an +abolitionist and a determined enemy of tobacco. +I have seen him take his namesake among the +grandchildren between his aged knees and say, +“Don’t ever eat tobacco, John; your grandfather +wishes he had never touched it.” His oft-<span class="pagenum">[Pg 195]</span>repeated +advice was heeded by this grandson, +who never uses it in any form.</p> + +<p>He was tall, slender, with snow-white hair +and a speaking countenance full of the most +glowing intelligence.</p> + +<p>When the news came to the little village of +Seattle that he had returned from Washington +City, where he had been laboring to secure an +appropriation for the Territorial University, +two of his little grandchildren ran up the hill +to meet him; he took off his high silk hat, his +silvery hair shining in the fair sunlight and +smiled a greeting, as they grasped either hand +and fairly led him to their home.</p> + +<p>A beautiful tribute from the friend before +quoted closes this brief and inadequate sketch:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“He sleeps out yonder midway between the +lakes (Washington and Union), where the +shadows of the Cascades in the early morning +fall upon the rounded mound of earth that marks +his resting place, and the shadows of the Olympics +in the early evening rest lovingly and +caressingly on the same spot; there, where the +song birds of the forest and the wild flowers and +gentle zephyrs, laden with the perfume of the +fir and cedar, pay a constant tribute to departed +goodness and true worth.”</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 196]</span></p> +<p class="title">SARAH LATIMER DENNY.</p> + +<p>The subject of this sketch was a Tennessean +of an ancestry notable for staying qualities, religious +steadfastness and solid character, as well +as gracious and kindly bearing.</p> + +<p>On her father’s side she traced descent from +the martyr, Hugh Latimer, and although none +of the name have been called to die at the stake +in the latter days, Washington Latimer, nephew +of Sarah Latimer Denny, was truly a martyr to +principle, dying in Andersonville prison during +the Rebellion.</p> + +<p>The prevailing sentiment of the family was +patriotic and strongly in favor of the abolition +movement.</p> + +<p>One of the granddaughters pleasurably recalls +the vision of Joseph Latimer, father of +Sarah, sitting in his dooryard, under the boughs +of a great Balm of Gilead tree, reading his Bible.</p> + +<p>Left to be the helper of her mother when +very young, by the marriage of her elder sister, +she quickly became a competent manager in +household affairs, sensible of her responsibilities, +being of a grave and quiet disposition.</p> + +<p>She soon married a young Baptist minister, +Richard Freeman Boren, whose conversion and +call to the ministry were clear and decided. His +first sermon was preached in the sitting room +of a private house, where were assembled, among +others, a number of his gay and pleasure-loving<span class="pagenum">[Pg 197]</span> +companions, whom he fearlessly exhorted to a +holy life.</p> + +<p>His hands were busy with his trade of +cabinetmaking a part of the time, for the support +of his family, although he rode from place +to place to preach.</p> + +<p>A few years of earnest Christian work, devoted +affection and service to his family and he +passed away to his reward, leaving the young +widow with three little children, the youngest +but eighteen months old.</p> + +<p>In her old age she often reverted to their +brief, happy life together, testifying that he +never spoke a cross word to her.</p> + +<p>She told of his premonition of death and +her own remarkable dream immediately preceding +that event.</p> + +<p>While yet in apparently perfect health he +disposed of all his tools, saying that he would +not need them any more.</p> + +<p>One night, toward morning, she dreamed +that she saw a horse saddled and bridled at the +gate and some one said to her that she must +mount and ride to see her husband, who was very +sick; she obeyed, in her dream, riding over a +strange road, crossing a swollen stream at one +point.</p> + +<p>At daylight she awoke; a horse with side-saddle +on was waiting and a messenger called +her to go to her husband, as he was dangerously +ill at a distant house. Exactly as in her dream<span class="pagenum">[Pg 198]</span> +she was conducted, she traversed the road and +crossed the swollen stream to reach the place +where he lay, stricken with a fatal malady.</p> + +<p>After his death she returned to her father’s +house, but the family migrated from Tennessee +to Illinois, spent their first winter in Sangamon +County, afterward settling in Knox County.</p> + +<p>There the brave young pioneer took up her +abode in a log cabin on a piece of land which she +purchased with the proceeds of her own hard +toil.</p> + +<p>The cabin was built without nails, of either +oak or black walnut logs, it is not now known, +with oak clapboards, braces and weight-poles +and puncheon floor. There was one window +without glass, a stick and clay mortar chimney, +and a large, cheerful fireplace where the backlogs +and fore-sticks held pyramids of dancing, +ruddy flames, and the good cooking was done in +the good old way.</p> + +<p>By industry and thrift everything was +turned to account. The ground was made to +yield wheat, corn and flax; the last was taken +through the whole process of manufacture into +bed and table linen on the spot. Sheep were +raised, the wool sheared, carded, spun, dyed and +woven, all by hand, by this indefatigable worker, +just as did many others of her time.</p> + +<p>They made almost every article of clothing +they wore, besides cloth for sale.</p> + +<p>Great, soft, warm feather beds comforted<span class="pagenum">[Pg 199]</span> +them in the cold Illinois winters, the contents of +which were plucked from the home flock of +geese.</p> + +<p>As soon as the children were old enough, +they assisted in planting corn and other crops.</p> + +<p>The domestic supplies were almost entirely +of home production and manufacture. Soap for +washing owed its existence to the ash-hopper +and scrap-kettle, and the soap-boiling was an +important and necessary process. The modern +housewife would consider herself much afflicted +if she had to do such work.</p> + +<p>And the sugar-making, which had its pleasant +side, the sugar camp and its merry tenants.</p> + +<p>About half a mile from the cabin stood the +sugar maple grove to which this energetic provider +went to tap the trees, collect the sap and +finally boil the same until the “sugaring off.” +A considerable event it was, with which they began +the busy season.</p> + +<p>One of the daughters of Sarah Latimer +Denny remembers that when a little child she +went with her mother to the sugar camp where +they spent the night. Resting on a bed of leaves, +she listened to her mother as she sang an old +camp meeting hymn, “Wrestling Jacob,” while +she toiled, mending the fire and stirring the sap, +all night long under dim stars sprinkled in the +naked branches overhead.</p> + +<p>Other memories of childish satisfaction +hold visions of the early breakfast when “Uncle<span class="pagenum">[Pg 200]</span> +John” came to see his widowed sister, who, with +affectionate hospitality, set the “Johnny-cake” +to bake on a board before the fire, made chocolate, +fried the chicken and served them with +snowy biscuits and translucent preserves.</p> + +<p>For the huge fireplace, huge lengths of logs, +for the backlogs, were cut, which required three +persons to roll in place.</p> + +<p>Cracking walnuts on the generous hearth +helped to beguile the long winter evenings. A +master might have beheld a worthy subject in +the merry children and their mother thus occupied.</p> + +<p>If other light were needed than the ruddy +gleams the fire gave, it was furnished by a lard +lamp hung by a chain and staple in the wall, or +one of a pallid company of dipped candles.</p> + +<p>Sometimes there were unwelcome visitors +bent on helping themselves to the best the farm +afforded; one day a wolf chased a chicken up +into the chimney corner of the Boren cabin, to +the consternation of the small children. Wolves +also attacked the sheep alongside the cabin at +the very moment when one of the family was +trying to catch some lambs; such savage boldness +brought hearty and justifiable screams from +the young shepherdess thus engaged.</p> + +<p>The products of the garden attached to this +cabin are remembered as wonderful in richness +and variety; the melons, squashes, pumpkins, +etc., the fragrant garden herbs, the dill and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 201]</span> +caraway seeds for the famous seedcakes carried +in grandmothers’ pockets or “reticules.” In +addition to these, the wild fruits and game; haws, +persimmons, grapes, plums, deer and wild turkey; +the medicinal herbs, bone-set and blood-root; +the nut trees heavily laden in autumn, all +ministered to the comfort and health of the pioneers.</p> + +<p>The mistress was known for her generous +hospitality then, and throughout her life. In +visiting and treating the sick she distanced educated +practitioners in success. Never a violent +partisan, she was yet a steadfast friend. One +daughter has said that she never knew any one +who came so near loving her neighbor as herself. +Just, reasonable, kind, ever ready with sympathetic +and wholesome advice, it was applicably +said of her, “She openeth her mouth with wisdom +and in her tongue is the law of kindness.”</p> + +<p>As the years went by the children were sent +to school, the youngest becoming a teacher.</p> + +<p>Toilsome years they were, but doubtless full +of rich reward.</p> + +<p>Afterward, while yet in the prime of life, +she married John Denny, a Kentuckian and pioneer +of Indiana, Illinois and finally of Oregon +and Washington.</p> + +<p>With this new alliance new fields of effort +and usefulness opened before her. The unusual +occurrence of a widowed mother and her two +daughters marrying a widower and his two sons<span class="pagenum">[Pg 202]</span> +made this new tie exceeding strong. With +them, as before stated, she crossed the plains +and “pioneered it” in Oregon among the Waldo +Hills, from whence she moved to Seattle on +Puget Sound with her husband and little daughter, +Loretta Denny, in 1859.</p> + +<p>The shadow of pioneer days was scarcely +receding, the place was a little straggling village +and much remained of beginnings. As before in +all other places, her busy hands found much to +do; many a pair of warm stockings and mittens +from her swift needles found their way into the +possession of the numerous grand and great-grandchildren. +In peaceful latter days she sat +in a cozy corner with knitting basket at hand, +her Bible in easy reach.</p> + +<p>Her mind was clear and vigorous and she +enjoyed reading and conversing upon topics old +and new.</p> + +<p>Her cottage home with its blooming plants, +of which “Grandmother’s calla,” with its frequent, +huge, snowy spathes, was much admired, +outside the graceful laburnum tree and sweet-scented +roses, was a place that became a Mecca +to the tired feet and weary hearts of her kins-folk +and acquaintances.</p> + +<p>With devoted, filial affection her youngest +daughter, S. Loretta Denny, remained with her +until she entered into rest, February 10th, 1888.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page203" name="page203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">DAVID THOMAS DENNY.</span></h2> + +<p>David Thomas Denny was the first of the +name to set foot upon the shores of Puget Sound. +Born in Putnam County, Indiana, March 17th, +1832, he was nineteen years of age when he +crossed the plains with his father’s company in +1851. He is a descendant of an ancient family, +English and Scotch, who moved to Ireland and +thence to America, settling in Berk’s County, +Pa. His father was John Denny, a notable man +in his time, a soldier of 1812, and a volunteer +under William Henry Harrison.</p> + +<p>The long, rough and toilsome journey across +the plains was a schooling for the subsequent +trials of pioneer life. Young as he was, he stood +in the very forefront, the outmost skirmish line +of his advancing detachment of the great army +moving West. The anxious watch, the roughest +toil, the reconnaissance fell to his lot. He drove +a four-horse team, stood guard at night, alternately +sleeping on the ground, under the wagon, +hunted for game to aid in their sustenance, and, +briefly, served his company in many ways with +the energy and faithfulness which characterized +his subsequent career.</p> + +<p>With his party he reached Portland in August, +1851; from thence, with J. N. Low, he made<span class="pagenum">[Pg 204]</span> +his way to Olympia on Puget Sound, where he +arrived footsore and weary, they having traveled +on foot the Hudson Bay Company’s trail +from the Columbia River. From Olympia, with +Low, Lee Terry, Captain Fay and others, he +journeyed in an open boat to Duwampsh Head, +which has suffered many changes of name, where +they camped, sleeping under the boughs of a +great cedar tree the first night, September 25th, +1851.</p> + +<p>The next day Denny, Terry and Low made +use of the skill and knowledge of the native inhabitants +by hiring two young Indians to take +them up the Duwampsh River in their canoe. +He was left to spend the following night with +the two Indians, as his companions had wandered +so far away that they could not return, +but remained at an Indian camp farther up the +river. On the 28th they were reunited and returned +to their first camp, from which they removed +the same day to Alki Point.</p> + +<p>A cabin was commenced and after a time, +Low and Terry returned to Portland, leaving +David Thomas Denny, nineteen years of age, the +only white person on Elliott Bay. There were +then swarms of Indians on the Sound.</p> + +<p>For three weeks he held this outpost of +civilization, a part of the time being far from +well. So impressed was he with the defenselessness +of the situation that he expressed himself +as “sorry” when his friends landed from the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 205]</span> +schooner “Exact” at Alki Point on the 13th of +November, 1851. No doubt realizing that an +irretrievable step had been taken, he tried to +reassure them by explaining that “the cabin was +unfinished and that they would not be comfortable.” +Many incidents of his early experience +are recorded in this volume elsewhere.</p> + +<p>He was married on the 23rd of January, +1853, to Miss Louisa Boren, one of the most intelligent, +courageous and devoted of pioneer +women. They were the first white couple married +in Seattle. He was an explorer of the eastern +side of Elliott Bay, but was detained at home +in the cabin by lameness occasioned by a cut on +his foot, when A. A. Denny, W. N. Bell and C. +D. Boren took their claims, so had fourth choice.</p> + +<p>For this reason his claim awaited the growth +of the town of Seattle many years, but finally +became very valuable.</p> + +<p>It was early discovered by the settlers that +he was a conscientious man; so well established +was this fact that he was known by the sobriquet +of “Honest Dave.”</p> + +<p>Like all the other pioneers, he turned his +hand to any useful thing that was available, cutting +and hewing timber for export, clearing a +farm, hauling wood, tending cattle, anything +honorable; being an advocate of total abstinence +and prohibition, <i>he never kept a saloon</i>.</p> + +<p>He has done all in his power to discountenance +the sale and use of intoxicants, the baleful<span class="pagenum">[Pg 206]</span> +effects of which were manifest among both +whites and Indians.</p> + +<p>Every movement in the early days seems to +have been fraught with danger. D. T. Denny +traveled in a canoe with two Indians from the +Seattle settlement in July, 1852, to Bush’s +Prairie, back of Olympia, to purchase cattle for +A. A. Denny, carrying two hundred dollars in +gold for that purpose. He risked his life in so +doing, as he afterward learned that the Indians +thought of killing him and taking the money, but +for some unknown reason decided not to do the +deed.</p> + +<p>He was a volunteer during the Indian war +of 1855-6, in Company C, and with his company +was not far distant when Lieut. Slaughter was +killed, with several others. Those who survived +the attack were rescued by this company.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the battle of Seattle, he +was standing guard near Fort Decatur; the most +thrilling moment of the day to him was probably +that in which he helped his wife and child into +the fort as they fled from the Indians.</p> + +<p>Although obliged to fight the Indians in +self-defense in their warlike moods, yet he was +ever their true friend and esteemed by them as +such. He learned to speak the native tongue +fluently, in such manner as to be able to converse +with all the neighboring tribes, and unnumbered +times, through years of disappointment, sorrow<span class="pagenum">[Pg 207]</span> +and trouble, they sought his advice and sympathy.</p> + +<p>For a quarter of a century the hand-to-hand +struggle went on by the pioneer and his family, +to conquer the wilds, win a subsistence and obtain +education.</p> + +<p>By thrift and enterprise they attained independence, +and as they went along helped to +lay the foundations of many institutions and +enterprises of which the commonwealth is now +justly proud.</p> + +<p>David Thomas Denny possessed the gifts +and abilities of a typical pioneer; a good shot, +his trusty rifle provided welcome articles of +food; he could make, mend and invent useful +and necessary things for pioneer work; it was a +day, in fact, when “Adam delved” and “Eve” +did likewise, and no man was too fine a “gentleman” +to do any sort of work that was required.</p> + +<p>Having the confidence of the community, he +was called upon to fill many positions of trust; +he was a member of the first Board of Trustees +of Seattle, Treasurer of King County, Regent +of the Territorial University, Probate Judge, +School Director, etc., etc.</p> + +<p>Although a Republican and an abolitionist, +he did not consider every Democrat a traitor, +and thereby incurred the enmity of some. Party +feeling ran high.</p> + +<p>At that time (during the Rebellion) there +stood on Pioneer Place in Seattle a very tall<span class="pagenum">[Pg 208]</span> +flagstaff. Upon the death of a prominent Democrat +it was proposed to half-mast the flag on this +staff, but during the night the halyards were cut, +it was supposed by a woman, at the instigation +of her husband and others, but the friends of +the deceased hired “Billie” Fife, a well-known +cartoonist and painter, to climb to the top and +rig a new rope, a fine sailor feat, for which he +received twenty dollars.</p> + +<p>The first organizer of Good Templar Lodges +was entertained at Mr. Denny’s house, and he, +with several of the family, became charter members +of the first organization on October 4th, +1866. He was the first chaplain of the first lodge +of I. O. G. T. organized in Seattle.</p> + +<p>In after years the subject of this sketch became +prominent in the Prohibition movement; +it was suggested to him at one time that he permit +his name to be used as Prohibition candidate +for Governor of the State of Washington, but +the suggestion was never carried out. He would +have considered it an honor to be defeated in a +good cause.</p> + +<p>He also became a warm advocate of equal +suffrage, and at both New York and Omaha M. +E. general conferences he heartily favored the +admission of women lay delegates, and much +regretted the adverse decision by those in authority.</p> + +<p>The old pioneers were and are generally +broad, liberal and progressive in their ideas and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 209]</span> +principles; they found room and opportunity to +think and act with more freedom than in the +older centers of civilization, consequently along +every line they are in the forefront of modern +thought.</p> + +<p>For its commercial development, Seattle +owes much to David Thomas Denny, and others +like him, in perhaps a lesser degree. In the days +of small beginnings, he recognized the possibilities +of development in the little town so fortunately +located. His hard-earned wealth, energy +and talents have been freely given to make the +city of the present as well as that which it will be.</p> + +<p>D. T. Denny made a valuable gift to the +city of Seattle in a plot of land in the heart of +the best residence portion of the city. Many +years ago it was used as a cemetery, but was +afterward vacated and is now a park. He landed +on the site of Seattle with twenty-five cents in +his pocket. His acquirement of wealth after +years of honest work was estimated at three +million.</p> + +<p>Not only his property, money, thought and +energy have gone into the building up of Seattle, +but hundreds of people, newly arrived, have occupied +his time in asking information and advice +in regard to their settling in the West.</p> + +<p><a id="IX" name="IX"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 354px;"> +<img src="images/opp209.jpg" width="354" height="600" alt="" title="DAVID THOMAS DENNY" /> +<span class="caption">DAVID THOMAS DENNY</span> +</div> + +<p>He was president of the first street railway +company of Seattle, and afterward spent thousands +of dollars on a large portion of the system +of cable and electric roads of which the citizens +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 210]</span>of Seattle are wont to boast, unknowing, careless +or forgetting that what is their daily convenience +impoverished those who built, equipped and +operated them. He and his company owned and +operated for a time the Consolidated Electric +road to North Seattle, Cedar Street and Green +Lake; the cable road to Queen Anne Hill, and +built and equipped the “Third Street and Suburban” +electric road to the University and Ravenna +Park.</p> + +<p>The building and furnishing of a large +sawmill with the most approved modern machinery, +the establishing of an electric light plant, +furnishing a water supply to a part of the city, +and in many other enterprises he was actively +engaged.</p> + +<p>For many years he paid into the public +treasury thousands of dollars for taxes on his +unimproved, unproductive real estate, a considerable +portion of which was unjustly required +and exacted, as it was impossible to have sold +the property at its assessed valuation. As one +old settler said, he paid “robber taxes.”</p> + +<p>When, in the great financial panic that +swept over the country in 1893, he obtained a +loan of the city treasurer and mortgaged to +secure it real estate worth at least three times +the sum borrowed, the mob cried out against him +and sent out his name as one who had robbed the +city, forsooth!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page211" name="page211">[Pg 211]</a></span>This was not the only occasion when the +canaille expressed their disapproval.</p> + +<p>Previous to, and during the anti-Chinese +riot in Seattle, which occurred on Sunday, February +7th, 1886, he received a considerable +amount of offensive attention. In the dark district +of Seattle, there gathered one day a forerunner +of the greater mob which created so much +disturbance, howling that they would burn him +out. “We’ll burn his barn,” they yelled, their +provocation being that he employed Chinese +house servants and rented ground to Mongolian +gardeners. The writer remembers that it was a +fine garden, in an excellent state of cultivation. +No doubt many of the agitators themselves had +partaken of the products thereof many times, +it being one of the chief sources of supply of the +city.</p> + +<p>The threats were so loud and bitter against +the friends of the Chinese that it was felt necessary +to post a guard at his residence. The eldest +son was in Oregon, attending the law school +of the University; the next one, D. Thos. Denny, +Jr., not yet of age, served in the militia during +the riot; the third and youngest remained at +home ready to help defend the same. The outlook +was dark, but after some serious remarks +concerning the condition of things, Mr. Denny +went up stairs and brought down his Winchester +rifle, stood it in a near corner and calmly resumed +his reading. As he had dealt with savages<span class="pagenum">[Pg 212]</span> +before, he stood his ground. At a notorious trial +of white men for unprovoked murder of Chinese, +it was brought out that “Mr. David Denny, he +‘fliend’ (friend) of Chinese, Injun and Nigger.”</p> + +<p>During the time that his great business +called for the employment of a large force of +men, he was uniformly kind to them, paying the +highest market price for their labor. Some +were faithful and honest, some were not; instead +of its being a case of “greedy millionaire,” +it was a case of just the opposite thing, as it was +well known that he was robbed time and again by +dishonest employes.</p> + +<p>When urged to close down his mill, as it was +running behind, he said “I can’t do it, it will +throw a hundred men out of employment and +their families will suffer.” So he borrowed +money, paying a ruinous rate of interest, and +kept on, hoping that business would improve; +it did not and the mill finally went under. A +good many employes who received the highest +wages for the shortest hours, struck for more, +and others were full of rage when the end came +and there were only a few dollars due on their +wages.</p> + +<p>Neither was he a “heartless landlord,” the +heartlessness was on the other side, as numbers +of persons sneaked off without paying their rent, +and many built houses, the lumber in which was +never paid for.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 213]</span></p> + +<p>According to their code it was not <i>stealing</i> +to rob a person supposed to be wealthy.</p> + +<p>The common remark was, “Old Denny can +stand it, he’s got lots of money.”</p> + +<p>The anarchist-communistic element displayed +their strength and venom in many ways +in those days. They heaped abuse on those, who +unfortunately for themselves, employed men, +and bit the hand that fed them.</p> + +<p>Their cry was “Death to Capitalists!” They +declared their intention at one time of hanging +the leading business men of Seattle, breaking +the vaults of the bank open, burning the records +and dividing lands and money among themselves. +But the reign of martial law at the culmination +of their heroic efforts in the Anti-Chinese +riot, brought them to their senses, the history +of which period may be told in another +chapter.</p> + +<p>From early youth, David Thomas Denny +was a faithful member of the M. E. Church, +serving often in official capacity and rendering +valuable assistance, with voice, hand and pocketbook. +Twice he was sent as lay delegate to the +General Conference, a notable body of representative +men, of which he was a member in 1888 +and again in 1892.</p> + +<p>The conference of 1888 met in New York +City and held its sessions at the Metropolitan +Opera House. His family accompanied him,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page214" name="page214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +crossing the continent by the Canadian Pacific +R. R. by way of Montreal to New York.</p> + +<p>In the latter place, they met their first great +sorrow, in the death, after a brief illness, of the +beloved youngest daughter, the return and her +burial in her native land by the sundown seas. +Soon followed other days of sadness and trial; +in less than a year, the second daughter, born in +Fort Decatur, passed away, and others of the +family, hovered on the brink of the grave, but +happily were restored.</p> + +<p>Loss of fortune followed loss of friends as +time went on, but these storms passed and calm +returned. He went steadfastly on, confident of +the rest that awaits the people of God.</p> + +<p>At the age of sixty-seven he was wide awake, +alert and capable of enduring hardships, no +doubt partly owing to a temperate life. In late +years he interested himself in mining and was +hopeful of his own and his friends’ future, and +that of the state he helped to found.</p> + +<p>While sojourning in the Cascade Mountains +in 1891, David T. Denny wrote the following:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Ptarmigan Park: On Sept. 25th, 1851, +just forty years ago, Leander Terry, an older +brother of C. C. Terry, John N. Low and I, +landed on what has since been known as Freeport +Point, now West Seattle. We found Chief +Sealth with his tribe stopping on the beach and +fishing for salmon—a quiet, dignified man was +Sealth.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 215]</span>“We camped on the Point and slept under a +large cedar tree, and the next morning hired a +couple of young Indians to take us up the Duwampsh +River; stayed one night at the place +which was afterward taken for a claim by E. B. +Maple, then returned and camped one night at +our former place on the Point; then on the morning +of the 28th of September went around to Alki +Point and put down the foundation of the first +cabin started in what is now King County. +Looking out over Elliott Bay at that time the site +where Seattle now stands, was an unbroken +forest with no mark made by the hand of man +except a little log fort made by the Indians, +standing near the corner of Commercial and Mill +Streets.</p> + +<p>“Since that day we have had our Indian war, +the Crimean war has been fought, the war between +Prussia and Austria, that between France +and Prussia, the great Southern Rebellion and +many smaller wars.</p> + +<p>“Then to think of the wonderful achievements +in the use of electricity and the end is not yet.</p> + +<p>“I should like to live another forty years just +to see the growth of the Sound country, if nothing +else. I fully believe it is destined to be the +most densely populated and wealthiest of the +United States. One thing that leads me to this +conclusion is the evidence of a large aboriginal +population which subsisted on the natural productions +of the land and water. Reasoning by<span class="pagenum">[Pg 216]</span> +comparison, what a vast multitude can be supported +by an intelligent use of the varied resources +of the country and the world to draw +from besides.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>And again he wrote:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Ptarmigan Park, Sept. 28th, 1891: Just +forty years ago yesterday, J. N. Low, Lee Terry +and myself laid the foundation of the first cabin +started in what is now King County, Washington, +then Thurston County, Oregon Territory.</p> + +<p>“Vast have been the changes since that day.</p> + +<p>“Looking back it does not seem so very long +ago and yet children born since that have grown +to maturity, married, and reared families.</p> + +<p>“Many of those who came to Elliott Bay are +long since gone to their last home. Lee Terry has +been dead thirty-five years, Capt. Robert Fay, +twenty or more years, and J. N. Low over two +years, in fact most of the early settlers have +passed away: John Buckley and wife, Jacob +Maple, S. A. Maple, Wm. N. Bell and wife, C. C. +Terry and wife, A. Terry, L. M. Collins and wife, +Mrs. Kate Butler, E. Hanford, Mother Holgate, +John Holgate and many others. If they could +return to Seattle now they would not know the +place, and yet had it not been for various hindrances, +the Indian war, the opposition of the +N. P. R. R. and the great fire, Seattle would be +much larger than it now is, the country would +be much more developed and we would have a +larger rural population.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 217]</span>“However, from this time forward, I fully +believe the process of development will move +steadily on, especially do I believe that we are +just commencing the development of the mineral +resources of the country. Undoubtedly +there has been more prospecting for the precious +metals during 1891 than ever before all put together.</p> + +<p>“In the Silver Creek region there has been, +probably, six hundred claims taken and from all +accounts the outlook is very favorable. Also +from Cle Elum and Swauk we have glowing accounts.</p> + +<p>“In the Ptarmigan Park district about fifty +claims have been taken, a large amount of development +work done and some very fine samples +of ore taken out.”</p> + +<p class="quotsig">(Signed) <span class="smcap">D. T. Denny.</span></p></blockquote> + +<p>In the Seattle Daily Times of September +25th, 1901.</p> + +<blockquote><p class="title">“JUST FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY.</p> + +<p>“On September 25, 1851, Mr. D. T. Denny, +Now Living in This City, Was Greeted on the +Shores of Elliott Bay by Chief Seattle.</p> + +<p>“Fifty years ago today, the first white settlers +set foot in King County.</p> + +<p>“Fifty years ago today, a little band of pioneers +rounded Alki Point and grounded their +boat at West Seattle. Chief Seattle stalked majestically +down the beach and greeted them in his +characteristic way. During the ensuing week<span class="pagenum">[Pg 218]</span> +they were guests of a Western sachem, the king +of Puget Sound waters, and never were white +men more royally entertained.</p> + +<p>“At that time Chief Seattle was at the height +of his popularity. With a band of five hundred +braves behind him, he stood in a position to command +the respect of all wandering tribes and +of the first few white men, whose heart-hungering +and restlessness had driven them from the +civilization of the East, across the plains of the +Middle West, to the shores of the Pacific.</p> + +<p>“As Mr. Denny is essentially the premier of +this country, it would not be out of order to give +a glimpse of his early history. He is the true +type of pioneer. Although he is somewhat bent +with age, and his hair is white with the snows +of many winters, nevertheless, he still shows +signs of that ruggedness that was with him in +the early Western days of his youth. Not only +is he a pioneer, but he came from a family of +pioneers. Years and years ago his ancestors +crossed the Atlantic and landed on the Atlantic +coast. Not satisfied with the prevailing conditions +there, they began to push westward, settling +in what is now Pennsylvania. As the country +became opened up and settled, this Denny +family of hardy pioneers again turned their +faces to the westward sun, and this time Indiana +made them a home, and still later Illinois.”</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 219]</span></p> +<p class="title">THE START WESTWARD.</p> + +<p>It was in the latter state that Mr. D. T. +Denny and his brother first began to hear stories +of the Willamette valley. Wonderful tales were +being carried across the plains of the fertility of +the land around the Columbia River and the +spirit of restlessness that had been characteristic +of their ancestors began to tell upon them, and +after reading all they could find of this practically +unknown wilderness, they bade farewell +to their Illinois friends, and started off across +the plains.</p> + +<p>The start was made on the 10th day of April, +1851, from Knox County, Illinois. D. T. Denny +was accompanied by his older brother A. A. Denny, +and family. They drove two four-horse +teams, and a two-horse wagon, and ten days +after the start had been made they crossed the +Missouri River. The fourth of July, 1851, found +them at Fort Hall on Snake River, Montana, an +old Hudson Bay trading station. On the 11th +day of August, they reached The Dalles, Oregon, +and there, after a brief consultation, they decided +to separate.</p> + +<p>Mr. A. A. Denny here shipped the wagons +and his family down the river on some small vessel +they were fortunate enough to find there, +while Mr. D. T. Denny took the horses and +pushed over the Cascade Mountains. He followed +what was then known as the old Barlow<span class="pagenum">[Pg 220]</span> +road and reached Portland on the 17th day of +August.</p> + +<p>They decided to stay in Portland for a few +days, until they could learn more about the country +than they then knew, and it was in that city +that the subject of this sketch worked his first +day for money. He helped Thomas Carter unload +a brig that had reached port from Boston, +receiving the sum of three dollars for his labors, +and it was the “biggest three dollars he ever +earned in his life,” so he said.</p> + +<p>While at Portland they began to hear stories +of Puget Sound, and after a brief consultation, +the Denny brothers and Mr. John N. Low, who +had also made the journey across the plains, decided +to investigate the country that now lies +around the Queen City of the West.</p> + +<p class="title">OFF FOR ELLIOTT BAY.</p> + +<p>As A. A. Denny had his family to look after, +it was decided that Mr. Low and D. T. Denny +would make the trip, and as a consequence, on +the 10th day of September they ferried Low’s +stock across the river to what was then Fort Vancouver. +From there they followed the Hudson +Bay trail to the Cowlitz River, and up the Cowlitz +to Ford’s Prairie. Leaving their stock there +for a short time, they pushed on to Olympia, now +the capital of the state.</p> + +<p>When they reached Olympia they found +Capt. R. C. Fay and George M. Martin on the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 221]</span> +point of leaving down Sound to fish for salmon, +and Messrs. Low, Denny and Terry arranged to +come as far as the Duwamish River with them. +The start was made. There was no fluttering +of flags nor booming of cannon such as marked +the departure of Columbus when he left for a +new country, and in fact this little band of men, +in an open boat, little dreamed that they would +ultimately land within a stone’s throw of what +was destined to become one of the greatest cities +in the West.</p> + +<p>Fifty years ago today they camped with +Chief Seattle on the promontory across the bay. +They slept that night under the protecting +branches of a cedar tree, and on the morning of +the 26th they hired two of Seattle’s braves to +paddle them up the river in a dugout canoe. +They spent that day in looking over the river +bottoms, where are now situated the towns of +Maple Prairie and Van Asselt. There were no +settlements there then, and nothing but giant +pines and firs greeted their gaze for miles. It +was a wonderful sight to these hardy Eastern +men, and as they wished to know something more +of the country, Messrs. Low and Terry decided +to leave the canoe and depart on a short tour +of exploration. One, two and three hours passed +and they failed to put in an appearance. In +vain did Mr. Denny fire his gun, and yell himself +hoarse, but he was compelled to spend the night +in the wilderness with the two Indians.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 222]</span></p> +<p class="title">DECIDED TO LOCATE.</p> + +<p>The next day, however, or to be explicit, +on the 27th of September, he was gratified at +the appearance of his friends on the river bank. +They had become lost the night before, and +falling in with a band of Indians, had spent the +night with them. Having seen enough of the +country to become convinced that it was the +place for them, they returned to what is now +West Seattle for the night. After the sun had +disappeared behind the Olympics, they heard a +scow passing the point, which afterwards they +found contained L. M. Collins and family, who +had pushed on up the river and settled on the +banks of the Duwamish.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 28th they decided to +take up claims back of Alki point, and on that +day started to lay the foundation of the first +cabin in King county. Having decided to settle +on Elliott bay, Mr. Low determined to return +to Portland for his family, whereupon Mr. Denny +wrote the following letter to his brother and +sent it with him:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“We have examined the valley of the Duwamish +river and find it a fine country. There +is plenty of room for one thousand settlers. +Come on at once.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>By the time Mr. Low had reached Portland, +William Bell and C. D. Boren had also become +interested in the Puget Sound district, and therefore +Messrs. Low, Denny, Bell and Boren, with<span class="pagenum">[Pg 223]</span> +their families, hired a schooner to take them +down the Columbia, up on the outside, in through +the Strait, and up the Sound to Alki, reaching +the latter point on the 13th of November, 1851.</p> + +<p>In speaking of those early pioneer days, Mr. +Denny said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“We built up quite a settlement over on +Alki, and the Indians of course came and settled +around us. No, we were not molested to any +great extent. I remember that on one night, +our women folks missed a lot of clothing they +had hung out to dry, and I at once went to their +big chief and told him what had happened. In +a very short time not only were the missing +articles returned to us, but a lot that we didn’t +know were gone.”</p></blockquote> + +<p class="title">WHISKY CAUSED TROUBLE.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“In those early days, in all my experience +with Indians, I have always found them peaceable +enough as long as they left whisky alone. +Of course we had trouble with them, but it was +always due to the introduction of the white +man’s firewater, which has been more than a +curse to the red man.</p> + +<p>“When we reached here, the Indians were +more advanced than one would have naturally +supposed. We were able to buy berries, fish and +game of them, and potatoes also. Great fine +tubers they were too, much better than any we +had ever been able to raise back in Illinois. In +fact I don’t know what we would have done<span class="pagenum">[Pg 224]</span> +during the first two winters had it not been for +the Indians.</p> + +<p>“But talk about game,” he continued, a +glow coming to his face as the old scenes were +brought up to him, “why, I have seen the waters +of Elliott Bay fairly black with ducks. Deer +and bear were plentiful then and this was a +perfect paradise for the man with a rod or gun. +Never, I am sure, was there a country in which +it was so easy to live as it was in the Puget +Sound district fifty years ago.”</p> + +<p>“In coming across the plains, Mr. Denny, +were you attacked by Indians, or have any adventures +out of the ordinary?” was asked.</p> + +<p>“Well,” said he meditatively, “we did have +one little brush that might have ended with the +loss of all our lives. It was just after leaving +Fort Hall, in Montana. We had come up to +what I think was called the American Falls. +While quite a distance away we noticed the water +just below the falls was black, with what we +supposed were ducks, but as we drew nearer we +saw they were Indians swimming across with one +hand and holding their guns high in the air with +the other. We turned off slightly and started +down the trail at a rattling rate. We had not +gone far when a big chief stepped up on the +bank. He was dressed mainly in a tall plug +hat and a gun, and he shouted, ‘How do, how +do, stop, stop!’ Well, we didn’t, and after re<span class="pagenum">[Pg 225]</span>peating +his question he dropped behind the sage +brush and opened fire.</p> + +<p>“My brother lay in my wagon sick with +mountain fever, and that, of course, materially +reduced our fighting force. Had they succeeded +in shooting down one of our horses, it would, of +course, have been the end of us, but fortunately +they did not and we at last escaped them. No, +no one was wounded, but it was the worst scrape +I ever had with the Indians, and I hope I will +never have to go through a similar experience +again. It isn’t pleasant to be shot at, even by +an Indian.”</p></blockquote> + +<p class="title">RECOGNIZED THE SPOT.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“In 1892,” said Mr. Denny, “I went East +over the Great Northern. I was thinking of my +first experience in Montana when I reached that +state, when all of a sudden we rounded a curve +and passed below the falls. I knew them in a +minute, and instantly those old scenes and trying +times came back to me in a way that was +altogether too realistic for comfort. No, I have +not been back since.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Prosch, Mr. Ward and myself,” continued +this old pioneer, “had intended to take +our families over to Alki today and hold a sort +of a picnic in honor of what happened fifty years +ago, but of course my sickness has prevented us +from doing so. I don’t suppose we will be here +to celebrate the event at the end of another fifty +years, and I should have liked to have gone to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 226]</span>day. +Instead, I suppose I shall sit here and +think of what I saw and heard at Alki Point +just fifty years ago. I can live it over again, in +memories at least.</p> + +<p>“Now, young man,” concluded Mr. Denny, +not unkindly, “please get the names of those +early pioneers and the dates right. A Seattle +paper published a bit of this history a few days +ago, and they got everything all mixed up. This +is the story, and should be written right, because +if it isn’t, the story becomes valueless. I dislike +very much to have the stories and events of those +early days misstated and misrepresented.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>In 1899, Mr. Denny had the arduous task +of personally superintending the improvement +of the old Snoqualmie road around the shore of +Lake Kichelas and on for miles through the +mountains, building and repairing bridges, making +corduroy, blasting out rocks, changing the +route at times; after much patient effort and +endurance of discomfort and hardship, he left +it much improved, for which many a weary way-farer +would be grateful did they but know. In +value the work was far beyond the remuneration +he received.</p> + +<p>During the time he was so occupied he had +a narrow escape from death by an accident, the +glancing of a double-bitted ax in the hands of a +too energetic workman; it struck him between +the eyes, inflicting a wound which bled alarmingly, +but finally was successfully closed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 227]</span>The next year he camped at Lake Kichelas +in the interests of a mining company, and incidentally +enjoyed some fishing and prospecting. +It was the last time he visited the mountains.</p> + +<p>Gradually some maladies which had haunted +him for years increased. As long as he could +he exerted himself in helping his family, especially +in preparing the site for a new home. He +soon after became a great sufferer for several +years, struggling against his infirmities, in all +exhibiting great fortitude and patience.</p> + +<p>His mind was clear to the last and he was +able to converse, to read and to give sound and +admirable advice and opinions.</p> + +<p>Almost to the last day of his life he took +interest in the progress of the nation and of the +world, following the great movements with absorbing +interest.</p> + +<p>He expressed a desire to see his friends +earnest Christians, his own willingness to leave +earthly scenes and his faith in Jesus.</p> + +<p>So he lived and thus he died, passing away +on the morning of November 25th, 1903, in the +seventy-second year of his age.</p> + +<p>He was a great pioneer, a mighty force, +commercial, moral and religious, in the foundation-building +of the Northwest.</p> + +<p>In a set of resolutions presented by the +Pioneer Association of the State of Washington +occur these words: “The record of no citizen +was ever marked more distinctly by acts of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 228]</span> +probity, integrity and general worth than that +of Mr. D. T. Denny, endearing him to all the +people and causing them to regard him with the +utmost esteem and favor.”</p> + +<p>On the morning of November 26th, 1903, +there appeared in the Post-Intelligencer, the +following:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“David Thomas Denny, who came to the +site of Seattle in 1851, the first of his name on +Puget Sound, died at his home, a mile north +of Green Lake, at 3:36 yesterday morning. All +the members of his family, including John +Denny, who arrived the day before from Alaska, +were at the bedside. Until half an hour before +he passed away Mr. Denny was conscious, and +engaged those about him in conversation.”</p></blockquote> + +<p class="title">MARRIED IN A CABIN.</p> + +<p>The story of the early life of the Denny +brothers tallies very nearly with the history of +Seattle. Mr. and Mrs. David Denny were married +in a cabin on the north end of A. A. Denny’s +claim near the foot of Lenora street, January +23, 1853. The next morning the couple moved +to their own cabin—built by the husband’s hands—at +the foot of what is now Denny Way. The +moving was accomplished in a canoe.</p> + +<p>Though they professed a great respect for +David Denny, the Indians were numerous and +never very reliable. In a year or two, therefore, +the family moved up nearer the sawmill and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 229]</span> +little settlement which had grown up near the +foot of Cherry street. D. T. Denny had meanwhile +staked out a very large portion of what +is now North Seattle—a plat of three hundred +and twenty acres. Later he made seven additions +to the city of Seattle from this claim. In +1857 it was a wilderness of thick brush, but the +pioneer moved his family to his farm on the +present site of Recreation park in that year. +The Indian war had occurred the winter before +and the red men were quiet, having received a +lesson from the blue jackets which were landed +from the United States gunboat Decatur.</p> + +<p>Three or four years later the family moved +to a cottage at the corner of Second avenue and +Seneca street. In the early ’70s they moved to +the large home at the corner of Dexter and Republican +streets, where the children grew up. +In 1890 the family took possession of the large +house standing on Queen Anne avenue, known +as the Denny home, which was occupied by the +family until a few years ago, when they moved +to Fremont and later to the house where Mr. +Denny died, in Licton Park, some distance +north of Green Lake.</p> + +<p>Until about ten years ago David T. Denny +was considered the wealthiest man in Seattle. +His large property in the north end of the city +had been the source of more and more revenue +as the town grew. When the needs of the town +became those of a big city he hastened to supply<span class="pagenum">[Pg 230]</span> +them with energy and money. His mill on the +shores of Lake Union was the largest in the +city, when Seattle was first known as a milling +town. The establishment of an electric light +plant and a water supply to a part of the city +were among the enterprises which he headed.</p> + +<p>The cable and horse car roads were consolidated +into a company headed by D. T. Denny +more than a decade ago. In the effort to supply +the company with the necessary funds Mr. Denny +attempted to convert much of his property +into cash. At that time an estimate of his resources +was made by a close personal friend, +who yesterday said that the amount was considerably +over three million dollars, which included +his valuable stock in the traction companies. +In the hard times of ’93 Mr. Denny was +unable to realize the apparent value of his property, +and a considerable reduction of his fortune +was a result. Since then he has been to a great +extent engaged in mining in the Cascade mountains, +and for the past three years has been +closely confined to his home by a serious illness.</p> + +<p>Among the gifts of D. T. Denny to the city +of Seattle is Denny Park. Denny Way, the +Denny school and other public places in Seattle +bear his name. D. T. Denny was a liberal Republican +always. He was at one time a member +of the board of regents of the territorial university, +the first treasurer of King county, probate +judge for two years and for twelve years a school<span class="pagenum">[Pg 231]</span> +director of District No. 1, comprising the city +of Seattle.</p> + +<p>Several of those who were associated with +David T. Denny during the time when he was +in active business and a strong factor in local +affairs have offered estimates of his character +and of the part he took in the founding and +building of the city. Said Col. William T. +Prosser:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“It is sad to think that David T. Denny +will no more be seen upon the streets of the city +he assisted in founding more than fifty years +ago. During all that time he was closely identified +with its varying periods of danger, delayed +hopes and bitter disappointments, as well as +those of marvelous growth, activity and prosperity. +The changing features of the city were +reflected in his own personal history. The waves +of prosperity and adversity both swept over him, +yet throughout his entire career he always maintained +his integrity and through it all he bore +himself as an energetic and patriotic citizen and +as a Christian gentleman.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Judge Thomas Burke:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“D. T. Denny had great faith in Seattle, +and his salient characteristic was his readiness +in pushing forward its welfare. I remember +him having an irreproachable character—honest, +just in all his dealings and strong in his spirit. +In illustration of his strong feeling on the temperance +question I remember that he embodied<span class="pagenum">[Pg 232]</span> +a clause in the early deeds of the property which +he sold to the effect that no intoxicating liquors +were to be sold upon the premises. Yes, he was +a good citizen.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Charles A. Prosch:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Although Mr. Denny’s later years were +clouded by financial troubles, reverses did not +soil his spirit nor change his integrity. He was +progressive to the last and one of the most upright +men I know.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>D. B. Ward:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“I first met David Denny in 1859 and I +have known him more or less intimately ever +since. I know him to have possessed strict integrity, +unswerving purpose and cordial hospitality. +My first dinner in Seattle was eaten at +his home—where a baked salmon fresh from +the Sound was an oddity to me. His financial +troubles some years ago grew out of his undaunted +public spirit. He was president of the first +consolidated street car system here, and in his +efforts to support it most of his property was +confiscated. I knew him for a strong, able +man.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Judge Orange Jacobs:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Mr. Denny was a quiet man, but he carried +the stamp of truth. He was extremely generous, +and as I remember, he possessed a fine +mind. In his death I feel a personal, poignant +grief.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Rev. W. S. Harrington:</p> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 233]</span></p> +<blockquote><p>“D. T. Denny was a man of much more than +average ability. He thought much and deeply +on all questions which affected the welfare of +man. He was retiring and his strength was +known to few. But his integrity was thorough +and transparent and his purpose inflexible. +Even though he suffered, his spirit was never +bitter toward his fellows, and his benefactions +were numerous. Above all, he was a Christian +and believed in a religion which he sought to +live, not to exhibit. His long illness was borne +with a patience and a sweetness which commanded +my deep respect and admiration.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Samuel L. Crawford:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“A man with the courage to fight for his +convictions of right and with a marvelous capacity +for honest work—such is the splendid heritage +David T. Denny has left to his sorrowing +family. When but 19 years of age he walked +from the Columbia river to Puget Sound, driving +a small band of stock ahead of him through +the brush.</p> + +<p>"No sooner had his party settled and the log +cabin been completed than David commenced +looking for more work, and, like all others who +seek diligently, he was successful, for early in +December of that year the brig Leonesa, Capt. +Daniel S. Howard, stopped at Alki Point, seeking +a cargo of piling for San Francisco. David +T. Denny, William N. Bell, C. D. Boren, C. C. +Terry, J. N. Low, A. A. Denny and Lee Terry<span class="pagenum">[Pg 234]</span> +took the contract of cutting the piling and loading +the vessel, which they accomplished in about +two weeks, a remarkably short time, when the +weather and the lack of teams and other facilities +are taken into consideration.</p> + +<p>“Other vessels came for cargo and Mr. +Denny became an expert woodsman, helping to +supply them with piling from the shores. In +1852 Mr. Denny, in company with his brother +Arthur and some others, came over to Elliott Bay +and laid the foundation of Seattle, the great city +of the future. Mr. Denny, being a bachelor, took +the most northerly claim, adjoining that of W. +N. Bell, and built a cabin near the shore, at the +foot of what is now Denny Way. The Indians +being troublesome, he moved into a small house +beside that of his brother on the site of the present +Stevens Hotel.</p> + +<p>“In the meantime he married a sister of C. +D. Boren, and a small family commenced to +spring up around him, thus requiring larger +quarters. In 1871 Mr. Denny built a large frame +house on the southwest shore of Lake Union, on +a beautiful knoll. He cleared up a large portion +of his claim, and for many years engaged in +farming and stock-raising. He afterward built +a palatial home on his property at the foot of +Queen Anne Hill, midway between Lake Union +and the Sound, but this he occupied only a short +time. In 1852, in company with his brother +Arthur, Mr. Denny discovered Salmon Bay.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 235]</span>“Mr. Denny was a just man and always +dealt fairly with the Indians. For this reason +the Indians learned to love and respect him, and +for many years they have gone to him to settle +their disputes and help them out of their difficulties +with the whites and among themselves.</p> + +<p>“As Seattle grew, David Denny platted +much of his claim and sold it off in town lots. +He built the Western mill at the south end of +Lake Union and engaged extensively in the +building and promotion of street railways. He +had too many irons in the fire, and when the +panic came in 1892-3 it crippled him financially, +but he gave up his property, the accumulation of +a lifetime of struggle and work, to satisfy his +creditors, and went manfully to work in the +mountains of Washington to regain his lost fortune. +His heroic efforts were rapidly being +crowned with success, as he is known to have +secured a number of mines of great promise, on +which he has done a large amount of development +work during the past few years.</p> + +<p>“In the death of David T. Denny, Seattle +loses an upright, generous worker, who has always +contributed of his brain, brawn and cash +for the upbuilding of the city of which he was +one of the most important founders.”</p></blockquote> + +<p class="title">DEXTER HORTON’S TRIBUTE.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 236]</span></p><blockquote><p>“‘I have known Mr. Denny for fifty years. +A mighty tree has fallen. He was one of the best +men, of highest character and principle, this city +ever claimed as a citizen. That is enough.’</p> + +<p>“By Father F. X. Prefontaine, of the +Church of Our Lady of Good Help: ‘I have +known Mr. Denny about thirty-six or thirty-seven +years. I always liked him, though I was +more intimately acquainted with his brother, +Hon. A. A. Denny, and his venerable father, +John Denny. His father in his time impressed +me as a fine gentleman, a great American. He +was a man who was always called upon at public +meetings for a speech and he was a deeply +earnest man, so much so that tears often showed +in his eyes while he was addressing the people.’</p> + +<p>“Hon. Boyd J. Tallman, judge of the Superior +Court: ‘I have only known Mr. Denny +since 1889, and I always entertained the highest +regard for him. He was a man of firm conviction +and principle and was always ready to uphold +them. Though coming here to help found +the town, he was always ready to advocate and +stand for the principle of prohibition and temperance +on all occasions. While there were +many who could not agree with him in these +things, every manly man felt bound to accord +to Mr. Denny honesty of purpose and respect for +the sincerity of his opinion. I believe that in +his death a good man has gone and this community +has suffered a great loss.’”</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 237]</span></p> +<p class="title">C. B. BAGLEY TALKS.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Clarence B. Bagley, who as a boy and +man has known Mr. Denny for almost the full +number of years the latter lived at Seattle, was +visibly overcome at the news of his death. Mr. +Bagley would gladly have submitted a more extended +estimate than he did of Mr. Denny’s life +and character, but he was just hurrying into +court to take his place as a juryman.</p> + +<p>“‘Mr. Denny was one of the best men Seattle +ever had. He was a liberal man, ever ready +to embark his means in enterprises calculated to +upbuild and aid in the progress of Seattle. He +was a man of strong convictions, strong almost +to obstinacy in upholding and maintaining +cherished principles he fully believed.</p> + +<p>“‘Mr. Denny suffered reverses through his +willingness to establish enterprises for the good +of the whole city. He built the Western Mill at +Lake Union when the location was away in the +woods, and eventually lost a great deal of money +in it during the duller periods of the city’s life. +He also lost a great deal of money in giving this +city a modern street railway system. His character +as an honorable man and Christian always +stood out boldly, his integrity of purpose never +questioned.’</p> + +<p>“Lawrence J. Colman, son of J. M. Colman, +the pioneer, said: ‘Our family has known Mr. +Denny for thirty-one years, ever since coming to +Seattle. We regarded him as an absolutely up<span class="pagenum">[Pg 238]</span>right, +conscientious and Christian man, notwithstanding +the reverses that came to him, in whom +our confidence was supreme, and one who did +not require his character to be upheld, for it +shone brightly at all times by its own lustre.’”</p></blockquote> + +<p class="title">SAMUEL COOMBS TALKS.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“S. F. Coombs, the well-known pioneer, had +known Mr. Denny since 1859, about forty-five +years. ‘It was to Mr. Denny,’ said Mr. Coombs, +‘that the Indians who lived here and knew him +always went for advice and comfort and to have +their disputes settled. Their high estimate of +the man was shown in many ways, where the +whites were under consideration. Mr. Denny +was a man whom I always admired and greatly +respected. He afforded me much information +of the resident Indians here and around Salmon +Bay, as he was intimately acquainted with them +all.</p> + +<p>“‘At one time Mr. Denny was reckoned as +Seattle’s wealthiest citizen. When acting as +deputy assessor for Andrew Chilberg, the city +lying north of Mill Street, now Yesler Way, was +my district to assess. Denny’s holdings, D. T. +Denny’s plats, had the year previous been assessed +by the acre. The law was explicit, and to +have made up the assessment by the acre would +have been illegal. Mr. Denny’s assessed value +the year before was fifty thousand dollars. The +best I could do was to make the assessment by<span class="pagenum">[Pg 239]</span> +the lot and block. For the year I assessed two +hundred and fifty thousand. Recourse was had +to the county commissioners, but the assessment +remained about the same. Just before his purchase +of the Seattle street car system he was the +wealthiest man in King County, worth more than +five hundred thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>“‘Of Mr. Denny it may be said that if +others had applied the Golden Rule as he did, he +would have been living in his old home in great +comfort in this city today.’”</p></blockquote> + +<p class="title">LIFE OF DAVID DENNY.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Fifty-two years and two months ago David +Thomas Denny came to Seattle, to the spot where +Seattle now stands enthroned upon her seven +hills. Mr. Denny, the last but one of the little +band of pioneers—some half dozen men first to +make this spot their home—has been gathered to +his fathers; ‘has wrapped the mantle of his +shroud about him and laid down to pleasant +dreams.’ Gone is a man and citizen who perhaps +loved Seattle best of all those who ever +made Seattle their home. This is attested by the +fact that from the time that Mr. Denny first came +to Elliott Bay it has been his constant home. +Never but once or twice during that long period +of time did he go far away, and then for but a +very short time. Once he went as far away as +New York—and that proved a sad trip—and +once, in recent years, to California. Both trips<span class="pagenum">[Pg 240]</span> +were comparatively brief, and he who first conquered +the primeval forest that crowned the +hills around returned home full of intense longing +to get back and full of love for the old home.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Denny lived a rugged, honorable, upright +life—the life of a patriarch. He bore patiently +a long period of intense suffering manfully +and without murmur, and when the end +approached he calmly awaited the summons and +died as if falling away into a quiet sleep. So he +lived, so he died.</p> + +<p>“Few indeed who can comprehend the extent +of his devotion to Seattle. Living in Seattle +for the last two years, yet for that period he +never looked once upon the city which he helped +to build. About that long ago he moved from his +home which he had maintained for some years at +Fremont, to the place where he died, Licton +Springs, about a mile north of Green Lake. Said +Mr. Denny as he went from the door of the old +home he was giving up for the new: ‘This will +be the last time I will ever look upon Seattle,’ +and Mr. Denny’s words were true. He never was +able to leave again the little sylvan home his family—his +wife, sister and children—had raised +for him in the woods. There, dearly loved, he +was watched over and cared for by the children +and by the wife who had shared with him for two-score-and-ten +years the joys and sorrows, the +ups and downs that characterized his life in a +more marked degree than was the experience of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 241]</span> +any other of the pioneers who first reached this +rugged bay.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Denny was once, not so very long ago, +a wealthy man—some say the wealthiest in the +city—but he died poor, very poor; but he paid +his debts to the full. Once the owner in fee simple +of land upon which are now a thousand beautiful +Seattle homes, he passed on to his account +a stranger in a strange land, and without title to +his own domicile. When the crisis and the crash +came that wrecked his fortune he went stoutly +to work, and if he ever repined it was not known +outside of the family and small circle of chosen +friends. That was about fourteen years ago, and +up to two years ago Mr. Denny toiled in an humble +way, perhaps never expecting, never hoping +to regain his lost fortune. Those last years of +labor were spent, for the most part, at the Denny +Mine on Gold Creek, a mine, too, in which he had +no direct interest or ownership, or in directing +work upon the Snoqualmie Pass road. He came +down from the hills to his sick bed and to his +death.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Denny’s life for half a century is the +history of the town. Without the Dennys there +might have been no Seattle. Of all the band that +came here in the fall of 1851, they seemed to have +taken deepest root and to have left the stamp of +their name and individuality which is keen and +patent to this day.”</p></blockquote> + +<p><a id="X" name="X"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 345px;"> +<img src="images/opp241.jpg" width="345" height="600" alt="" title="SONS OF D. T. AND LOUISA DENNY" /> +<span class="caption">SONS OF D. T. AND LOUISA DENNY<br /> +Victor W. S. D. Thomas John B.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 242]</span></p> +<p class="title">CAME FROM ILLINOIS.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“The Dennys came from Illinois, from some +place near Springfield, and crossing Iowa, rendezvoused +at what was then Kanesville, now +Council Bluffs. They came by way of Fort Hall +and the South Pass, along the south side of the +Snake River, where, at or near American Falls, +they had their first and only brush with the Indians. +There was only desultory firing and no +one was injured. The party reached The Dalles +August 11, 1851. The party separated there, +Low, Boren and A. A. Denny going by river to +Portland, arriving August 22. In September, +Low and D. T. Denny drove a herd of cattle, +those that drew them across the plains, to Chehalis +River to get them to a good winter range. +These men came on to the Sound and here they +arrived before the end of that month. After +looking around some, Low went away, having +hired Mr. Denny, who was an unmarried man, +to stay behind and build Low a cabin. This was +done and on September 28th, 1851, the foundation +of this first cabin was laid close to the beach +at Alki Point.</p> + +<p>“A. A. Denny, Low, Boren, Bell and C. C. +Terry arrived at Alki Point, joining D. T. Denny. +That made a happy little family, twenty-four +persons, twelve men and women, twelve children +and one cabin. In this they all resided until +the men could erect a second log cabin. By +this time the immediate vicinity of the point had<span class="pagenum"><a id="page243" name="page243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +been stripped of its building logs and the men +had to go back and split shakes and carry them +out of the woods on their backs. With these they +erected two ‘shake’ or split cedar houses that, +with the two log cabins, provided fair room for +the twenty-four people.</p> + +<p>“During that winter the men cut and loaded +a small brig with piles for San Francisco. The +piles were cut near the water and rolled and +dragged by hand to where they would float to the +vessel’s side. There were no oxen in the country +at that time and the first team that came to Elliott +Bay was driven along the beach at low tide from +up near Tacoma.”</p></blockquote> + +<p class="title">SURROUNDED BY INDIANS.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“The first winter spent at Alki Point the +settlers were almost constantly surrounded with +one thousand Indians armed with old Hudson +Bay Company’s muskets. This company maintained +one of its posts at Nisqually, Pierce County, +and traded flintlocks and blankets with the +Indians all over Western Washington, taking in +trade their furs and skins. The Indians from +far and near hearing of the settlement of whites +came and camped on the beach nearly the whole +winter.</p> + +<p>“In addition to the Indians of this bay the +Muckleshoots, Green Rivers, Snoqualmies, Tulalips, +Port Madisons and likely numerous other +bands were on hand. At one time the Muckle<span class="pagenum">[Pg 244]</span>shoots +and Snoqualmies lined up in front of the +little cluster of whites and came near engaging +in a battle, having become enraged at one another. +The whites acted as peacemakers and no +blood was spilled.</p> + +<p>“In those days the government gave what was +known as donation claims, one hundred sixty +acres to a man, and an equal amount to the women. +In the spring of 1852 the Dennys, Bell and +Boren, came over to this side and took donation +claims. Boren located first on the south, his line +being at about the line of Jackson Street. A. A. +Denny came next and Bell third. Shortly after +D. T. Denny located, taking a strip of ground +from the bay back to Lake Union and bounded +by lines north and south which tally about with +Denny Way on the south and Mercer Street on +the north. Later Mr. Denny bought the eastern +shore of Lake Union, extending from the lake to +the portage between Union and Washington.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Denny’s first house on this side of the +bay, built presumably in the spring of 1852, was +located on the beach at the foot of what is now +Denny Way in North Seattle. This was a one-story +log cabin. It was on the bluff overlooking +the bay and the woods hemmed it in, and it was +only by cutting and slashing that one could open +a way back into the forest.”</p></blockquote> + +<p class="title">MR. DENNY’S FARM.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Some time later Mr. Denny begun his original +clearing for a farm at what is now the vi<span class="pagenum">[Pg 245]</span>cinity +of Third Avenue North and Republican +Street, and also in the early years of residence +here—about 1860 or 1861—built a home on the +site of what is now occupied by modern business +houses at Second Avenue and Seneca Street.</p> + +<p>“It seems to have been Mr. Denny’s plan to +work out on his farm at Third Avenue and Republican +Street during the dry summer season +and to reside down in the settlement in the winter. +The farm at Third Avenue and Republican +Street grew apace until in after years it became +the notable spot in all the district of what +is now North Seattle. After the arrival on the +coast of the Chinaman it was leased to them for +a number of years, and became widely known as +the China gardens. Mr. Denny does not seem +to have planted orchard to any extent here, but at +Second and Seneca he had quite an orchard. +Forming what later became a part of the original +D. T. Denny farm was a large tract of open, boggy +land running well through the center of Mr. +Denny’s claim from about Third Avenue down +to Lake Union. This was overgrown largely with +willow and swamp shrubs. In ancient times it +was either a lake or beaver marsh, and long after +the whites came, ducks frequented the place. The +house built at Second Avenue and Seneca Street +by Mr. Denny was a small one-story structure of +three or four rooms.</p> + +<p>“In 1871 Mr. Denny built another homestead +of the D. T. Denny family at this place. It<span class="pagenum">[Pg 246]</span> +was, after its completion, one of the most commodious +and important houses in the city. This +house was built overlooking Lake Union, instead +of the bay. The site selected was on what is now +Dexter Avenue and Republican Street. This +house still stands, a twelve or fourteen-room +house, surrounded by orchard and grounds.”</p></blockquote> + +<p class="title">BUILT A NEW HOME.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Mr. Denny lived at the Lake Union home +until just after the big fire here in 1889, when he +began the erection and completed a fine mansion +on Queen Anne Avenue, with fine grounds, but +he did not long have the pleasure of residing +here. The unfortunate business enterprises in +which he soon found himself engulfed, swept +away his vast wealth, and ‘Honest Dave,’ as he +had become familiarly to be known, was left +without a place wherein to rest his head.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>These tributes also recite something of the +story of his life:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“He was one of the original locators of donation +claims on Elliott Bay, within the present +limits of Seattle. The two Dennys, David +and his brother, Arthur, now deceased; Dr. Maynard, +Carson D. Boren and W. N. Bell, were the +first locators of the land upon which the main +portion of Seattle now rests. All of them, save +Boren, have passed away, and Boren has not +lived in Seattle for many years; so it may be said +that David Denny was the last of the Seattle pio<span class="pagenum">[Pg 247]</span>neers. +Of his seventy-one years of life, fifty-two +were passed on Puget Sound and fifty-one in +the City of Seattle, in the upbuilding of which +he bore a prominent part.</p> + +<p>“With his original donation claim and lands +subsequently acquired, Mr. Denny was for many +years the heaviest property owner in actual acreage +in Seattle. Most of his holdings had passed +into the hands of others before his death. In his +efforts to build up the city he engaged in the promotion +of many large enterprises, and was carrying +large liabilities, although well within the +limit of his financial ability, when the panic of +ten years ago rendered it impossible to realize +upon any property of any value, and left equities +in real property covered even by light mortgages, +absolutely valueless. In that disastrous period +he, among all Seattle’s citizens, was stricken the +hardest blow, but he never lost the hope or the +energy of the born pioneer, nor faith in the destinies +of the city which he had helped to found. +His name remains permanently affixed to many +of the monuments of Seattle, and he will pass into +history as one of the men who laid the foundations +of one of the great cities of the world, and +who did much in erecting the superstructure.</p> + +<p>“In the enthusiasms of early life the ambitious +men and women of America turn their +faces toward ‘the setting sun’ and bravely assume +the task of building homes in uninhabited +places and transforming the wilderness into pros<span class="pagenum">[Pg 248]</span>perous +communities. Those who undertake such +work are to be listed among God’s noblemen—for +without such men little progress would be made +in the development of any country.</p> + +<p>“For more than a hundred years one of the +interesting features of life in the United States +is that connected with pioneering. The men and +women of energy are usually possessed with an +adventurous spirit which chafes under the fixed +customs and inflexible conservatism of the older +communities, and longs to take a hand in crowding +the frontier toward the Pacific.</p> + +<p>“The poet has said that only the brave start +out West and only the strong success in getting +there. Thus it is that those, who, more than a +half century ago, elected to cross the American +continent were from the bravest of the eastern or +middle portion of the United States. Many who +started turned back; others died by the wayside. +Only the ‘strong’ reached their destination.</p> + +<p>“Of this class was the small party which +landed at Alki Point in the late summer of 1851 +and began the task of building up a civilization +where grew the gigantic forests and where +roamed the dusky savage. Of that number was +David T. Denny, the last survivor but one, C. D. +Boren, of the seven men who composed the first +white man’s party to camp on the shores of Elliott +Bay.</p> + +<p>“It requires some stretch of the imagination +to view the surroundings that enveloped that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 249]</span> +band of hardy pioneers and to comprehend the +magnitude of the task that towered before them. +It was no place for the weak or faint-hearted. +There was work to do—and no one shirked.</p> + +<p>“Since then more than fifty years have come +and gone, and from the humble beginnings made +by David T. Denny and the others has grown a +community that is the metropolis of the Pacific +Northwest and which, a few years hence, will be +the metropolis of the entire Pacific Coast. That +this has been the product of these initial efforts +is due in a large measure to the energy, the example, +the business integrity and public spirit +of him whose demise is now mourned as that of +the last but one of the male survivors of that little +party of pioneers of 1851.</p> + +<p>“The history of any community can be told +in the biographies of a few of the leading men +connected with its affairs. The history of Seattle +can be told by writing a complete biography of +David T. Denny. He was among the first to recognize +that here was an eligible site for a great +city. He located a piece of land with this object +in view and steadfastly he clung to his purpose. +When a public enterprise was to be planned that +would redound to the growth and prestige of Seattle +he was at the front, pledging his credit and +contributing of his means.</p> + +<p>“Then came a time in the growth of cities on +the Pacific Coast when the spirit of speculation +appeared to drive men mad. Great schemes were<span class="pagenum">[Pg 250]</span> +laid and great enterprises planned. Some of +them were substantial; some of them were not. +With a disposition to do anything honorable that +would contribute to the glory of Seattle, David +T. Denny threw himself into the maelstrom with +all of his earthly possessions and took chances +of increasing his already handsome fortune. +Then came the panic of 1893 and Mr. Denny was +among many other Seattle men who emerged +from the cataclysm without a dollar.</p> + +<p>“Subsequent years made successful the enterprise +that proved the financial ruin of so many +of Seattle’s wealthy, but it was too late for those +who had borne the brunt of the battle. Others +came in to reap where the pioneers had sown and +the latter were too far along in years to again +take up the struggle of accumulating a competence. +His declining years were passed in the +circle of loving friends who never failed to speak +of him as the personification of honesty and integrity +and one whose noble traits of character +in this respect were worthy of all emulation.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The following is an epitaph written for his +tomb:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“David Thomas Denny, Born March 17th, +1832, Died Nov. 25th, 1903. The first of the name +to reach Puget Sound, landing at Duwampsh +Head, Sept. 25th, 1851. A great pioneer from +whose active and worthy life succeeding generations +will reap countless benefits.”</p> + +<p>“He giveth his beloved sleep.”<span class="pagenum">[Pg 251]</span></p></blockquote> + +<p>The early days of the State, or rather, Territory, +of Washington produced a distinct type +of great men, one of whom was David Thomas +Denny.</p> + +<p>Had Washington a poet to tell of the achievements +of her heroic founders and builders a considerable +epic would be devoted to the remarkable +career and character of this noble man.</p> + +<p>At the risk of repetition I append this slight +recapitulation:</p> + +<p>The first of the name to set foot on Puget +Sound, <i>Oregon Territory</i>, September 25th, 1851, +he then evinced the characteristics more fully developed +in after years.</p> + +<p>He had crossed the plains and then from +Portland proceeded to Puget Sound by the old +Hudson Bay trail. He landed at Duwampsh +Head where now is West Seattle, and there met +and shook hands with Chief Sealth, or old Seattle +as the whites called him. He helped to build +the first cabin home at Alki Point. He alone was +the Committee of Reception when the notable +party landed from the “Exact.” He ran the +race of the bravest of the brave pioneers.</p> + +<p>Beginning at the very bottom of the ladder, +he worked with his hands, as did the others, at +every sort of work to be found in a country entirely +unimproved.</p> + +<p>A ready axman, a very Nimrod, a natural +linguist, he began the attack on the mighty for<span class="pagenum">[Pg 252]</span>est, +he slew wild animals and birds for food, he +made friends with the native tribes.</p> + +<p>He builded, planted, harvested, helped to +found schools, churches, government and civilized +society. Always and everywhere he embodied +and upheld scriptural morality and temperance.</p> + +<p>Many now living could testify to his untiring +service to the stranded newcomers. Employment, +money, credit, hospitality, time, advice, he +gave freely to help and encourage the settlers following +the pioneers.</p> + +<p>He was Probate Judge, County Treasurer, +City Councilman, Regent of the University, +School Director for twelve years, etc., etc. He +administered a number of estates with extreme +care and faithfulness.</p> + +<p>David T. Denny early realized that Seattle +was a strategic site for a great city and by thrifty +investments in wild land prepared for settlements +sure to come.</p> + +<p>After long years of patient toil, upright +dealing and wise management, he began to accumulate +until his property was worth a fortune.</p> + +<p>With increasing wealth his generosity increased +and he gave liberally to carry on all the +institutions of a civilized community.</p> + +<p>David T. Denny gave “Denny Park” to the +City of Seattle.</p> + +<p>Denny school was named for him, as is perfectly +well known to many persons.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 253]</span>As prosperity increased he became more active +in building the city and lavished energy, toil, +property and money, installing public enterprises +and utilities, such as water supply, electric +lights, a large sawmill, banks, street railways, +laying off additions to the city, grading and +improvements, etc., etc.</p> + +<p>Then came 1893, the black year of trade. +Thousands lost all they possessed. David T. +Denny suffered a martyrdom of disappointment, +humiliation, calumny, extreme and undeserved +reproach from those who crammed themselves +with securities, following the great money panic +in which his immense holdings passed into the +hands of others.</p> + +<p>He was a soldier of the Indian war and was +on guard near the door of Fort Decatur when the +memorable attack took place on January 26th, +1856. The fort was built of timbers hewn by +D. T. Denny and two others, taken from his donation +claim. These timbers were brought to +Seattle, then a little settlement of about three +hundred people. There he helped to build the +fort.</p> + +<p>Many persons have expressed a desire to see +a fitting memorial erected to the memory of Seattle’s +“Fairy Prince,” Founder and Defender, +David Thomas Denny.</p> + +<p>I feel the inadequacy of these fragmentary +glimpses of the busy life of this well known pioneer. +I have not made a set arrangement of the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 254]</span> +material as I wished to preserve the testimony of +others, hence there appear some repetitions; an +accurate and intimate biography may come in +the future.</p> + +<p>Logically, his long, active, useful life in the +Northwest, might be divided into epochs on this +wise:</p> + +<p>1st. The log cabin and “claim” era, in +which, within my own memory, he was seen toiling +early and late, felling the forest giants, cultivating +the soil, superintending Indian workers +and bringing in game, killed with his rifle.</p> + +<p>2nd. The farm-home era, when he built a +substantial house on his part of the donation +claim, near the south end of Lake Union, obtained +cattle (famous Jersey stock of California), +horses, etc. The home then achieved by +himself and his equally busy wife, was one to be +desired, surrounded as it was by beautiful flowers, +orchards, wide meadows and pastures, and +outside these, the far-spreading primeval forest.</p> + +<p>3rd. Town-building. The west end of the +claim, belonging to Louisa Denny, was first +platted; other plats followed, as may be seen by +reference to Seattle records. Commercial opportunities +loomed large and he entered upon many +promising enterprises. All these flourished for a +time.</p> + +<p>4th. 1893. The failure of Baring Bros., as +he told me repeatedly, began it—theirs being the +result of having taken bonds of the Argentine<span class="pagenum">[Pg 255]</span> +Republic, and a revolution happening along, +$100,000,000.00 went by the board; a sizable +failure.</p> + +<p>Partly on account of this and partly on account +of the vast advantage of the lender over +the borrower, and partly through the vast anxiety +of those who held his securities, they were able +to distribute among themselves his hard-earned +fortune.</p> + +<p>“A certain man went down from Jerusalem +to Jericho and fell among thieves, which stripped +him of his raiment and wounded him and departed +leaving him half dead.”</p> + +<p>The Deficiency Judgment also loomed large +and frequent and his last days were disturbed +by those who still pressed their greedy claims, +even following after his death, with a false, unjust +and monstrous sale of the cemetery in which +he lies buried!</p> + +<p>But he is with the just men made perfect.</p> + +<p>Law, custom and business methods have permitted, +from time immemorial, gross injustice to +debtors; formerly they were imprisoned; a man +might speedily pay his debts, if in prison!</p> + +<p>The Deficiency Judgment and renewal of the +same gives opportunity for greedy and unprincipled +creditors to rob the debtor. There should +be a law compelling the return of the surplus. +When one class of people make many times their +money out of the misfortunes of others, there is +manifestly great inequality.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page256" name="page256">[Pg 256]</a></span>The principles of some are to grab all they +can, “skin” all they can, and follow up all they +can even to the <i>graveyard</i>.</p> + +<p class="title">“THESE THINGS OUGHT NOT SO TO BE.”</p> + +<p>5th. In the end he laid down all earthly +things, and in spite of grief and suffering, showed +a clear perception and grasp of justice, mercy +and truth.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page257" name="page257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV<br /> + +<span class="smaller">THE FIRST WEDDING ON ELLIOTT BAY.</span></h2> + +<p>Concerning this notable occurrence many interesting +incidents were recorded by an interviewer +who obtained the same from the lips of +David Thomas Denny.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“On January 23rd, 1895, Mr. and Mrs. David +T. Denny celebrated their forty-second wedding +anniversary—and the anniversary of the first +wedding in Seattle—in their home at ‘Decatur +Terrace’ (512 Temperance Street), Seattle, with +a gathering of children, grandchildren, relatives +and friends that represented four distinctive +generations.</p> + +<p>“One of the notable features of the evening +was the large gathering of pioneers who collectively +represented more years of residence in +Seattle than ever were found together before.</p> + +<p><a id="XI" name="XI"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 408px;"> +<img src="images/opp257.png" width="408" height="500" alt="" title="LOUISA B. DENNY" /> +<span class="caption">LOUISA B. DENNY</span> +</div> + +<p>“What added interest to the occasion was +the historical fact that Mr. and Mrs. Denny were +the first couple married in Seattle, and the transition +from the small, uncouth log cabin, built forty-three +years ago by the sturdy young pioneer +for his bride, to the present beautiful residence +with all its modern convenience in which the respected +couple are enjoying the fruits of a well +spent life, was the subject of many congratulations +from the friends of the honored host and +<span class="pagenum"><a id="page258" name="page258">[Pg 258]</a></span>hostess who remembered their early trials and +tribulations. All present were more or less connected +with the history of Seattle, all knew one +another’s history, and with their children and +grandchildren the gathering, unconventional in +every respect, with the two-year-old baby romping +in the arms of the octogenarian, presented a +colossal, happy family reunion.</p> + +<p>“The old pioneer days were not forgotten, +and one corner of the reception room was made +to represent the interior of a cabin, lined with +newspapers, decorated with gun, bullet pouch +and powder horn and measure, a calico sunbonnet, +straw hat and hunting shirt.</p> + +<p>“A table was set to represent one in the +early fifties, namely, two boards across two boxes, +for a table, a smoked salmon, a tin plate full of +boiled potatoes, some sea biscuits and a few large +clams. Such a meal, when it was had, was supposed +to be a feast.</p> + +<p>“Many other relics were in sight; a thirty-two +pound solid shot, fired by the sloop-of-war +Decatur among the Indians during the uprising; +a ten-pound shot belonging to Dr. Maynard’s cannon; +a pair of enormous elk’s horns belonging to +a six hundred and thirty-pound elk killed by Mr. +D. T. Denny, September 7th, 1869, in the woods +north west of Green Lake; the first Bible of the +family from which the eldest daughter, Miss +Emily Inez, learned her letters; an old-fashioned +Indian halibut hook, an ingenious contrivance;<span class="pagenum">[Pg 259]</span> +an old family Bible, once the property of the +father of David T. Denny, bearing the following +inscription on the inside cover:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">“The property of J. Denny,</span> +<span class="i1">Purchased of J. Strange,</span> +<span class="i1">August the 15th, 1829,</span> +<span class="i2">Price 62-1/2 cents.</span> +<span class="i1">Putnam County, Indiana.”</span> +</div> + +<p>“Also a number of daguerreotypes of Mr. +and Mrs. D. T. Denny in the early years of their +married life, taken in the fifties, and one of W. G. +Latimer and his sister.</p> + +<p>“All these and many more afforded food for +conversation and reminiscences on the part of +the old pioneers present.</p> + +<p>“An informal programme introduced the +social intercourse of the evening. Harold Denny, +a grandson of the hosts and son of Mr. John B. +Denny, made an address to his grandparents, giving +them the greeting of the assembly in these +words:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">“‘O fortunate, O happy day,’</span> +<span class="i0">The people sing, the people say,</span> +<span class="i0">The bride and bridegroom, pioneers,</span> +<span class="i0">Crowned now with good and gracious years</span> +<span class="i0">Serenely smile upon the scene.</span> +<span class="i0">The growing state they helped to found</span> +<span class="i0">Unto their praise shall yet redound.</span> +<span class="i0">O may they see a green old age,</span> +<span class="i0">With every leaf a written page</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 260]</span><span class="i0">Of joy and peace from day to day.</span> +<span class="i0">In good, new times not far away</span> +<span class="i0">May people sing and people say,</span> +<span class="i0">‘Heaven bless their coming years;</span> +<span class="i0">Honor the noble Pioneers.’</span> +</div> + +<p>“The chief diversion was afforded by the +sudden entrance of a band of sixteen young men +and women gorgeously dressed as Indians, preceded +by a runner who announced their approach. +They were headed by Capt. D. T. +Davies who acted as chief. The band marched in +true Indian file, formed a circle and sat down +on the floor with their ‘tamanuse’ boards upon +which they beat the old time music and sang their +Indian songs. After an impressive hush, the +chief addressed their white chief, Denny, in the +Chinook language, wishing Mr. and Mrs. Denny +many returns of the auspicious occasion.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Denny, who is an adept in the Indian +languages, replied in the same tongue, thanking +his dark brethren for their good intentions and +speaking of the happy relations that always existed +between the whites and the Indians until +bad white men and whisky turned the minds and +brains of the Indians. The council then broke +up and took their departure.</p> + +<p>“The marriage certificate of Mr. and Mrs. +Denny is written on heavy blue paper and has +been so carefully preserved that, beyond the +slight fading of the ink, it is as perfect as when +first given in the dense forests on the shores of +Elliott Bay. It reads as follows:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 261]</span>“‘This may certify that David Denny and +Louisa Boren were joined in marriage at the residence +of Arthur A. Denny in the County of King +and Territory of Oregon, by me in the presence +of A. A. Denny and wife and others, on this 23rd +day of January, 1853. D. S. Maynard, J. P.’</p> + +<p>“Another historical event, apropos right +here, was the death and burial of D. S. Maynard +early in 1873.</p> + +<p>“The funeral services were conducted March +15, 1873, by Rev. John F. Damon in Yesler’s +pavilion, then located at what is now Cherry and +Front Streets. The funeral was under the auspices +of St. John’s lodge, of which Dr. Maynard +was a member. The remains were escorted to +what is now Denny Park—the gift to the city, of +Mr. David T. Denny—and the casket was deposited +and kept in the tool house of that place +until the trail could be cut to the new Masonic—now +Lake View—cemetery. Maynard’s body +was the first interred there.</p> + +<p>“Miss Louisa Boren, who married Mr. David +T. Denny, was the younger sister of A. A. Denny’s +wife and came across the plains with the +Denny’s in 1851.</p> + +<p>“The house of A. A. Denny, in which the +marriage took place, was located near the foot of +what is now Bell Street, and was the first cabin +built by A. A. Denny when he moved over from +Alki Point. Seattle was then a dense forest down +to the water’s edge, and had at that time, in the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 262]</span> +spring of 1852, only three cabins, namely: C. D. +Boren’s, the bride’s brother; W. N. Bell’s and A. +A. Denny’s. Boren’s stood where now stands the +Merchant’s National Bank, and Bell’s was near +the foot of Battery Street.</p> + +<p>“At first the forests were so dense that the +only means of communication was along the +beach at low tide; after three or four months, a +trail was beaten between the three cabins. David +lived with his brother, but he built himself a +cabin previous to his marriage, near the foot of +Denny Way, near and north of Bell’s house. To +this lonely cabin in the woods, he took his bride +and they lived there until August, 1853, eking out +an existence like the other pioneers, chopping +wood, cutting piles for shipment, living on anyhow, +but always managing to have enough to eat, +such as it was, with plenty of pure spring water.</p> + +<p>“In August, of 1853, he built a cabin on the +spot where now the Frye Block stands and they +passed the winter of 1853 there.</p> + +<p>“In the spring of 1854 he built another cabin +further east on the donation claim, east of what +is now Box Street, between Mercer and Republican, +and they moved into it, remaining there +until near the time of the Indian outbreak.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Denny had acquired a knowledge of the +various Indian dialects, and through this learned +much of the threatened outbreak, and moved his +family in time back to the house on the Frye +Block site, which was also near the stockade or<span class="pagenum">[Pg 263]</span> +fort that stood at the foot of Cherry Street. +During the greater part of the winter of 1855 the +women in the settlement lived in the fort, and Mrs. +Denny passed much of the time there.</p> + +<p>“After the Indian trouble was over the Denny’s +moved out again to their outside cabin. The +Indians making the trouble were the Swunumpsh +and the Klickitats, from east of the mountains; +the Sound Indians, the Duwampsh and the Suquampsh, +were friendly and helped the whites a +great deal. Sealth or Seattle belonged to the +Suquampsh tribe and his men gave the first warning +of the approach of the hostile Indians.</p> + +<p>“Mr. and Mrs. David T. Denny have had +eight children, four daughters and four sons. One +son died shortly after birth, and all the others grew +to maturity, after which the father and mother +were called to mourn the loss of two daughters. +Two daughters and three sons survive, namely: +Miss Emily Inez, Mrs. Abbie D. Lindsley, Mr. +John B. Denny, Mr. D. Thomas Denny and Mr. +Victor W. S. Denny.</p> + +<p>“The sons are all married and nine out of ten +grandchildren were present last evening to gladden +the hearts of Grandpa and Grandma Denny. +The absent members of the family group were +Mrs. John B. Denny and daughter, in New York +on a visit.</p> + +<p>“‘People in these days of modern improvements +and plenty know nothing of the hardships<span class="pagenum">[Pg 264]</span> +the pioneer of forty years ago had to undergo +right here,’ said Mr. Denny.</p> + +<p>“‘Nearly forty years of life in a dense forest +surrounded by savages and wild beasts, with the +hardest kind of work necessary in order to eke +out an existence, was the lot of every man and +woman here. It was a life of privation, inconveniences, +anxieties, fears and dangers innumerable, +and required physical and mental strength +to live it out. Of course, we all had good health, +for in twenty-four years’ time we only had a doctor +four times. Our colony grew little by little, +good men and bad men came in and by the time +the Indians wanted to massacre us we had about +three hundred white men, women and children. +We got our provisions from ships that took our +piles and then the Indians also furnished us with +venison, potatoes, fish, clams and wild fowl. +Flour, sugar and coffee we got from San Francisco. +When we could get no flour, we made a +shift to live on potatoes.’</p> + +<p>“In speaking of cold weather, Mr. Denny +recalled the year of 1852, when it was an open +winter until March 3, but that night fourteen +inches of snow fell and made it the coldest winter, +all in that one month. The next severe winter +was that of 1861-2, which was about the coldest +on record. During those cold spells the pioneers +kept warm cutting wood.</p> + +<p>“The unique invitations sent out for this anniversary, +consisted of a fringed piece of buck-<span class="pagenum">[Pg 265]</span>skin +stretched over the card and painted ’1851, +Ankuti. 1895, Okoke Sun.’ They were well +responded to, and every room in the large house +was filled with interested guests, from the baby +in arms to the white haired friend of the old people. +Pioneers were plenty, and it is doubtful if +there ever was a gathering in the City of Seattle +that could aggregate so many years of residence +in the Queen City of the West on the shores of +Elliott Bay.</p> + +<p>“Arranged according to families, and classing +those as pioneers who came prior to the Indian +war of 1855-6, the following list will be +found of historical value:</p> + +<p>“Rev. and Mrs. D. E. Blaine, pioneers; A. A. +Denny, brother of D. T. Denny; Loretta Denny, +sister of D. T. Denny; Lenora Denny, daughter +of A. A. Denny; Rev. and Mrs. Daniel Bagley, +pioneers of 1852, Oregon, Seattle 1860; Mrs. +Clarence B. Bagley, daughter of Thomas Mercer, +1852; C. B. Bagley, pioneer, 1852 Oregon, Seattle +1860; Hillory Butler, pioneer; Mrs. Gardner +Kellogg, daughter of Bonney, Pierce County +1853; Walter Graham, pioneer; Rev. Geo. F. +Whitworth, pioneer; Thomas Mercer, 1852 Oregon, +Seattle 1853; David Graham, 1858; Mrs. +Susan Graham, daughter of Thomas Mercer; +Mrs. S. D. Libby, wife of Captain Libby, pioneer; +George Frye, 1853; Mrs. Katherine Frye, daughter +of A. A. Denny; Sophie and Bertie Frye, +granddaughters of A. A. Denny; Mrs. Mamie<span class="pagenum">[Pg 266]</span> +Kauffman Dawson, granddaughter of Wm. N. +Bell, pioneer; Mr. and Mrs. D. B. Ward, pioneers +(Mrs. Ward, daughter of Charles Byles, of +Thurston County, 1853); Mrs. Abbie D. Lindsley, +daughter of D. T. and Louisa Denny; the +Bryans, all children of Edgar Bryan, a pioneer +of Thurston County; J. W. George, pioneer 1852; +Orange Jacobs, pioneer of Oregon.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>In another chapter it has been shown how +D. T. Denny was the first of the name to reach +Puget Sound. Not having yet attained his majority +he was required to consider, judge and +act for himself and others. Like the two spies, +who entered the Promised Land in ancient days, +Low and Denny viewed the goodly shores of +Puget Sound for the sake of others by whom +their report was anxiously awaited.</p> + +<p>As before stated, Low returned to carry the +tidings of the wonderful country bordering on +the Inland Sea, while David T. Denny, but nineteen +years of age, was left alone, the only white +person on Elliott Bay, until the Exact came with +the brave families of the first settlers. From +that time on he has been in the forefront of progress +and effort, beginning at the very foundation +of trade, business enterprises, educational interests, +religious institutions and reforms. From +the early conditions of hard toil in humble occupations, +through faith, foresight and persistence, +he rose to a leading position in the business +world, when his means were lavished in modern<span class="pagenum">[Pg 267]</span> +enterprises and improvements through which +many individuals and the general public were +benefited, said improvements being now in daily +use in the City of Seattle.</p> + +<p>One of these is the Third Street and Suburban +Electric Railway, built and equipped by this +energetic pioneer and his sons.</p> + +<p>The old donation claim having become valuable +city property, the taxation was heavy to +meet the expenses of extravagant and wasteful +administration partly, and partly incidental to +the phenomenal growth of the city, consequently +both Mr. and Mrs. D. T. Denny have paid into +the public treasury a considerable fortune, ten or +twelve thousand a year for ten years, twenty +thousand for grades, six thousand at a time for +school tax and so on—much more than they were +able to use for themselves.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>A fascinating volume would recount their +hunting adventures, as all, father and sons, are +fine shots; game, both large and small, swarmed +about the present site of Seattle in the early +days.</p> + +<p>Indeed, for many years the bounty of Nature +failed not; as late as 1879, ruffed grouse +or “pheasants,” blue grouse, brown and black +bears were numerous seven or eight miles north +of Seattle, a region then untenanted wilds. The +women folk were not always left behind on hunting +expeditions, and the pioneer mother, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page268" name="page268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +daughters, too, quite often accompanied them.</p> + +<p>Into this primeval wilderness, to a mineral +spring known and visited by the Indians in times +past and called by them Licton, came the father, +mother and eldest son to enjoy all they might +discover. The two hunting dogs proved necessary +and important members of the party by +rousing up a big black bear and her cubs near +the spring,—but we will let the pioneer mother, +Mrs. Louisa Denny, tell the tale as she has often +told it in the yesterdays:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“We were out in the deep forest at the mineral +spring the Indians call ‘Licton’; the two +dogs, Prince and Gyp, treed a black bear cub in +a tall fir on the farther side of the brook, a little +way along the trail; the hunters pressed up and +fired. Receiving a shot, the cub gave a piercing +scream and, tumbling down, aroused the old bear, +which, though completely hidden by the undergrowth, +answered it with an enraged roar that +sounded so near that the hunters fled without +ceremony. I sat directly in the path, on the +ends of some poles laid across the brook for a +foot bridge, very calmly resting and not at all +excited—as yet. My boy yelled to me, at the top +of his voice, ‘Get up a tree, mother! get up a +tree, quick! The old bear is coming!’ Hearing +a turmoil at the foot of the big tree, where the +dogs, old bear and two cubs were engaged in a +general melee, I also thought it best to ‘get up a +tree.’ We dashed across the brook and climbed<span class="pagenum">[Pg 269]</span> +up a medium sized alder tree—the boy first, myself +next, and my husband last and not very far +from the ground. We could hear the bear crashing +around through the tall bushes and ferns, +growling at every step and only a little way off, +but she did not come out in sight. The dogs +came and lay down under the tree where we +were. Two long, weary hours we watched for +Bruin, and then, everything being quiet, climbed +down, stiff and sore, parted the brushes cautiously +and reconnoitered. One climbed up a leaning +tree to get a better view, but there was no +view to be had, the woods were so thick. We +crept along softly until we reached the foot of +the big fir, and there lay the wounded cub, dead! +The hunters dragged it a long distance, looking +back frequently and feeling very uncertain, as +they had no means of knowing the whereabouts +of the enemy. I walked behind carrying one of +the guns. Perhaps I was cruel in asking them +if they looked behind them when they tacked +the skin on the barn at home! However, it was +certainly a case of discretion better than valor, +as one weapon was only a shotgun and the rank +undergrowth gave no advantage. It seemed to +make everybody laugh when we told of our adventure, +but I did not think the experience altogether +amusing, and I shall never forget that +mother-bear’s roar. They have killed plenty +of big game since; my two younger boys shot a +fine, large black bear whose beautiful skin<span class="pagenum">[Pg 270]</span> +adorns my parlor floor and is much admired.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>This is but one incident in the life of a pioneer +woman, the greater portion of whose existence +has been spent in the wilds of the Northwest. +In perils oft, in watchings many, in often +uncongenial toil, Louisa Boren Denny spent the +years of her youth and prime, as did the other +pioneer mothers.</p> + +<p>“What a book the story of my life would +make!” she exclaimed in a retrospective mood—yet, +like the majority of the class she typifies, +she has left the book unwritten, while hand and +brain have been busy with the daily duties pressing +on her.</p> + +<p>A childhood on the beautiful, flower-decked, +virgin prairie of Illinois, in the log cabin days +of that state, the steadfast pursuit of knowledge +until maturity, when she went out to instruct +others, the breaking of many ties of friendship +to accompany her relatives across the plains, the +joy of new scenes so keenly appreciated by the +observant mind, the self-denials and suffering +inevitable to that stupendous journey and the +reaching of the goal on Puget Sound, at once +the beginning and the ending of eventful days, +might be the themes of its opening chapters.</p> + +<p>Her marriage and the rearing of beautiful +and gifted children, in the midst of the solemn +and noble solitudes of Nature’s great domain, +where they often wandered together hand in +hand, she the gentle teacher, they the happy<span class="pagenum">[Pg 271]</span> +learners, green boughs and fair blossoms bending +near—yes, the toil, too, as well as pleasure, +in which the willing hands wrought and tireless +feet hastened to and fro in the service of her +God, all these things I shared in are indelibly +written on my memory’s pages, though they be +never recorded elsewhere.</p> + +<p class="title">AND WHILE SHE WROUGHT, SHE THOUGHT</p> + +<p>Many times in the latter years, spoken opinions +have shown that she has originated ideas +of progress and reform that have been subsequently +brought before the public as initiative +and original, but were no less original with her.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Louisa Denny was a member of the +famous grand jury, with several other women of +the best standing; during their term the gamblers +packed their grip-sacks to leave Seattle, +as those “old women on the jury” were making +trouble for them.</p> + +<p>For many years she was called upon or +volunteered to visit the sick, anon to be present +at a surgical operation, and with ready response +and steady nerve complied.</p> + +<p>Generous to a fault, hospitable and kind, in +countless unknown deeds of mercy and unrecorded +words, she expressed good-will toward +humanity, and the recipients, a goodly company, +might well arise up and call her “Blessed.”</p> + +<p>A separate sketch is given in which the life +of the first bride of Seattle is more fully set +forth.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page272" name="page272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">LOUISA BOREN DENNY, THE FIRST BRIDE OF SEATTLE,</span></h2> + +<p>Was born in White County, Illinois, on the +1st of June, 1827, and is the daughter of Richard +Freeman Boren and Sarah Latimer Boren. Her +father, a young Baptist minister, died when she +was an infant, and she has often said, “I have +missed my father all my life.” A religious nature +seems to have been inherited, as she has +also said, “I cannot remember when I did not +pray to God.”</p> + +<p>Her early youth was spent on the great +prairies, then a veritable garden adorned with +many beautiful wild flowers, in the log cabin +with her widowed, pioneer mother, her sister +Mary and brother Carson.</p> + +<p>She learned to be industrious and thrifty +without parsimony; to be simple, genuine, faithful. +In the heat of summer or cold of winter +she trudged to school, as she loved learning, +showing, as her mind developed, a natural aptitude +and taste for the sciences; chemistry, +philosophy, botany and astronomy being her +especial delights.</p> + +<p>Of a striking personal appearance, her fair +complexion with a deep rose flush in the cheeks, +sparkling eyes, masses of heavy black hair,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 273]</span> +small and perfect figure, would have attracted +marked attention in any circle.</p> + +<p>Her temperate and wholesome life, never +given to fashion’s follies, retained for her these +points of beauty far beyond middle life, when +many have lost all semblance of their youth and +have become faded and decrepit.</p> + +<p>Her school life merged into the teacher’s +and she took her place in the ranks of the pioneer +instructors, who were truly heroic.</p> + +<p>She taught with patience the bare-foot +urchins, some of whom were destined for great +things, and boarded ’round as was the primitive +custom.</p> + +<p>Going to camp meetings in the summer, lectures +and singing schools in the winter were developing +influences in those days, and primitive +pleasures were no less delightful; the husking-bees, +quilting parties and sleigh rides of fifty +years ago in which she participated.</p> + +<p>In 1851, when she was twenty-four years +of age, she joined the army of pioneers moving +West, in the division composed of her mother’s +and step-father’s people, her mother having married +John Denny and her sister Mary, A. A. +Denny.</p> + +<p><a id="XII" name="XII"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/opp273.jpg" width="600" height="357" alt="" title="FLOWER GARDEN PLANTED BY LOUISA B. DENNY" /> +<span class="caption">FLOWER GARDEN PLANTED BY LOUISA B. DENNY</span> +</div> + +<p>With what buoyant spirits, bright with hope +and anticipation, they set out, except for the +cloud of sorrow that hovered over them for the +parting with friends they left behind. But they +soon found it was to be a hard-fought battle. +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 274]</span>Louisa Boren, the only young, unmarried +woman of the party, found many things to do +in assisting those who had family cares. Her +delight in nature was unlimited, and although +she found no time to record her observations +and experiences, her anecdotes and descriptions +have given pleasure to others in after years.</p> + +<p>She possessed dauntless courage and in the +face of danger was cool and collected.</p> + +<p>It was she who pleaded for the boat to be +turned inshore on a memorable night on the Columbia +River, when they came so near going +over the falls (the Cascades) owing to the stupefied +condition of the men who had been imbibing +“Blue Ruin” too freely.</p> + +<p>When the party arrived at Alki Point on +Puget Sound, although the outlook was not +cheerful, she busied herself a little while after +landing in observing the luxuriant and, to her, +curious vegetation.</p> + +<p>She soon made friends with the Indians and +succeeded admirably in dealing with them, having +patience and showing them kindness, for +which they were not ungrateful.</p> + +<p>It transpired that the first attempt at building +on the site of Seattle, so far as known to +the writer, is to be credited to Louisa Boren and +another white woman, who crossed Elliott Bay +in a canoe with Indian paddlers and a large dog +to protect them from wild animals. They made +their way through an untouched forest, and the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page275" name="page275">[Pg 275]</a></span> +two women cut and laid logs for the foundation +of a cabin.</p> + +<p>As she was strikingly beautiful, young and +unmarried, both white and Indian braves +thought it would be a fine thing to win her hand, +and intimations of this fact were not wanting. +The young Indians brought long poles with them +and leaned them up against the cabin at Alki, +the significance of which was not at first understood, +but it was afterward learned that they +were courtship poles, according to their custom.</p> + +<p>The white competitors found themselves +distanced by the younger Denny, who was the +first of the name to set foot on Puget Sound.</p> + +<p>On January 23rd, 1853, in the cabin of A. A. +Denny, on the east side of Elliott Bay, Louisa +Boren was married to David T. Denny.</p> + +<p>In order to fulfil law and custom, David +had made a trip to Olympia and back in a canoe +to obtain a marriage license, but was told that +no one there had authority to issue one, so he +returned undaunted to proceed without it; +neither was there a minister to perform the ceremony, +but Dr. Maynard, who was a Justice of +the Peace, successfully tied the knot.</p> + +<p>Among the few articles of wearing apparel +it was possible to transport to these far-off +shores in a time of slow and difficult travel, was +a white lawn dress, which did duty as a wedding +gown.</p> + +<p>The young couple moved their worldly pos<span class="pagenum"><a id="page276" name="page276">[Pg 276]</a></span>sessions +in an Indian canoe to their own cabin +on the bay, about a mile and a half away, in a +little clearing at the edge of the vast forest.</p> + +<p>Here began the life of toil and struggle +which characterized the early days.</p> + +<p>Then came the Indian war. A short time +before the outbreak, while they were absent at +the settlement, some Indians robbed the cabin; +as they returned they met the culprits. Mrs. +Denny noticed that one of them had adorned +his cap with a white embroidered collar and a +gray ribbon belonging to her. The young rascal +when questioned said that the other one had +given them to him. Possibly it was true; at any +rate when George Seattle heard of it he gave the +accused a whipping.</p> + +<p>The warnings given by their Indian friends +were heeded and they retired to the settlement, +to a little frame house not far from Fort Decatur.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the battle, January 26th, +Louisa Boren Denny was occupied with the necessary +preparation of food for her family. She +heard shots and saw from her window the +marines swarming up from their boats onto Yesler’s +wharf, and rightly judging that the attack +had begun she snatched the biscuits from the +oven, turned them into her apron, gathered up +her child, two years old, and ran toward the fort. +Her husband, who was standing guard, met her +and assisted them into the fort.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 277]</span>A little incident occurred in the fort which +showed her strong temperance principles. One +of the officers, perhaps feeling the need of something +to strengthen his courage, requested her +to pour out some whisky for him, producing a +bottle and glass; whether or no his hand was already +unsteady from fear or former libations, +she very properly refused and has, throughout +her whole life, discouraged the use of intoxicants.</p> + +<p>A number of the settlers remained in the +fort for some time, as it was unsafe for them +to return to their claims.</p> + +<p>On the 16th of March, 1856, her second child +was born in Fort Decatur.</p> + +<p>With this infant and the elder of two years +and three months, they journeyed back again +into the wilderness, where she took up the toilsome +and uncertain life of the frontier. “There +was nothing,” she has said, “that was too hard +or disagreeable for me to undertake.”</p> + +<p>All the work of the house and even lending +a hand at digging and delving, piling and burning +brush outside, and the work was done without +questioning the limits of her “spere.”</p> + +<p>They removed again to the edge of the settlement +and lived for a number of years in a rose-embowered +cottage on Seneca Street.</p> + +<p>Accumulating cares filled the years, but she +met them with the same high courage throughout. +Her sons and daughters were carefully<span class="pagenum">[Pg 278]</span> +brought up and given every available advantage +even though it cost her additional sacrifice.</p> + +<p>Her half of the old donation claim became +very valuable in time as city property, but the +enormous taxation robbed her to a considerable +extent of its benefits.</p> + +<p>The manner of life of this heroic mother, +type of her race, was such as to develop the +noblest traits of character. The patience, steadfastness, +courage, hopefulness and the consideration +for the needs and trials of others, wrought +out in her and others like her, during the pioneer +days, challenge the admiration of the world.</p> + +<p>I have seen the busy toil, the anxious brow, +the falling tears of the pioneer woman as she +tended her sick or fretful child, hurried the dinner +for the growing family and the hired Indians +who were clearing, grubbing or ditching, +bent over the washtub to cleanse the garments +of the household, or up at a late hour to mend +little stockings for restless feet, meanwhile helping +the young students of the family to conquer +the difficulties that lay before them.</p> + +<p>The separation from dearly loved friends, +left far behind, wrought upon the mind of the +pioneer woman to make her sad to melancholy, +but after a few years new ties were formed and +new interests grasped to partially wear this +away, but never entirely, it is my opinion.</p> + +<p>She traveled on foot many a weary mile or +rode over the roughest roads in a jolting, spring<span class="pagenum">[Pg 279]</span>less +wagon; in calm or stormy weather in the +tip-tilting Indian canoes, or on the back of the +treacherous cayuse, carrying her babes with her +through dangerous places, where to care for +one’s self would seem too great a burden to most +people, patient, calm, uncomplaining.</p> + +<p>The little brown hands were busy from +morning to night in and about the cabin or cottage; +seldom could a disagreeable task be delegated +to another; to dress the fish and clams, +dig the potatoes in summer as needed for the +table, pluck the ducks and grouse, cook and serve +the same, fell to her lot before the children were +large enough to assist. Moreover, to milk the +cows, feed the horses, chop wood occasionally, +shoot at predatory birds and animals, burn brush +piles and plant a garden and tactfully trade with +the Indians were a few of the accomplishments +she mastered and practiced with skill and success.</p> + +<p>In the summer time this mother took the +children out into the great evergreen forest to +gather wild berries for present and future use. +While the youngest slept under giant ferns or +drooping cedar, she filled brimming pails with +the luscious fruit, salmonberry, dewberry or +huckleberry in their seasons. Here, too, the +older children could help, and there was an admixture +of pleasure in stopping to gather the +wild scarlet honeysuckle, orange lilies, snowy +Philadelphus, cones, mosses and lichens and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 280]</span> +listening to the “blackberry bird,” as we called +the olive-backed thrush, or the sigh of the boughs +overhead.</p> + +<p>The family dog went along, barking cheerfully +at every living thing, chasing rabbits, digging +out “suwellas” or scaring up pheasants and +grouse which the eldest boy would shoot. It was +a great treat to the children, but when all returned +home, tired after the day’s adventure, it +was mother’s hands prepared the evening meal +and put the sleepy children to bed.</p> + +<p>Everywhere that she has made her home, +even for a few years, she has cultivated a garden +of fragrant and lovely flowers, a source of much +pleasure to her family and friends. The old-fashioned +roses and hollyhocks, honeysuckles +and sweet Williams grew and flourished, with +hosts of annuals around the cottage on Seneca +Street in the ’60s, and at the old homestead on +Lake Union the old and new garden favorites +ran riot; so luxuriant were the Japan and Ascension +lilies, the velvety pansies, tea, climbing, +moss and monthly roses, fancy tulips, English +violets, etc., etc., as to call forth exclamations +from passersby. Some were overheard in enthusiastic +praise saying, “Talk about Florida! +just look at these flowers!”</p> + +<p>The great forest, with its wealth of beautiful +flowers and fruitful things, gave her much +delight; the wild flowers, ferns, vines, mosses, +lichens and evergreens, to which she often called<span class="pagenum">[Pg 281]</span> +our attention when we all went blackberrying +or picnicing in the old, old time.</p> + +<p>The grand scenery of the Northwest accords +with her thought-life. She always keenly +enjoys the oft-recurring displays of wonderful +color in the western sky, the shimmering waves +under moon or sun, the majestic mountains and +dark fir forests that line the shores of the Inland +Sea.</p> + +<p>In early days she was of necessity everything +in turn to her family; when neither physician +nor nurse was readily obtainable, her treatment +of their ailments commanded admiration, +as she promptly administered and applied with +excellent judgment the remedies at her command +with such success that professional service +was not needed for thirty years except in case +of accident of unusual kind.</p> + +<p>She looked carefully to the food, fresh air, +exercise and bathing of her little flock with the +most satisfying results. She believes in the +house for the people, not the people for the +house, and has invariably put the health and +comfort of her household before her care for +things.</p> + +<p>Her mind is one to originate and further +ideas of reform and eagerly appropriate the best +of others’ conclusions.</p> + +<p>Ever the sympathetic counsellor and friend +of her children in work and study, she shared +their pastimes frequently as well. She remem<span class="pagenum">[Pg 282]</span>bers +going through the heavy forest which once +surrounded Lake Union with her boys trout-fishing +in the outlet of the lake; while she poked +the fish with a pole from their hiding places under +the bank the boys would gig them, having +good success and much lively sport.</p> + +<p>On one trip they had the excitement of a +cougar hunt; that is, the cougar seemed to be +hunting them, but they “made tracks” and accomplished +their escape; the cougar was afterward +killed.</p> + +<p>Several other of her adventures are recounted +elsewhere. It would require hundreds +of pages to set forth a moving picture of the stirring +frontier life in which she participated.</p> + +<p>Louisa Boren Denny is a pioneer woman of +the best type.</p> + +<p>Her charities have been many; kind and encouraging +words, sympathy and gifts to the +needy and suffering; her nature is generous and +unselfish, and, though working quietly, her influence +is and has ever been none the less potent +for good.</p> + +<p>“Peace hath her victories no less renowned +than war.”</p> + +<p>Of the victories over environment and circumstances +much might be written. The lack +of comforts and conveniences compelled arduous +manual toil and the busy “brown hands” found +many homely duties to engage their activities. +In and out of the cabins the high-browed pio<span class="pagenum">[Pg 283]</span>neer +mothers wrought, where now the delicate +dames, perhaps, indolently occupy luxuriant +homes.</p> + +<p>It is impossible for these latter to realize +the loneliness, wildness and rudeness of the surroundings +of the pioneer women. Instead of +standing awed before the dauntless souls that +preceded them, with a toss of the head they say, +“You might endure such things but we couldn’t, +<i>we are so much finer clay</i>.”</p> + +<p>The friends they left behind were sorely +regretted; one pioneer woman said the most cruel +deprivation was the rarity of letters from home +friends, the anxious waiting month after month +for some word that might tell of their well-being. +Neither telegraph nor fleet mail service had then +been established.</p> + +<p>The pioneer woman learned to face every +sort of danger from riding rough water in an +Indian canoe to hunting blackberries where +bears, panthers and Indians roamed the deep +forest. One said that she would not go through +it again for the whole State of Washington.</p> + +<p>Each was obliged to depend almost wholly +on herself and was compelled to invent and apply +many expedients to feed and clothe herself +and little ones. There was no piano playing +or fancy work for her, but she made, mended +and re-made, cooked, washed and swept, helped +put in the garden or clear the land, all the time +instructing her children as best she could, and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 284]</span> +by both precept and example, inculcating those +high principles that mark true manhood and +womanhood.</p> + +<p>The typical band of pioneer women who +landed on Alki Point, all but one of whom sat +down to weep, have lived to see a great city built, +in less than a half century, the home of thousands +who reap the fruits of their struggles in +the wilderness.</p> + +<p>The heroic endurance with which they toiled +and waited, many years, the tide in their affairs, +whereby they attained a moderate degree of ease, +comfort and freedom from anxiety, all so hardily +won, is beyond words of admiration.</p> + +<p>The well-appointed kitchen of today, with +hot and cold water on tap, fine steel range, cupboards +and closets crowded with every sort of +cunning invention in the shape of utensils for +cooking, is a luxurious contrast to the meager +outfit of the pioneer housewife. As an example +of the inconvenience and privations of the early +’50s, I give the following from the lips of one +of the pioneer daughters, Sarah (Bonney) +Kellogg:</p> + +<p>“When we came to Steilacoom in 1853, we +lived overhead in a rough lumber store building, +and my mother had to go up and down stairs +and out into the middle of the street or roadway +and cook for a numerous family by a stump fire. +She owned the only sieve in the settlement, a +large round one; flour was $25.00 a barrel and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 285]</span> +had weevils in it at that, so every time bread +was made the flour had to be sifted to get them +out. The sieve was very much in demand and +frequently the children were sent here or there +among the neighbors to bring it home.</p> + +<p>“We had sent to Olympia for a stove, but +it was six weeks before it reached its destination.”</p> + +<p>Think of cooking outdoors for six weeks +for a family of growing children, with only the +fewest possible dishes and utensils, too!</p> + +<p>Any woman of the present time may imagine, +if she will, what it would be to have every +picture, or other ornament, every article of furniture, +except the barest necessities for existence, +the fewest possible in number, every fashionable +garment, her house itself with its vines +and shrubbery suddenly vanish and raise her +eyes to see without the somber forest standing +close around; within, the newspapered or bare +walls of a log cabin, a tiny window admitting +little light, a half-open door, but darkened frequently +by savage faces; or to strain her ears +to catch the song, whistle or step of her husband +returning through the dark forest, fearing but +hoping and praying that he may not have fallen +on the way by the hand of a foe. She might look +down to see her form clad in homely garments +of cotton print, moccasins on her feet, and her +wandering glance touch her sunbonnet hanging +on a peg driven between the logs.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 286]</span>Now and then a wild cry sounds faintly or +fully over the water or from the sighing depths +of the vast wilderness.</p> + +<p>An unusual challenge by ringing stentorian +voices may call her to the door to scan the face +of the waters and see great canoes loaded with +brawny savages, whose intentions are uncertain, +paddled swiftly up the bay, instead of the familiar +sound of steam whistles and gliding in of +steamships to a welcome port.</p> + +<p>Should it be a winter evening and her companion +late, they seat themselves at a rude table +and partake of the simplest food from the barely +sufficient dishes, meanwhile striving to reassure +each other ere retiring for the night.</p> + +<p>So day after day passed away and many +years of them, the conditions gradually modified +by advancing civilization, yet rendered even +more arduous by increasing cares and toils incident +upon the rearing and educating of a family +with very little, if any, assistance from such +sources as the modern mother has at her command. +Physicians and nurses, cooks and house-maids +were almost entirely lacking, and the +mother, with what the father could help her, +had to be all these in turn.</p> + +<p>In all ordinary, incipient or trifling ailments +they necessarily became skillful, and for many +years kept their families in health with active +and vigorous bodies, clear brains and goodly +countenances.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 287]</span>The pioneer women are of sterling worth +and character. The patience, courage, purity +and steadfastness which were developed in them +presents a moral resemblance to the holy women +of old.</p> + +<p>Pioneer men are generally liberal in their +views, as was witnessed when the suffrage was +bestowed upon the women of Washington Territory +several years ago.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page288" name="page288">[Pg 288]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER Va.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">A NATIVE DAUGHTER, BORN IN FORT DECATUR.</span></h2> + +<p>Madge Decatur Denny was born in Fort +Decatur, in the year of the Indian war, on March +16th, 1856; to those sheltering walls had the +gentle mother, Louisa Boren Denny, fled on the +day of battle. Ushered into the world of danger +and rude alarms, her nature proved, in its development, +one well suited to the circumstances and +conditions; courage, steadfastness and intrepidity +were marked traits in her character. Far +from being outwardly indicated, they were +rather contrasted by her delicate and refined appearance; +one said of her, “Madge is such a +dainty thing.”</p> + +<p>Madge was a beautiful child, and woman, +too, with great sparkling eyes, abundant golden-brown +curls and rosy cheeks. What a picture +lingers in my memory!—of this child with her +arms entwined about the slender neck of a pet +fawn, her eyes shining with love and laughter, +her burnished hair shimmering like a halo in the +sunlight as she pattered here and there with her +graceful playfellow.</p> + +<p>The Indians admired her exceedingly, and +both they and the white people of the little settlement +often remarked upon her beauty.</p> + +<p>In early youth she showed a keen intellectu<span class="pagenum">[Pg 289]</span>ality, +reading with avidity at ten years such +books as Irving’s “Life of Washington,” “History +of France,” “Pilgrim’s Progress,” Sir +Walter Scott’s “Lay of the Last Minstrel” and +“Lady of the Lake.” From that time on she +read every book or printed page that fell in her +way; a very rapid reader, one who seemed to +take in a page at a few glances, she ranged happily +over the fields of literature like a bright-winged +bird. Poetry, fiction, history, bards, +wits, essayists, all gave of their riches to her +fresh, inquiring young mind.</p> + +<p>The surpassing loveliness and grandeur of +the “world in the open air” appealed to her pure +nature even in extreme youth; her friends recall +with wonder that when only two and a half years +of age she marked the enchantment of a scene +in Oregon, of flowery mead, dark forest and deep +canyon, under a bright June sky, by plucking at +her mother’s gown and lisping, “Look! mother, +look! so pitty!” (pretty).</p> + +<p><a id="XIII" name="XIII"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/opp289.jpg" width="600" height="353" alt="" title="DAUGHTERS OF D. T. AND LOUISA DENNY" /> +<span class="caption">DAUGHTERS OF D. T. AND LOUISA DENNY<br /> +Emily Inez Madge Decatur Anna Louisa Mrs. Abbie Denny-Lindsley</span> +</div> + +<p>And such a lover of flowers! From this +same season when she gathered armfuls of great, +golden buttercups, blue violets, scarlet columbines, +“flags” and lilies from the sunny slopes +of the Waldo Hills, through her youth, on the +evergreen banks of Puget Sound where she +climbed fearlessly about to pluck the purple +lupine, orange honeysuckle, Oregon grape and +sweet wild roses, was her love of them exemplified. +Very often she walked or rode on horse<span class="pagenum">[Pg 290]</span>back +some distance to procure the lovely lady’s +slipper (Calypso borealis), the favorite flower +of the pioneer children.</p> + +<p>A charming letter writer, she often added +the adornment of a tiny group of wild flowers +in the corner, a few yellow violets, fairylike twin-flowers +or lady’s slippers.</p> + +<p>At one time she had a large correspondence +with curious young Eastern people who wished +to know something of the far Northwest; to these +she sent accurate and graphic descriptions of +tall trees, great mountains, waterfalls, lakes and +seas, beasts, birds and fishes. She possessed no +mean literary talent; without her knowledge +some of her letters strayed into print. A very +witty one was published in a newspaper, cut out +and pasted in the scrapbook of an elocutionist, +and to her astonishment produced as a “funny +piece” before an audience among whom she sat, +the speaker evidently not knowing its author. +A parody on “Poe’s Raven” made another audience +weep real tears in anguished mirth.</p> + +<p>Every felicitous phrase or quaint conceit +she met was treasured up, and to these were +added not a few of her own invention, and woe +betide the wight who accompanied her to opera, +concert or lecture, for her <i>sotto voce</i> comments, +murmured with a grave countenance, were disastrous +to their composure and “company manners.”</p> + +<p>It must be recorded of her that she gave up<span class="pagenum">[Pg 291]</span> +selfish pleasures to be her mother’s helper, whose +chief stay she was through many years. In her +last illness she said, with much tenderness, +“Mother, who will help you now?”</p> + +<p>Madge was a true <i>lady</i> or <i>loaf-giver</i>. Every +creature, within or without the domicile, partook +of her generous care, from the pet canary to the +housedog, all the human inhabitants and the +stranger within the gates.</p> + +<p>Moreover, she was genuine, nothing she +undertook was slighted or done in a slipshod +manner.</p> + +<p>Her taste and judgment were accurate and +sound in literature and art; her love of art led +her to exclaim regretfully, “When we are dead +and gone, the landscape will bristle with easels.”</p> + +<p>A scant population and the exigencies of the +conditions placed art expression in the far future, +yet she saw the vast possibilities before +those who should be so fortunate as to dwell in +the midst of such native grandeur, beauty and +richness of color.</p> + +<p>Like many other children, we had numerous +pets, wild things from the forest or the, to us, +charming juvenile members of the barnyard +flocks. When any of these succumbed to the inevitable, +a funeral of more or less pomp was in +order, and many a hapless victim of untoward +fate was thus tearfully consigned to the bosom +of Mother Earth. On one occasion, at the +obsequies of a beloved bird or kitten, I forget<span class="pagenum">[Pg 292]</span> +which, Madge, then perhaps six years of age, +insisted upon arranging a litter, draped with +white muslin and decorated with flowers, and +followed it, as it was borne by two other children, +singing with serious though tearless eyes,</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">“We’re traveling to the grave</span> +<span class="i0">To lay this body down,</span> +<span class="i0">And the last word that I heard him speak</span> +<span class="i0">Was about Jerusalem,” etc.</span> +</div> + +<p>She was so thoroughly in earnest that the +older children refrained from laughing at what +some might have thought unnecessary solemnity.</p> + +<p>Madge had her share of adventures, too; +one dark night she came near drowning in Lake +Washington. Having visited the Newcastle coal +mines with a small party of friends and returned +to the lake shore, they were on the wharf ready +to go on board the steamer. In some manner, +perhaps from inadequate lighting, she stepped +backward and fell into the water some distance +below. The water was perhaps forty feet deep, +the mud unknown. Several men called for “A +rope! A rope!” but not a rope could they lay +their hands on. After what seemed an age to +her, a lantern flashed into the darkness and a +long pole held by seven men was held down to +her; she grasped it firmly and, as she afterward +said, felt as if she could climb to the moon with +its assistance—and was safely drawn up, taken +to a miner’s cottage, where a kind-hearted +woman dressed her in dry clothing. She reached +home none the worse for her narrow escape.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 293]</span>Her nerves were nerves of steel; she seldom +exhibited a shadow of fear and seemed of a +spirit to undertake any daring feat. To dare the +darkness, climb declivities, explore recesses, +seemed pleasures to her courageous nature. At +Snoqualmie Falls, in the Archipelago de Haro, +in the Jupiter Hills of the Olympic Range, she +climbed up and down the steep gorges with the +agility of the chamois or our own mountain goat. +The forest, the mountain, the seashore yielded +their charm to her, each gave their messages. +In a collection which she culled from many +sources, ranging from sparkling gayety to profound +seriousness, occur these words:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">“I saw the long line of the vacant shore</span> +<span class="i0">The sea-weed and the shells upon the sand</span> +<span class="i0">And the brown rocks left bare on every hand</span> +<span class="i0">As if the ebbing tide would flow no more.</span> +<span class="i0">Then heard I more distinctly than before,</span> +<span class="i0">The ocean breathe and its great breast expand,</span> +<span class="i0">And hurrying came on the defenseless land,</span> +<span class="i0">The insurgent waters with tumultuous roar;</span> +<span class="i0">All thought and feeling and desire, I said</span> +<span class="i0">Love, laughter, and the exultant joy of song</span> +<span class="i0">Have ebbed from me forever! Suddenly o’er me</span> +<span class="i0">They swept again from their deep ocean bed,</span> +<span class="i0">And in a tumult of delight and strong</span> +<span class="i0">As youth, and beautiful as youth, upbore me.”</span> +</div> + +<p>It must have been that “Bird and bee and +blossom taught her Love’s spell to know,” and +then she went away to the “land where Love itself +had birth.”</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page294" name="page294">[Pg 294]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER Vb.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">LIKE A FOREST FLOWER.<br /> + +ANNA LOUISA DENNY.</span></h2> + +<p>Anna was the fourth daughter of D. T. and +Louisa Boren Denny. In infancy she showed +a marked talent for music, signifying by her +eyes, head and hands her approval of certain +tunes, preferring them to all others. Before she +was able to frame words she could sing tunes. +When a young girl her memory for musical tones +was marvelous, enabling her to reproduce difficult +strains while yet unable to read the notes. +Possessed of a pure, high, flexible soprano voice, +her singing was a delight to her friends. Upon +hearing famous singers render favorite airs, her +pleasure shone from every feature, although her +comments were few. On the long summer camping +expeditions of the family, the music books +went along with her brothers’ cornets, possibly +her own flute, and many a happy hour was spent +as we drove leisurely along past the tall, dark +evergreens, or floated on the silvery waters of +the Sound, with perhaps a book of duets open +before us, singing sweet songs of bird, blossom +and pine tree.</p> + +<p>While the other daughters were small and +delicately formed, Anna grew up to be a tall,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 295]</span> +statuesque woman of a truly noble appearance, +with a fair face, a high white forehead crowned +by masses of brown hair, and a countenance +mirthful, sunny, serious, but seldom stern.</p> + +<p>A certain draped marble statue in the +Metropolitan Museum in New York bears a +striking resemblance to Anna, but is not of so +noble a type.</p> + +<p>Childhood in the wild Northwest braved +many dangers both seen and unseen.</p> + +<p>While returning late one summer night +through the deep forest to our home after having +attended a concert in which the children had +taken part, Anna, then a little girl of perhaps +seven or eight years, had a narrow escape from +some wild beast, either a cougar or wildcat. Her +mother, who was leading her a little behind the +others, said that something grabbed at her and +disappeared instantly in the thick undergrowth; +grasping her hand more firmly she started to +run and the little party, thoroughly frightened, +fairly flew along the road toward home.</p> + +<p>In this north country it is never really dark +on a cloudless summer night, but the heavy forests +enshroud the roads and trails in a deep twilight.</p> + +<p>Anna, like her sister Madge, was a daring +rider and they often went together on long trips +through the forest. At one time each was +mounted on a lively Indian pony, both of which +doubtless had seen strange things and enjoyed<span class="pagenum">[Pg 296]</span> +many exciting experiences, but were supposed +to be quite lamblike and docile. Some reminiscence +must have crossed their equine minds, and +they apparently challenged each other to a race, +so race they must and race they did at a lightning +speed on the home run.</p> + +<p>They came flying up the lane to the house +(the homestead on Lake Union) in a succession +of leaps that would have made Pegasus envious +had he been “thar or tharabouts.” Their riders +stuck on like cockleburrs until they reached the +gate, when a sudden stop threw Anna to the +ground, but she escaped injury, the only damage +being a wrecked riding habit.</p> + +<p>Anna made no pretension to great learning, +yet possessed a well-balanced and cultivated +mind. With no ado of great effort she stood +first in her class.</p> + +<p>At a notable celebration of Decoration Day +in Seattle, she was chosen to walk beside the +teacher at the head of the school procession; both +were tall, handsome young women, carrying the +school banner bearing the motto, “Right, then +Onward.”</p> + +<p>It was to this school, which bore his own +name, that her father presented a beautiful piano +as a memorial of her; it bears the words, from +her own lips, “I believe in Jesus,” in gold letters +across the front.</p> + +<p>In 1888 she accompanied her family across +the continent to the eastern coast, where she ex<span class="pagenum">[Pg 297]</span>pected +to be reunited with a friend, a young girl +to whom she was much attached, but it was otherwise +ordered; after a brief illness in New York +City, she passed away and was brought back to +her own loved native land, by the sun-down-seas. +Afar in a forest nook she rests, where wildwood +creatures pass by, the pine trees wave and the +stars sweep over, waiting, watching for the Day +toward which the whole creation moves.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>They wandered through the wonderful +forest, by lake, fern-embroidered stream and pebble +seashore, gazed on the glistening mountains, +the sparkling waves, the burning sunsets, shining +with such jewel colors as to make them think +of the land of hope, the New Jerusalem. And +the majestic snow-dome of Mountain Rainier +which at the first sight thereof caused a noted +man to leap up and shout aloud the joy that filled +his soul; they lived in sight of it for years.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It might be asked, “Does the environment +affect the character and mental development, +even the physical configuration?” We answer, +“Yes, we believe it does.” The fine physique, +the bright intellectuality, the lovely character of +these daughters of the West were certainly in +part produced and developed by the wonderful +world about them. Simple, pure, exalted natures +ought to be, and we believe are, the rule<span class="pagenum">[Pg 298]</span> +among the children of the pioneers of Puget +Sound and many of their successors.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>In this time of gathering up portraits of +fair women, I cannot help reverting to the good +old times on Puget Sound, when among the +daughters of the white settlers ugliness was the +exception, the majority possessing many points +of beauty. Bright, dark eyes, brilliant complexions, +graceful forms, luxuriant hair and fine +teeth were the rule. The pure air, mild climate, +simple habits and rational life were amply +proved producers of physical perfection. Old-timers +will doubtless remember the handsome +Bonney girls, the Misses Chambers, the Misses +Thornton, Eva Andrews, Mary Collins, Nellie +Burnett, Alice Mercer, the Dennys, noticeable +for clear white skin and brilliant color, with +abundant dark hair, Gertrude and Mary Boren +with rosy cheeks and blue eyes; Blanche Hinds, +very fair, with large, gray eyes, and others I +cannot now name, as well as a number of beautiful +matrons. Every settlement had its favored +fair.</p> + +<p>Perhaps because women were so scarce, they +were petted and indulged and came up with the +idea that they were very fine porcelain indeed; +they were all given the opportunities in the reach +of their parents and were quite fastidious in +their dress and belongings.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 299]</span>Of the other children of D. T. and Louisa +Boren Denny, John B. is a well educated and +accomplished man of versatility, a lawyer, musician, +and practical miner.</p> + +<p>D. Thomas is an electrician; was a precocious +young business man who superintended +the building of an electric street railway when +under twenty-five years of age.</p> + +<p>Victor W. S., a practical miner, assayer and +mining expert, who has been engaged in developing +gold and silver mines. Abbie D., an artist +and writer, who has published numerous articles, +a fine shot with the rifle and an accomplished +housewife; and E. I. Denny, the author of this +work, who is not now engaged in writing an autobiography.</p> + +<p>All, including the last mentioned, are fond +of wild life, hunting, camping and mountain +climbing, in which they have had much experience +and yearly seek for more.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page300" name="page300">[Pg 300]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER Vc.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">ONE OF THE COURAGEOUS YOUTHS.</span></h2> + +<p>William Richard Boren was one of the boy +pioneers. He was born in Seattle on the 4th of +October, 1854.</p> + +<p>The children necessarily shared with their +parents and guardians the hardships, dangers, +adventures and pleasures of the wild life of the +early days.</p> + +<p>When his father, Carson D. Boren, went to +the gold diggings, William came to the D. T. +Denny cottage and remained there for some +time. As there was then no boy in the family +(there were three little girls) he stepped into +usefulness almost immediately. To bring home +the cows, weed in the garden, carry flowers and +vegetables to market, cut and carry wood, the +“chores” of a pioneer home he helped to do willingly +and cheerfully.</p> + +<p>Every pair of hands must help, and the children +learned while very young that they were +to be industrious and useful.</p> + +<p>It required real fortitude to go on lonely +trails or roads through the dark, thick forest in +the deepening twilight that was impenetrable +blackness in the wall of sombre evergreens on +either hand.</p> + +<p>Some children seem to have little fear of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 301]</span> +anything, but it was different with William; he +was afraid; as he graphically described it, he +“<i>felt as if something would catch him in the +back</i>.” But he steadfastly traveled the dark +trails, showing a remarkable quality of courage.</p> + +<p>His sensations cannot be attributed to constitutional +timidity altogether, as there were real +dangers from wild beasts and savage men in +those days.</p> + +<p>He would often go long distances from the +settlement through the great forest as the shadows +were darkening into night, listening breathlessly +for the welcome jingle of the bells of the +herd, or anxiously to snapping twigs and creaking +of lodged trees or voices of night-birds. But +when the cattle were gathered up and he could +hear the steady tinkle of the leader’s bell, although +to the eye she was lost in the dusk in the +trail ahead, he felt safe.</p> + +<p>He calmly faced dangers, both seen and unseen, +in after years.</p> + +<p>By the time he was twelve or fourteen he +had learned to shoot very well with the shotgun +and could bring home a fine bunch of blue grouse +or “pheasants” (ruffed grouse).</p> + +<p>Late one May evening he came into the old +kitchen, laden with charming spoils from the +forest, a large handful of the sweet favorite of +the pioneer children, the lady’s slipper or +Calypso Borealis, and a bag of fat “hooters”<span class="pagenum">[Pg 302]</span> +for the stew or pie so much relished by the +settlers.</p> + +<p>The majority of the pioneer boys were not +expected to be particular as to whether they did +men’s work or women’s work, and William was +a notable example of versatility, lending a hand +with helpless babies, cooking or washing, the +most patient and faithful of nurses, lifting many +a burden from the tired house-mother.</p> + +<p>He was a total abstainer from intoxicants +and tobacco, and to the amusement of his friends +said he “could not see any sense in jumping +around the room,” as he described the social +dance. It surprised no one, therefore, that he +should grow up straight and vigorous, able to +endure many hardships.</p> + +<p>William was a very Nimrod by the time he +reached his majority, a fine shot with the rifle +and successful in killing large game. As he +came in sight one day on the trail to our camp in +the deep forest, he appeared carrying the blackest +and glossiest of bear cubs slung over one +shoulder. I called to him, “Halt, if you please, +and let me sketch you right there.” He obligingly +consented and in a few moments bear, gun +and hunter were transferred to paper. And a +good theme it was; with a background of dark +firs and cedars, in a mass of brightest green +ferns, stood the stalwart figure, clad in vivid +scarlet and black, gun on one shoulder and bear +cub on the other.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 303]</span>William Boren was an active and useful +member of the M. E. or “White Church” in +Seattle many years ago. This was the first +church established in Seattle.</p> + +<p>He removed from the settlement and lived +on a ranch for a number of years.</p> + +<p>For a time in youth he was in the mining +district; while there he imposed upon himself +heavy burdens, packing as much as two hundred +pounds over the trail.</p> + +<p>This was probably overexertion; also in +later years, heavy lifting in a logging camp may +have helped break his naturally strong constitution.</p> + +<p>Many muscular and vigorous persons do not +realize the necessity for caution in exertion. I +have seen strong young men balancing their +weight against the “hold” of huge stumps, by +hanging across a large pole in mid-air.</p> + +<p>During his ranch life he was waylaid, basely +and cruelly attacked and beaten into insensibility +by two ruffians. Most likely this caused the fatal +brain trouble from which he died in January, +1899, at the home of his sister, Gertrude Boren, +who through a long illness cared for him with +affectionate solicitude.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">“O bearded, stalwart, westmost men,</span> +<span class="i0">A kingdom won without the guilt</span> +<span class="i0">Of studied battle; that hath been</span> +<span class="i0">Your blood’s inheritance.</span> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 304]</span></p> +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">“Yea, Time, the grand old harvester,</span> +<span class="i0">Has gathered you from wood and plain.</span> +<span class="i0">We call to you again, again;</span> +<span class="i0">The rush and rumble of the car</span> +<span class="i0">Comes back in answer. Deep and wide</span> +<span class="i0">The wheels of progress have passed on;</span> +<span class="i0">The silent pioneer is gone.”</span> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page305" name="page305">[Pg 305]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">ARTHUR A. DENNY.</span></h2> + +<p class="title">(Born June 20th, 1822, Died January 9th, 1889.)</p> + +<p>A ponderous volume of biography could +scarcely set forth the journeyings, experiences, +efforts, achievements and character of this well-known +pioneer of the Northwest Coast. He was +one of the foremost of the steadfast leaders of +the pioneers. A long, useful and worthy life he +spent among men, the far-reaching influence of +which cannot be estimated. When he passed +away both private citizens and public officials +honored him; those who had known him far back +in his youth and through the intervening years +said of the eulogies pronounced upon his life, +“Well, it is all true, and much more might be +said.”</p> + +<p>A. A. Denny was a son of John Denny and +brother of David Thomas Denny; each of them +exerted a great influence on the life and institutions +of the Northwest.</p> + +<p>From sketches published in the local papers +I have made these selections:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“The Dennys are a very ancient family of +England, Ireland and Scotland. The present +branch traces its ancestry from Ireland to +America through great-grandparents, David<span class="pagenum">[Pg 306]</span> +and Margaret Denny, who settled in Berks +County, Pennsylvania, previous to the revolutionary +war. There Robert Denny, the grandfather +of A. A. Denny was born in 1753. In +early life he removed to Frederick County, Virginia, +where in 1778 he married Rachel Thomas; +and about 1790 removed to and settled in Mercer +County, Kentucky.</p> + +<p>“There John Denny, father of the deceased, +was born May 4, 1793, and was married August +25, 1814, to Sarah Wilson, daughter of Bassel +and Ann (Scott) Wilson, who was born in the +old town of Bladensburg, near Washington City, +February 3, 1797. Her parents came to America +in an early day.</p> + +<p>“Their paternal and maternal grandparents +served in the revolutionary war. The former +belonged to Washington’s command at the time +of Braddock’s defeat.</p> + +<p>“John Denny was a soldier in the war of +1812, being in Col. Richard M. Johnson’s regiment +of Kentucky volunteers. He was also an +ensign in Capt. McFee’s company, and was with +Gen. Harrison at the battle of the Thames, when +Proctor was defeated and the noted Tecumseh +killed. He was a member of the Illinois legislature +in 1840 and 1841, with Lincoln, Yates, +Bates and others, who afterwards became renowned +in national affairs. In politics he was +first a Whig and afterward a Republican. For +many years he was a Justice of the Peace. He<span class="pagenum">[Pg 307]</span> +died July 28th, 1875, when 83 years of age. His +first wife died March 21st, 1841, when 44 years +of age.</p> + +<p>“About 1816 John Denny and his family +removed to Washington County, Indiana, and +settled near Salem, where Arthur A. Denny was +born June 20th, 1822. One year later they removed +to Putnam County, six miles east from +Greencastle, where they remained twelve years, +and from there went to Knox County, Illinois. +Mr. A. A. Denny has said of his boyhood:</p> + +<p>“‘My early education began in the log +schoolhouse so familiar to the early settler in +the West. The teachers were paid by subscription, +so much per pupil, and the schools rarely +lasted more than half the year, and often but +three months. Among the earliest of my recollections +is of my father hewing out a farm in the +beech woods of Indiana, and I well remember +that the first school that I attended was two and +a half miles from my home. When I became +older it was often necessary for me to attend to +home duties half of the day before going to +school a mile distant. By close application I +was able to keep up with my class.</p> + +<p>“‘My opportunities to some extent improved +as time advanced. I spent my vacations +with an older brother at carpenter and joiner +work to obtain the means to pay my expenses +during term time.’”</p></blockquote> + +<p>A. A. Denny was married November 23,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 308]</span> +1843, to Mary Ann Boren, to whom he has paid +a graceful and well-deserved tribute in these +words:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“She has been kind and indulgent to all my +faults, and in cases of doubt and difficulty in the +long voyage we have made together she has always +been, without the least disposition to dictate, +a safe and prudent adviser.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>He held many public offices, each and all +of which he filled with scrupulous care, from +county supervisor in Illinois in 1843 to first postmaster +of Seattle in 1853. He was elected to the +legislature of Washington Territory, serving +for nine consecutive sessions, being the speaker +of the third; was registrar of the U. S. Land +Office at Olympia from 1861 to 1865. He was a +member of the Thirty-ninth Congress, being a +delegate from Washington Territory. Even in +his age he was given the unanimous vote of the +Republicans for U. S. Senator from the State of +Washington.</p> + +<p>His business enterprises date from the +founding of the City of Seattle and are interwoven +with its history.</p> + +<p>He was a volunteer in the war against the +Indians and had some stirring experiences. In +his book, “Pioneer Days on Puget Sound,” he +gives a very clear and accurate account of the +beginning of the trouble with the Indians and +many facts concerning the war following.</p> + +<p>He found, as many others did, good and true<span class="pagenum">[Pg 309]</span> +friends, as well as enemies, among the Indians. +On page 68 of the work mentioned may be found +these words: “I will say further, that my acquaintance +and experience with the Puget Sound +Indians proved them to be sincere in their +friendship, and no more unfaithful and treasonable +than the average white man, and I am disposed +to believe that the same might be truthfully +said of many other Indians.”</p> + +<p>With regard to the dissatisfied tenderfoot +he says: “All old settlers know that it is a common +occurrence for parties who have reached +here by the easy method of steamer or railway +in a palace car to be most blindly unreasonable +in their fault-finding, and they are often not +content with abusing the country and climate, +but they heap curses and abuse on those who +came before them by the good old method of +ninety or a hundred days crossing the plains, +just as though we had sent for them and thus +given them an undoubted right to abuse us for +their lack of good strong sense. Then we all +know, too, that it as been a common occurrence +for those same fault-finders to leave, declaring +that the country was not fit for civilized people +to live in; and not by any means unusual for the +same parties to return after a short time ready to +settle down and commence praising the country, +as though they wanted to make amends for their +unreasonable behavior in the first instance.”</p> + +<p>There are a good many other pithy remarks<span class="pagenum">[Pg 310]</span> +in this book, forcible for their truth and simplicity.</p> + +<p><a id="page310" name="page310"></a></p> + +<p>As the stories of adventure have an imperishable +fascination, I give his own account of +the discovery of Shilshole or Salmon Bay:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“When we selected our claims we had fears +that the range for 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 the Indians, which we could then +but imperfectly understand, we were led to believe +that there was prairie or grass lands to the +northwest, where we might find feed in case of +necessity, but we were too busy to explore until +in December, 1852, when Bell, my brother, D. T. +Denny, 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 we had inclined too far eastward +and struck the lake, but on examination we found +it to be tidewater. 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 with<span class="pagenum">[Pg 311]</span>out +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 under the circumstances.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>D. T. Denny remembers that A. A. Denny +pulled some of the cotton wadding out of his +coat and then dug into a dead fir tree that was +dry inside and put it in with what other dry +stuff they could find, which was very little, and +D. T. Denny fired off his gun into it with the +muzzle so close as to set fire to it.</p> + +<p>He also relates that he shot a pheasant and +broiled it before the fire, dividing it in halves.</p> + +<p>A. A. Denny further says:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“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.</p> + +<p>“This was our first knowledge of Shilshole +Bay, which, we soon after fully explored, and +were ready to point newcomers in that direction +for locations.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Old Salmon Bay Curley had told them there +was grass in that region, which was true they +afterward learned, but not prairie grass, it was<span class="pagenum">[Pg 312]</span> +salt marsh, in sufficient quantity to sustain the +cattle.</p> + +<p>Speaking of the Indians, he tells how they +settled around the cabins of the whites at Alki +until there were perhaps a thousand, and relates +this incident: “On one occasion during the +winter, Nelson (Chief Pialse) came with a party +of Green River and Muckilshoot Indians, and +got into an altercation with John Kanem and the +Snoqualmies. They met and the opposing +forces, amounting to thirty or forty on a side, +drew up directly in front of Low’s house, armed +with Hudson Bay muskets, the two parties near +enough together to have powder-burnt each +other, and were apparently in the act of opening +fire, when we interposed and restored peace without +bloodshed, by my taking John Kanem away +and keeping them apart until Nelson and his +party left.”</p> + +<p>His daughter, Lenora Denny, related the +same incident to me. She witnessed it as a little +child and remembers it perfectly, together with +her fright at the preparations for battle, and +added that Kanem desired her father at their +conference behind the cabin just to let him go +around behind the enemy’s line of battle and +stab their chief; nobody would know who did it +and that would be sufficient in lieu of the proposed +fight. Mr. Denny dissuaded him and the +“war” terminated as above stated.</p> + +<p>In the fall of 1855, the Indians exhibited<span class="pagenum">[Pg 313]</span> +more and more hostility toward the whites, and +narrow escapes were not uncommon before the +war fairly broke out.</p> + +<p><a id="page313" name="page313"></a></p> + +<p>About this time as A. A. Denny was making +a canoe voyage from Olympia down the Sound +he met with a thrilling experience.</p> + +<p>When he and his two Indian canoemen were +opposite a camp of savages on the beach, they +were hailed by the latter with:</p> + +<p>“Who is it you have in the canoe and where +are you going?” spoken in their native tongue. +After calling back and forth for some little +time, two of them put out hastily in a canoe to +overtake the travelers, keeping up an earnest +and excited argument with one of Mr. Denny’s +Indians, both of whom he observed never ceased +paddling. One of the strangers was dressed up +in war-paint and had a gun across his lap; he +kept up the angry debate with one of the travelers +while the other was perfectly silent.</p> + +<p>Finally the pursuers were near enough so +that one reached out to catch hold of the canoe +when Denny’s men paddled quickly out of reach +and increased their speed to a furious rate, continuing +to paddle with all their might until a +long distance from their threatening visitors. +Although Mr. Denny did not understand their +speech, their voices and gestures were not difficult +to interpret; he felt they wished to kill +him and thought himself lost.</p> + +<p>He afterward learned that his canoeman,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 314]</span> +who had answered the attacking party, had saved +his life by his courage and cunning. The savages +from the camp had demanded that Mr. +Denny be given up to them that they might kill +him in revenge for the killing of some Indians, +saying he was a “hyas tyee” (great man) and a +most suitable subject for their satisfaction.</p> + +<p>He had answered that Mr. Denny was not +near so high up nor as great as some others and +was always a good friend of the Indians and then +carried him to a place of safety by fast and furious +paddling. The one who was silent during +the colloquy declared afterward that he said +nothing for fear they would kill him too.</p> + +<p>This exhibition of faithfulness on the part +of Indian hirelings is worthy of note in the face +of many accusations of treachery on the part +of their race.</p> + +<p>It is my opinion that Arthur Armstrong +Denny led an exemplary life and that he ever desired +to do justice to others. If he failed in doing +so, it was the fault of those with whom he was +associated rather than his own.</p> + +<p>A leading trait in his character was integrity, +another was the modesty that ever accompanies +true greatness, noticeable also in his well +known younger brother, D. T. Denny; neither has +been boastful, arrogant or grasping for public +honors.</p> + +<p>A. A. Denny fought the long battle of the +pioneer faithfully and well and sleeps in an honored +grave.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 315]</span></p> +<p class="title">MARY A. DENNY.</p> + +<p>Mary Ann Boren (Denny) was born in Tennessee, +November 25th, 1822, the first child of +Richard Boren and Sarah Latimer Boren (afterward +Denny). Her grandfather Latimer, a kind +hearted, sympathetic man, sent a bottle of camphor +to revive the pale young mother. This +camphor bottle was kept in the family, the children +resorting to it for the palliation of cuts and +bruises throughout their adolescence, and it is +now preserved by her own family as a cherished +relic, having seen eighty years and more since +its presentation.</p> + +<p>After the death of her father, leaving her +mother a young widow with three small children, +they lived in Illinois as pioneers, where Mary +shared the toils, dangers and vicissitudes of frontier +life. Was not this the school for the greater +pioneering of the farthest west?</p> + +<p>November 23rd, 1843, she married Arthur A. +Denny, a man who both recognized and acknowledged +her worth.</p> + +<p>When she crossed the plains in 1851 with +the Denny company, Mrs. Denny was a young +matron of twenty-nine years, with two little +daughters. The journey, arduous to any, was +peculiarly trying to her with the helpless ones to +care for and make as comfortable as such tenting +in the wilds might be.</p> + +<p>At Fort Laramie her own feet were so un<span class="pagenum">[Pg 316]</span>comfortable +in shoes that she put on a pair of +moccasins which David T. Denny had bought of +an Indian and worn for one day. Mrs. Denny +wore them during the remainder of the journey +to Portland.</p> + +<p><a id="page316" name="page316"></a></p> + +<p>One incident among many serves to show her +unfaltering courage; an Indian reached into her +wagon to take the gun hung up inside: Mrs. Mary +A. Denny pluckily seized a hatchet and drew it +to strike a vigorous blow when the savage suddenly +withdrew, doubtless with an increased respect +for white squaws in general and this one in +particular.</p> + +<p>The great journey ended, at Portland her +third child, Rolland H., was born. If motherhood +be a trial under the most favorable circumstances, +what must it have been on the long +march?</p> + +<p>On the stormy and dangerous trip from +Portland on the schooner Exact, out over the +bar and around Cape Flattery to the landing at +Alki Point, went the little band with this brave +mother and her babe.</p> + +<p>On a drizzly day in November, the 13th, +1851, she climbed the bank at Alki Point to the +rude cabin, bare of everything now considered +necessary to begin housekeeping. They were imperfectly +protected from the elements and the +eldest child, Catharine, or Kate as she was called, +yet remembers how the rain dropped on her face +the first night they slept in the unfinished cabin,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 317]</span> +giving her a decided prejudice against camping +out.</p> + +<p>The mother’s health was poor and it became +necessary to provide nourishment for the infant; +as there were no cows within reach, or tinned substitutes, +the experiment of feeding him on clam +juice was made with good effect.</p> + +<p>Louisa Boren Denny, her sister, then unmarried, +relates the following incident:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“At Alki Point one day, I stood just within +the door of the cabin and Mary stood just inside; +both of us saw an Indian bob up from behind +the bank and point his gun directly at my +sister Mary and almost immediately lower it +without firing.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Mary A. Denny, when asked recently what +she thought might have been his reason for doing +so replied, “Well, I don’t know, unless it +was just to show what he could do; it was Indian +Jim; I suppose he did it to show that he could +shoot me if he wanted to.”</p> + +<p>Probably he thought to frighten her at least, +but with the customary nerve of the pioneer woman, +she exhibited no sign of fear and he went his +way.</p> + +<p>They afterward learned that on the same +evening there had been some trouble with the +Indians at the Maple Place and it was thought +that this Indian was one of the disaffected or a +sympathizer.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Mary A. Denny moved about from<span class="pagenum">[Pg 318]</span> +place to place, living first in the cabin at Alki +Point, then a cabin on Elliott Bay, on the north +end of their claim, then another cabin near the +great laurel tree, on the site of the Stevens Hotel, +Seattle. After a time the family went to +Olympia. Her husband was in the Land Office, +was a member of the Territorial Legislature and +Delegate to Congress; all the while she toiled on +in her home with her growing family.</p> + +<p>They returned to Seattle and built what was +for those times a very good residence on the corner +of Pike Street and First Avenue, where they +had a fine orchard, and there they lived many +years.</p> + +<p>After having struggled through long years +of poverty, not extreme, to be sure, but requiring +much patient toil and endurance, their property +became immensely valuable and they enjoyed +well deserved affluence.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Mary A. Denny’s family consists of +four sons and two daughters; Orion O., the second +son, was the second white child born in Seattle. +Catherine (Denny) Frye, the elder daughter, +was happily married in her girlhood and is +the mother of a most interesting family. Rolland +H., Orion O., A. Wilson and Charles L. Denny, +the four sons, are prominent business men of +Seattle.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Denny makes her home with Lenora, +the younger unmarried daughter, at her palatial<span class="pagenum">[Pg 319]</span> +residence in Seattle. The last mentioned is a +traveled, well read woman of most sympathetic +nature, devoted to her friends, one who has shown +kindness to many strangers in times past as they +were guests in her parents’ home.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page320" name="page320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">HENRY VAN ASSELT OF DUWAMISH.</span></h2> + +<p>In the Post-Intelligencer of December 8th +and 9th, 1902, appeared the following sketches of +this well known pioneer:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“At the ripe old age of 85, with the friendship +and affection of every man he knew in this +life, Henry Van Asselt, one of the founders of +King County, and one of the four of the first +white men to set foot on the shores of Elliott +Bay, died yesterday morning at his home, on +Fifteenth Avenue, of paralysis. Mr. Van Asselt, +with Samuel and Jacob Maple and L. M. Collins, +landed in a canoe September 14th, 1851, at the +mouth of the Duwamish River, where it enters +the harbor of Seattle. They had come from the +Columbia River and were more than two months +in advance of Arthur Denny, one of the pioneer +builders of the city of Seattle. Van Asselt’s +name is perpetuated through the town of Van +Asselt, adjoining the southern limits of the city. +He was well known all over the Puget Sound +country, and he was the last living member of +one of the first bands of white arrivals, on the +shores of Elliott Bay.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Van Asselt was a Hollander, having +been born in Holland April 11, 1817, two years +after the battle of Waterloo. He was in his<span class="pagenum">[Pg 321]</span> +early youth a soldier in the Holland army during +its dispute with Belgium. An expert marksman +and an indefatigable huntsman, he came to +America in 1850, on a sailing schooner, and a +year later was traveling the trail from the Central +West to California. Instead of going to the +land of gold and sunshine, Van Asselt headed +north, reaching the Columbia River in the fall +of 1850. A year later found him crossing the +Columbia River, after a short sojourn in the mining +camps of Northern California. With three +companions, L. M. Collins, Jacob and Samuel +Maple, Henry Van Asselt made the perilous journey +from the Columbia River to the Sound, +where, near Olympia, he boarded a canoe, and +after two days’ traveling reached the mouth of +the Duwamish River. Ascending the stream to +the junction of the White and Black Rivers, a +distance of only a few miles, he staked out a donation +land claim of 320 acres in the heart of the +richest section of the Duwamish valley.”</p></blockquote> + +<p class="title">SAID VALUES INCREASED.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“The sturdy Hollander cleared the valley +of its primeval forest of firs, and made it truly +blossom with farm products of every description. +The land today (1902) is worth $1,000 an acre +and upwards. At his death, the aged pioneer, +the last of his generation, had in his own name +some 100 odd acres of this land. Not many weeks +ago he had sold twenty-four acres of the old<span class="pagenum">[Pg 322]</span> +homestead as the site of the new rolling mill and +foundry to be constructed by the Vulcan Iron +Works.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Van Asselt was not the least interesting, +by any means, of the old pioneers of King +County. In fact, until his death he was the last +living member of the first group of white men +to set foot on the shores of Elliott Bay. He was +a very devout man, and in the late years of his +life, when he had retired from active business, +it was his custom to spend part of every Sunday +at the county jail, reading to the prisoners excerpts +from holy writ and giving them words of +hopefulness and cheer. This duty was performed +for many years as regularly as was his +attendance at the Methodist Protestant church, +in this city, of which he had been for thirty years +a member. It is to be said of the dead pioneer +that he was universally loved and respected, and +it was his proudest boast that he had never made +an enemy in his life. This was literally true.</p> + +<p>“Crossing the plains in 1850, young Van +Asselt was of great assistance to his party in +procuring game and in driving the hostile Indians +away, because of his superior marksmanship, +which he had acquired as a hunter on the +estates of wealthy residents of his native country. +He landed at Oregon City, Ore., in September, +1850, and the ensuing winter he spent in +mining in California. He accumulated a considerable +sum, and, lured by stories of the richness<span class="pagenum"><a id="page323" name="page323">[Pg 323]</a></span> +and vastness of the great Northwest, he returned +to Portland in 1851, and, crossing the Columbia, +made his way to the Sound country. On this +trip he was accidentally wounded, the bullet being +imbedded in his shoulder. In the days of the +Indian troubles on the Sound, Van Asselt was +safe from the attacks of the hostiles, who held +him in superstitious reverence because of the +fact that he carried a bullet in his body. They +believed that he could not be killed by a tomahawk. +This fact, perhaps, had much to do with +his escape from assassination at the hands of the +hostiles in the Indian war of 1855.</p> + +<p>“Jacob and Samuel Maple, who with L. M. +Collins accompanied Mr. Van Asselt to Puget +Sound, have been dead many years. Arthur A. +Denny has been gathered to his fathers, along +with many others of the old pioneers of King +County and Washington. Van Asselt is the last +of that hardy race that opened the wilderness on +Puget Sound and made it blossom like the rose.</p> + +<p>“The news of the death of Van Asselt was +received as a sad blow among the people of Van +Asselt, where the aged pioneer spent the greater +portion of his days in the house which still stands +as a monument to his rugged pioneer days. In +Van Asselt the people speak the name of the pioneer +with reverence on account of the many charities +he extended to the poor during his lifetime, +and also on account of the many acts which he<span class="pagenum">[Pg 324]</span> +did in pioneer days to save and maintain the +peaceful relations with the savages.</p> + +<p>“The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Van Asselt +was celebrated in this county, on Christmas evening +1862. All of those present at the wedding +have now passed away with a few exceptions.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Van Asselt leaves a wife, Mrs. Mary +Jane Maple Van Asselt; a son, Dr. J. H. Van +Asselt; two daughters, Mrs. J. H. Benadom, of +Puyallup, and Dr. Nettie Van Asselt Burling, +and a grandson, Floyd Julian, son of Mrs. Mary +Adriane Van Asselt Julian, who died in 1893. +Mr. Van Asselt also leaves a brother, Rev. Garrett +Van Asselt, of Utrecht, Holland, and several +sisters in Holland.</p> + +<p>“The following were selected as active pallbearers: +William P. Harper, Dexter Horton, +D. B. Ward, O. J. Carr, Isaac Parker, M. R. +Maddocks. The honorary pallbearers were: +Edgar Bryan, Rev. Daniel Bagley, F. M. Guye, +Joseph Foster, William Carkeek, Judge Orange +Jacobs.</p> + +<p>“As illustrative of the regard and esteem +in which this pioneer was held by those who knew +him best, Dexter Horton, the well known banker +and capitalist, who met Mr. Van Asselt in 1852, +said last night:</p> + +<p>“‘Mr. Van Asselt was a man of sterling +character. His word was as good as a government +bond. I knew him almost from the begin<span class="pagenum">[Pg 325]</span>ning +of his life here. He was one of the kindliest +men I ever met.</p> + +<p>“‘For fifteen years after I came to Seattle +I conducted a general merchandise store here. +There were mighty few of us here in those early +times and we were all intimately acquainted. I +dare say that when a newcomer had resided on +the Sound, anywhere from Olympia to the Strait +of Fuca, for thirty days, I became acquainted +with him. They dropped in here to trade, traveling +in Indian canoes. There never was a man +of them that I did not trust to any reasonable extent +for goods, and my losses on that account in +fifteen years’ dealing with the early settlers were +less than $1,000. This is sufficient testimony as +to the character and integrity of the men who, +like Van Asselt, faced the privations and dangers +of the Western Trail to find homes for themselves +on the Pacific Coast.</p> + +<p>“‘Mr. Van Asselt located on a level farm in +the Duwamish valley on his arrival here. He was +a man of great energy and thrift, and soon had +good and paying crops growing. He used to +bring his produce to Seattle, either by Indian +canoe, or afterwards, when a trail was cut under +the brow of the hill, by teams. This produce +was readily disposed of, as we had a large number +of men working in the mills and few to supply +their necessities.</p> + +<p>“‘I remember that after he had lived here +for several years he moved to town and estab<span class="pagenum">[Pg 326]</span>lished +a cabinet maker’s shop. He was an expert +in that line of work. I have an ancient +curly maple bureau which he made for me, and +Mrs. A. A. Denny has another. They are beautifully +fashioned, Van Asselt being well skilled +in the trade. Doubtless others among the old-timers +here have mementos of his handicraft.</p> + +<p>“‘Van Asselt was of the type of men who +blazed the path for generations that followed +them to the Pacific Coast. His integrity was unchallenged, +and his charities were numerous and +unostentatious. He used to give every worthy +newcomer work on his ranch, and many an emigrant +in those days got his first start from Henry +Van Asselt.’</p> + +<p>“Samuel Crawford knew Mr. Van Asselt intimately +since 1876. He said last night:</p> + +<p>“‘Henry Van Asselt, or Uncle Henry, as +we all called him, spent the winter of 1850-1851 +with my great-great-grandfather, Robert Moore, +at Oregon City, Ore., or more properly speaking, +on the west shore of the Willamette, just across +from Oregon City. Mr. Van Asselt told me this +himself. Moore kept a large place, which was a +sort of rendezvous for the immigrants, and many +a man found shelter at his ranch. He gave them +work enough to keep them going, and Van Asselt +found employment with him that winter, making +shingles from cedar bolts with a draw knife.</p> + +<p>“‘Mr. Van Asselt was one of the best men +that ever lived. His word was as good as gold,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 327]</span> +and he never overlooked a chance to do a friend +a favor. While he spoke English with difficulty, +on occasion he could make a good speech, and he +always took a deep interest in public affairs. +There was probably no important public question +involving the interests of Seattle and the Puget +Sound country but that Mr. Van Asselt had his +say. He did not care for public office, however, +but preferred to go along in his quiet way, doing +all the good that was possible. He firmly believed +in the future of Seattle, which he loved +dearly, and I remember many years ago of his +purchase of two blocks of ground on Renton Hill, +in the vicinity of the residence where he passed +the last years of his life. This was nearly twenty +years ago.’</p> + +<p>“Thomas W. Prosch had known Mr. Van +Asselt for many years. He, too, paid a tribute to +his fine character, and rugged honesty. ‘Six +years ago,’ said Mr. Prosch, ‘I went to talk with +Mr. Van Asselt regarding his early experiences +on the Sound. He told me of his long and arduous +trip across the plains in 1850, and of his escapades +with the Indians then and afterward. +He said himself that he believed he led a charmed +life, as the Indians took many a shot at him, but +without avail. He was a dead shot himself, and +the Indians had great respect for his skill. He +was a very determined man, and undoubtedly had +a great influence over the savages.</p> + +<p>“‘Mr. Van Asselt told me that he met Hill<span class="pagenum">[Pg 328]</span> +Harmon, a well known Oregon settler, in the +spring of 1851, and together they crossed the Columbia +and came to Olympia. From there they +went with two or three others to Nesqually, +where they met Luther M. Collins, one of the +first settlers in King County. Collins endeavored +to persuade them to locate near him, but +they wanted a better place. Finally Collins +brought them to the Duwamish valley and located +them here. One of the party bought Collins’ +place at Nesqually, and he came here to locate +with Van Asselt and the others. Collins’ +family was the first white family to establish a +home in King County.’”</p></blockquote> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page329" name="page329">[Pg 329]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">THOMAS MERCER.</span></h2> + +<p>Thomas Mercer was born in Harrison county, +Ohio, March 11, 1813, the eldest of a large +family of children. He remained with his father +until he was twenty-one, gaining a common +school education and a thorough knowledge of +the manufacture of woolen goods. His father +was the owner of a well appointed woolen mill. +The father, Aaron Mercer, was born in Virginia +and was of the same family as General Mercer +of revolutionary fame. His mother, Jane Dickerson +Mercer, was born in Pennsylvania of an +old family of that state.</p> + +<p>The family moved to Princeton, Ill., in 1834, +a period when buffalo were still occasionally +found east of the Mississippi river, and savage +Indians annoyed and harassed outlying settlements +in that region. A remarkable coincidence +is a matter of family tradition. Nancy Brigham, +who later became Mr. Mercer’s wife, and her +family, were compelled to flee by night from +their home near Dixon at the time of the Black +Hawk war, and narrowly escaped massacre. In +1856, about twenty years later, her daughters, +the youngest only eight years old, also made a +midnight escape in Seattle, two thousand miles +away from the scene of their mother’s adven<span class="pagenum">[Pg 330]</span>ture, +and they endured the terrors of the attack +upon the village a few days later when the shots +and shouts of the thousand painted devils rang +out in the forest on the hillside from a point +near the present gas works to another near where +Madison street ends at First Avenue.</p> + +<p class="title">CROSSING THE PLAINS.</p> + +<p>In April, 1852, a train of about twenty +wagons, drawn by horses, was organized at +Princeton to cross the plains to Oregon. In this +train were Thomas Mercer, Aaron Mercer, Dexter +Horton, Daniel Bagley, William H. Shoudy, +and their families. Some of these still live in +or near Seattle and others settled in Oregon. +Mr. Mercer was chosen captain of the train and +discharged the arduous duties of that position +fearlessly and successfully. Danger and disease +were on both sides of the long, dreary way, and +hundreds of new made graves were often counted +along the roadside in a day. But this train +seemed to bear a charmed existence. Not a member +of the original party died on the way, although +many were seriously ill. Only one animal +was lost.</p> + +<p>As the journey was fairly at an end and +western civilization had been reached at The +Dalles, Oregon, Mrs. Mercer was taken ill, but +managed to keep up until the Cascades were +reached. There she grew rapidly worse and +soon died. Several members of the expedition<span class="pagenum">[Pg 331]</span> +went to Salem and wintered there, and in the +early spring of 1853 Mercer and Dexter Horton +came to Seattle and decided to make it their +home. Mr. Horton entered immediately upon +a business career, the success of which is known +in California, Oregon and Washington, and Mr. +Mercer settled upon a donation claim whose +eastern end was the meander line of Lake Union +and the western end, half way across to the bay. +Mercer street is the dividing line between his +and D. T. Denny’s claims, and all of these tracts +were included within the city limits about fifteen +years ago.</p> + +<p>Mr. Mercer brought one span of horses and +a wagon from the outfit with which he crossed +the plains and for some time all the hauling of +wood and merchandise was done by him. The +wagon was the first one in King county. In +1859 he went to Oregon for the summer and +while there married Hester L. Ward, who lived +with him nearly forty years, dying last November. +During the twenty years succeeding his +settlement here he worked hard clearing the +farm and carrying on dairying and farming in +a small way and doing much work with his team. +In 1873 portions of the farm came into demand +for homes and his sales soon put him in easy +circumstances and in later years made him independent, +though the past few years of hard +times have left but a small part of the estate.</p> + +<p>The old home on the farm that the Indians<span class="pagenum">[Pg 332]</span> +spared when other buildings in the county not +protected by soldiers were burned, is still standing +and is the oldest building in the county. Mr. +D. T. Denny had a log cabin on his place which +was not destroyed—these two alone escaped. The +Indians were asked, after the war, why they +did not burn Mercer’s house, to which they replied, +“Oh, old Mercer might want it again.” +Denny and Mercer had always been particularly +kind to the natives and just in their dealings, +and the savages seem to have felt some little +gratitude toward them.</p> + +<p>In the early ’40s Mr. Mercer and Rev. Daniel +Bagley were co-workers in the anti-slavery +cause with Owen Lovejoy, of Princeton, who was +known to all men of that period in the great +Middle West. Later Mr. Mercer joined the Republican +party and has been an ardent supporter +of its men and measures down to the present. +He served ten years as probate judge of King +county, and at the end of that period declined +a renomination.</p> + +<p>In early life he joined the Methodist Protestant +church and has ever been a consistent +member of that body. Rev. Daniel Bagley was +his pastor fifty-two years ago at Princeton, and +continued to hold that relation to him in Seattle +from 1860 until 1885, when he resigned his Seattle +pastorate.</p> + +<p>To Mr. Mercer belongs the honor of naming +the lakes adjacent to and almost surrounding<span class="pagenum">[Pg 333]</span> +the city. At a social gathering or picnic in 1855 +he made a short address and proposed the adoption +of “Union” for the small lake between the +bay and the large lake, and “Washington” for +the other body of water. This proposition was +received with favor and at once adopted. In +the early days of the county and city he was +always active in all public enterprises, ready +alike with individual effort and with his purse, +according to his ability, and no one of the city’s +thousands has taken a keener interest or greater +pride than he in the recent development of the +city’s greatness, although he could no longer +share actively in its accomplishment. He was +exceedingly anxious to see the canal completed +between salt water and the lakes.</p> + +<p>His oldest daughter, Mrs. Henry Parsons, +lives near Olympia, and is a confirmed invalid. +The second daughter was the first wife of Walter +Graham, of this place, but died in 1862. The +next younger daughters, Mrs. David Graham +and Mrs. C. B. Bagley, lived near him and cared +for him entirely since the death of Mrs. Mercer +last November. In all the collateral branches +the aged patriarch leaves behind him here in +King county fully half a hundred of relatives of +greater or lesser degrees of kinship.</p> + +<p>His generosity and benevolence have ever +been proverbial. The churches, Y. M. C. A., +orphanages and other objects of public benevolence +and private charity have good cause to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 334]</span> +remember his liberality. In a period of five +years he gave away at least $20,000 in public and +private donations.</p> + +<p>Judge Mercer was a charter member of the +Pioneers’ Association, and took great interest +in its affairs. He always made a special effort +to attend the annual meeting, until the last two +years, when his health would not permit.</p> + +<p>Another of the band of hardy pioneers who +laid the foundation of the great commonwealth +bounded by California on the south, British Columbia +on the north, the Rocky Mountains on +the east and the illimitable Pacific toward the +setting sun, has gone to rest.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Judge Thomas Mercer died yesterday morning, +May 25th, at 5:15 o’clock, after a brief illness, +at his home in North Seattle, within a +stone’s throw of the old homestead where he and +his four motherless daughters, all mere children, +settled in the somber and unbroken forest two +score and five years ago, when the Seattle of +today consisted of a sawmill, a trading post and +less than a half hundred white people.”—(From +Post-Intelligencer of May 26th, 1898.)</p></blockquote> + +<p>For many years we looked across the valley +to see the smoke from the fire on the Mercer +hearthstone winding skyward, for they were our +only neighbors. Even for this, we were not so +solitary, nor quite so lonely as we must have been +with no human habitation in our view. And +then we felt the kindly presence, sympathy we<span class="pagenum">[Pg 335]</span> +knew we could always claim, the cheerful greetings +and friendly visits.</p> + +<p>When his aged pastor, Rev. Daniel Bagley, +with snowy locks, stood above his bier and a troop +of silver-haired pioneers in tearful silence harkened, +he told of fifty years of friendship; how +they crossed the plains together, and of the quiet, +steady, Christian life of Thomas Mercer.</p> + +<p>He said, “Whatever other reasons may have +been given, that he understood some Indians to +say the reason they did not burn Mercer’s house +during the war, was that Mercer was ‘klosh tum-tum,’ +(kind, friendly, literally a good heart), and +‘he wawa-ed Sahale Tyee’ (prayed to the Heavenly +Chief or Great Spirit). Thus did he let +his light shine; even the savages beheld it.”</p> + +<p>In closing a touching, suggestive and affectionate +tribute, he quoted these lines:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">“O what hath Jesus bought for me!</span> +<span class="i0">Before my ravish’d eyes</span> +<span class="i0">Rivers of life divine I see,</span> +<span class="i0">And trees of Paradise;</span> +<span class="i0">I see a world of spirits bright,</span> +<span class="i0">Who taste the pleasures there;</span> +<span class="i0">They all are robed in spotless white,</span> +<span class="i0">And conqu’ring palms they bear.”</span> +</div> + +<p class="title">HESTER L. MERCER.</p> + +<p>When a child I often visited this good pioneer +woman—so faithful, cheerful, kind, self-forgetful.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 336]</span>With busy hands she toiled from morning +to night, scarcely sitting down without some +house-wifely task to occupy her while she +chatted.</p> + +<p>Of a very lively disposition, her laugh was +frequent and merry.</p> + +<p>A more generous, frank and warm-hearted +nature was hard to find, the demands made upon +it were many and such as to exhaust a shallow +one. Her experiences were varied and thrilling, +as the following account from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer +of November 13th, 1897, will show:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“There is something in the life of this pioneer +woman that makes a lasting impression upon +the minds of those who consider it. Mrs. +Mercer’s general life differed somewhat from +the lives of many pioneer women in that she +was always a pioneer. Many had given up an +existence in the thickly settled portions of the +east to accept the burdensome, half-civilized life +of the west. They had at least once known the +joys of civilization. It was not so with Mrs. +Mercer. She was a pioneer from the time she +was ushered into the world.</p> + +<p>“She was born in Kentucky. Go back 75 +years in the life of that state and you will get +something of its early history. Those who lived +there that long ago were pioneers. Her father +and mother were Jesse and Elizabeth Ward. +They were of that staunch, sturdy people that +struggled to obtain a home and accumulate a lit<span class="pagenum">[Pg 337]</span>tle +fortune in the southern country. Jesse Ward +at the age of 18 joined a regiment of Kentucky +volunteers which was a part of Jackson’s army +at the defense of New Orleans in 1814.</p> + +<p>“Mrs. Mercer was born in Hartford, the +county seat of Ohio county, Kentucky. She was +but a little tot when her mother died.</p> + +<p>“Her father married again, and children, +issues of the second marriage, had been born +before Mr. Ward and his family said good-bye +to old Kentucky or in reality, young Kentucky, +and moved to Arkansas. That was in 1845. +There they lived until 1853 and Hester Mercer +had a chance of proving her true womanhood. +The family had settled near Batesville, Independence +county. At that time the county had +much virgin soil and it was not a hard matter +to figure up the population of the state. Mrs. +Mercer seemed to be the head of the family. +While the male members of the family were at +work clearing land and establishing what they +thought would be a permanent home, she was +busily occupied in making clothes for herself +and others of the family. And what a task it +was in those days to make clothes. Crude machinery, +in the settled states of the east, turned +out with what was considered wonderful rapidity, +cloth for garments. But the common people +of the West knew nothing of the details of such +luxuries.</p> + +<p><a id="XIV" name="XIV"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/opp337.png" width="500" height="298" alt="" title="ERYTHRONIUM OF LAKE UNION" /> +<span class="caption">ERYTHRONIUM OF LAKE UNION</span> +</div> + +<p>“Mrs. Mercer, then Hester Ward, took the +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 338]</span>wool from the sheep, cleaned it, wove it, dyed the +cloth, cut and made it into clothing for her father +and brothers. When she wanted a gown she +could have it, that is, after she had gone into +the fields, picked the necessary cotton, developed +it into dress goods and turned the goods into a +garment.</p> + +<p>“Mr. D. B. Ward, a half brother of Mrs. +Mercer, has in his possession pieces of the goods +out of which she made her gowns when a girl.</p> + +<p>“In 1853, Mr. Ward, having heard so much +of the great opportunities that were offered to +the pioneer who would accept life in the far +West, started with his family and a party of +other pioneers across the great Western plains. +Stories without end could be told of the adventures +and incidents, the results of that long journey. +There were nine children of Mr. Ward in +his party. The start was made March 9, 1853, +and on September 30, Waldo Hills, near Salem, +Oregon, was reached.</p> + +<p>“The Indians, of course, figured in the life +of the Wards while they were crossing the plains, +just as they seemed to come into the life of every +other band of pioneers that undertook the journey. +When about eight miles, by the emigrant +route, east of the North Platte, Mr. Ward’s +party encountered a big band of Arapahoes. +Every one was a warrior. They were in full +war regalia and dangling from their belts were +dozens of scalps. They had been in battle with<span class="pagenum">[Pg 339]</span> +their enemies, the Blackfeet and Snake River +Indians the day before. Crowned with victory, +they were on their way home to celebrate.</p> + +<p>“The Ward party had been resting in the +woods and were about breaking camp to continue +their journey when the Indian braves made their +appearance. They insisted that they were +friendly, but their behavior was not wholly consistent. +They crowded in and about the wagons, +wanted this and that and finally became impudent +because their requests were denied.</p> + +<p>“The Ward party had an old bugler with +them; when he placed his lips to the bugle something +that bordered on music came from the instrument. +While the Indians were making their +presence known the old bugler grabbed up his +bugle and let out several blasts, which echoed +and re-echoed around. The leaves trembled, the +trees seemed to shake and the Indian braves, +who did not fear an encounter with a thousand +Blackfeet, were dumbfounded. Their heads +went up in the air, the ears of their horses shot +forward. The leader of the braves murmured +a few words in his native tongue and then like +the wind those 400 braves were gone. If the +Great White Father had appeared, as they probably +expected he would, he would have had to +travel many miles to find the Arapahoes.</p> + +<p>“The Ward party was soon out of the woods, +when they met another band. The old chief was +with them. He was mounted on a white mule<span class="pagenum">[Pg 340]</span> +and produced a copy of a treaty with the government +to show that his people loved the white men.</p> + +<p>“Down in the valley through which the pioneers +were compelled to travel they saw many +little tents. Other Indians were camped there. +The old chief and his party accompanied the +emigrants. Every Indian showed an ugly disposition. +The emigrants were compelled to stop +in the midst of the tents in the valley. The old +chief explained through an interpreter that his +people had just come back from a great battle. +They were hungry, he said, and wanted food and +the emigrants would have to give it to them, for +were not these whites, he said, passing through +the sacred land of the Indian?</p> + +<p>“The Ward party was a small one, it could +muster but 22 men. Each man was well armed, +but the Indians were mixing up with them and +it would have been impossible to get together for +united action. It was necessary to submit to the +wishes of the Indians. Bacon, sugar, flour and +crackers were given up and the old chief divided +them among his people.</p> + +<p>“While this division was being made young +braves were busying themselves by annoying the +members of the party. Among the white people +was a young woman who had charge of two +horses attached to a light covered wagon. Several +of the braves took a fancy to her. They +gave the whites to understand that any woman +who could drive horses was all right and must<span class="pagenum"><a id="page341" name="page341">[Pg 341]</a></span> +not go any farther. Mr. Ward and his men had +a hard time keeping the Indians from stealing +the girl. Once they crowded about her and for +a time it was thought she would be taken by +force. The white men and several of the women +went to her rescue. Mrs. Mercer was in the +rescue party. She shoved the Indians right and +left and in the end the girl was rescued and +smuggled into a closed wagon, where she remained +concealed for some hours.</p> + +<p>“Another young woman in the party had +beautiful auburn hair. An Indian warrior took +a fancy to her, thought she was the finest woman +he had ever seen, and said that his people would +compromise if she were given to him for a wife. +Again there was trouble and the girl had to be +hidden in a closed wagon.</p> + +<p>“The Indians kept up their annoyance of the +party for some time, but finally their hunger +got the better of them and they sat down to eat +the food which the Ward party had under compulsion +given them.</p> + +<p>“The Indian chief consented that the white +people should take their departure. They were +quick to do so and were soon some distance from +the Indian camp.</p> + +<p>“After the Wards reached Oregon, Hester +settled down to pioneer life with the other members +of the family, but in the fall of 1859, Thomas +Mercer, then probate judge of King county, +Washington Territory, wooed and won her and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 342]</span> +they were married. The wedding was one of the +important affairs of early days. Rev. Daniel +Bagley, of this city, performed the ceremony. +After Mr. and Mrs. Mercer came to Seattle they +took up their residence in a little house on First +Avenue, near Washington Street. The Mercer +home at present occupies a block of the old donation +claim. The home is on Lombard Street +between Prospect and Villard Avenues.</p> + +<p>“When Mr. and Mrs. Mercer came to Seattle, +John Denny and wife and James Campbell and +wife accompanied them. The three families +swelled the population to thirteen families.</p> + +<p>“D. B. Ward, a half brother of Mrs. Mercer, +also came with them.</p> + +<p>“‘Seattle was not a very big city in those +days,’ said Mr. Ward recently in discussing the +matter. ‘I remember that soon after my arrival +I thought I would take a walk up in the +woods. I went to the church, which stood where +at present is the Boston National Bank building. +I found windows filled with little holes. It was +a great mystery to me. I went down town and +made inquiry about it and was told that every +hole represented a bullet fired by the Indians +during the fight three years before.’</p> + +<p>“Mrs. Mercer was a woman of many grand +qualities; she never permitted any suffering to +go on about her if she were in a position to relieve +it. She was a good friend of the poor and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 343]</span> +did many kind acts of which the world knew but +little.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>In the latter years of her life she was a +patient, uncomplaining invalid, and finally entered +into rest on the 12th of November, 1897, +having lived in Seattle for thirty-nine years. +She was buried with honor and affection; the +pallbearers were old pioneers averaging a forty +years’ residence in the same place; D. T. Denny, +the longest, being one of the founders, for forty-five +years; they were Dexter Horton, T. D. +Hinckley, D. T. Denny, Edgar Bryan, David +Kellogg and Hans Nelson.</p> + +<p>Mr. Mercer, at the age of 84 (in 1897), still +survives her, passing a peaceful old age in the +midst of relatives and friends.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page344" name="page344">[Pg 344]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">DR. HENRY A. SMITH, THE BRILLIANT WRITER.</span></h2> + +<p>This well known pioneer joined the “mighty +nation moving west” in 1852. From Portland, +the wayside inn of weary travelers, he pushed +on to Puget Sound, settling in 1853 on Elliott +Bay, at a place known for many years as Smith’s +Cove.</p> + +<p>Being a gifted writer he has made numerous +contributions to northwestern literature, both in +prose and poetry.</p> + +<p>In a rarely entertaining set of papers entitled +“Early Reminiscences,” he brings vividly +to the minds of his readers the “good old times” +on Elliott Bay, as he describes the manner of +life, personal adventure, odd characters and +striking environment of the first decade of settlement. +In them he relates that after the White +River massacre, he conveyed his mother to a +place of safety, by night, in a boat with muffled +oars.</p> + +<blockquote><p>To quote his own words: “Early the next +morning I persuaded James Broad and Charley +Williamson, a couple of harum-scarum run-away +sailors, to accompany me to my ranch in the +cove, where we remained two weeks securing +crops. We always kept our rifles near us while +working in the field, so as to be ready for emerg<span class="pagenum">[Pg 345]</span>encies, +and brave as they seemed their faces several +times blanched white as they sprang for +their guns on hearing brush crack near them, +usually caused by deer. One morning on going +to the field where we were digging potatoes, we +found fresh moccasin tracks, and judged from +the difference in the size of the tracks that at +least half a dozen savages had paid the field a +visit during the night. As nothing had been +disturbed we concluded that they were waiting +in ambush for us and accordingly we retired to +the side of the field farthest from the woods and +began work, keeping a sharp lookout the while. +Soon we heard a cracking in the brush and a +noise that sounded like the snapping of a flintlock. +We grabbed our rifles and rushed into +the woods where we heard the noise, so as to +have the trees for shelter, and if possible to draw +a bead on the enemy. On reaching shelter, the +crackling sound receded toward Salmon Bay. +But fearing a surprise if we followed the sound +of retreat, we concluded to reach the Bay by +way of a trail that led to it, but higher up; we +reached the water just in time to see five redskins +land in a canoe, on the opposite side of the +Bay where the Crooks’ barn now stands. After +that I had hard work to keep the runaways until +the crop was secured, and did so only by keeping +one of them secreted in the nearest brush constantly +on guard. At night we barred the doors +and slept in the attic, hauling the ladder up after<span class="pagenum">[Pg 346]</span> +us. Sometimes, when the boys told blood-curdling +stories until they became panicky by their +own eloquence, we slept in the woods, but that +was not often.</p> + +<p>“In this way the crops were all saved, cellared +and stacked, only to be destroyed afterward +by the torch of the common enemy.</p> + +<p>“Twice the house was fired before it was +finally consumed, and each time I happened to +arrive in time to extinguish the flames, the incendiaries +evidently having taken to their heels +as soon as the torch was applied.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>While yet new to the country he met with +an adventure not uncommon to the earliest settlers +in the great forest, recorded as follows:</p> + +<p>“I once had a little experience, but a very +amusing one, of being ‘lost.’ In the summer of +1854, I concluded to make a trail to Seattle. Up +to that time I had ridden to the city in a ‘Chinook +buggy.’ One bright morning I took a compass +and started for Seattle on as nearly a +straight line as possible. After an hour’s travel +the sun was hid by clouds and the compass had +to be entirely relied upon for the right course. +This was tedious business, for the woods had +never been burned, and the old fallen timber +was almost impassable. About noon I noticed +to my utter astonishment, that the compass had +reversed its poles. I knew that beds of mineral +would sometimes cause a variation of the needle +and was delighted at the thought of discovering<span class="pagenum">[Pg 347]</span> +a <i>valuable iron mine</i> so near salt water. A good +deal of time was spent in breaking bushes and +thoroughly marking the spot so that there would +be no difficulty in finding it again, and from that +on I broke bushes as I walked, so as to be able to +easily retrace my steps. From that place I followed +the compass <i>reversed</i>, calculating, as I +walked, the number of ships that would load annually +at Seattle with pig-iron, and the amount +of ground that would be eventually covered at +the cove with furnaces, rolling mills, foundries, +tool manufacturing establishments, etc.</p> + +<p>“As night came on I became satisfied that I +had traveled too far to the east, and had passed +Seattle, and the prospect of spending a night in +the woods knocked my iron calculations into pi. +Soon, however, I was delighted to see a clearing +ahead, and a shake-built shanty that I concluded +must be the ranch that Mr. Nagle had commenced +improving some time before, and which, +I had understood, lay between Seattle and Lake +Washington. When I reached the fence surrounding +the improvements, I seated myself on +one of the top rails for a seat and to ponder the +advisability of remaining with my new neighbor +over night, or going on to town. While sitting +thus, I could not help contrasting his improvements +with my own. The size of the clearing +was the same, the house was a good deal like +mine, the only seeming difference was that the +front of his faced the west, whereas the front of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 348]</span> +mine faced the east. While puzzling over this +strange coincidence, my own mother came out +of the house to feed the poultry that had commenced +going to roost, in a rookery for all the +world like my own, only facing the wrong way. +‘In the name of all that’s wonderful!’ I thought, +‘what is she doing here? and how did she get +here ahead of me?’ Just then the world took a +spin around, my ranch wheeled into line, and, +lo! I was sitting on my own fence, and had been +looking at my own improvements without knowing +them.” And from this he draws a moral and +adorns the tale with the philosophic conclusion +that people cannot see and think alike owing to +their point of view, and we therefore must be +charitable.</p> + +<p>Until accustomed to it and schooled in wood-craft, +the mighty and amazing forest was bewildering +and mysterious to the adventurous +settler; however, they soon learned how not to +lose themselves in its labyrinthine depths.</p> + +<p>Dr. Smith is a past master in description, +as will be seen by this word-picture of a fire in +a vast pitchy and resinous mass of combustible +material. I have witnessed many, each a magnificent +display.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Washington beats the world for variety +and magnificence of awe inspiring mountains +and other scenery. I have seen old ocean in her +wildest moods, have beheld the western prairie +on fire by night, when the long, waving lines of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 349]</span> +flame flared and flashed their red light against +the low, fleecy clouds till they blossomed into +roseate beauty, looking like vast spectral flower +gardens, majestically sweeping through the +heavens; have been in the valley of the river +Platte, when all the windows of the sky and a +good many doors opened at once and the cloud-masked +batteries of the invisible hosts of the +air volleyed and thundered till the earth fairly +reeled beneath the terrific cannonade that tore +its quivering bosom with red-hot bombs until +awe-stricken humanity shriveled into utter nothingness +in the presence of the mad fury of the +mightiest forces of nature. But for magnificence +of sublime imagery and awe-inspiring +grandeur a forest fire raging among the gigantic +firs and towering cedars that mantle the shores +of Puget Sound, surpasses anything I have ever +beheld, and absolutely baffles all attempts at description. +It has to be seen to be comprehended. +The grandest display of forest pyrotechnics is +witnessed when an extensive tract that has been +partly cleared by logging is purposely or accidentally +fired. When thus partly cleared, all the +tops of the fir, cedar, spruce, pine and hemlock +trees felled for their lumber remain on the +ground, their boughs fairly reeking with balsam. +All inferior trees are left standing, and in early +days when only the very choicest logs would be +accepted by the mills, about one-third would be +left untouched, and then the trees would stand<span class="pagenum"><a id="page350" name="page350">[Pg 350]</a></span> +thicker, mightier, taller than in the average +forest of the eastern and middle states.</p> + +<p>“I once witnessed the firing of a two thousand +acre tract thus logged over. It was noon in the +month of August, and not a breath of air moved +the most delicate ferns on the hillsides. The +birds had hushed their songs for their midday +siesta, and the babbling brook at our feet had +grown less garrulous, as if in sympathy with the +rest of nature, when the torch was applied. A +dozen or more neighbors had come together to +witness the exhibition of the unchained element +about to hold high carnival in the amphitheater +of the hills, and each one posted himself, rifle in +hand, in some conspicuous place at least a quarter +of a mile from the slashing in order to get a +shot at any wild animal fleeing from the ‘wrath +to come.’</p> + +<p>“The tract was fired simultaneously on all +sides by siwashes, who rapidly circled it with +long brands, followed closely by rivers of flame +in hot pursuit.</p> + +<p>“As soon as the fire worked its way to the +massive winrows of dry brush, piled in making +roads in every direction, a circular wall of solid +flame rose half way to the tops of the tall trees. +Soon the rising of the heated air caused strong +currents of cooler air to set in from every side. +The air currents soon increased to cyclones. +Then began a race of the towering, billowy, surging +walls of fire for the center. Driven furiously<span class="pagenum">[Pg 351]</span> +on by these ever-increasing, eddying, and fiercely +contending tornadoes, the flames lolled and +rolled and swayed and leaped, rising higher and +higher, until one vast, circular tidal wave of +liquid fire rolled in and met at the center with +the whirl and roar of pandemoniac thunder and +shot up in a spiral and rapidly revolving red-hot +cone, a thousand feet in mid-air, out of whose +flaring and crater-like apex poured dense volumes +of tarry smoke, spreading out on every +side, like unfolding curtains of night, till the +sun was darkened and the moon was turned to +blood and the stars seemed literally raining from +heaven, as glowing firebrands that had been +carried up by the fierce tornado of swirling flame +and carried to immense distances by upper air +currents, fell back in showers to the ground. +The vast tract, but a few moments before as +quiet as a sleeping infant in its cradle, was now +one vast arena of seething, roaring, raging flame. +The long, lithe limbs of the tall cedars were tossing +wildly about, while the strong limbs of the +sturdier firs and hemlocks were freely gyrating +like the sinewy arms of mighty giant athletes +engaged in mortal combat. Ever and anon their +lower, pitch-dripping branches would ignite +from the fervent heat below, when the flames +would rush to the very tops with the roar of contending +thunders and shoot upward in bright +silvery volumes from five to seven hundred feet, +or double the height of the trees themselves.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page352" name="page352">[Pg 352]</a></span> +Hundreds of these fire-volumes flaring and flaming +in quick succession and sometimes many of +them simultaneously, in conjunction with the +weird eclipse-like darkness that veiled the heavens, +rendered the scene one of awful grandeur +never to be forgotten.</p> + +<p>“So absorbed were we all in the preternatural +war of the fiercely contending elements that we +forgot our guns, our game and ourselves.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>“The burnt district, after darkness set in, +was wild and weird in the extreme. The dry +bark to the very tops of the tall trees was on fire +and constantly falling off in large flakes, and +the air was filled ever and anon with dense showers +of golden stars, while the trees in the environs +seemed to move about through the fitful shadows +like grim brobdignags clad in sheeny armor.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Having witnessed many similar conflagrations +I am able to say that the subject could +scarcely be better treated.</p> + +<p>Through the courtesy of the author, Dr. H. +A. Smith, I have been permitted to insert the +following poem, which has no doubt caused many +a grim chuckle and scowl of sympathy, too, from +the old pioneers of the Northwest:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i5">"THE MORTGAGE.</span> +<br /> +<span class="i0">“The man who holds a mortgage on my farm</span> +<span class="i0">And sells me out to gratify his greed,</span> +<span class="i0">Is shielded by our shyster laws from harm,</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 353]</span><span class="i0">And ever laud for the dastard deed!</span> +<span class="i0">Though morally the man is really worse</span> +<span class="i0">Than if he knocked me down and took my purse;</span> +<span class="i0">The last would mean, at most, a moment’s strife,</span> +<span class="i0">The first would mean the struggle of a life,</span> +<span class="i0">And homeless children wailing in the cold,</span> +<span class="i0">A prey to want and miseries manifold;</span> +<span class="i0">Then if I loot him of his mangy pup</span> +<span class="i0">The guardians of the law will lock me up,</span> +<span class="i0">And jaundiced justice fly into a rage</span> +<span class="i0">While pampered Piety askance my rags will scan,</span> +<span class="i0">And Shylock shout, ‘Behold a dangerous man!’</span> +<span class="i0">But notwithstanding want to Heaven cries,</span> +<span class="i0">And villains masquerade in virtue’s guise,</span> +<span class="i0">And Liberty is moribund or dead—</span> +<span class="i0">Except for men who corporations head—</span> +<span class="i0">One little consolation still remains,</span> +<span class="i0">The human race will one day rend its chains.”</span> +</div> + +<p>In transcribing Indian myths and religious +beliefs, Dr. Smith displays much ability. After +having had considerable acquaintance with the +native races, he concludes that “Many persons +are honestly of the opinion that Indians have no +ideas above catching and eating salmon, but if +they will lay aside prejudice and converse freely +with the more intelligent natives, they will soon +find that they reason just as well on all subjects +that attract their attention as we do, and being +free from pre-conceived opinions, they go directly +to the heart of theories and reason both +inductively and deductively with surprising +clearness and force.”</p> + +<p>Dr. Smith exhibits in his writings a broadly<span class="pagenum"><a id="page354" name="page354">[Pg 354]</a></span> +charitable mind which sees even in the worst, +still some lingering or smothered good.</p> + +<p>Dr. Smith is one of a family of patriots; +his great-grandfather, Copelton Smith, who +came from Germany to America in 1760 and +settled in or near Philadelphia, Pa., fought for +liberty in the war of the Revolution under General +Washington. His father, Nicholas Smith, +a native of Pennsylvania, fought for the Stars +and Stripes in 1812. Two brothers fought for +Old Glory in the war of the Rebellion, and he +himself was one of the volunteers who fought +for their firesides in the State, then Territory of +Washington.</p> + +<p>“A family of fighters,” as he says, “famous +for their peaceful proclivities when let alone.”</p> + +<p>The varied experiences of life in the Northwest +have developed in him a sane and sweet +philosophy, perhaps nowhere better set forth in +his writings than in his poem “Pacific’s Pioneers,” +read at a reunion of the founders of the +state a few years ago, and with which I close +this brief and inadequate sketch:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i5">“PACIFIC’S PIONEERS.</span> +<br /> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“A greeting to Pacific’s Pioneers,</span> +<span class="i0">Whose peaceful lives are drawing to a close,</span> +<span class="i0">Whose patient toil, for lo these many years,</span> +<span class="i0">Has made the forest blossom as the rose.</span> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“And bright-browed women, bonny, brave and true,</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 355]</span><span class="i0">And laughing lasses, sound of heart and head,</span> +<span class="i0">Who home and kindred bade a last adieu</span> +<span class="i0">To follow love where fortune led.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“I do not dedicate these lines alone</span> +<span class="i0">To men who live to bless the world today,</span> +<span class="i0">But I include the nameless and unknown</span> +<span class="i0">The pioneers who perished by the way.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Not for the recreant do my numbers ring,</span> +<span class="i0">The men who spent their lives in sport and spree,</span> +<span class="i0">Nor for the barnacles that always cling</span> +<span class="i0">To every craft that cruises Freedom’s sea.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“But nearly all were noble, brave and kind,</span> +<span class="i0">And little cared for fame or fashion’s gyves;</span> +<span class="i0">And though they left their Sunday suits behind</span> +<span class="i0">They practiced pure religion all their lives.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Their love of peace no people could excel,</span> +<span class="i0">Their dash in war the poet’s pen awaits;</span> +<span class="i0">Their sterling loyalty made possible</span> +<span class="i0">Pacific’s golden galaxy of states.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“They had no time to bother much about</span> +<span class="i0">Contending creeds that vex the nation’s Hub,</span> +<span class="i0">But then they left their leather latches out</span> +<span class="i0">To every wandering Arab short of grub.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Cut off from all courts, man’s earthly shield from harm,</span> +<span class="i0">They looked for help to Him whose court’s above,</span> +<span class="i0">And learned to lean on labor’s honest arm,</span> +<span class="i0">And live the higher law, the law of love.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Not one but ought to wear a crown of gold,</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 356]</span><span class="i0">If crowns were made for men who do their best</span> +<span class="i0">Amid privations cast and manifold</span> +<span class="i0">That unborn generations may be blest.</span> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Among these rugged pioneers the rule</span> +<span class="i0">Was equal rights, and all took special pride</span> +<span class="i0">In ’tending Mother Nature’s matchless school,</span> +<span class="i0">And on her lessons lovingly relied.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“And this is doubtless why they are in touch</span> +<span class="i0">With Nature’s noblemen neath other skies;</span> +<span class="i0">And though of books they may not know as much</span> +<span class="i0">Their wisdom lasts, as Nature never lies.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“And trusting God and His unerring plan</span> +<span class="i0">As only altruistic natures could</span> +<span class="i0">Their faith extended to their fellow man,</span> +<span class="i0">The image of the Author of all good.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Since Nature here has done her best to please</span> +<span class="i0">By making everything in beauty’s mold,</span> +<span class="i0">Loads down with balm of flowers every breeze,</span> +<span class="i0">And runs her rivers over reefs of gold,</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“It seems but natural that men who yearn</span> +<span class="i0">For native skies, and visit scenes of yore,</span> +<span class="i0">Are seldom satisfied till they return</span> +<span class="i0">To roam the Gardens of the Gods once more!</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“And since they fell in love with nature here</span> +<span class="i0">How fitting they should wish to fall asleep</span> +<span class="i0">Where sparkling mountain spires soar and spear</span> +<span class="i0">The stainless azure of the upper deep.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“And yet we’re saddened when the papers say</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 357]</span><span class="i0">Another pioneer has passed away!</span> +<span class="i0">And memory recalls when first, forsooth,</span> +<span class="i0">We saw him in the glorious flush of youth.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“How plain the simple truth when seen appears,</span> +<span class="i0">No wonder that faded leaves we fall!</span> +<span class="i0">This is the winter of the pioneers</span> +<span class="i0">That blows a wreath of wrinkles to us all!</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“A few more mounds for faltering feet to seek,</span> +<span class="i0">When, somewhere in this lovely sunset-land</span> +<span class="i0">Like some weird, wintry, weather-beaten peak</span> +<span class="i0">Some rare old Roman all alone will stand.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“But not for long, for ere the rosy dawn</span> +<span class="i0">Of many golden days has come and gone,</span> +<span class="i0">Our pine-embowered bells will shout to every shore</span> +<span class="i0">"Pacific’s Pioneers are now no more!"</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“But lovely still the glorious stars will glow</span> +<span class="i0">And glitter in God’s upper deep like pearls</span> +<span class="i0">And mountains too will wear their robes of snow</span> +<span class="i0">Just as they did when we were boys and girls.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Ah well, it may be best, and is, no doubt,</span> +<span class="i0">As death is quite as natural as birth</span> +<span class="i0">And since no storms can blow the sweet stars out,</span> +<span class="i0">Why should one wish to always stay on earth?</span> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Especially as God can never change,</span> +<span class="i0">And man’s the object of His constant care</span> +<span class="i0">And though beyond the Pleiades we range</span> +<span class="i0">His boundless love and mercy must be there.”</span></div></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page358" name="page358">[Pg 358]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS.</span></h2> + +<p>Sealth or “Old Seattle,” a peaceable son of +the forest, was of a line of chieftains, his father, +Schweabe, or Schweahub, a chief before him of +the Suquampsh tribe inhabiting a portion of the +west shore of Puget Sound, his mother, a Duwampsh +of Elliott Bay, whose name was Wood-sho-lit-sa.</p> + +<p>Sealth’s birthplace was the famous Oleman +House, near the site of which he is now buried. +Oleman House was an immense timber structure, +long ago inhabited by many Indians; scarcely a +vestige of it now remains. It was built by +Sealth’s father. Chief Sealth was twice married +and had three sons and five daughters, the last of +whom, Angeline, or Ka-ki-is-il-ma, passed away +on May 31, 1896. In an interview she informed +me that her grandfather, Schweabe, was a tall, +slim man, while Sealth was rather heavy as well +as tall. Sealth was a hunter, she said, but not a +great warrior. In the time of her youth there +were herds of elk near Oleman House which +Sealth hunted with the bow or gun.</p> + +<p>The elk, now limited to the fastnesses of the +Olympic Mountains, were also hunted in the cove +south of West Seattle, by Englishmen, Sealth’s<span class="pagenum">[Pg 359]</span> +cousin, Tsetseguis, helping, with other Indians, +to carry out the game.</p> + +<p>Angeline further said that her father, “Old +Seattle,” as the white people called him, inherited +the chiefship when a little boy. As he grew +up he became more important, married, obtained +slaves, of whom he had eight when the Dennys +came, and acquired wealth. Of his slaves, Yutestid +is living (1899) and when reminded of him +she laughed and repeated his name several times, +saying, “Yutestid! Yutestid! How was it possible +for me to forget him? Why, we grew up together!” +Yutestid was a slave by descent, as +also were five others; the remaining two he had +purchased. It is said that he bought them out +of pity from another who treated them cruelly.</p> + +<p>Sealth, Keokuk, William and others, with +quite a band of Duwampsh and Suquampsh Indians, +once attacked the Chimacums, surrounded +their large house or rancheree at night; at some +distance away they joined hands forming a circle +and gradually crept up along the ground until +quite near, when they sprang up and fired +upon them; the terrified occupants ran out and +were killed by their enemies. On entering they +found one of the wounded crawling around crying +“Ah! A-ah!” whom they quickly dispatched +with an ax.</p> + +<p>A band of Indians visited Alki in 1851, who +told the story to the white settlers, imitating their<span class="pagenum">[Pg 360]</span> +movements as the attacking party and evidently +much enjoying the performance.</p> + +<p>About the year 1841, Sealth set himself to +avenge the death of his nephew, Almos, who was +killed by Owhi. With five canoe loads of his +warriors, among whom was Curley, he ascended +White River and attacked a large camp, killed +more than ten men and carried the women and +children away into captivity.</p> + +<p>At one time in Olympia some renegades who +had planned to assassinate him, fired a shot +through his tent but he escaped unhurt. Dr. +Maynard, who visited him shortly after, saw that +while he talked as coolly as if nothing unusual +had occurred, he toyed with his bow and arrow +as if he felt his power to deal death to the plotters, +but nothing was ever known of their punishment.</p> + +<p>Sealth was of a type of Puget Sound Indian +whose physique was not by any means contemptible. +Tall, broad shouldered, muscular, +even brawny, straight and strong, they made formidable +enemies, and on the warpath were sufficiently +alarming to satisfy the most exacting +tenderfoot whose contempt for the “bowlegged +siwash” is by no means concealed. Many of the +old grizzly-haired Indians were of large frame +and would, if living, have made a towering contrast to +their little “runts” of critics.</p> + +<p>Neither were their minds dwarfed, for evidently +not narrowed by running in the grooves<span class="pagenum">[Pg 361]</span> +of other men’s thoughts, they were free to nourish +themselves upon nature and from their magnificent +environment they drew many striking +comparisons.</p> + +<p>Not versed in the set phrases of speech, time-worn +and hackneyed, their thoughts were naive, +fresh, crude and angular as the frost-rended +rocks on the mountain side. A number of these +Indians were naturally gifted as orators; with +great, mellow voices, expressive gestures, flaming +earnestness, piteous pathos and scorching +sarcasm, they told their wrongs, commemorated +their dead and declared their friendship or hatred +in a voluminous, polysyllabic language no +more like Chinook than American is like pigeon +English.</p> + +<p>The following is a fragment valuable for the +intimation it gives of their power as orators, as +well as a true description of the appearance of +Sealth, written by Dr. H. A. Smith, a well known +pioneer, and published in the Seattle Sunday +Star of October 29, 1877:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Old Chief Seattle was the largest Indian I +ever saw, and by far the noblest looking. He +stood nearly six feet in his moccasins, was broad-shouldered, +deep-chested and finely proportioned. +His eyes were large, intelligent, expressive and +friendly when in repose, and faithfully mirrored +the varying moods of the great soul that looked +through them. He was usually solemn, silent +and dignified, but on great occasions moved<span class="pagenum">[Pg 362]</span> +among assembled multitudes like a Titan among +Lilliputians, and his lightest word was law.</p> + +<p>“When rising to speak in council or to tender +advice, all eyes were turned upon him, and +deep-toned, sonorous and eloquent sentences +rolled from his lips like the ceaseless thunders of +cataracts flowing from exhaustless fountains, and +his magnificent bearing was as noble as that of +the most civilized military chieftain in command +of the force of a continent. Neither his eloquence, +his dignity nor his grace was acquired. +They were as native to his manhood as leaves +and blossoms are to a flowering almond.</p> + +<p>“His influence was marvelous. He might +have been an emperor but all his instincts were +democratic, and he ruled his subjects with kindness +and paternal benignity.</p> + +<p>“He was always flattered by marked attentions +from white men, and never so much as +when seated at their tables, and on such occasions +he manifested more than anywhere else +his genuine instincts of a gentleman.</p> + +<p>“When Governor Stevens first arrived in +Seattle and told the natives that he had been +appointed commissioner of Indian affairs for +Washington Territory, they gave him a demonstrative +reception in front of Dr. Maynard’s +office near the water front on Main Street. The +bay swarmed with canoes and the shore was lined +with a living mass of swaying, writhing, dusky +humanity, until Old Chief Seattle’s trumpet-<span class="pagenum">[Pg 363]</span>toned +voice rolled over the immense multitude +like the reveille of a bass drum, when silence became +as instantaneous and perfect as that which +follows a clap of thunder from a clear sky.</p> + +<p>“The governor was then introduced to the +native multitude by Dr. Maynard, and at once +commenced in a conversational, plain and +straightforward style, an explanation of his mission +among them, which is too well understood +to require recapitulation.</p> + +<p>“When he sat down, Chief Seattle arose, +with all the dignity of a senator who carries the +responsibilities of a great nation on his shoulders. +Placing one hand on the governor’s head, and +slowly pointing heavenward with the index finger +of the other, he commenced his memorable +address in solemn and impressive tones:</p> + +<p>“‘Yonder sky has wept tears of compassion +on our fathers for centuries untold, and which to +us, looks eternal, may change. Today it is fair, +tomorrow it may be overcast with clouds. My +words are like the clouds that never set. What +Seattle says the chief Washington can rely upon, +with as much certainty as our pale-face brothers +can rely upon the return of the seasons. The son +of the white chief says his father sends us greetings +of friendship and good-will. This is kind, +for we know he has little need of our friendship +in return, because his people are many. They are +like the grass that covers the vast prairie, while<span class="pagenum">[Pg 364]</span> +my people are few and resemble the scattering +trees of a storm-swept plain.</p> + +<p>“‘The great, and I presume good, white +chief sends us word that he wants to buy our +lands, but is willing to allow us to reserve enough +to live on comfortably. This indeed appears generous, +for the red man no longer has rights that +he need respect, and the offer may be wise also, +for we are no longer in need of a great country.</p> + +<p>“‘There was a time when our people covered +the whole land as the waves of a wind-ruffled +sea covers its shell-paved shore. That time +has long since passed away with the greatness of +tribes almost forgotten. I will not mourn over +our untimely decay, or reproach my pale-face +brothers with hastening it, for we, too, may have +been somewhat to blame.</p> + +<p>“‘When our young men grew angry at some +real or imaginary wrong and disfigured their +faces with black paint, their hearts also are disfigured +and turned black, and then cruelty is relentless +and knows no bounds, and our old men +are not able to restrain them.’</p> + +<p>“He continued in this eloquent strain and +closed by saying: ‘We will ponder your proposition +and when we have decided we will tell you, +but should we accept it I here and now make this +first condition: That we shall not be denied the +privilege, without molestation, of visiting at will +the graves of our ancestors and friends. Every +part of this country is sacred to my people; ev<span class="pagenum">[Pg 365]</span>ery +hillside, every valley, every plain and grove +has been hallowed by some fond memory or some +sad experience of my tribe.</p> + +<p>“‘Even the rocks that seem to lie dumb, as +they swelter in the sun, along the silent seashore +in solemn grandeur, thrill with memories of past +events, connected with the fate of my people and +the very dust under our feet responds more lovingly +to our footsteps than to yours, because it is +the ashes of our ancestors and their bare feet are +conscious of the sympathetic touch, for the soil +is rich with the life of our kindred. At night +when the streets of your cities and villages shall +be silent and you think them deserted they will +throng with the returning hosts that once filled +and still love this beautiful land. The white man +will never be alone. Let him be just and deal +kindly with my people, for the dead are not altogether +powerless.’”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Concerning the well-known portrait of +Sealth, Clarence Bagley has this to say:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“It was in the early summer of 1865 that the +original picture which is now so much seen of the +old chief was taken. I think I probably have a +diary giving the day upon which the old chief sat +for his picture. An amateur artist named E. M. +Sammis had secured a camera at Olympia and +coming to Seattle established himself in a ramshackle +building at the southeast corner of what +is now Main and First Avenue South. Old Chief +Seattle used often to hang about the gallery and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 366]</span> +scrutinize the pictures with evident satisfaction. +I myself spent not a little time in and about the +gallery and on the particular day the picture of +the old chief was taken, was there. It occurred +to the photographer to get a picture of the chief. +The latter was easily persuaded to sit and it is a +wrong impression, that has become historic, that +the Indians generally were afraid of the photographer’s +art, considering it black magic.</p> + +<p>“The chief’s picture was taken and I printed +the first copy taken from the negative. There +may possibly have been photographs taken of +the old chief at a later date, but I do not remember +any, certainly none earlier, that I ever knew +of.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>With regard to Sealth’s oratory, D. T. Denny +relates that when the chief with his “tillicum” +camped on the “Point” near the site of the New +England Hotel, often in the evening he would +stand up and address his people. D. T. Denny’s +home was near the site of the Stevens Hotel +(Marion and First Avenue, Seattle), and many +Indians were camped near by. When these heard +Chief Sealth’s voice, they would turn their heads +in a listening attitude and evidently understood +what he was saying, although he was about three-fourths +of a mile away, such was the resonance +and carrying power of his voice.</p> + +<p>My father has also related to me this incident: +Sealth and his people camped alongside +the little white settlement at Alki. While there<span class="pagenum">[Pg 367]</span> +one of his wives died and A. A. Denny made a +coffin for the body, but they wrapped the same +in so many blankets that it would not go in and +they were obliged to remove several layers, although +they probably felt regret as the number +of wrappings no doubt evidenced wealth and +position.</p> + +<p>D. T. Denny was well acquainted with +George Seattle, or See-an-ump-kun, one of +Sealth’s sons, who was a friendly, good-natured +Indian, married to a woman of the Sklallam +tribe. The other surviving son when the whites +arrived, was called Jim Seattle.</p> + +<p>Thlid Kanem was a cousin of Sealth.</p> + +<p>On the 7th of June, 1866, the famous old +chieftain joined the Great Majority.</p> + +<p>He had outlived many of his race, doubtless +because of his temperate habits.</p> + +<p>If, as the white people concluded, he was +born in 1786, his age was eighty years. It might +well have been greater, as they have no records +and old Indians show little change often in twenty +or twenty-five years, as I have myself observed.</p> + +<p>In 1890 some leading pioneers of Seattle +erected a monument to his memory over his grave +in the Port Madison reservation. A Christian +emblem it is, a cross of Italian marble adorned +with an ivy wreath and bears this legend:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 368]</span></p> +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i5">“SEATTLE</span> +<span class="i0">Chief of the Suqamps and Allied Tribes,</span> +<span class="i4">Died June 7, 1866.</span> +<span class="i0">The Firm Friend of the Whites, and for Him the</span> +<span class="i2">City of Seattle was Named by Its</span> +<span class="i5">Founders.”</span> +</div> + +<p>Also on the side opposite,</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i0">“Baptismal name, Noah Sealth, Age probably</span> +<span class="i5">80 years.”</span> +</div> + +<p class="title">LESCHI.</p> + +<p>Leschi was a noted Nesqually-Klickitat +chief, who at the head of a body of warriors attacked +Seattle in 1856.</p> + +<p>Other chiefs implicated were, Kitsap, Kanasket, +Quiemuth, Owhi and Coquilton.</p> + +<p>Leschi being accused of influencing the Indians +at Seattle, who were friendly, in January, +1856, an attempt was made to capture him by +Captain Keyes of Fort Steilacoom. Keyes sent +Maloney and his company in the Hudson Bay +Company’s steamer “Beaver” to take him prisoner.</p> + +<p>They attempted to land but Leschi gathered +up his warriors and prepared to fight. Being +at a decided disadvantage, as but a few could +land at a time, the soldiers were obliged to withdraw. +Keyes made a second attempt in the surveying +steamer “Active;” having no cannon he +tried to borrow a howitzer from the “Decatur” +at Seattle, but the captain refused to loan it and +Keyes returned to get a gun at the fort. Leschi<span class="pagenum">[Pg 369]</span> +prudently withdrew to Puyallup, where he continued +his warlike preparations. Followed by +quite an army of hostile Indians, he landed on +the shore of Lake Washington, east of Seattle, +at a point near what is now called Leschi Park, +and on the 26th of January, 1856, made the +memorable attack on Seattle.</p> + +<p>The cunning and skill of the Indian in warfare +were no match for the white man’s cannon +and substantial defenses and Leschi was defeated. +He threatened a second attack but none +was ever made. By midsummer the war was at +an end.</p> + +<p>By an agreement of a council held in the +Yakima country, between Col. Wright and the +conquered chiefs, among whom were Leschi, +Quiemuth, Nelson, Stahi and the younger Kitsap, +they were permitted to go free on parole, +having promised to lead peaceable lives. Leschi +complied with the agreement but feared the revenge +of white men, so gave himself up to Dr. +Tolmie, as stated elsewhere. Dr. Tolmie was +Chief Factor of the Hudson Bay Company. He +came from Scotland in 1833 with another young +surgeon and served in the medical department +at Fort Vancouver several years. Dr. Tolmie +was a prominent figure at Fort Nesqually, a very +influential man with the Indians and distinguished +for his ability; he lived in Victoria many +years, where he died at a good old age.</p> + +<p><a id="XV" name="XV"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/opp369.png" width="500" height="296" alt="" title="TYPES OF INDIAN HOUSES" /> +<span class="caption">TYPES OF INDIAN HOUSES</span> +</div> + +<p>A special term of court was held to try Les<span class="pagenum"><a id="page370" name="page370">[Pg 370]</a></span>chi +for a murder which it could not be proven he +committed and the jury failed to agree. He was +tried again in March, 1857, convicted and sentenced +to be hanged on the 10th of June. The +case was carried up to the supreme court and the +verdict sustained. Again he was sentenced to +die on the 22nd of January, 1858. A strong appeal +was made by those who wished to see justice +done, to Gov. McMullin, who succeeded Gov. +Stevens, but a protest prevailed, and when the +day set for execution arrived, a multitude of people +gathered to witness it at Steilacoom. But the +doomed man’s friends saw the purpose was revenge +and a sharp reproof was administered. The +sheriff and his deputy were arrested, for selling +liquor to the Indians, before the hour appointed, +and held until the time passed. Greatly chagrined +at being frustrated, the crowd held meetings +the same evening and by appealing to the +legislature and some extraordinary legislation in +sympathy with them, supplemented by “ground +and lofty tumbling” in the courts, Leschi was +sentenced for the third time.</p> + +<p>On the 19th of February, 1858, worn by sickness +and prolonged imprisonment he was murdered +in accordance with the sentiment of his +enemies.</p> + +<p>No doubt the methods of <i>savage</i> warfare +were not approved, but that did not prevent their +hanging a man on parole.</p> + +<p>On July 3rd, 1895, a large gathering of In<span class="pagenum">[Pg 371]</span>dians +assembled on the Nesqually reservation. +Over one thousand were there. They met to remove +the bones of Leschi and Quiemuth to the +reservation. The ceremonies were very impressive; +George Leschi, a nephew of Leschi and son +of Quiemuth, made a speech in the Indian tongue. +He said the war was caused by the whites demanding +that the Nesqually and Puyallup Indians +be removed to the Quiniault reservation on +the Pacific Coast, and their reservation thrown +open for settlement. It was in battling for the +rights of their people and to preserve the lands +of their forefathers, he said, that the war was +inaugurated by the Indian chiefs.</p> + +<p class="title">PAT KANEM.</p> + +<p>The subject of this sketch was one of the +most interesting characters brought into prominence +by the conflict of the two races in early +days of conquest in the Northwest. That he was +sometimes misunderstood was inevitable as he +was self-contained and independent in his nature +and probably concealed his motives from friend +and foe alike.</p> + +<p>The opinion of the Indians was not wholly +favorable to him as he became friendly to the +white people, especially so toward some who were +influential.</p> + +<p>Pat Kanem was one of seven brothers, his +mother a Snoqualmie of which tribe he was the +recognized leader, his father, of another tribe, +the Soljampsh.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 372]</span>It is said that he planned the extermination +or driving out of the whites and brought about a +collision at old Fort Nesqually in 1849, when +Leander Wallace was killed, he and his warriors +having picked a quarrel with the Indians in that +vicinity who ran to the fort for protection. It +seems impossible to ascertain the facts as to the +intention of the Snoqualmies because of conflicting +accounts. Some who are well acquainted +with the Indians think it was a quarrel, pure and +simple, between the Indians camped near by and +the visiting Snoqualmies, without any ulterior +design upon the white men or upon the fort itself. +Also, Leander Wallace persisted in boasting +that he could settle the difficulty with a club +and contrary to the persuasions of the people in +the fort went outside, thereby losing his life.</p> + +<p>Four of Pat Kanem’s brothers were arrested; +and although one shot killed Wallace, two +Indians were hung, a proceeding which would +hardly have followed had they been white men. +John Kanem, one of Pat Kanem’s brothers, often +visited Mr. and Mrs. D. T. Denny afterward, +and would repeat again and again, “They killed +my brother” (Kluskie mem-a-loose nika ow).</p> + +<p>A Snoqualmie Indian in an interview recently +said that Qushun (Little Cloud) persuaded +Pat Kanem to give up his brother so that he +might surely obtain and maintain the chiefship. +Whatever may have been his attitude at first to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 373]</span>ward +the white invaders he afterward became +their ally in subduing the Indian outbreak.</p> + +<p>As A. A. Denny recounts in his valuable +work “Pioneer Days on Puget Sound,” Pat +Kanem gave him assurance of his steadfast +friendship before the war and further demonstrated +it by appearing according to previous +agreement, accompanied by women and children +of the tribe, obviously a peace party, with gifts +of choice game which he presented on board to +the captain of the “Decatur.”</p> + +<p>With half a hundred or more of his warriors, +his services were accepted by the governor +and they applied themselves to the gruesome industry +of taking heads from the hostile ranks. +Eighty dollars for a chief’s head and twenty for +a warrior’s were the rewards offered.</p> + +<p>Lieut. Phelps, gratefully remembered by the +settlers of Seattle, thus described his appearance +at Olympia, after having invested some of his +pay in “Boston ictas” (clothes): “Pat Kanem +was arrayed in citizen’s garb, including congress +gaiters, white kid gloves, and a white shirt with +standing collar reaching half-way up his ears, +and the whole finished off with a flaming red +neck-tie.”</p> + +<p>Pat Kanem died while yet young; he must +have been regarded with affection by his people. +Years afterward when one of his tribe visited an +old pioneer, he was given a photograph of Pat +Kanem to look at; wondering at his silence the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 374]</span> +family were struck by observing that he was gazing +intently on the pictured semblance of his +dead and gone chieftain, while great tears rolled +unchecked down the bronze cheeks. What +thoughts of past prosperity, the happy, roving +life of the long ago and those who mingled in it, +he may have had, we cannot tell.</p> + +<p class="title">STUDAH.</p> + +<p>Studah, or Williams, was one of three sons +of a very old Duwampsh chief, “Queaucton,” +who brought them to A. A. Denny asking that he +give them “Boston” names. He complied by +calling them Tecumseh, Keokuk and William.</p> + +<p>The following sketch was written by Rev. +G. F. Whitworth, a well-known pioneer:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“William, the chief of the surviving Indians +of the Duwampsh tribe, died at the Indian camp +on Cedar River on Wednesday, April 1. He was +one of the few remaining Indians who were at all +prominent in the early settlement of this country, +and is almost, if not actually, the last of those +who were ever friendly to the whites. His father, +who died about the time that the first white settlements +were made in this country, was the principal +or head chief of the Duwamish Indians. +He left three sons, Tecumseh, Keokuk and William. +All of whom are now dead. Tecumseh, presumably +the eldest son, succeeded his father, and +was recognized as chief until he was deposed by +Capt. (now Gen.) Dent, U. S. A., who acted +under authority of the United States government<span class="pagenum">[Pg 375]</span> +in relation to the Indians, at that time. He had +some characteristics which seemed to disqualify +him for the office, while on the other hand William +seemed pre-eminently fitted to fill the position, +and was therefore chief and had been recognized +both by whites and Indians up to the +time of his death.</p> + +<p>“At the time of the Indian war, he, like Seattle +and Curley, was a true friend of the whites. +The night before Seattle was attacked there was +a council of war held in the woods back of the +town, and William attended that council, and his +voice was heard for peace and against war. He +was always friendly to the whites, and for nearly +forty years he has been faithful in his friendship +to E. W. Smithers, to whom I am indebted for +much of the information contained in this article.</p> + +<p>“Those who knew William will remember +that he was distinguished for natural dignity of +manner. He was an earnest and sincere Catholic, +was a thoroughly good Indian, greatly respected +by his tribe, and having the confidence +of those among the whites who knew him. William +was an orator and quite eloquent in his own +language. On one occasion shortly after Capt. +Hill, U. S. A., came to the territory, some complaints +had been made to the superintendent, +which were afterwards learned to be unfounded, +asking to have the Duwamish Indians removed +from Black River to the reservation. Capt. Hill +was sent to perform this service, and went with a<span class="pagenum">[Pg 376]</span> +steamer to their camp, which was on Mr. Smither’s +farm, a little above the railroad bridge. The +captain was accompanied by United States Agent +Finkbonner, and on his arrival at the camp addressed +the Indians, through an interpreter, informing +them of the nature of his errand, and +directing them to gather their ‘ictas’ without +delay and go on board the steamer, to be at once +conveyed to the reservation. William and his +Indians listened respectfully to the captain, and +when he had closed his remarks William made +his reply.</p> + +<p>“His speech was about an hour in length, in +which his eloquence was clearly exhibited. He +replied that the father at Olympia or the Great +Father at Washington City, had no right to remove +his tribe. They were peaceful, had done no +wrong. They were under no obligation to the +government, had received nothing at its hands, +and had asked for nothing; they had entered into +no treaty; their lands had been taken from them. +This, however, was their home. He had been +born on Cedar River, and there he intended to remain, +and there his bones should be laid. They +were not willing to be removed. They could not +be removed. He might bring the soldiers to take +them, but when they should come he would not +find them, for they would flee and hide themselves +in the ‘stick’ (the woods) where the soldiers +could not find them. Capt. Hill found himself +in a dilemma, out of which he was extricated<span class="pagenum">[Pg 377]</span> +by Mr. Smithers, who convinced the captain that +the complaints were unfounded, and that with +two or three exceptions those who had signed the +complaint and made the request did not reside in +that neighborhood, but lived miles away. They +were living on Mr. Smithers’ land with his consent, +and when he further guaranteed their good +behavior, and Mrs. Smithers assured him that she +had no fears and no grievance, but that when Mr. +Smithers was away she considered them a protection +rather than otherwise, the captain concluded +to return without them, and to report the +facts as he found them.</p> + +<p>“William’s last message was sent to Mr. +Smithers a few days before he died, and was a +request that he would see that he was laid to rest +as befitted his rank, and not allow him to be +buried like a seedy old vagrant, as many of the +newcomers considered him to be.</p> + +<p>“It is hardly necessary for me to say that +this request was faithfully complied with, and +that on Friday, April 3, his remains were interred +in the Indian burying ground near Renton. The +funeral was a large one, Indians from far and +near coming to render their last tribute of respect +to his memory.</p> + +<p>“From the time of his birth until his death +he had lived in the region of Cedar and Black +Rivers, seventy-nine years.</p> + +<p>“His successor as chief will be his nephew, +Rogers, who is a son of Tecumseh.”</p></blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 378]</span></p> +<p class="title">“ANGELINE.”</p> + +<p>Ka-ki-is-il-ma, called Angeline by the white +settlers, about whom so much has been written, +was a daughter of Sealth.</p> + +<p>In an interview, some interesting facts were +elicited.</p> + +<p>Angeline saw white people first at Nesqually, +“King George” people, the Indians called the +Hudson Bay Company’s agents and followers.</p> + +<p>She saw the brothers of Pat Kanem arrested +for the killing of Wallace; she said that Sealth +thought it was right that the two Snoqualmies +were executed.</p> + +<p>When a little girl she wore deerskin robes +or long coats and a collar of shells; in those days +her tribe made three kinds of robes, some of +“suwella,” “shulth” or mountain beaver fur, and +of deer-skins; the third was possibly woven, as +they made blankets of mountain sheep’s wool and +goat’s hair.</p> + +<p>Angeline was first married to a big chief of +the Skagits, Dokubkun by name; her second husband +was Talisha, a Duwampsh chief. She was +a widow of about forty-five when Americans settled +on Elliott Bay. Two daughters, Chewatum +or Betsy and Mamie, were her only children +known to the white people, and both married +white men. Betsy committed suicide by hanging +herself in the shed room of a house on Commercial +Street, tying herself to a rafter by a +red bandanna handkerchief. Betsy left an in<span class="pagenum">[Pg 379]</span>fant +son, since grown up, who lived with Angeline +many years. Mary or Mamie married Wm. DeShaw +and has been dead for some time.</p> + +<p>It has been said that some are born great, +some achieve greatness, while others have greatness +thrust upon them. Of the last described +class, Angeline was a shining representative. +Souvenir spoons, photographs, and cups bearing +her likeness have doubtless traveled over a considerable +portion of the civilized world, all of +the notoriety arising therefrom certainly being +unsought by the poor old Indian woman.</p> + +<p>Newspaper reporters, paragraphers, and +magazine writers have never wearied of limning +her life, recounting even the smallest incidents +and making of her a conspicuous figure in the +literature of the Northwest.</p> + +<p>It quite naturally follows that some absurd +things have been written, some heartless, others +pathetic and of real literary value, although it +has been difficult for the tenderfoot to avoid errors. +Upon the event of her death, which occurred +on Sunday, May 31st, 1896, a leading paper +published an editorial in which a brief outline +of the building of the city witnessed by Angeline +was given and is here inserted:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Angeline, as she had been named by the +early settlers, had seen many wonders. Born on +the lonely shores of an unknown country, reared +in the primeval forest, she saw all the progress of +modern civilization. She saw the first cabin of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 380]</span> +the pioneer; the struggles for existence on the +part of the white man with nature; the hewing of +the log, then the work of the sawmill, the revolt +of the aboriginal inhabitants against the intruder +and the subjugation of the inferior race; the +growth from one hut to a village; from village to +town; the swelling population with its concomitants +of stores, ships and collateral industries; +the platting of a town; the organization of government; +the accumulation of commerce; the advent +of railroads and locomotives; of steamships +and great engines of maritime warfare; the destruction +of a town by fire and the marvelous energy +which built upon its site, a city. Where +there had been a handful of shacks she saw a +city of sixty thousand people; in place of a few +canoes she saw a great fleet of vessels, stern-wheelers, +side-wheelers, propellers, whalebacks, +the Charleston and Monterey. She saw the +streets lighted by electricity; saw the telephone, +elevators and many other wonders.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>“Death came to her as it does to all; but it +came as the precursor of extinction, it adds another +link in the chain which exemplifies the +survival of the fittest.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>These comments are coldly judicial and exactly +after the mind of the unsympathetic tenderfoot +or the “hard case” of early days. In +speaking of the “survival of the fittest” and the +“subjugation of the inferior race” a contrast is<span class="pagenum">[Pg 381]</span> +drawn flattering to the white race, but any mention +of the incalculable injury, outrages, indignities +and villainies practiced upon the native inhabitants +by evil white men is carefully avoided. +Angeline “saw” a good many other things not +mentioned in the above eulogy upon civilization. +She saw the wreck wrought by the white man’s +drink; the Indians never made a fermented +liquor of their own.</p> + +<p>Angeline said that her father, Sealth, once +owned all the land on which Seattle is built, that +he was friendly to the white people and wanted +them to have the land; that she was glad to see +fine buildings, stores and such like, but not the +saloons; she did not like it at all that the white +people built saloons and Joe, her grandson, would +go to them and get drunk and then they made her +pay five dollars to get him out of jail!</p> + +<p>However, I will not dwell here on the dark +side of the poor Indians’ history, I turn therefore +to more pleasant reminiscence.</p> + +<p>Ankuti (a great while ago) when the days +were long and happy, in the time of wild blackberries, +two pioneer women with their children, +of whom the writer was one, embarked with Angeline +and Mamie in a canoe, under the old laurel +(madrona) tree and paddled down Elliott Bay +to a fine blackberry patch on W. N. Bell’s claim.</p> + +<p>After wandering about a long while they +sat down to rest on mossy logs beside the trail. +They sat facing the water, the day was waning,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 382]</span> +and as they thought of their return one of them +said, “O look at the canoe!” It was far out on +the shining water; the tide had come up while the +party wandered in the woods and the canoe, with +its stake, was quite a distance from the bank. +Mamie ran down the trail to the beach, took off +her moccasins and swam out to the canoe, her +mother and the rest intently watching her. Then +she dived down to the bottom; as her round, black +head disappeared beneath the rippling surface, +Angeline said “Now she’s gone.” But in a few +moments we breathed a sigh of relief as up she +rose, having pulled up the stake, and climbed into +the canoe, although how she did it one cannot tell, +and paddled to the shore to take in the happy +crew. This little incident, but more especially +the scene, the forms and faces of my friends, the +dark forest, moss-cushioned seats under drooping +branches, and the graceful canoe afloat on the +silvery water—and it <i>did</i> seem for a few, long +moments that Mamie was gone as Angeline said +in her anxiety for her child’s safety showing she +too was a human mother—all this has never left +my memory!</p> + +<p>Angeline lived for many years in her little +shanty near the water front, assisted often with +food and clothing from kindly white friends. She +had a determination to live, die and be buried in +Seattle, as it was her home, and that, too, near her +old pioneer friends, thus typifying one of the +dearest wishes of the Indians.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 383]</span>She was one of the good Indian washerwomen, +gratefully remembered by pioneer housewives. +These faithful servitors took on them +much toil, wearing and wearisome, now accomplished +by machinery or Chinese.</p> + +<p>The world is still deceived by the external +appearance; but even the toad “ugly and venomous” +was credited with a jewel in its head.</p> + +<p>Now Angeline was ugly and untidy, and all +that, but not as soulless as some who relegated +her to the lowest class of living creatures.</p> + +<p>A white friend whom she often visited, Mrs. +Sarah Kellogg, said to the writer, “Angeline +lived up to the light she had; she was honest and +would never take anything that was offered her +unless she needed it. I always made her some little +present, saying, ‘Well, Angeline, what do you +want? Some sugar?’ ‘No, I have plenty of +sugar, I would like a little tea.’ So it was with +anything else mentioned, if she was supplied she +said so. I had not seen her for quite a while at +one time, and hearing she was sick sent my husband +to the door of her shack to inquire after +her. Sure enough she lay in her bunk unable to +rise. When asked if she wanted anything to +eat, she replied, ‘No, I have plenty of muck-amuck; +Arthur Denny sent me a box full, but I +want some candles and matches.’</p> + +<p>“She told me that she was getting old and +might die any time and that she never went to +bed without saying her prayers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 384]</span>“During a long illness she came to my house +quite often, but was sent away by those in charge; +when I was at last able to sit up, I saw her approaching +the house and went down to the kitchen +to be ready to receive her. As usual I inquired +after her wants, when she somewhat indignantly +asked, ‘Don’t you suppose I can come to see you +without wanting something?’</p> + +<p>“One day as she sat in my kitchen a young +white girl asked before her, in English, of course, +‘Does Angeline know anything about God?’ She +said quickly in Chinook, ‘You tell that girl that I +know God sees me all the time; I might lie or steal +and you would never find it out, but God would +see me do it.’”</p> + +<p>In her old age she exerted herself, even when +feeble from sickness, to walk long distances in +quest of food and other necessities, stumping +along with her cane and sitting down now and +then on a door-step to rest.</p> + +<p>All the trades-people knew her and were generally +kind to her.</p> + +<p>At last she succumbed to an attack of lung +trouble and passed away. Having declared herself +a Roman Catholic, she was honorably buried +from the church in Seattle, Rev. F. X. Prefontaine +officiating, while several of the old pioneers +were pallbearers.</p> + +<p>A canoe-shaped coffin had been prepared on +which lay a cross of native rhododendrons and a +cluster of snowballs, likely from an old garden.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 385]</span> +A great concourse of people were present, many +out of curiosity, no doubt, while some were there +with real feeling and solemn thought. Her old +friend, Mrs. Maynard, stood at the head of the +grave and dropped in a sprig of cedar. She spoke +some encouraging words to Joe Foster, Betsy’s +son, and Angeline’s sole mourner, advising him +to live a good life.</p> + +<p>And so Angeline was buried according to +her wish, in the burying ground of the old pioneers.</p> + +<p class="title">YUTESTID.</p> + +<p>After extending numerous invitations, I was +pleasantly surprised upon my return to my home +one day to find Mr. and Mrs. Yutestid awaiting +an interview.</p> + +<p>In the first place this Indian name is pronounced +<i>Yute-stid</i> and he is the only survivor (in +1898) of Chief Sealth’s once numerous household. +His mother was doubtless a captive, a +Cowichan of British Columbia; his father, a +Puget Sound Indian from the vicinity of Olympia. +He was quite old, he does not know how old, +but not decrepit; Angeline said they grew up together.</p> + +<p><a id="XVI" name="XVI"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/opp385.png" width="500" height="296" alt="" title="LAST VOYAGE OF THE LUMEI" /> +<span class="caption">LAST VOYAGE OF THE LUMEI</span> +</div> + +<p>He is thin and wiry looking, with some straggling +bristles for a beard and thick short hair, +still quite black, covering a head which looks as +if it had been flattened directly on top as well as +back and front as they were wont to do. This +peculiar cranial development does not affect his +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 386]</span>intelligence, however, as we have before observed +in others; he is quick-witted and knows a +great many things. Yutestid says he can speak +all the leading dialects of the Upper Sound, Soljampsh, +Nesqually, Puyallup, Snoqualmie, Duwampsh, +Snohomish, but not the Sklallam and +others north toward Vancouver.</p> + +<p>Several incidents related in this volume were +mentioned and he remembered them perfectly, +referred to the naming of “New York” on Alki +Point and the earliest settlement, repeating the +names of the pioneers. The murder at Bean’s +Point was committed by two Soljampsh Indians, +he said, and they were tried and punished by an +Indian court.</p> + +<p>He remembers the hanging of Pat Kanem’s +brothers, Kussass and Quallawowit.</p> + +<p>“Long ago, the Indians fight, fight, fight,” +he said, but he declared he had never heard of +the Duwampsh campaign attributed to Sealth.</p> + +<p>Yutestid was not at the battle of Seattle but +at Oleman House with Sealth’s tribe and others +whom Gov. Stevens had ordered there. He +chuckled as he said “The bad Indians came into +the woods near town and the man-of-war (Decatur) +mamoked pooh (shot) at them and they +were frightened and ran away.”</p> + +<p>Lachuse, the Indian who was shot near Seneca +Street, Seattle, he remembered, and when I +told him how the Indian doctor extracted the +buckshot from the wounds he sententiously re<span class="pagenum">[Pg 387]</span>marked, +“Well, sometimes the Indian doctors +did very well, sometimes they were old humbugs, +just the same as white people.”</p> + +<p>Oleman House was built long before he was +born, according to his testimony, and was +adorned by a carved wooden figure, over the entrance, +of the great thunder bird, which performed +the office of a lightning rod or at least +prevented thunder bolts from striking the building.</p> + +<p>When asked what the medium of exchange +was “ankuti” (long ago), he measured on the +index finger the length of pieces of abalone shell +formerly used for money.</p> + +<p>In those days he saw the old women make +feather robes of duck-skins, also of deer-skins +and dog-skins with the hair on; they made bead +work, too; beaded moccasins called “<i>Yachit</i>.”</p> + +<p>The old time ways were very slow; he described +the cutting of a huge cedar for a canoe as +taking a long time to do, by hacking around it +with a stone hammer and “chisel.”</p> + +<p>Before the advent of the whites, mats served +as sails.</p> + +<p>I told him of having seen the public part of +Black Tamanuse and they both laughed at the +heathenism of long ago and said, “We don’t have +that now.”</p> + +<p>Yutestid denied that <i>his</i> people ate dog when +making black tamanuse, but said the Sklallams +did so.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page388" name="page388">[Pg 388]</a></span>“If I could speak better English or you better +Chinook I could tell you lots of stories,” he +averred. Chinook is so very meager, however, +that an interpreter of the native tongue will be +necessary to get these stories.</p> + +<p>They politely shook hands and bade me +“Good-bye” to jog off through the rain to their +camping place, Indian file, he following in the +rear contentedly smoking a pipe. Yutestid is industrious, +cultivating a patch of ground and +yearly visiting the city of Seattle with fruit to +sell.</p> + +<p class="title">THE CHIEF’S REPLY.</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Yonder sky through ages weeping</span> +<span class="i0">Tender tears o’er sire and son,</span> +<span class="i0">O’er the dead in grave-banks sleeping,</span> +<span class="i0">Dead and living loved as one,</span> +<span class="i0">May turn cruel, harsh and brazen,</span> +<span class="i0">Burn as with a tropic sun,</span> +<span class="i0">But my words are true and changeless,</span> +<span class="i0">Changeless as the season’s run.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Waving grass-blades of wide prairie</span> +<span class="i0">Shuttled by lithe foxes wary,</span> +<span class="i0">As the eagle sees afar,</span> +<span class="i0">So the pale-face people are;</span> +<span class="i0">Like the lonely scattering pine-trees</span> +<span class="i0">On a bleak and stormy shore,</span> +<span class="i0">Few my brother warriors linger</span> +<span class="i0">Faint and failing evermore.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Well I know you could command us</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 389]</span><span class="i0">To give o’er the land we love,</span> +<span class="i0">With your warriors well withstand us</span> +<span class="i0">And ne’er weep our graves above.</span> +<span class="i0">See on Whulch the South wind blowing</span> +<span class="i0">And the waves are running free!</span> +<span class="i0">Once my people they were many</span> +<span class="i0">Like the waves of Whulch’s sea.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When our young men rise in anger,</span> +<span class="i0">Gather in a war-bent band,</span> +<span class="i0">Face black-painted and the musket</span> +<span class="i0">In the fierce, relentless hand,</span> +<span class="i0">Old men pleading, plead in vain,</span> +<span class="i0">Their dark spirits none restrain.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">If to you our land we barter,</span> +<span class="i0">This we ask ere set of sun,</span> +<span class="i0">To the graves of our forefathers,</span> +<span class="i0">Till our days on earth are done,</span> +<span class="i0">We may wander as our hearts are</span> +<span class="i0">Wandering till our race is run.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Speak the hillsides and the waters,</span> +<span class="i0">Speak the valleys, plains and groves,</span> +<span class="i0">Waving trees and snow-robed mountains,</span> +<span class="i0">Speak to him where’er he roves,</span> +<span class="i0">To the red men’s sons and daughters</span> +<span class="i0">Of their joys, their woes and loves.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">By the shore the rocks are ringing</span> +<span class="i0">That to you seem wholly dumb,</span> +<span class="i0">Ever with the waves are singing,</span> +<span class="i0">Winds with songs forever come;</span> +<span class="i0">Songs of sorrow for the partings</span> +<span class="i0">Death and time make as of yore,</span> +<span class="i0">Songs of war and peace and valor,</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 390]</span><span class="i0">Red men sang on Whulch’s shore.</span> +<span class="i0">See! the ashes of our fathers,</span> +<span class="i0">Mingling dust beneath our feet,</span> +<span class="i0">Common earth to you, the strangers,</span> +<span class="i0">Thrills us with a longing sweet.</span> +<span class="i0">Fills our pulses rhythmic beat.</span> +<span class="i0">At the midnight in your cities</span> +<span class="i0">Empty seeming, silent streets</span> +<span class="i0">Shall be peopled with the hosts</span> +<span class="i0">Of returning warriors’ ghosts.</span> +<span class="i0">Tho’ I shall sink into the dust,</span> +<span class="i0">My warning heed; be kind, be just,</span> +<span class="i0">Or ghosts shall menace and avenge.</span></div></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page391" name="page391">[Pg 391]</a></span></p> +<h2>PART III.<br /> +<br /> +INDIAN LIFE AND SETTLERS’ BEGINNINGS.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">SAVAGE DEEDS OF SAVAGE MEN.</span></h2> + +<p>At Bean’s Point, opposite Alki on Puget +Sound, an Indian murdered, at night, a family +of Indians who were camping there.</p> + +<p>The Puyallups and Duwampsh came together +in council at Bean’s Point, held a trial +and condemned and executed the murderer. Old +Duwampsh Curley was among the members of +this native court and likely Sealth and his counsellors.</p> + +<p>One of the family escaped by wading out into +the water where he might have become very cool, +if not entirely cold, if it had not been that Captain +Fay and George Martin, a Swedish sailor, +were passing by in their boat and the Indian +begged to be taken in, a request they readily +granted and landed him in a place of safety.</p> + +<p>Again at Bean’s Point an Indian was shot +by a white man, a Scandinavian; the charge was +a liberal one of buckshot.</p> + +<p>Some white men who went to inquire into the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page392" name="page392">[Pg 392]</a></span> +matter followed the Indian’s trail, finding ample +evidence that he had climbed the hill back of the +house, where he may have been employed to work, +and weak from his wounds had sat down on a log +and then went back to the water; but his body +was never found. It was supposed that the murderer +enticed him back again and when he was +dead, weighted and sunk him in the deep, cold +waters of the Sound.</p> + +<p>At one time there was quite a large camp of +Indians where now runs Seneca Street, Seattle, +near which was my home. It was my father’s +custom to hire the Indians to perform various +kinds of hard labor, such as grubbing stumps, +digging ditches, cutting wood, etc. For a while +we employed a tall, strong, fine-looking Indian +called Lachuse to cut wood; through a long summer +day he industriously plied the ax and late in +the twilight went down to a pool of water, near +an old bridge, to bathe. As he passed by a clump +of bushes, suddenly the flash and report of a gun +shattered the still air and Lachuse fell heavily +to the ground with his broad chest riddled with +buckshot.</p> + +<p>There was great excitement in the camp, running +and crying of the women and debate by the +men, who soon carried him into the large Indian +house. He was laid down in the middle of the +room and the medicine man, finding him alive, +proceeded to suck the wounds while the tamanuse +noise went on.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 393]</span>A distracted, grey-haired lum-e-i, his mother, +came to our house to beg for a keeler of water, +all the time crying, “Mame-loose Lachuse! Achada!”</p> + +<p>Two of the little girls of our family, sleeping +in an old-fashioned trundle bed, were so +frightened at the commotion that they pulled the +covers up over their heads so far that their feet +protruded below.</p> + +<p>The medicine man’s treatment seems to have +been effective, aided by the tamanuse music, as +Lachuse finally recovered.</p> + +<p>The revengeful deed was committed by a +Port Washington Indian, in retaliation for the +stealing of his “klootchman” (wife) by an Indian +of the Duwampsh tribe, although it was not +Lachuse, this sort of revenge being in accordance +with their heathen custom.</p> + +<p>“Jim Keokuk,” an Indian, killed another +Indian in the marsh near the gas works; he +struck him on the head with a stone. Jim worked +as deck hand on a steamer for a time, but he in +turn was finally murdered by other Indians, +wrapped with chains and thrown overboard, +which was afterward revealed by some of the +tribe.</p> + +<p>There were many cases of retaliation, but the +Indians were fairly peaceable until degraded by +drink.</p> + +<p>The beginning of hostilities against the white +people on the Sound, by some historians is said<span class="pagenum">[Pg 394]</span> +to have been the killing of Leander Wallace at +old Fort Nesqually. One of them gives this account:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Prior to the Whitman massacre, Owhi and +Kamiakin, the great chiefs of the upper and +lower Yakima nations, while on a visit to Fort +Nesqually, had observed to Dr. Tolmie that the +Hudson Bay Company’s posts with their white +employes were a great convenience to the natives, +but the American immigration had excited alarm +and was the constant theme of hostile conversation +among the interior tribes. The erection in +1848, at Fort Nesqually, of a stockade and blockhouse +had also been the subject of angry criticism +by the visiting northern tribes. So insolent and +defiant had been their conduct that upon one +afternoon for over an hour the officers and men +of the post had guns pointed through the loop-holes +at a number of Skawhumpsh Indians, who, +with their weapons ready for assault, had posted +themselves under cover of adjacent stumps and +trees.</p> + +<p>“Shortly before the shooting of Wallace, rumors +had reached the fort that the Snoqualmies +were coming in force to redress the alleged cruel +treatment of Why-it, the Snoqualmie wife of the +young Nesqually chief, Wyampch, a dissipated +son of Lahalet.</p> + +<p>“Dr. Tolmie treated such a pretext as a mere +cloak for a marauding expedition of the Snoqualmies.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page395" name="page395">[Pg 395]</a></span>“Sheep shearing had gathered numbers of +extra hands, chiefly Snohomish, who were occupying +mat lodges close to the fort, besides unemployed +stragglers and camp followers.</p> + +<p>“On Tuesday, May 1, 1849, about noon, numbers +of Indian women and children fled in great +alarm from their lodges and sought refuge within +the fort. A Snoqualmie war party, led by Pat +Kanem, approached from the southwestern end +of the American plains. Dr. Tolmie having +posted a party of Kanakas in the northwest +bastion went out to meet them.</p> + +<p>“Tolmie induced Pat Kanem to return with +him to the fort, closing the gate after their entrance.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The following is said to be the account given +by the Hudson Bay Company’s officials:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“The gate nearest the mat lodges was guarded +by a white man and an Indian servant. While +Dr. Tolmie was engaged in attending a patient, +he heard a single shot fired, speedily followed +by two or three others. He hastily rushed to the +bastion, whence a volley was being discharged +at a number of retreating Indians who had made +a stand and found cover behind the sheep washing +dam of Segualitschu Creek. Through a loop-hole +the bodies of an Indian and a white man +were discernible at a few yards distance from +the north gate where the firing had commenced.</p> + +<p>“He hastened thither and found Wallace +breathing his last, with a full charge of buck<span class="pagenum">[Pg 396]</span>shot +in his stomach. The dying man was immediately +carried inside of the fort.</p> + +<p>“The dead Indian was a young Skawhumpsh, +who had accompanied the Snoqualmies.</p> + +<p>“The Snohomish workers, as also the stragglers, +had been, with the newly arrived Snoqualmies, +in and out of the abandoned lodges, chatting +and exchanging news. A thoughtless act +of the Indian sentry posted at the water gate, +in firing into the air, had occasioned a general +rush of the Snohomish, who had been cool observers +of all that had passed outside.</p> + +<p>“Walter Ross, the clerk, came to the gate +armed, and seeing Kussass, a Snoqualmie, pointing +his gun at him, fired but missed him. Kussass +then fired at Wallace. Lewis, an American, had +a narrow escape, one ball passing through his +vest and trousers and another grazing his left +arm.</p> + +<p>“Quallawowit, as soon as the firing began, +shot through the pickets and wounded Tziass, +an Indian, in the muscles of his shoulder, which +soon after occasioned his death.</p> + +<p>“The Snoqualmies as they retreated to the +beach killed two Indian ponies and then hastily +departed in their canoes.</p> + +<p>“At the commencement of the shooting, Pat +Kanem, guided by Wyampch, escaped from the +fort, a fortunate occurrence, as, upon his rejoining +his party the retreat at once began.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 397]</span>“When Dr. Tolmie stooped to raise Wallace, +and the Snoqualmies levelled their guns to +kill that old and revered friend, an Indian called +‘the Priest’ pushed aside the guns, exclaiming +‘Enough mischief has already been done.’</p> + +<p>“The four Indians of the Snoqualmie party +whose names were given by Snohomish informers +to Dr. Tolmie, together with Kussass and +Quallawowit, were afterward tried for the murder +of Wallace.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Their names were Whyik, Quallawowit, +Kussass, Stahowie, Tatetum and Quilthlimkyne; +the last mentioned was a Duwampsh.</p> + +<p>Eighty blankets were offered for the giving +up of these Indians.</p> + +<p>The Snoqualmies came to Steilacoom, where +they were to be tried, in war paint and parade.</p> + +<p>The officials came from far; down the Columbia; +up the Cowlitz, and across to Puget +Sound, about two hundred miles in primitive +style, by canoe, oxcart or cayuse.</p> + +<p>The trial occupied two days; on the third +day, the two condemned, Kussass and Quallawowit, +were executed.</p> + +<p>One shot Wallace, <i>two</i> Indians were hung; +Leschi, a leader in the subsequent war of 1855, +looked on and went away resenting the injustice +of taking two lives for one. Other Indians no +doubt felt the same, thus preparing the way for +their deadly opposition to the white race.</p> + +<p>It certainly seems likely that the “pretext”<span class="pagenum">[Pg 398]</span> +of the Snoqualmies was a valid one as Wyampch, +the young Nesqually chief, was a drunkard, and +Why-it, his Snoqualmie wife, was no doubt +treated much as Indian wives generally in such +a case, frequently beaten and kicked into insensibility.</p> + +<p>The Snoqualmies had been quarreling with +the Nesquallies before this and it is extremely +probable that, as was currently reported among +old settlers, the trouble was among the Indians +themselves.</p> + +<p>There are two stories also concerning Wallace; +first, that he was outside quietly looking on, +which he ought to have known better than to do; +second, that he was warned not to go outside but +persisted in going, boasting that he could settle +the difficulty with a club, paying for his temerity +with his life.</p> + +<p>A well known historian has said that the +“different tribes had been successfully treated +with, but the Indians had acted treacherously +inasmuch as it was well known that they had +long been plotting against the white race to +destroy it. This being true and they having entered +upon a war without cause, however, he +(Gov. Stevens) might sympathize with the restlessness +of an inferior race who perceived that +destiny was against them, he nevertheless had +high duties toward his own.”</p> + +<p>Now all this was true, yet there were other +things equally true. Not all the treachery, not<span class="pagenum">[Pg 399]</span> +all the revenge, not all the cruelty were on the +side of the “inferior” race. Even all the inferiority +was not on one side. The garbled translation +by white interpreters, the lying, deceit, +nameless and numberless impositions by lawless +white men must have aroused and fostered intense +resentment. That there were white savages +here we have ample proof.</p> + +<p>When Col. Wright received the conquered +Spokane chiefs in council with some the pipe of +peace was smoked. After it was over, Owhi presented +himself and was placed in irons for breaking +an agreement with Col. Wright, who bade +him summon his son, Qualchin, on pain of death +by hanging if his son refused to come.</p> + +<p>The next day Qualchin appeared not knowing +that the order had been given, and was seized +and hung without trial. Evidently Kamiakin, +the Yakima chief, had good reason to fear the +white man’s treachery when he refused to join +in the council.</p> + +<p>The same historian before mentioned tells +how Col. Wright called together the Walla Wallas, +informed them that he knew that they had +taken part in recent battles and ordered those +who had to stand up; thirty-five promptly rose. +Four of these were selected and hung. Now these +Indians fought for home and country and volunteered +to be put to death for the sake of their +people, as it is thought by some, those hung for +the murder of Whitman and his companions, did,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 400]</span> +choosing to do so of their own free will, not having +been the really guilty ones at all.</p> + +<p>Quiemuth, an Indian, after the war, emerged +from his hiding place, went to a white man on +Yelm prairie requesting the latter to accompany +him to Olympia that he might give himself up for +trial. Several persons went with him; reached +Olympia after midnight, the governor placed him +in his office, locking the door. It was soon known +that the Indian was in the town and several white +men got in at the back door of the building. The +guard may have been drowsy or their movements +very quiet; a shot was fired and Quiemuth and +the others made a rush for the door where a +white man named Joe Brannan stabbed the Indian +fatally, in revenge for the death of his +brother who had been killed by Indians some +time before.</p> + +<p>Three of the Indian leaders in Western +Washington were assassinated by white men for +revenge. Leschi, the most noted of the hostile +chiefs on the Sound, was betrayed by two of his +own people, some have said.</p> + +<p>I have good authority for saying that he +gave himself up for fear of a similar fate.</p> + +<p>He was tried three times before he was finally +hung after having been kept in jail a long +time. Evidently there were some obstructionists +who agreed with the following just and truthful +statement by Col. G. O. Haller, a well-known In<span class="pagenum">[Pg 401]</span>dian +fighter, first published in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“The white man’s aphorism ‘The first blow +is half the battle,’ is no secret among Indians, +and they practice it upon entering a war. Indeed, +weak nations and Indian tribes, wrought to +desperation by real or fancied grievances, inflict +while able to do so horrible deeds when viewed by +civilized and Christ-like men. War is simply +barbarism. And when was war refined and reduced +to rules and regulations that must control +the Indian who fights for all that is dear to him—his +native land and the graves of his sires—who +finds the white man’s donation claim spread +over his long cultivated potato patch, his hog a +trespasser on his old pasture ground and his old +residence turned into a stable for stock, etc.?</p> + +<p>“Leschi, like many citizens during the struggle +for secession, appealed to his instincts—his +attachment to his tribe—his desire, at the same +time to conform to the requirements of the +whites, which to many of his people were repulsive +and incompatible. He decided and struck +heavy blows against us with his warriors. Since +then we have learned a lesson.</p> + +<p><a id="XVII" name="XVII"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/opp401.jpg" width="600" height="357" alt="" title="A FEW ARTIFACTS OF PUGET SOUND INDIANS" /> +<span class="caption">A FEW ARTIFACTS OF PUGET SOUND INDIANS</span> +</div> + +<p>“Gen. Lee inflicted on the Union army heavy +losses of life and destruction of property belonging +to individuals. When he surrendered his +sword agreeing to return to his home and become +a law-abiding citizen, Gen. Grant protected him +and his paroled army from the vengeance of men +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 402]</span>who sought to make treason odious. This was in +1866 and but the repetition of the Indian war of +1856.</p> + +<p>“Col. Geo. Wright, commanding the department +of the Columbia, displayed such an overwhelming +force in the Klickitat country that it +convinced the hostile Indians of the hopelessness +of pursuing war to a successful issue, and when +they asked the terms of peace, Col. Wright directed +them to return to their former homes, be +peaceful and obey the orders of the Indian agents +sent by our government to take charge of them, +and they would be protected by the soldiers.</p> + +<p>“The crimes of war cannot be atoned by +crimes in cold blood after the war. Two wrongs +do not make a right.</p> + +<p>“Leschi, though shrewd and daring in war, +adopted Col. Wright’s directions, dropped hostilities, +laid aside his rifle and repaired to Puget +Sound, his home.</p> + +<p>“Like Lee, he was entitled to protection +from the officers and soldiers. But Leschi, on the +Sound, feared the enmity of the whites, and gave +himself up to Dr. Tolmie, an old friend, at Nesqually—not +captured by two Indians of his own +tribe and delivered up. Then began a crusade +against Leschi for all the crimes of his people in +war.</p> + +<p>“On the testimony of a perjured man, whose +testimony was demonstrated, by a survey of the +route claimed by the deponent, to be a falsehood,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 403]</span> +he was found guilty by the jury, not of the offense +alleged against him, for it was physically +impossible for Leschi to be at the two points indicated +in the time alleged; hence he was a martyr +to the vengeance of unforgiving white men.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>I remember having seen the beautiful pioneer +woman spoken of in the following account +first published in a Seattle paper. The Castos +were buried in the old burying ground in a corner +next the road we traveled from our ranch to +school.</p> + +<p>This is the article, head-lines and all:</p> + +<blockquote><p> +“John Bonser’s Death Recalls an Indian Massacre. +Beautiful Abbie Casto’s Fate. +How Death Came Upon Three Pioneers of Squak +Valley—Swift Vengeance on the +Murderers. +</p> + +<p>“The death of John Bonser, one of the earliest +pioneers of Oregon, at Sauvie’s Island, near +Portland, recently, recalls one of the bloodiest +tragedies that ever occurred in King County and +one which will go down in history as the greatest +example the pioneers had of the evil effect of giving +whisky to the Indians. The event is memorable +for another reason, and that is that the +daughter of John Bonser, wife of William Casto, +and probably the most beautiful woman in the +territory, was a victim.</p> + +<p>“‘I don’t take much stock in the handsome, +charming women we read about,’ said C. B. Bag<span class="pagenum">[Pg 404]</span>ley +yesterday, ‘but Mrs. Casto, if placed in Seattle +today with face and form as when she came +among us in 1864, would be among the handsomest +women in the city, and I shall never forget +the sensation created in our little settlement when +messengers arrived from Squak valley, where +the Castos moved, with the news that Mrs. Casto, +her husband and John Holstead had been killed +by Indians, and that a friendly Klickitat had +slain the murderers.</p> + +<p>“The first impression was that there had +been an uprising among the treacherous natives +and a force, consisting of nearly all the able-bodied +men in the community, started for the +scene of the massacre.</p> + +<p>“It is a hard matter for the people of metropolitan +Seattle to carry themselves back, figuratively +speaking, to 1864, and imagine the village +of that period with its thirty families.</p> + +<p>“The boundaries were limited to a short +and narrow line extending along the water front +not farther north than Pike Street. The few +houses were small and unpretentious and the +business portion of the town was confined to +Commercial Street, between Main and Yesler +Avenue.</p> + +<p>“At that time and even after the great fire +in 1889, Yesler Avenue was known as Mill Street, +the name having originated from the fact that +Yesler’s mill was located at its foot. Where the +magnificent Dexter Horton bank building now<span class="pagenum">[Pg 405]</span> +stands stood a small wooden structure occupied +by Dexter Horton as a store, and where the National +Bank of Commerce building, at the corner +of Yesler Avenue and Commercial Street, stood +the mill store of the Yesler-Denny Company. S. +B. Hinds, a name forgotten in commercial circles, +kept store on Commercial Street, between Washington +and Main Streets. Charles Plummer was +at the corner of Main and Commercial, and J. R. +Williamson was on the east side of Commercial +Street, a half block north. This comprised the +entire list of stores at that time. The forests +were the only source to which the settlers looked +for commercial commodities, and these, when put +in salable shape, were often-times compelled to +await means of transportation to markets. +Briefly summed up, spars, piles, lumber and hop-poles +were about all the sources of income.</p> + +<p>“At that time there was no ‘blue book,’ +and, in fact women were scarce. It is not surprising +then that the arrival of William Casto, +a man aged 38 years and a true representative +of the Kentucky colonel type, with his young +wife, the daughter of John Bonser, of Sauvies +Island, Columbia River, near Portland, should +have been a memorable occasion. Mrs. Casto was +a natural not an artificial beauty—one of those +women to whom all apparel adapts itself and becomes +a part of the wearer. Every movement +was graceful and her face one that an artist +would have raved about—not that dark, imper<span class="pagenum">[Pg 406]</span>ious +beauty that some might expect, but the exact +opposite. Her eyes were large, blue and expressive, +while her complexion, clear as alabaster, +was rendered more attractive by a rosy hue. She +was admired by all and fairly worshipped by her +husband. It was one of those rare cases where +disparity in ages did not prevent mutual devotion.</p> + +<p>“In the spring of the year that Casto came +to Seattle he took up a ranch in the heart of +Squak valley, where the Tibbetts farm now lies. +Here he built a small house, put in a garden and +commenced clearing. In order to create an income +for himself and wife he opened a small trading +post and carried on the manufacture of hoop +poles. The valley was peculiarly adapted to this +business, owing to the dense growth of hazel +bush, the very article most desired.</p> + +<p>“‘Casto did most of his trading with San +Francisco merchants and frequently received as +much as $1,500 for a single shipment. Such a +business might be laughed at in 1893, but at that +time it meant a great deal to a sparsely settled +community where wealth was largely prospective. +It is a notable fact that, even in the early +days when North Seattle was a howling wilderness +and large game ran wild between the town +limits and Lake Washington, the advantages of +that body of water were appreciated and a successful +effort was made by Henry L. Yesler, L. +V. Wyckoff and others to connect the one with<span class="pagenum">[Pg 407]</span> +the other by a wagon road. The lake terminus +was at a point called Fleaburg, now known as +the terminus of the Madison Street cable line. +Fleaburg was a small Indian settlement, and according +to tradition derived its name from innumerable +insects that made life miserable for +the inhabitants and visitors. The many miles of +travel this cut saved was greatly appreciated by +the Squak settlers, because it was not only to +their advantage in a commercial sense, but also +made them feel that they were much nearer to +the mother settlement. Another short cut was +made by means of a foot path starting from Coal +Creek on the eastern shore of the lake. This was +so rough that only persons well acquainted with +the country would have taken advantage of it. +While it was not practical, yet it furnished means +of reaching the settlement, in case of necessity, +in one day, whereas the water route took twice +as long.</p> + +<p>“‘Even at that time the great fear of the settlers, +who were few in number, was the Indians. +If a young man in Seattle went hunting his +mother cautioned him to “be very careful of the +Indians.” Many people now living in or about +the city will remember that in the fall of 1864 +there were fears of an Indian uprising. How the +rumors started or on what they were founded +would be hard to state, nevertheless the fact remains +that there was a general feeling of uneasiness. +During the summer there had been trouble<span class="pagenum">[Pg 408]</span> +on the Snohomish River between white men and +members of the Snohomish tribe. Three of the +latter were killed, and among them a chief. +These facts alone would have led a person well +versed in the characteristics of the Washington +Indian to look for trouble of some kind, although +to judge from what direction and in what manner +would have been difficult.</p> + +<p>“‘Casto at that time had several of the Snohomish +Indians working for him, but the thought +of fear never entered his mind. He had great +influence over his workmen and was looked up +to by them as a sort of white “tyee” or chief. +Any one that knew Casto could not but like him, +he was so free-hearted, kind and considerate of +every person he met, whether as a friend and +equal or as his servant. He had one fault, however, +which goes hand in hand the world over +with a free heart—he loved liquor and now and +then drank too much. He also got in the habit +of giving it to the Indians in his employ. On +several occasions the true Indian nature, under +the influence of stimulants, came out, and it required +all his authority to avoid bloodshed. His +neighbors, who could be numbered on the fingers +of both hands, with some to spare, cautioned +him not to give “a redskin whisky and arouse +the devil,” but he laughed at them, and when +they warned him of treachery, thought they +spoke nonsense. He would not believe that the +men whom he treated so kindly and befriended<span class="pagenum"><a id="page409" name="page409">[Pg 409]</a></span> +in every conceivable manner would do him harm +under any conditions. He reasoned that his +neighbors did not judge the character of the native +correctly and underestimated his influence. +There was no reason why he should not give his +Indians liquor if he so desired.</p> + +<p>“‘He acted on this decision on the afternoon +of November 7, 1864, and then went to his +home for supper. The Indians got gloriously +drunk and then commenced to thirst for blood. +In the crowd were two of the Snohomish tribe, +bloodthirsty brutes, and still seeking revenge for +the death of their tribesmen and chief on the +Snohomish river the summer previous. Their +resolve was made. Casto’s life would atone for +that of the chief, his wife and friend, John Holstead, +for the other two. They secretly took +their guns and went to Casto’s house. The curtain +of the room wherein all three were seated +at the supper table was up, and the breast of +Casto was in plain view of the assassins. There +was no hesitation on the part of the Indians. +The first shot crashed through the window and +pierced Casto in a vital spot. He arose to his +feet, staggered and fell upon a lounge. His wife +sprang to his assistance, but the rifle spoke again +and she fell to the floor. The third shot hit Holstead, +but not fatally, and the Indians, determined +to complete their bloody work, ran to the +front door. They were met by Holstead, who +fought like a demon, but at length fell, his body<span class="pagenum">[Pg 410]</span> +stabbed in more than twenty places. Not content +with the slaughter already done, the bloodthirsty +wretches drove their knives into the body +of Casto’s beautiful wife in a manner most inhuman. +Having finished their bloody work of +revenge they left the house, never for a moment +thinking their lives were in danger. In this +particular they made a fatal error.</p> + +<p>“The shots fired had attracted a Klickitat +Indian named Aleck to the scene. As fate had +it, he was a true friend to the white man and +held Casto, his employer, in high regard. It +took him but a brief period to comprehend the +situation, and he determined to avenge the death +of his master, wife and friend. He concealed +himself, and when the bloody brutes came out +of the house he crept up behind them. One shot +was enough to end the earthly career of one, +but the other took to his heels. Aleck followed +him with a hatchet he had drawn from his belt, +and, being fleeter of foot, caught up. Then with +one swift blow the skull of the fleeing Indian +was cleft, and as he fell headlong to the ground +Aleck jumped on him, and again and again the +bloody hatchet drank blood until the head that +but a few minutes before had human shape +looked like a chipped pumpkin.</p> + +<p>“While this series of bloody deeds was +being enacted the few neighbors became wild +with alarm, and, thinking that an Indian war +had broken out, started for Seattle immediately.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 411]</span> +The band was made up of a Mr. Bush and family +and three or four single men who had ranches +in the valley.</p> + +<p>“They reached Seattle the morning of the +9th and told the news, stating their fears of an +Indian uprising. A party consisting of all the +able-bodied men in the town immediately started +for the scene of the tragedy by the short cut, and +arrived there in the evening. The sight that met +their eyes was horrible. In the bushes was found +the body of the Indian who had been shot, and +not far distant were the remains of the other, +covered with blood and dirt mixed. In the house +the sight was even more horrible. Holstead lay +in the front room in a pool of clotted blood, his +body literally punctured with knife wounds, and +in the adjoining room, on a sofa, half reclining, +was the body of Casto. On the floor, almost in +the middle of the room, was Mrs. Casto, beautiful +even in death, and lying in a pool of blood.</p> + +<p>“The coroner at that time was Josiah Settle, +and he, after looking around and investigating, +found that the only witnesses he had were an old +squaw, who claimed to have been an eye witness +to the tragedy, and Aleck, the Klickitat. The +inquest was held immediately, and the testimony +agreed in substance with facts previously stated. +The jury then returned the following verdict:</p> + +<p>“‘Territory of Washington, County of King, +before Josiah Settle, Coroner.</p> + +<p>“‘We, the undersigned jurors summoned to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 412]</span> +appear before Josiah Settle, the coroner of King +county, at Squak, on the 9th day of November, +1864, to inquire into the cause of death of William +Casto, Abbie Casto and John Holstead, +having been duly sworn according to law, and +having made such inquisition after inspecting +the bodies and hearing the testimony adduced, +upon our oath each and all do say that we find +that the deceased were named William Casto, +Abbie Casto and John Holstead; that William +Casto was a native of Kentucky, Abbie Casto +was formerly a resident of Sauvies Island, Columbia +county, Ore., and John Holstead was a +native of Wheeling, Va., and that they came to +their deaths on the 7th of November, 1864, in +this county, by knives and pistols in the hands +of Indians, the bodies of the deceased having +been found in the house of William Casto, at +Squak, and we further find that we believe John +Taylor and George, his brother, Indians of the +Snoqualmie tribe, to have been the persons by +whose hands they came to their deaths.’</p> + +<p>“The bodies were brought to Seattle and +buried in what is now known as the Denny Park, +then a cemetery, North Seattle. Since then they +have been removed to the Masonic cemetery.</p> + +<p>“The news of the murder was sent to John +Bonser, in Oregon, and he came to the town at +once. For several weeks after the event the +columns of the Seattle <i>Gazette</i> were devoted in +part to a discussion of the question of selling and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 413]</span> +giving liquor to the Indians, the general conclusion +being that it was not only against the law +but a dangerous practice.</p> + +<p>“Out of the killing by Aleck of the two Snohomish +Indians grew a feud which resulted in +the death of Aleck’s son. The old man was the +one wanted, but he was too quick with the rifle +and they never got him. He died a few years +ago, aged nearly ninety years.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>So we see that whisky caused the death of +six persons in this case.</p> + +<p>The Lower Sound Indians were, if anything, +more fierce and wild than those toward the south.</p> + +<p>George Martin, the Swedish sailor who accompanied +Capt. Fay, in 1851, said that he saw +Sklallam Indians dancing a war dance at which +there appeared the head of one of their enemies, +which they had roasted; small pieces of it were +touched to their lips, but were not eaten.</p> + +<p>In an early day when Ira W. Utter lived +on Salmon Bay, or more properly <i>Shilshole</i> Bay, +he was much troubled by cougars killing his +cattle, calves particularly. Thinking strychnine +a good cure he put a dose in some lights of a beef, +placed on a stick with the opposite end thrust in +the ground. “Old Limpy,” an Indian, spied the +tempting morsel, took it to his home, roasted +and ate the same and went to join his ancestors +in the happy hunting grounds.</p> + +<p>This Indian received his name from a limp +occasioned by a gunshot wound inflicted by Low<span class="pagenum">[Pg 414]</span>er +Sound Indians on one of their raids. He was +just recovering when the white people settled +on Elliott Bay.</p> + +<p>The very mention of these raids must have +been terrifying to our Indians, as we called those +who lived on the Upper Sound. On one occasion +as a party of them were digging clams on +the eastern shore of Admiralty Inlet, north of +Meadow Point, they were attacked by their +northern enemies, who shot two or three while +the rest <i>klatawaw-ed</i> with all the <i>hyak</i> (hurry) +possible and hid themselves.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page415" name="page415">[Pg 415]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">PIONEER JOKES AND ANECDOTES.</span></h2> + +<p>In early days, the preachers came in for +some rather severe criticisms, although the +roughest of the frontiersmen had a genuine reverence +for their calling.</p> + +<p>Ministers of the Gospel, as well as others, +were obliged to turn the hand to toil with ax and +saw. Now these tools require frequent recourse +to sharpening processes and the minister with +ax on shoulder, requesting the privilege of grinding +that useful article on one of the few grindstones +in the settlement occasioned no surprise, +but when he prepared to grind by putting the +handle on “wrong side to,” gave it a brisk turn +and snapped it off short, the disgust of the owner +found vent in the caustic comment, “Well, if +you’re such a blame fool as that, I’ll never go +to hear you preach in the world!”</p> + +<p>James G. Swan tells of an amusing experience +with a Neah Bay Indian chief, in these +words:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“I had a lively time with old Kobetsi, the +war chief, whose name was Kobetsi-bis, which +in the Makah language means frost. I had been +directed by Agent Webster to make a survey +of the reservation as far south as the Tsoess +river, where Kobetsi lived, and claimed exclu<span class="pagenum">[Pg 416]</span>sive +ownership to the cranberry meadows along +the bank of that river. He was then at his summer +residence on Tatoosh Island. The Makah +Indians had seen and understood something of +the mariner’s compass, but a surveyor’s compass +was a riddle to them.</p> + +<p>“A slave of Kobetsi, who had seen me at work +on the cranberry meadows, hurried to Tatoosh +Island and reported that I was working a tamanuse, +or magic, by which I could collect all the +cranberries in one pile, and that Peter had sold +me the land. This enraged the old ruffian, and +he came up to Neah Bay with sixteen braves, +with their faces painted black, their long hair +tied in a knot on top of their heads with spruce +twigs, their regular war paint, and all whooping +and yelling. The old fellow declared he would +have my head. Peter and the others laughed at +him, and I explained to him what I had been +about. He was pacified with me, but on his return +to Tatoosh Island he shot the slave dead +for making a fool of his chief.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The same writer is responsible for this account +of a somewhat harsh practical joke; the +time was November, 1859, the place Port Angeles +Bay, in a log cabin where Captain Rufus Holmes +resided:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Uncle Rufus had a chum, a jolly, fat +butcher named Jones, who lived in Port Townsend, +and a great wag. He often visited Uncle +Rufus for a few days’ hunt and always took<span class="pagenum">[Pg 417]</span> +along some grub. On one occasion he procured +an eagle, which he boiled for two days and then +managed to disjoint. When it was cold he carefully +wrapped the pieces in a cabbage leaf and +took it to Uncle Rufus as a wild swan, but somewhat +tough. The captain chopped it up with +onions and savory herbs and made a fine soup, of +which he partook heartily, Jones contenting himself +with some clam fritters and fried salmon, remarking +that it was his off day on soup. After +dinner the wretched wag informed him that he +had been eating an eagle, and produced the head +and claws as proof. This piece of news operated +on Uncle Rufus like an emetic, and after he had +earnestly expressed his gastronomic regrets, +Jones asked with feigned anxiety, ‘Did the soup +make you sick, Uncle Rufus?’</p> + +<p>“Not to be outdone, the captain made reply, +‘No, not the soup, but the thought I had been +eating one of the emblems of my country.’”</p></blockquote> + +<p>A young man of lively disposition and consequently +popular, was the victim of an April +fool joke in the “auld lang syne.” Very fond +he was of playing tricks on others but some of the +hapless worms turned and planned a sweet and +neat revenge, well knowing it was hard to get +ahead of the shrewd and witty youth. A “two-bit” +piece, which had likely adorned the neck or +ear of an Indian belle, as it had a hole pierced +in it, was nailed securely to the floor of the postoffice +in the village of Seattle, and a group of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 418]</span> +loungers waited to see the result. Early on the +first, the young man before indicated walked +briskly and confidently in. Observing the coin +he stooped airily and essayed to pick it up, remarking, +“It isn’t everybody that can pick up +two bits so early in the morning!” “April Fool!” +and howls of laughter greeted his failure to +pocket the coin. With burning face he sheepishly +called for his mail and hurried out with the +derisive shout of “It isn’t everybody that can +pick up two bits so early in the morning, Ha! ha! +ha!” ringing in his ears.</p> + +<p>Such fragments of early history as the following +are frequently afloat in the literature of +the Sound country:</p> + +<blockquote><p class="title">“THEY VOTED THEMSELVES GUNS.</p> + +<p>“How Pioneer Legislators Equipped Themselves +to Fight the Indians.</p> + +<p>“If the state legislature should vote to each +member of both houses a first-class rifle, a sensation +indeed would be created. But few are aware +that such a precedent has been established by a +legislature of Washington Territory. It has been +so long ago, though, that the incident has almost +faded from memory, and there are but few of the +members to relate the circumstances.</p> + +<p>“It was in 1855, when I was a member of the +council, that we passed a law giving each legislator +a rifle,” said Hon. R. S. Robinson, a wealthy +old pioneer farmer living near Chimacum in Jefferson +County, while going to Port Townsend<span class="pagenum">[Pg 419]</span> +the other night on the steamer Rosalie. Being in +a reminiscent humor, he told about the exciting +times the pioneers experienced in both dodging +Indians and navigating the waters of Puget +Sound in frail canoes.</p> + +<p>“It was just preceding the Indian outbreak +of 1855-6, the settlers were apprehensive of a +sudden onslaught,” continued Mr. Robinson. +“Gov. Stevens had secured from the war department +several stands of small arms and ammunition, +which were intended for general distribution, +and we thought one feasible plan was to provide +each legislator with a rifle and ammunition. +Many times since I have thought of the incident, +and how ridiculous it would seem if our present +legislature adopted our course as a precedent, +and armed each member at the state’s expense. +Things have changed considerably. In those +days guns and ammunition were perquisites. +Now it is stationery, lead pencils and waste +baskets.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Among other incidents related by a speaker +whose subject was “Primitive Justice,” was +heard this story at a picnic of the pioneers:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“An instance in which I was particularly +interested being connected with the administration +of the sheriff’s office occurred in what is now +Shoshone County, Idaho, but was then a part of +Washington Territory. A man was brought into +the town charged with a crime; he was taken +before the justice at once, but the trial was ad<span class="pagenum">[Pg 420]</span>journed +because the man was drunk. The sheriff +took the prisoner down the trail, but before he +had gone far the man fell down in a drunken +sleep. A wagon bed lay handy and this was +turned over the man and weighted down with +stones to prevent his escape. The next morning +he was again brought before the justice, who, +finding him guilty, sentenced him to thirty days +confinement <i>in the jail from whence he had come</i> +and to be fed on bread and water.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>No doubt this was a heavy punishment, especially +the water diet.</p> + +<p>An incident occurred in that historic building, +the Yesler cook house, never before published.</p> + +<p>A big, powerful man named Emmick, generally +known as “Californy,” was engaged one +morning in a game of fisticuffs of more or less +seriousness, when Bill Carr, a small man, stepped +up and struck Emmick, who was too busy with +his opponent just then to pay any attention to +the impertinent meddler. Nevertheless he bided +his time, although “Bill” made himself quite +scarce and was nowhere to be seen when “Californy’s” +bulky form cast a shadow on the sawdust. +After a while, however, he grew more +confident and returned to a favorite position in +front of the fire in the old cook house. He was +just comfortably settled when in came “Californy,” +who pounced on him like a wildcat on a +rabbit, stood him on his head and holding him by<span class="pagenum">[Pg 421]</span> +the heels “chucked” him up and down like a +dasher on an old-fashioned churn, until Carr +was much subdued, then left him to such reflections +as were possible to an all but cracked cranium. +It is safe to say he did not soon again +meddle with strife.</p> + +<p>This mode of punishment offers tempting +possibilities in cases where the self-conceit of +small people is offensively thrust upon their +superiors.</p> + +<p>The village of Seattle crept up the hill from +the shore of Elliott Bay, by the laborious removal +of the heavy forest, cutting, burning and grubbing +of trees and stumps, grading and building of +neat residences.</p> + +<p>In the clearing of a certain piece of property +between Fourth and Fifth streets, on Columbia, +Seattle, now in the heart of the city, three pioneers +participated in a somewhat unique experience. +One of them, the irrepressible “Gard” or +Gardner Kellogg, now well known as the very +popular chief of the fire department of Seattle, +has often told the story, which runs somewhat +like this:</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Gardner Kellogg were dining +on a Sunday, with the latter’s sister and her husband, +Mr. and Mrs. O. C. Shorey, as they often +did, at their home on Third Avenue. It was a +cold, drizzly day, but in spite of that “Gard” and +Mr. Shorey walked out to the edge of the clearing, +where the dense young fir trees still held the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 422]</span> +ground, and the former was soon pushing up a +stump fire on his lots.</p> + +<p>As he poked the fire a bright thought occurred +to him and he observed to his companion +that he believed it “would save a lot of hard +work, digging out the roots, to bring up that old +shell and put it under the stump.”</p> + +<p>The “old shell” was one that had been +thrown from the sloop-of-war “Decatur” during +the Indian war, and had buried itself in the earth +without exploding. In excavating for the Kellogg’s +wood house it had been unearthed.</p> + +<p>Mr. Shorey thought it might not be safe if +some one should pass by: “O, nobody will come +out this way this miserable day; it may not go off +anyway,” was the answer.</p> + +<p>So the shell was brought up and they dug +under the roots of the stump, put it in and returned +to the Shorey residence.</p> + +<p>When they told what they had done, it was, +agreed that it was extremely unlikely that anyone +would take a pleasure walk in that direction +on so gloomy a day.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile a worthy citizen of the little +burgh had gone roaming in search of his stray +cow. As before stated, it was a chilly, damp +day, and the man who was looking for his cow, +Mr. Dexter Horton, for it was none other than +he, seeing the fire, was moved to comfort himself +with its genial warmth.</p> + +<p>He advanced toward it and spread his hands<span class="pagenum"><a id="page423" name="page423">[Pg 423]</a></span> +benignantly as though blessing the man that invented +fire, rubbed his palms together in a mute +ecstasy of mellow satisfaction and then reversed +his position, lifted his coat-tails and set his feet +wide apart, even as a man doth at his own peaceful +hearthstone. The radiant energy had not +time to reach the marrow when a terrific explosion +took place. It threw earth, roots and splinters, +firebrands and coals, yards away, hurled the +whilom fire-worshiper a considerable distance, +cautioned him with a piece of hot iron that just +missed his face, covered him with the debris, +mystified and stupefied him, but fortunately did +not inflict any permanent injury.</p> + +<p>As he recovered the use of his faculties the +idea gained upon him that it was a mean, low-down +trick anyhow to blow up stumps that way. +He was very much disgusted and refused very +naturally to see anything funny about it; but as +time passed by and he recovered from the shock, +the ludicrous side appeared and he was content +to let it be regarded as a pioneer pleasantry.</p> + +<p>The innocent perpetrator of this amazing +joke has no doubt laughed long and loud many +times as he has pictured to himself the vast astonishment +of his fellow townsman, and tells the +story often, with the keenest relish, to appreciative +listeners.</p> + +<p>Yes, to be blown up by an old bomb-shell on +a quiet Sunday afternoon, while resting beside a +benevolent looking stump-fire that not even re<span class="pagenum">[Pg 424]</span>motely +suggested warlike demonstrations, was +rather tough.</p> + +<p class="title">HOW BEAN’S POINT WAS NAMED.</p> + +<p>Opposite Alki Point was a fine prairie of +about forty acres to which C. C. Terry at first laid +claim. Some of the earliest settlers of the first +mentioned locality crossed the water, taking their +cattle, ploughed and planted potatoes on this +prairie. Terry subsequently settled elsewhere +and the place was settled on by a large man of +about sixty years, a Nova Scotian, it was supposed, +who bore the name of <i>Bean</i>. This lonely +settler was a sort of spiritualist; in Fort Decatur, +while one of a group around a stove, he leaned his +arm on the wall and when a natural tremor resulted, +insisted that the “spirits” did it. After +the war he returned to his cabin and while in his +bed, probably asleep, was shot and killed by an +Indian. Since then the place has been known +as Bean’s Point.</p> + +<p>Dr. H. A. Smith, the happiest story-teller +of pioneer days, relates in his “Early Reminiscences” +how “Dick Atkins played the dickens +with poor old Beaty’s appetite for cheese” in this +engaging manner:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“One day when he (Dick Atkins) was merchandising +on Commercial Street, Seattle, as +successor to Horton & Denny, he laid a piece of +cheese on the stove to fry for his dinner. A +dozen loafers were around the stove and among +them Mr. Beaty, remarkable principally for his<span class="pagenum"><a id="page425" name="page425">[Pg 425]</a></span> +appetite, big feet and good nature. And he on +this occasion good-naturedly took the cheese +from the stove and cooled and swallowed it without +waiting to say grace, while Dick was in the +back room, waiting on a customer. When the +cheese was fairly out of sight, Beaty grew uneasy +and skedadled up the street. When Atkins returned +and found his cheese missing, and was +told what became of it, he rushed to the door +just in time to catch sight of Beaty’s coat-tail +going into Dr. Williamson’s store. Without returning +for his coat or hat, off he darted at full +speed. Beaty had fairly got seated, when Dick +stood before him and fairly screamed:</p> + +<p>“‘Did you eat that cheese?’</p> + +<p>“‘Wal—yes—but I didn’t think you’d care +much.’</p> + +<p>“‘Care! Care! good thunder, no! but I +thought <i>you</i> might care, as I had just put a +DOUBLE DOSE OF ARSENIC in it to kill +rats.’</p> + +<p>“‘Don’t say!’ exclaimed Beaty, jumping to +his feet, ‘thought it tasted mighty queer; what +can I do?’</p> + +<p>“‘Come right along with me; there is only +one thing that can save you.’</p> + +<p>“And down the street they flew as fast as +their feet would carry them. As soon as they +had arrived at the store, Atkins drew off a pint +of rancid fish-oil and handed it to Beaty saying, +‘Swallow it quick! Your life depends upon it!’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 426]</span>“Poor Beaty was too badly frightened to +hesitate, and after a few gags, pauses and wry +faces he handed back the cup, drained to the bitter +dregs. ‘There now,’ said Dick, ‘go home and +to bed, and if you are alive in the morning come +around and report yourself.’</p> + +<p>“After he was gone one of the spectators +asked if the cheese was really poisoned.</p> + +<p>“‘No,’ replied Dick, ‘and I intended telling +the gormand it was not, but when I saw that +look of gratitude come into his face as he handed +back the empty cup, my heart failed me, and my +revenge became my defeat.’ ‘No, gentlemen, +Beaty is decidedly ahead in this little game. I +never before was beaten at a game of cold bluff +after having stacked the cards myself. I beg +you to keep the matter quiet, gentlemen.’ But it +was always hard for a dozen men to keep a +secret.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>These same “Early Reminiscences” contain +many a merry tale, some “thrice told” to the +writer of this work, of the people who were familiar +figures on the streets of Seattle and other +settlements, in the long ago, among them two of +the Rev. J. F. DeVore, with whom I was acquainted.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“When he lived in Steilacoom, at a time +when that city was even smaller than it is now, +a certain would-be bully declared, with an oath, +that if it were not for the respect he had for the +‘cloth,’ he would let daylight through his portly<span class="pagenum">[Pg 427]</span> +ministerial carcass. Thereupon the ‘cloth’ was +instantly stripped off and dashed upon the +ground, accompanied with the remark, ‘The +“cloth” never stands in the way of a good cause. +I am in a condition, now sir, to be enlightened.’ +But instead of attempting to shed any light into +this luminary of the pulpit, whose eyes fairly +blazed with a light not altogether of this world, +the blustering bully lit out down the street at the +top of his speed.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The following has a perennial freshness, although +I have heard it a number of times:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“When Olympia was a struggling village +and much in need of a church, this portly, industrious +man of many talents took upon himself +the not overly pleasant task of raising subscriptions +for the enterprise, and in his rounds +called on Mr. Crosby, owner of the sawmill at +Tumwater, and asked how much lumber he would +contribute to the church. Mr. Crosby eyed the +‘cloth’ a moment and sarcastically replied, ‘As +much as <i>you</i>, sir, will raft and take away between +this and sundown.’ ‘Show me the pile!’ was the +unexpected rejoinder. Then laying off his coat +and beaver tile he waded in with an alacrity that +fairly made Mr. Crosby’s hair bristle. All day, +without stopping a moment, even for dinner, his +tall, stalwart form bent under large loads of +shingles, sheeting, siding, scantling, studding and +lath, and even large sills and plates were rolled +and tumbled into the bay with the agility of a<span class="pagenum">[Pg 428]</span> +giant, and before sundown Mr. Crosby had the +proud satisfaction of seeing the ‘cloth’ triumphantly +poling a raft toward Olympia containing +lumber enough for a handsome church and a +splendid parsonage besides.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Crosby was heard to say a few days +afterward that no ten men in his employ could, +or would, have done that day’s work. Meeting +the divine shortly afterwards, Mr. Crosby said, +‘Well, parson, you can handle more lumber between +sunrise and dark than any man I ever +saw.’</p> + +<p>“‘Oh,’ said the parson, ‘I was working that +day for my Maker.’</p> + +<p>“Moral: Never trust pioneer preachers +with your lumber pile, simply because they wear +broadcloth coats, for most of them know how to +take them off, and then they can work as well as +pray.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>This conjuror with the pen has called up +another well known personality of the earliest +times in the following sketch and anecdote:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Dr. Maynard was of medium size. He had +blue eyes, a square forehead, a strong face and +straight black hair, when worn short, but when +worn long, as it was when whitened by the snows +of many winters, it was quite curly and fell in +ringlets over his shoulders. Add to this description, +a long, gray beard, and you will see him +as he appeared on our streets when on his last +legs. When ‘half seas over,’ he overflowed with<span class="pagenum">[Pg 429]</span> +generous impulses, would give away anything +within reach and was full of extravagant promises, +many of which were out of his power to +fulfill. He once owned Alki Point and sometimes +would move there in order to ‘reform,’ +but seldom remained longer than a month or six +weeks. Alki Point was covered with huge logs +and stumps, excepting a little cleared ground +near the bay where the house stood. But when +the doctor saw it through his telescopic wine-glasses +it was transformed into a beautiful farm +with broad meadows covered with lowing herds +and prancing steeds whose ‘necks were clothed +with thunder.’</p> + +<p>“One day, in the fall of 1860, while viewing +his farm through his favorite glasses, David +Stanley, the venerable Salmon Bay hermit, happened +along, when Maynard gave him a glowing +description of his Alki Point farm as he himself +beheld it just then, and wound up by proposing +to take the old man in partnership, and +offered him half of the fruit and farm stock for +simply looking after it and keeping the fences +in repair. The temptation to gain sudden riches +was too much for even his unworldliness of mind, +and he made no delay in embarking for Alki +Point with all his worldly effects. His object in +living alone, was, he said, to comply with the injunction +to keep one’s self ‘unspotted from the +world,’ but the doctor assured him that the +change would not seriously interfere with his<span class="pagenum">[Pg 430]</span> +meditations, inasmuch as few people landed at +Alki Point, notwithstanding its many attractions.</p> + +<p>“The day of his departure for the Mecca of +all his earthly hopes turned out very stormy. +It was after dark before he reached the point, +and on trying to land his boat filled with water. +He lost many of his fowls and came near losing +his life in the boiling surf. After getting himself +and his ‘traps’ ashore, he built a fire, dried +his blankets, fried some bacon, ate a hearty supper +and turned in.</p> + +<p>“The excitement of the day, however, prevented +sleep, and he got up and sat by the fire +till morning. As soon as it was light he strolled +out to look at the stock, but to his surprise, only a +bewildering maze of logs and interminable +stumps were to be seen where he expected to behold +broad fields and green pastures. The only +thing he could find resembling stock were—to use +his own language—‘an old white horse, stiff in +all his joints and blind in one eye, and a little, +runty, scrubby, ornery, steer calf.’ After wandering +about over and under logs till noon, he +concluded he had missed the doctor’s farm, and +returned to the beach with the intention of pulling +further around, but seeing some men in a boat +a short distance from shore, he hailed it and inquired +for Dr. Maynard’s farm. Charley Plummer +was one of the party and he told the old man +that he had the honor of being already upon it.<span class="pagenum">[Pg 431]</span> +Stanley explained his object in being there, and +after a fit of rib-breaking laughter, Mr. Plummer +advised him to return to Salmon Bay as soon as +possible, which he did the very next day.</p> + +<p>“The old man had a keen sense of the ludicrous, +and joined heartily in the laugh, saying +he had been taken in a great many times in his +life, but never in so laughable manner as on this +occasion. A few days afterward as Charley +Plummer was sitting in Dr. Maynard’s office the +hermit put in an appearance. ‘Good afternoon, +doctor,’ said he, with an air of profound respect. +‘Why, how do you do, Uncle Stanley, glad to +see you—how does the poultry ranch prosper? +By the way, have you moved to Alki Point yet?’ +‘O, yes, I took my traps, poultry and all, over +there several days ago, and had the pleasure of +meeting Mr. Plummer there. Did he mention +the circumstances?’ ‘No,’ said the doctor, ‘he +just came in. How did you find things?’</p> + +<p>“‘To tell the truth, doctor, I couldn’t rest +until I could see you and thank you from the bottom +of my heart for the inestimable blessing you +have conferred upon me.’</p> + +<p>“At this demonstration of satisfaction uttered +with an air of profound gratitude, the doctor +leaned back complacently in his easy chair, +while an expression of benignant self-approval +illuminated his benevolent face.</p> + +<p>“‘Yes,’ continued he, ‘I can never be sufficiently +grateful for the benefit your generosity<span class="pagenum">[Pg 432]</span> +has already been to me individually, besides it +bids fair to prove a signal triumph for religion +and morality, and it may turn out to be a priceless +contribution to science.’</p> + +<p>“At the utterance of this unexpected ‘rhapsody’ +the doctor turned with unalloyed delight, +and seeing that the old man hesitated, he encouraged +him by saying, ‘Go on, Uncle, go right along +and tell all about it, although I can’t understand +exactly how it can prove a triumph for religion +or science.’</p> + +<p>“‘Well,’ continued the old man with solemn +countenance, ‘my orthodoxy has been a little +shaky of late, in fact I have seriously doubted +the heavenly origin of various forms of inspiration, +but when I got to Alki Point and looked +around my skepticism fell from my eyes as did +the scales from the eyes of Saul of old.’</p> + +<p>“‘Yes,’ interrupted the doctor, ‘the scenery +over there is really grand and I have often felt +devotional myself while contemplating the grand +mountain scenery——’</p> + +<p>“‘Scenery? Well—yes, I suppose there is +some scenery scattered around over there, but it +isn’t that.’</p> + +<p>“‘No, well what was it, uncle?’</p> + +<p>“‘Why, sir, as I was saying, when I get a +chance to fairly look around I was thoroughly +satisfied that nothing but a miracle, in fact, nothing +short of the ingenuity and power of the Almighty +could possibly have piled up so many<span class="pagenum">[Pg 433]</span> +logs and stumps to the acre as I found on your +<i>farm</i>.’</p> + +<p>“Here the doctor’s face perceptibly lengthened +and a very dry laugh, a sort of hysterical +cross between a chuckle and a suppressed oath, +escaped him, but before he had time to speak the +old man went on:</p> + +<p>“‘So much for the triumph of religion, but +science, sir, will be under much weightier obligations +to us when you and I succeed in making an +honest living from the progeny of an old blind +horse and a little, miserable runty steer calf.’</p> + +<p>“This was too much for the doctor and +springing to his feet he fairly shouted, ‘There, +there, old man, not another word! come right +along and I will stand treat for the whole town +and we will never mention Alki Point again.’</p> + +<p>“‘No, thank you,’ said the hermit, dryly, ‘I +never indulge, and since you have been the means +of my conversion you ought to be the last man +in the world to lead me into temptation, besides +our income from the blind horse and runty steer +calf will hardly justify such extravagance.’</p> + +<p>“Hat and cane in hand he got as far as the +door, when Maynard called to him saying, ‘Look +here, old man, I hope you’re not offended, and if +you will say nothing about this little matter, I’ll +doctor you the rest of your life for nothing.’</p> + +<p>“After scratching his head a moment the +hermit looked up and naively answered, ‘No, I’m +not mad, only astonished, and as for your free<span class="pagenum">[Pg 434]</span> +medicine, if it is all as bitter as the free dose you +have just given me, I don’t want any more of it,’ +and he bowed himself out and was soon lost to the +doctor’s longing gaze. With eyes still fixed on +the door he exclaimed, ‘Blast my head if I +thought the old crackling had so much dry humor +in him. Come, Charley, let’s have something to +brave our nerves.’”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Among the unfortunate victims of the drink +habit in an early day was poor old Tom Jones. +Nature had endowed him with a splendid physique, +but he wrecked himself, traveling downward, +until he barely lived from hand to mouth. +He made a house on the old Conkling place, up +the bay toward the Duwampsh River, his tarrying +place. Having been absent from his customary +haunts for a considerable time, it was reported +that he was dead. In the village of Seattle, +some marauder had been robbing henroosts +and Tom Jones was accused of being the guilty +party. Grandfather John Denny told one of his +characteristic stories about being awakened by a +great commotion in his henhouse, the lusty cocks +crowing “Tom Jo-o-o-ones is dead! Tom Jo-o-o-ones +is dead!” rejoicing greatly that they were +henceforth safe.</p> + +<p>D. T. Denny gathered up seven men and +went to investigate the truth of the report of his +demise. They found him rolled up in his blankets, +in his bunk, not dead but helplessly sick. +When they told him what they had come for—to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 435]</span> +hold an inquest over his dead body, the tears +rolled down his withered face. They had him +moved nearer town and cared for, but he finally +went the way of all the earth.</p> + +<p>Another of the army of the wretched was +having an attack of the “devil’s trimmings,” as +Grandfather John Denny called them, in front of +a saloon one day and a group stood around waiting +for him to “come to”; upon his showing signs +of returning consciousness, <i>all but one</i> filed into +the saloon to get a nerve bracer. D. T. Denny, who +relates the incident, turned away, he being the +only temperance man in the group.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page436" name="page436">[Pg 436]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">TRAILS OF COMMERCE.</span></h2> + +<p>Samuel L. Simpson wrote this sympathetic +poem concerning the old Hudson Bay Company’s +steamer Beaver, the first steam vessel on the +North Pacific Coast. She came out from London +in 1836 and is well remembered by Puget +Sound pioneers. In 1889 she went on the rocks in +Burrard Inlet, British Columbia.</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width:28em;"> +<span class="i5">THE BEAVER’S REQUIEM.</span> + +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Forlorn in the lonesome North she lies,</span> +<span class="i0">That never again will course the sea,</span> +<span class="i0">All heedless of calm or stormy skies,</span> +<span class="i0">Or the rocks to windward or a-lee;</span> +<span class="i1">For her day is done</span> +<span class="i1">And her last port won</span> +<span class="i0">Let the wild, sad waves her minstrel be.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“She will roam no more on the ocean trails,</span> +<span class="i0">Where her floating scarf of black was seen</span> +<span class="i0">Like a challenge proud to the shrieking gales</span> +<span class="i0">By the mighty shores of evergreen;</span> +<span class="i1">For she lies at rest</span> +<span class="i1">With a pulseless breast</span> +<span class="i0">In the rough sea’s clasp and all serene.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“How the world has changed since she kissed the tide</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 437]</span><span class="i0">Of the storied Thames in the Georgian reign,</span> +<span class="i0">And was pledged with wine as the bonny bride</span> +<span class="i0">Of the West’s isle-gemmed barbaric main—</span> +<span class="i1">With a dauntless form</span> +<span class="i1">That could breast the storm</span> +<span class="i0">As she wove the magic commercial chain.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“For Science has gemmed her brow with stars</span> +<span class="i0">From many and many a mystic field,</span> +<span class="i0">And the nations have stood in crimsoned wars</span> +<span class="i0">And thrones have fallen and empires reeled</span> +<span class="i1">Since she sailed that day</span> +<span class="i1">From the Thames away</span> +<span class="i0">Under God’s blue sky and St. George’s shield.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“And the world to which, as a pioneer,</span> +<span class="i0">She first came trailing her plume of smoke,</span> +<span class="i0">Is beyond the dreams of the clearest seer</span> +<span class="i0">That ever in lofty symbols spoke—</span> +<span class="i1">In the arts of peace,</span> +<span class="i1">In all life’s increase,</span> +<span class="i0">And all the gold-browed stress invoke.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“A part of this was a work of hers,</span> +<span class="i0">In a daring life of fifty years;</span> +<span class="i0">But the sea-gulls now are her worshipers,</span> +<span class="i0">Wheeling with cries more sad than tears,</span> +<span class="i1">Where she lies alone</span> +<span class="i1">And the surges moan—</span> +<span class="i0">And slowly the north sky glooms and clears.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“And may we not think when the pale mists glide,</span> +<span class="i0">Like the sheeted dead by that rocky shore,</span> +<span class="i0">That we hear in the rising, rolling tide</span> +<span class="i0">The call of the captain’s ring once more?</span> +<span class="i1">And it well might be,</span> +<span class="i1">So forlorn is she,</span> +<span class="i0">Where the weird winds sigh and wan birds soar.”</span> +</div></div> +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 438]</span></p> + +<p>The development of the most easily reached +natural resources was necessarily first.</p> + +<p>The timber and fisheries were a boundless +source of wealth in evidence.</p> + +<p>As early as 1847, a sawmill run with power +afforded by the falls of the Des Chutes at Tumwater, +furnished lumber to settlers as a means +of profit.</p> + +<p>The first cargo was taken by the brig <i>Orbit</i> +in 1850, to San Francisco, she being the first +American merchant vessel in the carrying trade +of Puget Sound. The brig <i>George Emory</i> followed +suit; each carried a return cargo of goods +for trade with the settlers and Indians.</p> + +<p>At first the forest-fallers had no oxen to +drag the timbers, after they were hewn, to the +water’s edge, but rolled and hauled them by hand +as far as practicable. It was in this manner that +the brig <i>Leonesa</i> was loaded with piles at Alki +in the winter of 1851-2, by the Dennys, Terry, +Low, Boren and Bell.</p> + +<p>Lee Terry brought a yoke of oxen to complete +the work of loading, from Puyallup, on the +beach, as there was no road through the heavy +forest.</p> + +<p>Several ships were loaded at Port Townsend, +where the possession of three yoke of oxen +gave them a decided advantage.</p> + +<p>One ship, the <i>G. W. Kendall</i>, was sent from +San Francisco to Puget Sound for ice. It is +needless to say the captain did not get a cargo<span class="pagenum">[Pg 439]</span> +of that luxury; he reported that water did not +freeze in Puget Sound and consoled the owner +of the ship by returning with a valuable cargo +of piles.</p> + +<p>The cutting of logs to build houses and the +grubbing of stumps to clear the land for gardens +alternated with the cutting of piles. In the clearing +of land, the Indians proved a great assistance; +far from being lazy many of them were +hard workers and would dig and delve day after +day to remove the immense stumps of cedar and +fir left after cutting the great trees. The settlers +burned many by piling heaps of logs and +brush on them, others by boring holes far into the +wood and setting fire, while some were rent by +charges of powder when it could be afforded.</p> + +<p>The clearing of land in this heavily timbered +country was an item of large expense if hired, +otherwise of much arduous toil for the owner. +The women and children often helped to pile +brush and set fires and many a merry party +turned out at night to “chunk up” the blazing +heaps; after nightfall, their fire-lit figure flitting +hither and yon against the purple darkness, suggested +well-intentioned witches.</p> + +<p>Cutting down the tall trees, from two hundred +fifty to four hundred fifty feet, required +considerable care and skill. Sometimes we felt +the pathos of it all, when a huge giant, the dignified +product of patient centuries of growth, +fell crashing, groaning to the earth. This side<span class="pagenum">[Pg 440]</span> +of the subject, is presented in a poem “The Lone +Fir Tree,” not included in this volume.</p> + +<p>When finally the small patches of land were +cleared, planted and tended, the returns were astonishing, +such marvelous vegetables, small +fruits and flowers, abundant and luxuriant, rewarded +the toiler. Nature herself, by her heaps +of vegetation, had foreshown the immense productiveness +of the soil.</p> + +<p>In the river valleys were quite extensive +prairies, which afforded superior stock range, +but the main dependence of the people was in the +timber.</p> + +<p>In 1852 H. L. Yesler came, who built the +first steam sawmill on Puget Sound, at Seattle. +Other mills sprang up at Port Ludlow, Port +Gamble, Port Madison and Port Blakely, making +the names of Meigs, Pope, Talbot, Keller, +Renton, Walker, Blinn and others, great in the +annals of sawmilling on Puget Sound.</p> + +<p>This very interesting account concerning +Yesler’s sawmill and those who worked in it in +the early days was first published in a Seattle +paper many years ago:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“The other day some of Parke’s men at work +on the foundation of the new Union Block on +Front, corner of Columbia Street, delving among +ancient fragments of piles, stranded logs and +other debris of sea-wreck, long buried at that +part of the waterfront, found at the bottom of +an excavation they were making, a mass of<span class="pagenum">[Pg 441]</span> +knotted iron, corroded, attenuated and salt-eaten, +which on being drawn out proved to be a couple +of ancient boom-chains.</p> + +<p>“The scribe, thinking he might trace something +of the history of these ancient relics, hunted +up Mr. Yesler, whom, after considerable exploration +through the mazes of his wilderness on Third +and Jefferson Streets, he found, hose in +hand, watering a line of lilies, hollyhocks, penstemons, +ageratums, roses, et al.</p> + +<p>“The subject of the interview being stated, +Mr. Yesler proceeded to relate: ‘Yes, after I +got my mill started in 1853, the first lot of logs +were furnished by Dr. Maynard. He came to +me and said he wanted to clear up a piece on +the spit, where he wanted to lay out and sell some +town lots. It was somewhere about where the +New England and Arlington now stand. The +location of the old mill is now an indeterminate +spot, somewhere back of Z. C. Miles’ hardware +store. The spot where the old cookhouse stood +is in the intersection of Mill and Commercial +Streets, between the Colman Block and Gard. +Kellogg’s drug store. Hillory Butler and Bill +Gilliam had the contract from Maynard, and +they brought the logs to the mill by hand—rolled +or carried them in with handspikes. I warrant +you it was harder work than Hillory or Bill has +done for many a day since. Afterwards, Judge +Phillips, who went into partnership with Dexter<span class="pagenum">[Pg 442]</span> +Horton in the store, got out logs for me somewhere +up the bay.</p> + +<p>“‘During the first five years after my mill +was started, cattle teams for logging were but +few on the Sound, and there were no steamboats +for towing rafts until 1858. Capt. John S. Hill’s +“<i>Ranger No. 2</i>,” which he brought up from San +Francisco, was the first of the kind, and George +A. Meigs’ little tug <i>Resolute</i>, which blew up with +Capt. Johnny Guindon and his crew in 1861, came +on about the same time. A great deal of the +earliest logging on the Sound was done exclusively +by hand, the logs being thrown into the +water by handspikes and towed to the mill on +the tide by skiffs.</p> + +<p>“‘In 1853 Hillory Butler took a contract to +get me out logs at Smith’s Cove. George F. Frye +was his teamster. In the fall of 1854 and spring +and summer of 1855, Edward Hanford and John +C. Holgate logged for me on their claims, south +of the townsite toward the head of the bay. T. D. +Hinckley was their teamster, also Jack Harvey. +On one occasion, when bringing in a raft to the +mill, John lost a diary which he was keeping and +I picked it up on the beach. The last entry it +contained read: “June 5, 1855. Started with a +raft for Yesler’s mill. Fell off into the water.” +I remember I wrote right after “and drowned,” +and returned the book. I don’t know how soon +afterward John learned from his own book of +his death by drowning.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 443]</span>“‘The Indian war breaking out in the fall +of ’55 put a stop to their logging operations, as +of all the rest.</p> + +<p>“‘The Indians killed or drove off all the +cattle hereabouts and burned the dwellings of +Hanford, Holgate and Bell on the borders of +the town, besides destroying much other property +throughout the country.</p> + +<p>“‘The logging outfits in those days were of +the most primitive and meager description. Rafts +were fastened together by ropes or light boom-chains. +Supplies of hardware and other necessaries +were brought up from San Francisco by +the lumber vessels on their return trips as ordered +by the loggers. I remember on one occasion +Edmund Carr, John A. Strickler, F. McNatt +and John Ross lost the product of a season’s +labor by their raft getting away from them and +going to pieces while in transit between the mill +and the head of the bay. My booming place was +on the north side of the mill along the beach +where now the foundations are going up for the +Toklas & Singerman, Gasch, Melhorn and Lewis +brick block. There being no sufficient breakwater +thereabouts in those times, I used often to +lose a great many logs as well as boom-chains and +things by the rafts being broken up by storms.</p> + +<p>“‘My mill in the pioneer times before the +Indian war furnished the chief resource of the +early citizens of the place for a subsistence.</p> + +<p>“‘When there were not enough white men<span class="pagenum">[Pg 444]</span> +to be had for operating the mill, I employed Indians +and trained them to do the work. George +Frye was my sawyer up to the time he took +charge of the <i>John B. Libby</i> on the Whatcom +route. My engineers at different times were T. +D. Hinckley, L. V. Wyckoff, John T. Moss and +Douglass. Arthur A. Denny was screw-tender +in the mill for quite a while; D. T. Denny worked +at drawing in the logs. Nearly all the prominent +old settlers at some time or other were employed +in connection with the mill in some capacity, +either at logging or as mill hands. I loaded some +lumber for China and other foreign ports, as well +as San Francisco.’”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The primitive methods, crude appliances and +arduous toil in the early sawmills have given +place to palaces of modern mechanical contrivance +it would require a volume to describe, of +enormous output, loading hundreds of vessels for +unnumbered foreign ports, and putting in circulation +millions of dollars.</p> + +<p>As a forcible contrast to Mr. Yesler’s reminiscence, +this specimen is given of modern milling, +entitled “Sawing Up a Forest,” representing +the business of but one of the great mills in +later days (1896) at work on Puget Sound:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“The best evidence of the revival of the lumber +trade of the Sound, is to be found at the great +Blakeley mill, where four hundred thousand feet +of lumber is being turned out every twenty-four<span class="pagenum">[Pg 445]</span> +hours, and the harbor is crowded with ships destined +for almost all parts of the world.</p> + +<p>“One of the mill officials said, ‘We are at +present doing a large business with South American +and Australian ports, and expect with +proper attention to secure the South African +trade, which, if successful, will be a big thing. +We have the finest lumber in the world, and there +is no reason why we should not be doing five times +the business that is being done on the Sound. +Why, there is some first quality and some selected +Norway lumber out there on the wharf, and it +does not even compare with our second quality +lumber.’</p> + +<p>“The company has at present (1896) 350 +men employed and between $15,000.00 and $20,000.00 +in wages is paid out every month.</p> + +<p>“The following vessels are now loading or +are loaded and ready to sail:</p> + +<p>“Bark Columbia, for San Francisco, 700,000 +feet; ship Aristomene, for Valparaiso, 1,450,000 +feet; ship Earl Burgess, for Amsterdam, 1,250,000 +feet; bark Mercury, for San Francisco, +1,000,000 feet; ship Corolla, for Valparaiso, 1,000,000 +feet; barkentine Katie Flickinger, for +Fiji Islands, 550,000 feet; bark Matilda, for Honolulu, +650,000 feet; bark E. Ramilla, for Valparaiso, +700,000 feet; ship Beechbank, for Valparaiso, +2,000,000 feet.</p> + +<p>“To load next week:</p> + +<p>“Barkentine George C. Perkins, for Sidney,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 446]</span> +N. S. W., 550,000 feet; bark Guinevere, for Valparaiso, +850,000 feet.</p> + +<p>“Those to arrive within the next two weeks:</p> + +<p>“Bark Antoinette, for Valparaiso, 900,000 +feet; barkentine J. L. Stanford, for Melbourne, +1,200,000 feet; ship Saga, for Valparaiso, 1,200,000 +feet; bark George F. Manson, for Shanghai, +China, 950,000 feet; ship Harvester, for South +Africa, 1,000,000 feet.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Shingle making was a prominent early industry. +The process was slow, done entirely by +hand, in vivid contrast with the great facility and +productiveness of the modern shingle mills of this +region; in consequence of the slowness of manufacture +they formerly brought a much higher +price. It was an ideal occupation at that time. +After the mammoth cedars were felled, sawn and +rived asunder, the shingle-maker sat in the midst +of the opening in the great forest, towering walls +of green on all sides, with the blue sky overhead +and fragrant wood spread all around, from which +he shaped the thin, flat pieces by shaving them +with a drawing knife.</p> + +<p>Cutting and hewing spars to load ships for +foreign markets began before 1856.</p> + +<p>As recorded in a San Francisco paper:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“In 1855, the bark Anadyr sailed from Utsalady +on Puget Sound, with a cargo of spars for +the French navy yard at Brest. In 1857 the same +ship took a load from the same place to an English +navy yard.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 447]</span>“To China, Spain, Mauritius and many +other places, went the tough, enduring, flexible +fir tree of Puget Sound. The severe test applied +have proven the Douglas fir to be without an +equal in the making of masts and spars.</p> + +<p>“In later days the Fram, of Arctic fame, +was built of Puget Sound fir.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>The discovery and opening of the coal +mines near Seattle marks an epoch in the commerce +of the Northwest.</p> + +<p>As early as 1859 coal was found and mined +on a small scale east of Seattle.</p> + +<p>The first company, formed in 1866-7, was +composed of old and well-known citizens: D. +Bagley, G. F. Whitworth and Selucius Garfield, +who was called the “silver-tongued orator.” Others +joined in the enterprise of developing the +mines, which were found to be extensive and +valuable. Legislation favored them and transportation +facilities grew.</p> + +<p>The names of McGilvra, Yesler, Denny and +Robinson were prominent in the work. Tramways, +chutes, inclines, tugboats, barges, coalcars +and locomotives brought out the coal to deep +water on the Sound, across Lakes Washington +and Union, and three pieces of railroad. A long +trestle at the foot of Pike Street, Seattle, at +which the ship “Belle Isle,” among others, often +loaded, fell in, demolished by the work of the +teredo.</p> + +<p>The writer remembers two startling trips up<span class="pagenum">[Pg 448]</span> +the incline, nine hundred feet long, on the east +side of Lake Washington, in an empty coal car, +the second time duly warned by the operatives +that the day before a car load of furniture had +been “let go” over the incline and smashed to +kindlingwood long before it reached the bottom. +The trips were made amidst an oppressive +silence and were never repeated.</p> + +<p>The combined coal fields of Washington +cover an area of one thousand six hundred fifty +square miles. Since the earliest developments +great strides have been made and a large number +of coal mines are operated, such as the Black +Diamond, Gilman, Franklin, Wilkeson, the U. +S. government standard, Carbonado, Roslyn, etc., +with a host of underground workers and huge +steam colliers to carry an immense output.</p> + +<p>The carrying of the first telegraph line +through the dense forest was another step forward. +Often the forest trees were pressed into +service and insulators became the strange ornaments +of the monarchs of the trackless wilderness.</p> + +<p>Pioneer surveyors, of whom A. A. Denny +was one, journalists, lawyers and other professional +men, with the craftsmen, carpenters who +helped to repair the Decatur and build the fort, +masons who helped to build the old University +of Washington, and other industrious workers +brought to mind might each and every one fur<span class="pagenum">[Pg 449]</span>nish +a volume of unique and interesting reminiscence.</p> + +<p>The women pioneers certainly demand a +work devoted to them alone.</p> + +<p>Simultaneously with the commercial and +political development, the educational and religious +took place. The children of the pioneers +were early gathered in schools and the parents +preceded the teachers or supplemented their efforts +with great earnestness. Books, papers and +magazines were bountifully provided and both +children and grown people read with avidity. +For many years the mails came slowly, but when +the brimming bags were emptied, the contents +were eagerly seized upon, and being almost altogether +eastern periodical literature, the children +narrowly escaped acquiring the mental squint +which O. W. Holmes speaks of having affected +the youth of the East from the perusal of English +literature.</p> + +<p>The pioneer mail service was one of hardship +and danger. The first mail overland in the +Sound region was carried by A. B. Rabbeson in +1851, and could not have been voluminous, as it +was transported in his pockets while he rode +horseback.</p> + +<p>A well known mail carrier of early days was +Nes Jacob Ohm or “Dutch Ned,” as every one +called him. He, with his yellow dog and sallow +cayuse, was regarded as an indispensable institution. +All three stood the test of travel on the<span class="pagenum">[Pg 450]</span> +trail for many years. The yellow canine had +quite a reputation as a panther dog, and no doubt +was a needed protection in the dark wild forest, +but he has long since gone where the good dogs +go and the cayuse probably likewise.</p> + +<p>“Ned” was somewhat eccentric though a +faithful servant of the public. In common with +other forerunners of civilization he was a little +superstitious.</p> + +<p>One winter night, grown weary of drowsing +by his bright, warm fireplace in his little cabin, +he began to walk back and forth in an absent-minded +way, when suddenly his hair fairly stood +on end; there were two stealthy shadows following +him every where he turned. In what state +of mind he passed the remainder of the night is +unknown, but soon after he related the incident +to his friends evincing much anxiety as to what +it might signify. Probably he had two lights +burning in different parts of the room or sufficiently +bright separate flames in the fireplace.</p> + +<p>Doubtless it remained a mystery unexplained +to him, to the end of his days.</p> + +<p>The pioneer merchants who traded with the +Indians, and swapped calico and sugar for butter +and eggs, with the settlers, pioneer steamboat +men who ran the diminutive steamers between +Olympia and Seattle, pioneer editors, who published +tri-weeklies whose news did not come in +daily, pioneer milliners who “did up” the hats +of the other pioneer women with taste and neat<span class="pagenum">[Pg 451]</span>ness, +pioneer legislators, blacksmiths, bakers, +shoemakers, foundry men, shipbuilders, etc., +blazed the trails of commerce where now there +are broad highways.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page452" name="page452">[Pg 452]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV<br /> + +<span class="smaller">BUILDING OF THE TERRITORIAL UNIVERSITY.</span></h2> + +<p>Early in 1861, the University Commissioners, +Rev. D. Bagley, John Webster and Edmund +Carr, selected the site for the proposed building, +ten acres in Seattle, described as a “beautiful +eminence overlooking Elliott Bay and Puget +Sound.” A. A. Denny donated eight and a fraction +acres, Terry and Lander, one and a fraction +acres. The structure was fifty by eighty feet, +two stories in height, beside belfry and observatory. +There were four rooms above, including +the grand lecture room, thirty-six by eighty feet, +and six rooms below, beside the entrance hall of +twelve feet, running through the whole building.</p> + +<p>The president’s house was forty by fifty, +with a solid foundation of brick and cement cellar; +the boarding house twenty-four by forty-eight, +intended to have an extension when needed. +A supply was provided of the purest spring +water, running through one thousand four hundred +feet of charred pump logs.</p> + +<p>Buildings of such dimensions were not common +in the Northwest in those days; materials +were expensive and money was scarce.</p> + +<p>It was chiefly through the efforts of John +Denny that a large appropriation of land was +made by Congress for the benefit of the new-born<span class="pagenum">[Pg 453]</span> +institution. Although advanced in years, his hair +as white as snow, he made the long journey to +Washington city and return when months were +required to accomplish it.</p> + +<p>By the sale of these lands the expense of construction +and purchase of material were met. +The land was then worth but one dollar and a +half per acre, but enough was sold to amount to +$30,400.69.</p> + +<p>At that time the site lay in the midst of a +heavy forest, through which a trail was made in +order to reach it.</p> + +<p>Of the ten-acre campus, seven acres were +cleared of the tall fir and cedar trees at an expense +of two hundred and seventy-five dollars +per acre, the remaining three were worse, at three +hundred and sixteen dollars per acre.</p> + +<p>The method of removing these forest giants +was unique and imposing. The workers partially +grubbed perhaps twenty trees standing near each +other, then dispatched a sailor aloft in their airy +tops to hitch them together with a cable and descend +to terra firma. A king among the trees was +chosen whose downfall should destroy his companions, +and relentlessly uprooting it, the tree-fallers +suddenly and breathlessly withdrew to +witness a grand sight, the whole group of unnumbered +centuries’ growth go crashing down at +once. They would scarcely have been human had +they uttered no shout of triumph at such a spectacle. +To see but one great, towering fir tree<span class="pagenum">[Pg 454]</span> +go grandly to the earth with rush of boughs and +thunderous sound is a thrilling, pathetic and awe-inspiring +sight.</p> + +<p>About the center of the tract was left a tall +cedar tree to which was added a topmast. The +tree, shorn of its limbs and peeled clean of bark, +was used for a flagstaff.</p> + +<p>The old account books, growing yearly more +curious and valuable, show that the majority of +the old pioneers joined heartily in the undertaking +and did valiant work in building the old University.</p> + +<p>They dug, hewed, cleared land, hauled materials, +exchanged commodities, busily toiled from +morn to night, traveled hither and yon, in short +did everything that brains, muscle and energy +could accomplish in the face of what now would +be deemed well nigh insurmountable obstacles. +The president of the board of commissioners, the +Rev. D. Bagley, has said that in looking back +upon it he was simply foolhardy. “Why, we had +not a dollar to begin with,” said he; nevertheless +pluck and determination accomplished wonders; +many of the people took the lands at one dollar +and a half an acre, in payment for work and materials.</p> + +<p>Clarence B. Bagley, son of Rev. D. Bagley, +is authority for the following statement, made +in 1896:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Forty-eight persons were employed on the +work and nearly all the lumber for the building<span class="pagenum">[Pg 455]</span> +was secured from the mills at Port Blakeley and +Port Madison, while the white pine of the finishing +siding, doors, sash, etc., came from a mill +at Seabeck, on Hood Canal. I have been looking +over the books my father kept at that time and +find the names of many persons whom all old-timers +will remember. I found the entry relating +to receiving 10,000 brick from Capt. H. H. +Roeder, the price being $15.50 per thousand, +while lime was $3 per barrel and cement $4.50 per +barrel. Another entry shows that seven gross of +ordinary wood screws cost in that early day +$9.78. Capt. Roeder is now a resident of Whatcom +County. The wages then were not very high, +the ordinary workman receiving $2 and $2.25 +per day and the carpenters and masons $4 per +day.</p> + +<p>“On the 10th of March, John Pike and his +son, Harvey Pike, began to clear the ground for +the buildings and a few days later James Crow +and myself commenced. The Pikes cleared the +acre of ground in the southeast corner and we +cleared the acre just adjoining, so that we four +grubbed the land on which the principal building +now stands. All the trees were cut down and the +land leveled off, and the trees which now grace +the grounds started from seeds and commenced to +grow up a few years later and are now about +twenty-five years old. Among the men who helped +clear the land were: Hillory Butler, John Carr, +W. H. Hyde, Edward Richardson, L. Holgate,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 456]</span> +H. A. Atkins, Jim Hunt, L. B. Andrews, L. Pinkham, +Ira Woodin, Dr. Josiah Settle, Parmelee & +Dudley, and of that number that are now dead +are Carr, Hyde, Holgate, Atkins and Parmelee +and Dudley. Mr. Crow is now living at Kent and +owns a good deal of property there. Mr. Carr +was a relative of the Hanfords. Mr. Holgate +was a brother of the Holgate who was killed in +Seattle during the Indian war, being shot dead +while standing at the door of the fort. He was +an uncle of the Hanfords. Mr. Atkins was mayor +of the town at one time.</p> + +<p>“R. King, who dressed the flagstaff, is not +among the living. The teamsters who did most +of the hauling were Hillory Butler, Thomas Mercer +and D. B. Ward, all of whom are still living. +William White was blacksmith here then +and did a good deal of work on the building. He +is now living in California and is well-to-do, but +his son is still a resident of Seattle. Thomas +Russell was the contractor for putting up the +frame of the university building. He died some +time since and of his estate there is left the Russell +House, and his family is well known. John +Dodge and John T. Jordan did a good deal of +the mason work, both of whom are now dead, but +they have children who still live in this city. The +stone for the foundation was secured from Port +Orchard and the lime came from Victoria, being +secured here at a large cost.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>George Austin, who raised the flagstaff and<span class="pagenum">[Pg 457]</span> +put the top on, has been dead many years. Dexter +Horton and Yesler, Denny & Co. kept stores +in those days and furnished the nails, hardware +and general merchandise. Mr. Horton’s store +was where the bank now stands and the store of +Yesler, Denny & Co. was where the National +Bank of Commerce now stands. L. V. Wyckoff, +the father of Van Wyckoff, who was sheriff of +the county for many years, did considerable hauling +and draying. He also is dead. Frank Mathias +was a carpenter and did a good deal of the +finishing work. He died in California and his +heirs have since been fighting for his estate.</p> + +<p>H. McAlear kept a stove and hardware store +and furnished the stoves for the building. He +is now dead and there has been a contest over +some of his property in the famous Hill tract in +this city.</p> + +<p>D. C. Beatty and R. H. Beatty, not relatives, +were both carpenters. The former is now living +on a farm near Olympia and the latter is in the +insane asylum at Steilacoom. Ira Woodin is +still alive and is the founder of Woodinville. In +the early days Mr. Woodin and his father owned +the only tannery in the country, which was located +at the corner of South Fourth Street and +Yesler Avenue, then Mill Street. O. J. Carr, +whose name appears as a carpenter, lives at +Edgewater. He was the postmaster of the town +for many years.</p> + +<p>O. C. Shorey and A. P. DeLin, as “Shorey<span class="pagenum">[Pg 458]</span> +& DeLin,” furnished the desks for the several +rooms and also made the columns that grace the +front entrance to the building.</p> + +<p>Plummer & Hinds furnished some of the +materials used in the construction. George W. +Harris, the banker, auditor of the Lake Shore +road, is a stepson of Mr. Plummer.</p> + +<p>Jordan and Thorndyke were plasterers and +both have been dead for many years.</p> + +<p>David Graham, who did some of the grading, +is still living in Seattle. A. S. Mercer did +most of the grading with Mr. Graham. Mr. Mercer +is a brother of Thomas Mercer, who brought +out two parties of young ladies from the Atlantic +Coast by sea, many of whom are married and +are now living in Seattle. Harry Hitchcock, one +of the carpenters, is now dead. Harry Gordon +was a painter and was quite well known for some +years. He finally went East, and I think is still +living, although I have not heard from him for +many years. Of the three who composed the +board of university commissioners Mr. Carr and +Mr. Webster are dead.</p> + +<p>All the paint, varnishes, brushes, etc., were +purchased in Victoria and the heavy duties made +the cost very high; in fact, everything was costly +in those days. An entry is made of a keg of +lath nails which cost $15, and a common wooden +wheelbarrow cost $7. The old bell came from +the East, and cost, laid down in Seattle, $295. It +cost $50 to put in position, and thus the whole<span class="pagenum"><a id="page459" name="page459">[Pg 459]</a></span> +cost was nearly $350. It is made of steel and was +rung from the tower for the first time in March, +1862.</p> + +<p>The only tinner in the place covered the +cupola where hung the bell. Its widely reaching +voice proclaimed many things beside the call to +studies, fulfilling often the office of bell-buoy and +fog-horn to distracted mariners wandering in +fog and smoke, and giving alarm in case of fire. +The succeeding lines set forth exactly historical +facts as well as expressing the attachment of the +old pupils to the bell and indeed to the university +itself:</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i5">THE VOICE OF THE OLD UNIVERSITY BELL.</span> +<br /> +<div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A vibrant voice thrilled through the air,</span> +<span class="i0">Now here, now there, seemed everywhere;</span> +<span class="i0">My young thoughts stirred, laid away in a shroud,</span> +<span class="i0">And joyfully rose and walked abroad.</span> +<span class="i0">It was long ago in my youth and pride,</span> +<span class="i0">When my young thoughts lived and my young thoughts died,</span> +<span class="i0">And often and over all unafraid</span> +<span class="i0">They wander and wander like ghosts unlaid.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Through calm and storm for many a year,</span> +<span class="i0">I faithfully called my children dear,</span> +<span class="i0">And honest and urgent have been my tones</span> +<span class="i0">To hurry the laggard and hasten the drones,</span> +<span class="i0">But earnest and early or lazy and late</span> +<span class="i0">They toiled up the hill and entered the gate,</span> +<span class="i0">Across the campus they rushed pell-mell</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 460]</span><span class="i0">At the call of the old University bell.</span> +<span class="i0">If danger menaced on land or sea,</span> +<span class="i0">The note of warning loud and free;</span> +<span class="i0">Or a joyous peal in the twilight dim</span> +<span class="i0">Of the New Year’s dawn, after New Year’s hymn.</span> +<span class="i0">If a ship in the bay floated out ablaze,</span> +<span class="i0">Or the fog-wreaths blinded the mariner’s gaze,</span> +<span class="i0">Safe into port they steered them well,</span> +<span class="i0">Cheered by the old University bell.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When Lincoln the leader was stricken low,</span> +<span class="i0">O! a darker day may we never know,</span> +<span class="i0">A bitter wail from my heart was wrung</span> +<span class="i0">To float away from my iron tongue,</span> +<span class="i0">On storm-wing cast it traveled fast,</span> +<span class="i0">Above me writhed the flag half-mast.</span> +<span class="i0">My children wept, their fathers frowned,</span> +<span class="i0">With clenched hands looked down to the ground,</span> +<span class="i0">For the saddest note that ever fell</span> +<span class="i0">From the throat of the old University bell.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But deep was the joy and wild was the clamor,</span> +<span class="i0">With leaping hot haste they hurried the hammer,</span> +<span class="i0">When the battles were fought and the war was all over,</span> +<span class="i0">O’er the North and the South did the peace angels hover;</span> +<span class="i0">My children sang sweetly and softly and low</span> +<span class="i0">“The Union forever, is safe now we know,”</span> +<span class="i0">The years they may come and the years they may go,</span> +<span class="i0">And hearts that were loyal will ever be so.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There’s a long roll-call, I ring over all</span> +<span class="i0">That have harkened and answered in the old hall;</span> +<span class="i0">Adams and Andrews, (from A unto Z,</span> +<span class="i0">Alphabetic arrangement as any can see),</span> +<span class="i0">Bonney and Bagley and Mercer and Hays,</span> +<span class="i0">Francis and Denny in bygone days,</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 461]</span><span class="i0">Hastings and Ebey, the Oregon Strongs,</span> +<span class="i0">And many another whose name belongs</span> +<span class="i0">To fame and the world, or has passed away</span> +<span class="i0">To realms that are bright with endless day.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The presidents ruled with a right good will,</span> +<span class="i0">Mercer and Barnard, Whitworth and Hill,</span> +<span class="i0">Anderson, Powell, Gatch and Hall,</span> +<span class="i0">Harrington now and I’ve named them all.</span> +<span class="i0">Witten and Thayer, Hansee and Lee,</span> +<span class="i0">The wise professors were fair to see,</span> +<span class="i0">They strictly commanded, did study compel</span> +<span class="i0">At the call of the old University bell.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Osborne, McCarty, Thornton and Spain,</span> +<span class="i0">With their companions in sunshine and rain,</span> +<span class="i0">Back in the seventies, might tell what befell</span> +<span class="i0">At the ring of the old University bell.</span> +<span class="i0">The eighties came on and the roll-call grew longer</span> +<span class="i0">Emboldened with learning, my voice rang the stronger;</span> +<span class="i0">The day of Commencement saw young men and maids</span> +<span class="i0">Proudly emerge from the classic shades</span> +<span class="i0">Where oft they had heard and heeded well</span> +<span class="i0">The voice of the old University bell.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">They bore me away to a shrine new and fine,</span> +<span class="i0">Where the pilgrims of learning with yearning incline;</span> +<span class="i0">Enwrapped they now seem, in a flowery dream,</span> +<span class="i0">The stars of good fortune so radiant beam.</span> +<span class="i0">Of the long roll call not one is forgot,</span> +<span class="i0">If sorrow beset them or happy their lot;</span> +<span class="i0">My wandering children all love me so well,</span> +<span class="i0">Their life-work done, they’ll wish a soft knell</span> +<span class="i0">Might be tolled by the old University bell.</span> +</div></div> + +<p>Such is the force of habit that it was many +years before I could shake off the inclination to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 462]</span> +obey the imperative summons of the old University +bell.</p> + +<p>With other small children, I ran about on +the huge timbers of the foundation, in the dusk +when the workmen were gone, glancing around +a little fearfully at the dark shadows in the thick +woods, and then running home as fast as our +truant feet could carry us.</p> + +<p>The laying of the cornerstone was an imposing +ceremony to our minds and a significant as +well as gratifying occasion to our elders.</p> + +<p>The speeches, waving of flags, salutes, Masonic +emblems and service with the music rendered +by a fine choir, accompanied by a pioneer +melodeon, made it quite as good as a Fourth +of July.</p> + +<p>All the well-to-do ranchers and mill men +sent their children from every quarter. The +Ebeys of Whidby Island, Hays of Olympia, +Strongs of Oregon, Burnetts of down Sound and +Dennys of Seattle, beside the children of many +other prominent pioneers, received their introduction +to learning beneath its generous shelter. +A cheerful, energetic crowd they were with clear +brains and vigorous bodies.</p> + +<p>The school was of necessity preparatory; in +modern slang, a University was rather previous +in those days.</p> + +<p>But all out-of-doors was greater than our +books when it came to physical geography and +natural history, to say nothing of botany, geol<span class="pagenum">[Pg 463]</span>ogy, +etc. Observing eyes and quick wits discovered +many things not yet in this year of grace +set down in printed pages.</p> + +<p>A curious thing, and rather absurd, was the +care taken to instruct us in “bounding” New +Hampshire, Vermont and all the rest of the +Eastern states, while owing to the lack of local +maps we were obliged to gain the most of our +knowledge of Washington by traveling over it.</p> + +<p>The first instruction given within its walls +was in a little summer school taught by Mrs. O. J. +Carr, which I attended.</p> + +<p>Previous to this my mother was my patient +and affectionate instructor, an experienced and +efficient one I will say, as teaching had been her +profession before coming west.</p> + +<p>Asa Mercer was at the head of the University +for a time, followed by W. E. Barnard, under +whose sway it saw prosperous days. A careful +and painstaking teacher with a corps of teachers +fresh from eastern schools, and ably seconded +in his efforts by his lovely wife, a very accomplished +lady, he was successful in building +up the attendance and increasing the efficiency +of the institution. But after a time it languished, +and was closed, the funds running low.</p> + +<p>Under the Rev. F. H. Whitworth it again +arose. It was then run with the common school +funds, which raised such opposition that it finally +came to a standstill.</p> + +<p>D. T. Denny was a school director and coun<span class="pagenum">[Pg 464]</span>ty +treasurer at the same time, but could not pay +any monies to the University without an order +from the county superintendent. On one occasion +he was obliged to put a boy on horseback +and send him eleven miles through the forest +and back, making a twenty-two mile ride, to +obtain the required order.</p> + +<p>The children and young people who attended +the University in the old times are scattered +far and wide, some have attained distinction in +their callings, many are worthy though obscure, +and some have passed away from earthly scenes.</p> + +<p>We spoke our “pieces,” delivered orations, +wrote compositions, played ball games of one +or more “cats” and many old-fashioned games +in and around the big building and often climbed +up to the observatory to look out over the beautiful +bay and majestic mountains. That glistening +sheet of water often drew the eyes from the +dull page and occasionally an unwary pupil +would be reminded in a somewhat abrupt fashion +to proceed with his researches.</p> + +<p>One afternoon a boy who had been gazing +on its changing surface for some minutes, caught +sight of a government vessel rounding the point, +and jumped up saying excitedly, “There’s a war +ship a-comin’!” to the consternation though +secret delight of the whole school.</p> + +<p>“Well, don’t stop her,” dryly said the teacher, +and the boy subsided amid the smothered +laughter of his companions.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 465]</span>Cupid sometimes came to school then, as I +doubt not he does in these days, not as a learner +but distracter—to those who were his victims.</p> + +<p>It’s my opinion, and I have it from St. +Catherine, he should have been set on the dunce +block and made to study Malthus.</p> + +<p>Two notable victims are well remembered, +one a lovely blonde young girl, a beautiful singer; +the other as dark as a Spaniard, with melting +black eyes and raven tresses. They did not wait +to graduate but named the happy day. The +blonde married a Democratic editor, well known +in early journalism, the other a very popular +man, yet a resident of Seattle.</p> + +<p>The whole of the second story of the University +consisted of one great hall or assembly +room with two small ante-rooms. Here the +school exhibitions were held, lectures and entertainments +given. Christmas trees, Sunday +schools, political meetings and I do not know +what else, although I think no balls were ever +permitted in those days, a modern degeneration +to my mind.</p> + +<p>The old building has always been repainted +white until within a few years and stood among +the dark evergreen a thing of dignity and +beauty, the tall fluted columns with Doric capitals +being especially admired.</p> + +<p>But changes will come; a magnificent, new, +expensive and ornate edifice has been provided<span class="pagenum">[Pg 466]</span> +with many modern adjuncts—and the old University +has been painted a grimy putty color!</p> + +<p>The days of old, the golden days, will never +be forgotten by the students of the old University, +which, although perhaps not so comfortable +or elegant nor of so elevated a curriculum as the +new, compassed the wonderful beginnings of +things intellectual, sowing the seed that others +might harvest, planting the tree of knowledge +from which others should gather the fruit.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page467" name="page467">[Pg 467]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">A CHEHALIS LETTER, PENNED IN ’52.</span></h2> + +<p> +<span class="ralign">Mound Prairie, Chehalis River, near</span><br /> +<span class="ralign">Mr. Ford’s Tavern, Lewis County,</span><br /> +<span class="ralign">Oregon Territory. 14 Nov. 1852.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>My dear Elizabeth:</p> + +<p>I believe this is the first letter I have addressed +to you since we removed from Wisconsin, +and I feel truly thankful to say that through +the infinite mercy of God both my family and +self have been in the enjoyment of excellent, uninterrupted +health.</p> + +<p>The last letter we received from Wisconsin +was from my brother Thomas, complaining of +our long silence. We found, too, that Mr. James’ +long letter, containing an account of our route—arrival +in Oregon—our having made a claim on +the Clackamas, with description of it—and all +our progress up to February last, had been received. +So here begins the next chapter. About +the middle of March we removed into our new +log house; here we found everything necessary +to make a homestead comfortable and even delightful—a +beautiful building spot on a pleasant +knoll of considerable extent—a clear brook running +along within a few yards of our door; and +surrounded by the grandest mountain scenery—and +more than that, decidedly healthy. Within<span class="pagenum">[Pg 468]</span> +walking distance of Oregon City and Milwaukee, +and eight miles from Portland. With all these +advantages the boys could not reconcile themselves +to it on account of the great lack of grass +which prevails for twenty miles ’round.</p> + +<p>Brush of all description, Hazel, Raspberry, +Salal, Rose, Willow and Fern grow to a most +gigantic size. And in February what appeared +to us and others—a kind of grass—sprang up +quickly over the ground and mountain side; nor +was it ’till May, when it blossomed out, that we +discovered what we hoped would be nourishment +for our cattle, was nothing more than the grass +Iris, and fully accounted for the straying of our +cattle and the constant hunt that was kept up by +our neighbors and selves after cattle and horses.</p> + +<p>In fact we soon found that this was no place +for cattle until it had been subdued and got into +cultivation. To make the matter worse we were +every now and then in the receipt of messages +and accounts from our friends and acquaintances +who were located, some in Umpqua, some in the +Willamette Valley, some at Puget Sound. Those +from Umpqua sent us word that there was grass +enough all winter, on one claim for a thousand +head of cattle. Mr. Lucas in the Callipooiah +Mountains at the head of the Willamette, sent +us pressing invitations to come up and settle by +him, where he had grass as high as his knees in +February. In the Willamette the first rate places +were all taken up. Samuel and Billy joined in<span class="pagenum">[Pg 469]</span> +begging their father to make a tour north or +south to see some of these desirable places. +Finally he was induced, though rather reluctantly +(so well he liked our pleasant home and so +confident was he of raising grass and grain) to +visit one or the other after harvest. We finished +our harvest in July and in August Mr. J., accompanied +by Billy, set off on a journey of exploration +to the north. The land route lay along +the north bank of the Columbia for sixty miles +to the mouth of the Cowlitz, then thirty miles +up that river over Indian trails, all but impassable. +This brought them into the beautiful +prairies of Puget Sound, sixty or seventy miles +through which brought them to that branch of +the Pacific. They returned after an absence of +between three and four weeks. So well were +Mr. James and Billy pleased with the country +that they made no delay on their return in selling +out their improvements which they had an opportunity +of doing immediately. We had milked +but two cows during the summer, but even with +the poor feed we had, I had kept the family in +butter and sold $20 worth, but then I had fifty +cents and five shillings per pound. As to my +poultry, I obtained with some difficulty the favor +of a pullet and a rooster for $2.00. In March I +added another hen to my stock, and so rapidly +did they increase, that in September I had, small +and big, eighty. After keeping six pullets and +a rooster for myself, I made $25.00 off the rest,<span class="pagenum">[Pg 470]</span> +so you may judge by a little what much will do +in Oregon.</p> + +<p>Well, it is time for me to take you on board +the Batteaux, as I wish you all had been on the +16th of September, when we set sail down the +Willamette from Milwaukee. After two days +we entered the Columbia, one of the noblest of +rivers. After three days, with a head wind all +the time, we entered the mouth of the Cowlitz, a +beautiful stream, but so swift that none but Indians +can navigate it. We had to hire five Indians +for $50.00 to take us up. Four days +brought us to what is called the upper landing +of the Cowlitz. Here ended our river travel—by +far the most pleasant journey I ever made. +There we met Samuel and Billy who with Tom +had taken the cattle by the trail. We halted at +a Mr. Jackson’s, where we stopped for a fortnight, +while Mr. J. and the boys journeyed away +in search of adventures and a claim.</p> + +<p>On the banks of the Chehalis, 30 miles north +of where we stopped and 30 miles south of the +Sound, they found a claim satisfactory in every +respect to all parties, and what was not a little, +we found a cabin a great deal better than the one +we found last winter.</p> + +<p>The Indians told us that <i>tennes</i> (white) +Jack, who <i>momicked</i> (worked) it had <i>clatawawed</i> +(traveled or went) to California in quest of +<i>chicamun</i> (metal) and had never <i>chacooed</i> +(come back), so we entered on <i>tennes</i> Jack’s<span class="pagenum">[Pg 471]</span> +labours. As a farm and location, this certainly +exceeds our most sanguine expectations. I often +thought last year that we had bettered our conditions +from what they were in Wisconsin, and +now I think we have improved ours ten times +beyond what we then were.</p> + +<p>Our claim is along the banks of the Chehalis, +a navigable river which empties into the Pacific +at Grays Harbor, about 70 miles below us. A +settlement is just commenced at the mouth of +the river and a sawmill is erected 10 miles below +us, or rather is building. These are all the +settlements on the river below us, and our nearest +neighbor above us is 6 miles up. A prairie +of 10 miles long and varying in width from 2 to 4 +miles stretched away to the north of us, watered +with a beautiful stream of water and covered +with grass at this time as green as in May.</p> + +<p>A stream of water flows within a few yards +of our house, so full of salmon that Tom and +Johnny could with ease catch a barrel in an hour; +they are from 20 to 30 lbs. in a fish. Besides +which we have a small fish here very much resembling +a pilchard.</p> + +<p>We are blessed with the most beautiful +springs of water, one of which will be enclosed +in our door yard. As far as I can learn there +are in the thickest settled parts of this portion +of Oregon, about one family in a township—many +towns are not so thickly settled. We are +the only inhabitants of this great prairie except<span class="pagenum">[Pg 472]</span> +a few Indians who have a fishing station about +a mile from us. These are on very friendly terms +with us, supplying us with venison, wild fowl +and mats at a very reasonable price, as we are +the only customers and we in return letting them +have what <i>sappalille</i> (flour) and molasses we +can at a reasonable price, which they are always +willing to pay. Soap is another article I am +glad to see in request among them. And it affords +them no little amusement to look at the +plates of the Encyclopedia. But I fear it will +be long before they will be brought to <i>momick</i> the +<i>illahe</i> (earth). They are the finest and stoutest +set of Indians we have seen.</p> + +<p>We converse with them by means of a jargon +composed of English, French and Chinook, and +which the Indians speak fluently, and we are +getting to <i>waw-waw</i> (speak) pretty well. My +children, I am thankful to say, look better than +I ever saw them in America; they have not +had the least symptoms of any of the diseases +that they were so much afflicted with in Wisconsin. +And now, my dear Elizabeth, if wishing +would bring you here, you should soon be +here in what appears to me to be one of the +most delightful portions of the globe. But then, +ever since I have been in America I have regarded +a mild climate as a “pearl of great price” +in temporal things and felt willing to pay for +it accordingly and I have not had the least reason +to think I have valued it too high. Many<span class="pagenum">[Pg 473]</span> +and many a year has passed since I have enjoyed +life as I have since I have been in Oregon.</p> + +<p>I should have told you that the Chehalis is +one of the most beautiful rivers in Oregon. Our +claim stretches a mile along the north bank of +it. It flows through quite an elevated part of +the country. Our house, though within a few +rods of the river, has one of the finest views in +Oregon, the prairie stretching away to the north +like a fine lawn, skirted on each side by oak and +maple, at this time in all the brilliant hues of +Autumn; behind, on gently rising hills, forests +of fir and cedar of most gigantic height and size; +farther still to the northeast rises the ever snow-clad +mountains of Rainier and St. Helens, on +the opposite side to the southwest of the coast +range, so near that we can see the trees on them. +So magnificent are those immense snow mountains +that none but those who have seen them can +form any idea of it.</p> + +<p>This prairie takes its name from a remarkable +mound about a mile from our house; it +stands in about 25 acres and is 100 feet high, +with a pure spring half way up. The rest of +the prairie is almost level without a spring except +in the margin. The soil of the mound, as well +as some of the margin, has just enough clay to +make it a rich and excellent soil; the rest of the +prairie is deficient in clay; it has a rich black +mould overlaying two feet deep, resting on substratum +of sand and gravel, which in some places<span class="pagenum">[Pg 474]</span> +is so mixed with the soil as to give it the name +of a gravelly prairie. You might have the choice +of fifty such prairies as this and some better +on this river. Farmers were never better paid +in the world, even my little dairy of two cows +has for the month past turned me in, at least I +have sold butter to the amount of two and a half +bushels of wheat a day at Wisconsin prices of +30 cents, and have by me 26 pounds for which I +shall have at least 60 cents or $1.00 per pound. +I now milk three cows; we have four; and Mr. +James means to add two more and a few sheep. +Mr. J. sold the worst yoke of cattle he had for +$160.00. Cows are worth from $50.00 to $100.00; +sheep are from $5.00 to $9.00; chickens, 60 cents +to $1.00 each; eggs, 50 cents per dozen; dry goods +and groceries just the same as in the states; wheat +$3.00 per bushel. We left our wheat on the +Clackamas to be threshed. They, Samuel and +Billy, are now preparing to put in ten acres of +fall wheat, potatoes are $2.00 per bushel. Indians +easy to hire, both men and women, at reasonable +wages. Extensive coal mines of excellent +quality have been discovered within 15 miles +of this place. But all these things are secondary +in my estimation compared with the climate, +which is allowed by all English to be superior to +their native clime.</p> + +<p>It makes me very sad to think how we are +separated as a family, never to meet again (at +least in all probability) under one roof. O, that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 475]</span> +we may all meet at least at the right hand of +God, let this be our sole concern and our path +will be made plain in temporals.</p> + +<p>You have the advantage of us in schools, +churches and society, but I feel quite patient +to wait the arrival of those blessings in addition +to those we enjoy. This letter will be accompanied +by a paper to Mr. McNaves, “<i>The Columbian</i>,” +published at Olympia, Puget Sound. +Mr. James has just written an article for it, entitled +the “Rainy Season.” I wonder how Amy +and Edward are getting on; how I wish they +were here. Do you think they will ever come +over? Should any of you (of course I include +any old friends and acquaintances at Caledonia) +determine on removing to this part, the instructions +in my husband’s letter are the best we can +give.</p> + +<p>There has been great suffering on the road +this year. We have seen a great many families +who came through in a very fair manner, some +of them without even the loss of a single head +of cattle; these were among the first trains; +among the latter the loss of cattle and lives was +awful. Some horrid murders were committed +on the road, for which the murderers were tried +and shot or hung on the spot. The papers say +there will be fifteen thousand added to the population +of Oregon by this year’s emigration. It +is in contemplation to open a road through from +Grand Ronde on to Puget Sound, which will<span class="pagenum">[Pg 476]</span> +shorten the distance at least 300 miles and out of +the very worst of the road. Samuel and Billy +are determined to come to meet you on the new +route with Jack and Dandy, and more if wanted. +Now we are settled in earnest you shall hear from +us oftener and hope we shall the same from you. +Give my kindest and best love to Mother. One +old lady, about her age, crossed the plains when +we did; she was alive and well when we left the +other side of the Columbia.</p> + +<p>I must introduce to you an old acquaintance—the +Rooks—caw! caw! caw! all around us. We +have a rookery on our farm. It is now the 28th +of Nov., a fortnight since I wrote the above, in +hopes that it would be on its passage to Wisconsin +ere this, but was disappointed of sending +to the postoffice. Weather warm and sunshiny +as May, two or three white frosts that vanished +with the rising of the sun are all we have had, +not the slightest prospect of sleighing nearer +than the slopes of Mt. Rainier.</p> + +<p>I have just asked all hands for the dark +side of Oregon, not one could mention anything +worth calling such. Mr. J. says the shades are +so light as to be invisible. The grey squirrel on +the south of the Columbia was the most formidable +enemy to the farmer; more of that when I +write next.</p> + +<p>My kindest love to all the dear children; how +I long to see them all again, particularly Anna; +O, that she may be a very good girl. Richard<span class="pagenum">[Pg 477]</span> +and Allan often talk of writing to Avis and +Lydia. How are Mr. and Mrs. Welch and family? +How gladly would I welcome them to my +humble cabin. I cannot help thinking, too, that +Mrs. W. and I could enjoy ourselves here on +the green sward and in looking at the beautiful +evergreen shrubs and plants on the banks of the +Chehalis, though we might be overtaken by a +mild sprinkling. A canoe on the waters of that +beautiful stream would help to compensate for +the loss of a sleigh on the snows of Wisconsin, +particularly when it can be enjoyed at the same +season of the year. But I suppose I must look +upon all this as a Utopian dream, as I expect +few if any of you would barter your comfortable +house for a log cabin; well, it is my home, and +I hope I have not given you an exaggerated description +of it. I wished my husband to write a +more particular description of the soil and its +productions than I could give, but he was in no +writing mood. He says the prairies as far as +he has seen are not equal to Iowa or Illinois, but +for climate and health he thinks Oregon equals +if not surpasses most parts of the world.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Well, I must bid you good-bye, with kind +regards to Mr. and Mrs. Drummond, with all +my other friends in Yorkville, Mr. Moyle and +Susan, with all my friends and acquaintances in +Caledonia. I will write again, all’s well, about +Christmas, and hope you will attend to the same<span class="pagenum">[Pg 478]</span> +rate and write once in a month. Farewell my +dear sister. Yours in true affection,</p> + +<p class="quotsig"><span class="smcap">A. M. James.</span></p> + +<p>P. S.—If Jane and Dick are married, I will +risk saying that the best thing they can do is to +come here. All the children send their love to +you all. I should be thankful for a few flower +seeds.</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page479" name="page479">[Pg 479]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI<br /> + +<span class="smaller">SOME PIONEERS OF PORT TOWNSEND.</span></h2> + +<p>In Port Townsend and Seattle papers of +1902 appeared the following items of history +pertaining to settlers of Port Townsend:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Port Townsend, Feb. 15, 1902.—On Friday, +February 21, there is to be held in Port +Townsend a reunion of old settlers to celebrate +the fiftieth anniversary of the landing at this +place of some of the first white families to settle +on Puget Sound north of the little town of +Steilacoom.</p> + +<p>“Much interest is being manifested in the +coming celebration among the old-timers on +Puget Sound, many of whom have already responded +to invitations that have been sent them. +Most of these letters contain interesting anecdotes +or references touching the past. One of +them is from Judge E. D. Warbass, of San Juan +county, who writes from ‘Idlewild,’ his country +home, near Friday Harbor, under date of February +1. In his letter to J. A. Kuhn, whom he addresses +as ‘My Dear Ankutty Tillikum,’ he says:</p> + +<p>“‘This is my birthday, born in A. D. 1825. +Please figure up the time for yourself. I have +just finished my breakfast and chores, and will +get this letter off on the 9 o’clock mail. I am +sincerely obliged for the honor of being invited<span class="pagenum">[Pg 480]</span> +to come to the Port Townsend celebration and +to prepare and read some reminiscences of my +experiences during all these years. I hope to be +able to do so, and will, if I can, but you know +I am no longer the same rollicking Ed, but quite +an old man. However, I am willing to contribute +my mite towards making your celebration a success, +and weather and health permitting, will be +there. Delate mika siam.’</p> + +<p>“A. A. Plummer, Sr., and Henry Bacheller +came to Port Townsend by sailing vessel from +San Francisco, in the fall of 1851, and remained +here during the winter. A few days after they +arrived here, L. B. Hastings and F. W. Pettygrove +came in overland from Portland, carrying +their blankets on their backs. They soon decided +to return to Portland and bring their families +over. Mr. Hastings arranged with Plummer and +Bacheller to build a cabin for him by the time +he returned.</p> + +<p>“He and Pettygrove went back to Portland, +and soon afterward Mr. Hastings bought the +schooner Mary Taylor. He made up a party of +congenial people, and on February 9, 1852, the +Mary Taylor sailed from the Columbia river +with the following named persons, and their families, +on board: L. B. Hastings, F. W. Pettygrove, +Benjamin Ross, David Shelton, Thomas +Tallentyre and Smith Hayes. The last named +had no family.</p> + +<p>“On February 19 the schooner passed in by<span class="pagenum"><a id="page481" name="page481">[Pg 481]</a></span> +Cape Flattery, and on the afternoon of the 20th +came upon the Hudson Bay settlement on Vancouver +Island, at Victoria. Present survivors of +the trip, who were then children, recall how their +fathers lifted them up to their shoulders and +pointed out the little settlement, telling them at +the same time that that country belonged to +England, and of their own purpose of crossing +over to the American side and there establishing +a home for themselves. That night the +schooner dropped anchor in Port Townsend bay.</p> + +<p>“Early next morning—February 21—the +schooner was boarded by Quincy A. Brooks, +deputy collector and inspector of customs. Mr. +Brooks had arrived here only a few hours ahead +of the Mary Taylor, coming from Olympia and +bringing with him the following customs inspectors: +A. M. Poe, H. C. Wilson and A. B. Moses. +These men had been sent here by the collector +of customs to investigate stories of smuggling +being carried on between the Hudson Bay Company +and Indians on the Sound. The customs +officials were camped on the beach. With them +were B. J. Madison and William Wilton, the +former of whom later settled here. A. A. Plummer +and Henry Bacheller were also camped on +the beach here at the same time, having been +here since their arrival from San Francisco in +the preceding fall.</p> + +<p><a id="XVIII" name="XVIII"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/opp481.png" width="500" height="294" alt="" title="SHIP 'BELLE ISLE'; LOADING COAL, 1876" /> +<span class="caption">SHIP “BELLE ISLE” LOADING COAL, 1876</span> +</div> + +<p>“Early in the forenoon of February 21 all +on board the schooner Mary Taylor were land<span class="pagenum">[Pg 482]</span>ed +on the beach and immediately began the work +of carving out homes for themselves in what was +then a wilderness thickly inhabited by Indians. +Mr. Hastings found his cabin ready for occupancy, +all but the roof, which had not been put +on. A temporary roof was constructed and the +family moved in. That night twelve inches +of snow fell, it being the first snow that had +fallen here during the entire winter. Mr. Hastings’ +schooner afterward made several trips between +the Columbia river and the Sound, bringing +additional families here.</p> + +<p>“The present survivors of the Mary Taylor’s +passengers are the following: L. W. D. Shelton +and his sister, Mary, Oregon C. Hastings, Frank +W. Hastings, Maria Hastings Littlefield, Benj. +S. Pettygrove and Sophia Pettygrove McIntyre. +All but Mr. Shelton and his sister and Oregon +C. Hastings are residents of Port Townsend.</p> + +<p>“Oregon C. Hastings was born in Illinois in +1845, and crossed the plains in 1849 with his +parents. He is living in Victoria.</p> + +<p>“Benjamin S. Pettygrove is a native of Portland, +Oregon, where he was born on September +30, 1846. He was the first white male child born +in Portland.</p> + +<p>“Frank W. Hastings was born in Portland +on November 16, 1848.</p> + +<p>“Sophia Pettygrove was born in Portland on +November 17, 1848. She was married on her +17th birthday to Captain James McIntyre, who<span class="pagenum">[Pg 483]</span> +lost his life a few weeks ago in the wreck of +the steamship Bristol in Alaskan waters.</p> + +<p>“Judge J. A. Kuhn is the moving spirit in +the matter of these pioneers’ reunions and in +the organization of Native Sons and Native +Daughters lodges. He made a promise to G. +Morris Haller of Seattle, as far back as 1877, +he says, that he would take up the organizations +referred to, in the interest of history and research. +The matter remained dormant, however, +till the year 1893, when, on March 2, of that year, +he instituted in Port Townsend, Jefferson Camp +No. 1, Native Sons of Washington, with 12 members +present. The camp now has 118 members. +On July 3, 1895, he instituted in Port Townsend, +Lucinda Hastings Parlor No. 1, Native Daughters +of Washington. There are now in the state +nine camps of Native Sons and four parlors of +Native Daughters.</p> + +<p>“A. A. Plummer, Sr., now deceased, was one +of the fathers of Port Townsend and was considered +quite a remarkable man. He was born +in the state of Maine, March 3, 1822, and was a +veteran of the Mexican war. He fought under +Col. Stevens in that conflict and at its close went +to California, going from there to Portland by +sailing vessel in 1850.</p> + +<p>“Major Quincy A. Brooks was the second +deputy collector of customs ever sworn into the +service in the Puget Sound district. In January, +1852, he succeeded Elwood Evans as deputy col<span class="pagenum">[Pg 484]</span>lector +for the district. The collector of customs +was then Simpson P. Moses, of Cincinnati, Ohio, +and the custom house was located at Olympia.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>At the reunion on the 21st of February, +1902, many things were brought to light.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Among the many stories of early days and +reminiscences recalled at the pioneers’ gathering +one of the most interesting was Mr. Shelton’s +story of the trip of the Mary Taylor from Portland +to Port Townsend. Mr. Shelton had committed +his reminiscences to manuscript as follows:</p> + +<p>“‘Fifty years ago, some time about the first +of February, the little 75-ton schooner Mary +Taylor left Portland, Ore., for Puget Sound, +having on board the families of L. B. Hastings, +F. W. Pettygrove, David Shelton, Thomas Tallentyre, +Benjamin Ross and Smith Hayes. Mr. +Hayes had no family here, but I think he had a +family in the East. Mr. Ross had one son, about +20 years old.</p> + +<p>“‘Our little craft was navigated by Captain +Hutchinson and a crew of four or five men. The +families were all old acquaintances. Those of +Hastings, Ross and Shelton crossed the plains +together in 1847, and concluded to cast their fortunes +together again in their last great move, +which was to this country.</p> + +<p>“‘We lay at Astoria several days, waiting for +a favorable opportunity to cross the bar. We +made three trials before we ventured out to sea<span class="pagenum">[Pg 485]</span> +and were three or four days getting up to Cape +Flattery, where we lay quite a while in a calm. +We found here that we were in soundings, and +some of the party commenced fishing, but all +they could catch were dog fish, which we tried +to eat, but we found that they were not the kind +of fish that we cared about.</p> + +<p>“‘Our first sight of Indians in this part of +the country was off Neah Bay. We were drifting +near Waadah Island, when canoes came swarming +out of their village in the bay. We had heard +ugly stories about this tribe, and prepared for +them by stacking our arms around the masts, to +be handy in case of need. They were clamorous +to come on board, but we thought that they were +as well off in their canoes as they would be anywhere +else. Some of our party sauntered along +the deck with guns in their hands, in view of the +Indians.</p> + +<p>“‘The Indians then wanted to trade fish for +tobacco and trinkets. A few pieces of tobacco +were thrown into their canoes and then they +commenced throwing fish aboard, and such fish +for a landsman to look at! There were bull-heads, +rock-cod, kelp-fish, mackerel, fish as flat +as your hand, and skates, and other monstrosities, +the likes of which the most of our party had +never seen before, and when our old cook dished +them up for us at dinner we found that they were +fine and delicious. There is where we made the +acquaintance of sea-bass and rock-cod, and we<span class="pagenum">[Pg 486]</span> +have cultivated their acquaintance ever since. +There were also mussels and clams among the +lot, which we found to be very good. We were +surrounded by another lot of Indians near Clallam +Bay, with about the same performances and +with the same results as at Neah Bay.’</p> + +<p>“Another incident that I recall happened +near Dungeness spit. A couple of canoes filled +with Indians came alongside and as there was +only a few of them they were allowed to come +on board. The tyee of the crowd introduced +himself as Lord Jim. He wore a plug hat, a +swallowtailed coat, a shirt and an air of immense +importance. I suppose he had secured +his outfit as a ‘cultus potlatch’ from persons he +had met. He had evidently met several white +people in his time, as he had a number of testimonials +as to his character as a good Indian. I +remember of hearing one of his testimonials read +and it impressed me as having come from one +who had studied the Indian character to some +effect. It read something like this:</p> + +<p>“‘To whom it may concern: This will introduce +Lord Jim, a noted Indian of this part of +the country. Look out for him or he will steal +the buttons off your coat.’ A further acquaintance +with Lord Jim seemed to inspire the belief +that the confidence of the writer was not misplaced.</p> + +<p>“Shortly after we left Lord Jim we sailed +along Protection Island, one of the beauty spots<span class="pagenum">[Pg 487]</span> +of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Somewhere along +here another thing happened—trivial in its nature—the +memory of which has stayed with me +all these years. Mr. Pettygrove was walking the +deck in a meditative manner, when he happened +to feel that he needed a cigar. He called to his +son, Ben, about six years old, and told him to +bring him some cigars. Ben wanted to know +how many he should get. His father told him +to get as many as he had fingers on both hands. +Ben, proud of his commission, darted away and +soon returned with eight cigars. His father +looked at them a moment and said: ‘How is +this; you have only brought me eight cigars?’ +‘Well,’ said Ben, ‘that is all the fingers I have.’ +‘No,’ said his father, ‘you have ten on both your +hands.’ ‘Why, no I haven’t,’ said Ben, ‘two of +them are thumbs,’ and I guess Ben was right.</p> + +<p>“The next morning, after passing Dungeness +Spit, we found our vessel anchored abreast +of what is now the business part of Port Townsend, +which was then a large Indian village. +That was February 21, 1852, fifty years ago today. +How it stirs the blood and quickens the +memory to look back over those eventful years—eventful +years for our state, our Pacific Coast +and our entire country—and these years have +been equally eventful for the little band that +landed here that day so full of hope and energy.</p> + +<p>“Our fathers and mothers are all gone to +their well-earned rest and reward. Of the thir<span class="pagenum">[Pg 488]</span>teen +children that were with them at that time +nine are still living, and I am proud of the fact +that they are all respectable citizens of the community +in which they live. They have seen all +the history of this part of the country that +amounts to much and in their humble way have +helped to make it. They have helped conquer +the wilderness and the savages and have done +their share in laying the foundation of what will +be one of the greatest states of our Union. Their +fathers were men of honesty and more than ordinary +force of character, as their deeds and labors +in behalf of their country and families show, +and the mothers of blessed memory—their children +never realized the power for good they were +in this world until they were grown and had families +of their own, but they know it now. They +know now how they encouraged their husbands +when dark days came; how they cheerfully +shared the trials and hardships incident to those +early pioneer days, and when brighter fortunes +came they exercised the same helpful guiding influence +in their well ordered, comfortable homes +that they did in their first log cabins in the wilderness.”</p></blockquote> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page489" name="page489">[Pg 489]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII.<br /> + +<span class="smaller">PERSONNEL OF THE PIONEER ARMY.</span></h2> + +<p>A long roll of honor I might call of the brave +men and women who dared and strove in the +wild Northwest of the long ago. If I speak of +representative pioneers, those unnamed might +be equally typical of the bold army of “forest-felling +kings,” “forest-fallers” as well as +“fighters,” like those Northland men of old.</p> + +<p>There are the names of Denny, Yesler, Phillips, +Terry, Low, Boren, Butler, Bell, Mercer, +Maple, Van Asselt, Horton, Hanford, McConaha, +Smith, Maynard, Frye, Blaine and others who +felled the forest and laid foundations at and near +Seattle; Briggs, Hastings, Van Bokkelin, Hammond, +Pettygrove with others founded Port +Townsend, while Lansdale, Crockett, Alexander, +Cranney, Kellogg, Hancock, Izett, Busby, Ebey +and Coupe, led the van for Whidby Island; Eldridge +and Roeder at Bellingham Bay; toward +the head of navigation, McAllister, Bush, Simmons, +Packwood, Chambers, Shelton, are a few +of those who blazed the way.</p> + +<p>The blows of the sturdy forest-felling kings +rang out from many a favored spot on the shores +of the great Inland Sea, cheerful signals for the +thousands to come after them.</p> + +<p><a id="XIX" name="XIX"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 359px;"> +<img src="images/opp489.jpg" width="359" height="600" alt="" title="WILLIAM R. BOREN REV. D. E. BLAINE CARSON D. BOREN" /> +<span class="caption">REV. D. E. BLAINE<br />WILLIAM R. BOREN CARSON D. BOREN</span> +</div> + +<p>These, and the long list of the Here Un<span class="pagenum">[Pg 490]</span>named, +waged the warfare of beginnings, which +required such large courage, independence, persistence, +faith and uncompromising toil, as the +velvet-shod aftercomers can scarcely conceive of.</p> + +<p>Simultaneously with the early subjugation +of the country, the political, educational, commercial +and social initiatory movements were +made of whose present development the people +of Puget Sound may well be proud.</p> + +<p>Since the organization of the Washington +Pioneer Association in October, 1883, the old +pioneers and their children have met year by +year in the lavish month of June to recount their +adventures, toils and privations, and enjoy the +sympathy begotten of similar experiences, in the +midst of modern ease and plenty.</p> + +<p>A concourse of this kind in Seattle evoked +the following words of appreciation:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“No organization, no matter what its nature +might be, could afford the people of Seattle more +gratification by holding its assemblage in their +midst than is afforded them by the action of the +Pioneers’ Association of Washington Territory +in holding its annual gathering in this city. Unlike +conventions and gatherings in which only +a portion of the community is interested, the +meeting of the pioneers is interesting to all. To +some, of course, the event is of more importance +than to others, but all have an interest in the +Pioneers’ Association, all have a pride in the +achievement of its members, and all can feel that<span class="pagenum">[Pg 491]</span> +they are the beneficiaries of the struggle and +hardships of which the pioneers tell.</p> + +<p>“The reminiscences of the pioneers from +the history of the first life breathings of our commonwealth—of +a commonwealth which, though +in its infancy, is grand indeed, and which gives +promise of attaining greatness in the full maturity +of its powers of which those who laid the +foundations of the state scarcely dreamed. The +pioneers are the fathers of the commonwealth; +their struggles and their hardships were the +struggles and the hardships of a state coming +into being. They cleared the forests, not for +themselves alone, but for posterity and for all +time. As they subdued a wild and rugged land +and prepared it to sustain and support its share +of the people of the earth, each blow of their ax +was a blow destined to resound through all time, +each furrow turned by their ploughshares that +the earth might yield again and again to their +children’s children so long as man shall inhabit +the earth. No stroke of work done in the progress +of that great labor was done in vain. None +of the mighty energy was lost. Each tree that +fell, fell never to rise. Each nail driven in a +settler’s hut was a nail helping to bind together +the fabric of the community. Each day’s labor +was given to posterity more surely than if it +had been sold for gold to be buried in the earth +and brought forth by delighted searchers centuries +hence.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum">[Pg 492]</span>“It is for this that we honor the pioneers. +It is for this that we are proud and happy to +have them meet among us. We are their heirs. +Our inheritance is the fruit of their labor, the +reward of their fortitude, the recompense of +their hardships. The home of today, the center +of comfort and contentment, the very soul of the +state, could not have been but for the log cabins +of forty years ago. The imposing edifice of +learning, the complete system of education, could +not have been but for the crude school house of +the past. The churches and religious institutions +of today are the result of the untiring and unselfish +labors of the itinerant preacher who wandered +back and forth, now painfully picking his +way through the forest, now threading with his +frail canoe the silver streams, now gliding over +the calm waters of the Sound, ever laying broad +and deep the true foundations of the grand civilization +that was to be. The flourishing cities, the +steel rails that bind us to the world, the stately +steamers that, behemoth-like, journey to and fro +in our waters,—these things could not be but for +the rude straggling hamlets, the bridle path cut +with infinite labor through the most impenetrable +of forests, and the canoe which darted arrow-like +through gloomy passages, over bright bays +and up laughing waters.</p> + +<p>“All honor to the pioneers—all honor and +welcome. We say it who are their heirs, we +whose homes are on the land which they re<span class="pagenum">[Pg 493]</span>claimed +from the forests, we who till the fields +that they first tilled, we whose pride and glory is +the grand land-locked sea on which they gazed +delighted so many years ago. Welcome to them, +and may they come together again and again as +the years pass away. When their eyes are dim +with age and their hair is as white as the snows +that cover the mountains they love, may they +still see the land which they created the home +of a great, proud people, a people loving the land +they love, a people honoring and obeying the laws +that they have honored and obeyed so long, a +people honoring, glorying in, the flag which they +bore over treeless plains, over lofty mountains, +over raging torrents, through suffering and +danger, always proudly, always confidently, always +hopefully, until they planted it by the shore +of the Western sea in the most beautiful of all +lands. May each old settler, as he journeys year +by year toward the shoreless sea, over whose +waters he must journey away, feel that the flag +which he carried so far and so bravely will wave +forever in the soft southwestern breeze, which +kisses his furrowed brow and toys with his silvery +hair. May he feel, too, that the love of the +people is with him, that they watch him, lovingly, +tenderly, as he journeys down the pathway, and +the story of his deeds is graven forever on their +minds, and love and honor forever on their +hearts.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>And so do I, a descendent of a long line of +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 494]</span>pioneers in America, reiterate, “Honor the Pioneers.”</p> + +<p><a id="XX" name="XX"></a></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 399px;"> +<img src="images/opp493.jpg" width="399" height="600" alt="" title="MRS. LYDIA D. LOW" /> +<span class="caption">MRS. LYDIA D. LOW</span> +</div> + +<p class="title">LYDIA C. LOW.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Low was one of the party that landed +at Alki, Nov. 13th, 1851, having crossed the +plains with her husband and children.</p> + +<p>I have heard her tell of seeing my father, +D. T. Denny, the lone white occupant of Alki, +as she stepped ashore from the boat that carried +the passengers from the schooner.</p> + +<p>The Lows did not make a permanent settlement +there, but moved to a farm back of +Olympia, thence to Sonoma, Cal., and back +again to Puget Sound, where they made their +home at Snohomish for many years. Mrs. Low +was the mother of a large family of nine children, +who shared her pioneer life. Some died +in childhood, accidents befell others, a part were +more fortunate, yet she seemed in old age serene, +courageous, undaunted as ever, faithful and +true, lovely and beloved.</p> + +<p>She passed from earth away on Dec. 11th, +1901, her husband, John D. Low, having preceded +her a number of years before.</p> + +<p class="title">OTHER PIONEERS.</p> + +<p>Both Mr. and Mrs. Izett of Whidby Island +are pioneers of note. Mrs. Izett crossed the +plains in 1847, and in 1852 came to the Sound +on a visit, at the same time Mr. Izett happened +to arrive. He persuaded her not to return to<span class="pagenum">[Pg 495]</span> +her old home. Mr. Izett in 1850 went to India +from England by way of Cape Horn, and two +years later came to Seattle. For four years he +secured spars for the British government at Utsalady. +In 1859 he built the first boat of any +size to be constructed on Puget Sound. This +was a 100-ton schooner, and she was built at +Oak Harbor. In 1862 he framed two of the first +Columbia river steamers. Mrs. Izett is a sister +of Mrs. F. A. Chenoweth, whose husband was a +judge, with four associates, of the first Washington +territorial tribunal. Another of the members +was Judge McFadden. Mr. Izett knew well +Gen. Isaac I. Stevens, the first governor of the +territory. He came to Washington in the fall +of 1859, and issued his first proclamation as governor +the following February. The legislature +met soon after.</p> + +<p class="title">J. W. MAPLE.</p> + +<p>John Wesley Maple was not only one of +the oldest settlers of this (King) county, but he +was one of its most prominent men. He figured +to some extent in political life, but during the +last few years had retired to the homestead by +the Duwamish, where his father had settled after +crossing the plains nearly fifty years ago, and +where he himself met his death yesterday. (In +March of 1902.)</p> + +<p>He was born in Guernsey county, Ohio, January +1, 1840. As a little boy he spent his child<span class="pagenum">[Pg 496]</span>hood +days near the farm of the McKinleys, and +often during his later years he was fond of relating +apple stealing expeditions in which he +indulged as a little boy, and for which the father +of the late President McKinley often chastised +him. From Ohio his father, Jacob Maple, moved +to Keokuk, Ia., where he lived near the farm on +which Mayor Humes, of Seattle, was reared.</p> + +<p>In 1856, Jacob Maple, the father, and Samuel +Maple, the brother of John W., came to +Puget Sound. In 1862 the rest of the family +followed them. In crossing the plains John W. +Maple was made captain of the four wagon +trains which were united in the expedition. He +guided them to Pendleton, Ore., where they separated. +Thence he came to the Duwamish river, +where his father and brother had settled.</p> + +<p>Later Mr. Maple and Samuel Snyder took +up a homestead on Squak slough. A few years +after that Mr. Maple went to Ellensburg. He +finally returned to spend the rest of his life on +the homestead.</p> + +<p class="title">HELD MANY OFFICES.</p> + +<p>In the early days he was several times elected +to county offices. He was at one time supervisor +for the road district extending from Yesler +way to O’Brien station and to Renton. In +1896 he was elected treasurer of King county on +the Populist ticket. He furnished a bond of +$1,600,000. At the end of his term a shortage<span class="pagenum">[Pg 497]</span> +was found. Every cent of this was finally made +good by him to those who stood on his bond.</p> + +<p>In 1897 Mr. Maple received a complimentary +vote on the part of several members of the +state legislature for the office of United States +senator. For this office his neighbors indorsed +him, and August Toellnor, of Van Asselt, was +sent by them to Olympia to see what could be +done to further the candidacy. Since the end of +his term as treasurer Mr. Maple has held no +office, save that of school director in his district. +Only a week ago Mr. Maple announced to his +friends that he had left the Populist party and +had returned to the Republican party, to which +he had belonged prior to the wave of Populism +which swept over the West in the early nineties.</p> + +<p>During all of his life he was an ardent student +of literature, and he possessed one of the +finest libraries in the state. He was known as +a strong orator, and was during his younger days +an exhorter in the Methodist Protestant church, +of which he was a member.</p> + +<p>Mr. Maple was married twice. His first +wife, who died more than twenty years ago, was +Elizabeth Snyder, a daughter of Samuel Snyder, +one of the oldest residents of the Duwamish +valley. Six children were the fruit of this +union, Charles, Alvin B., Cora, now Mrs. Frank +Patten; Dora, now Mrs. Charles Norwich; Bessie, +now dead, and Clifford J. Maple. His second +wife was Minnie Borella. Three children were<span class="pagenum">[Pg 498]</span> +born to her, Telford C., Lelah and Beulah Maple.</p> + +<p>Of his brothers and sisters the following are +living: Mrs. Katherine Van Asselt and Mr. Eli +B. Maple, of this city; Mrs. Jane Cavanaugh, of +California; Mrs. Elvira Jones and Mrs. Ruth +Smith, of Kent, and Aaron Maple, who now +lives on the old Maple homestead in Iowa.</p> + +<p class="title">CHARLES PROSCH AND THOMAS PROSCH.</p> + +<p>“The summer in which the gold excitement +broke out in the Colville country, in 1855,” said +Thomas Prosch, “several members of a party of +gold hunters from Seattle were massacred by +the Indians in the Yakima Valley while on their +way to the gold fields. The party went through +Snoqualmie Pass in crossing the mountains. The +territorial legislature sent word to Washington +and the government undertook to punish the +guilty tribes by a detachment of troops under +Maj. Haller. This was defeated and war followed +for several years. It was most violent in +King county in 1855 and 1856, and in Eastern +Washington in 1857 and 1858. The principal +incidents in the West were the massacre of the +whites in 1855 and the attack upon Seattle the +following year. In 1857 Col. Steptoe sustained +a memorable defeat on the Eastern side of the +mountains, and the hostilities were terminated +by the complete annihilation of the Indian forces +in the same locality the following year by Col. +Wright. He killed 1,000 horses and hanged<span class="pagenum">[Pg 499]</span> +many of the Indians besides the frightful carnage +of the battlefield.”</p> + +<p>Mr. Prosch and his father, Charles Prosch, +with several other members of his family, arrived +in the state and in Seattle between the years +1849 and 1857. Gen. M. M. Carver, the founder +of Tacoma, who was Mrs. Thomas Prosch’s +father, came to the territory in 1843 with Dr. +Whitman, who was massacred, with Applegate +and Nesmith.</p> + +<p>Time and strength would fail me did I attempt +to obtain and record accounts of many +well known pioneers; I must leave them to other +more capable writers. However, I will briefly +mention some who were prominent during my +childhood.</p> + +<p>The Hortons, Dexter Horton and Mrs. Horton, +the latter a stout, rosy-cheeked matron +whose house and garden, particularly the dahlias +growing in the yard, elicited my childish admiration. +I remember how certain little pioneer girls +were made happy by a visit from her, at which +time she fitted them with her own hands some +pretty grey merino dresses trimmed with narrow +black velvet ribbon. Also how one of them +was impressed by the sorrow she could not conceal, +the tears ran down her cheeks as she spoke +of a child she had lost.</p> + +<p>One family have never forgotten the Santa +Claus visit to their cottage home, the same being +impersonated by Dexter Horton, who departed<span class="pagenum">[Pg 500]</span> +after leaving some substantial tokens of his good +will.</p> + +<p>The pioneer ministers of the Gospel were +among the most fearless of foundation builders. +Reverends Wm. Close, Alderson, Franklin, +Doane, Bagley, Whitworth, Belknap, Greer, +Mann, Atwood, Hyland, Prefontaine, and others; +of Rev. C. Alderson, who often visited my +father and mother, Hon. Allen Weir has this to +say:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“I remember very clearly when, during the +‘sixties,’ Brother Alderson used to visit the +settlement in which my father’s family lived at +Dungeness, in Clallam county, Washington Territory. +He was then stationed at White River, +twelve miles or more south of Seattle. There +was no Tacoma in those days. To reach Dungeness, +Brother Alderson had to walk over a muddy +road a dozen miles or more to Seattle, then by +the old steamer Eliza Anderson to Port Townsend, +and then depend upon an Indian canoe +twenty-five miles to the old postoffice at Elliot +Cline’s house. After his arrival it would require +several days to get word passed around among +the neighbors so as to get a preaching announcement +circulated. Sometimes he would preach at +Mr. Cline’s house, sometimes at Alonzo Davis’, +and sometimes at my father’s. He was literally +blazing the trail where now is an highway. The +first announcement of these services in the Dungeness +river bottom was when a bearded, muddy-<span class="pagenum">[Pg 501]</span>booted +old bachelor from Long Prairie stopped +to halloo to father and interrupt log piling and +stump clearing long enough to say: ‘H-a-y! Mr. +Weir! The’s a little red-headed Englishman +goin’ to preach at Cline’s on Sunday! Better go +an’ git your conschense limbered up.’ Everybody +knew the road to Cline’s. At each meeting +the audience was limited to the number of settlers +within a dozen miles. All had to attend or +proclaim themselves confirmed heathen. The +preacher, who came literally as the ‘Voice of +one crying in the wilderness,’ was manifestly +not greatly experienced at that time in his work—but +he was intensely earnest, courageous, outspoken, +a faithful messenger; and under his +ministrations many were reminded of their old-time +church privileges ‘back in old Mizzoory,’ +in ‘Kentuck,’ or in ‘Eelinoy,’ or elsewhere. +I remember that to my boyish imagination it +seemed a wonderful amount of ‘grit’ was required +to carry on his gospel work. He made +an impression as an honest toiler in the vineyard, +and was accepted at par value for his +manly qualities. He was welcomed to the hospitable +homes of the people. If we could not +always furnish yellow-legged chickens for dinner +we always had a plentiful supply of bear +meat or venison.</p> + +<p>“After Brother Alderson returned to Oregon +I never met him again, except at an annual conference +in Albany (in 1876, I think it was), but<span class="pagenum">[Pg 502]</span> +I always remembered him kindly as a sturdy +soldier of the Cross who improved his opportunities +to administer reproof and exhortation. The +memory is a benediction.”</p></blockquote> + +<p>Of agreeable memory is Mrs. S. D. Libby, +to whom the pioneer women were glad to go for +becoming headgear—and the hats were very +pretty, too, as well as the wearers, in those days. +Good straw braids were valued and frequently +made over by one who had learned the bleacher’s +and shaper’s art in far Illinois.</p> + +<p>A little pioneer girl used often to rip the +hats to the end that the braids might be made +to take some new and fashionable form.</p> + +<p>“The beautiful Bonney girls,” Emmeline, +Sarah and Lucy, afterward well known as Mrs. +Shorey, Mrs. G. Kellogg and Mrs. Geo. Harris, +might each give long and interesting accounts +of early times. Others I think of are the John +Ross family, whose sons and daughters are +among the few native white children of pioneer +families of Seattle (the Ross family were our +nearest neighbors for a long time, and good +neighbors they were, too); the Peter Andrews +family, the Maynards, who were among the +earliest and most prominent settlers; Mrs. Maynard +did many a kindness to the sick; the Samuel +Coombs family, of whom “Sam Coombs,” the +patriarch, known to all, is a great lover and admirer +of pioneers; Ray Coombs, his son, the +artist, and Louisa, his daughter, one of the belles<span class="pagenum"><a id="page503" name="page503">[Pg 503]</a></span> +of early times; the L. B. Andrews family; Mr. +Andrews was a friend of Grandfather John +Denny, and himself a pioneer of repute; his fair, +pleasant, blue-eyed daughter was my schoolmate +at the old U., then new; the Hanfords, valued +citizens, now so distinguished and so well known; +Mrs. Hanford’s account of the stirring events of +early days was recognized and drawn from by +the historian Bancroft in compiling his great +work; the De Lins; the Burnetts, long known +and much esteemed; the Sires family; the Harmons, +Woodins, Campbells, Plummers, Hinds, +Weirs of Dungeness, later of Olympia, of whom +Allen Weir is well known and distinguished; yes, +and Port Gamble, Port Madison, Steilacoom and +Olympia people, what volumes upon volumes +might have been, might be written—it will take +many a basket to hold the chips to be picked up +after their and our <i>Blazing the Way</i>.</p> + +<div class="poem" style="width: 28em;"> +<span class="i5">HAIL, AND FAREWELL.</span> +<br /><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Heroic Pioneers!</span> +<span class="i0">Of kings and conquerors fully peers;</span> +<span class="i0">Well may the men of later day</span> +<span class="i0">Proclaim your deeds, crown you with bay;</span> +<span class="i0">Forest-fallers, reigning kings,</span> +<span class="i0">In that far time that memory brings.</span> +<span class="i0">Nor savage beast, nor savage man,</span> +<span class="i0">Majestic forests’ frowning ban,</span> +<span class="i0">Could palsy arms or break the hearts,</span> +<span class="i0">Till wilds gave way to busy marts;</span> +<span class="i0">You served your time and country well,</span> +<span class="pagenum">[Pg 504]</span><span class="i0">Let tuneful voices paeans swell!</span> +<span class="i0">O, steadfast Pioneers!</span> +<span class="i0">Bowed ’neath the snows of many years,</span> +<span class="i0">Your patient courage never fails,</span> +<span class="i0">Your strong true prayers arise,</span> +<span class="i0">E’en from the heavenly trails</span> +<span class="i0">To “mansions in the skies.”</span> +<span class="i0">To noble ones midst daily strife,</span> +<span class="i0">And those who’ve crossed the plains of life,</span> +<span class="i0">Far past the fiery, setting sun,</span> +<span class="i0">The dead and living loved as one,</span> +<span class="i0">(Tolls often now the passing bell)</span> +<span class="i0">We greeting give and bid farewell.</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Mother Pioneers!</span> +<span class="i0">We greet you through our smiles and tears;</span> +<span class="i0">You laid foundations deep,</span> +<span class="i0">Climbed oft the sun-beat rocky steep</span> +<span class="i0">Of sorrow’s mountain wild,</span> +<span class="i0">Descended through the shadowy vales</span> +<span class="i0">Led by the little child.</span> +<span class="i0">Within, without your cabins rude</span> +<span class="i0">As toiling builders well you wrought,</span> +<span class="i0">With busy hands and constant hearts,</span> +<span class="i0">And eager children wisdom taught;</span> +<span class="i0">Long be delayed the passing bell,</span> +<span class="i0">Long be it ere we say “Farewell!”</span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Beloved Pioneers!</span> +<span class="i0">Whom glory waits in coming years,</span> +<span class="i0">You planted here with careful hand</span> +<span class="i0">The youngest scion in our land</span> +<span class="i0">Cut from the tree of Liberty;</span> +<span class="i0">To fullest stature it shall grow,</span> +<span class="i0">With fruitful branches bending low,</span> +<span class="i0">Your worth then shall the people know.</span> +<span class="i0">When all your work on earth is done,</span> +<span class="i0">Your marches o’er and battles won,</span> +<span class="i0">(No more will toll the passing bell)</span> +<span class="i0">They’ll watch and wait at Heaven’s gate</span> +<span class="i0">To bid you Hail! and nevermore, Farewell!</span> +</div></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<p>TRANSCRIBER NOTES:</p> + +<p>Punctuation has been normalized.</p> +<p>Archaic and alternate spellings have been retained with the exception of those listed below:</p> +<p>Footnote moved closer to its reference.</p> +<p>page 19: "intenton" changed to "intention" (It is my intention to).</p> +<p>page 19: "desirablity" changed to "desirability" (beauty and general desirability).</p> +<p>page 36: "strivinig" changed to "striving" (impotently striving to stay).</p> +<p>page 49: "Capt" changed to "Cape" (around Cape Flattery and up the Sound).</p> +<p>page 52: "comformation" changed to "conformation" (and the conformation of the leg bones).</p> +<p>page 54: "To" changed to "Too" (Too littlee boat for too muchee big waters).</p> +<p>page 61: "of" changed to "off" (the salmon they got off the Indians).</p> +<p>page 66: "[A]pheasant'" changed to "[A]pheasant's" (bringing some wild [A]pheasant's eggs the men).</p> +<p>page 73: "funiture" changed to "furniture" (the furniture of their cabin).</p> +<p>page 74: "buldings" changed to "buildings" (historic buildings erected and occupied).</p> +<p>page 79: "to" changed to "too"(where my men go, I go too).</p> +<p>page 85 and 263 : "Klikitats" changed to "Klickitats" to match spelling using in other places in the book.</p> +<p>page 86 and 277: "whiskey" changed to "whisky" to match spelling in other places in the book.</p> +<p>page 90: "descrtuction" changed to "destruction" (looked sorrowfully upon the vandal destruction).</p> +<p>page 103: "wth" changed to "with" (Not yet satisfied with the work of execution).</p> +<p>page 114: "exhilirating" changed to "exhilarating" (found to be an exhilarating pastime).</p> +<p>page 119: "prespiration" changed to "perspiration" (and perspiration ooze from every pore).</p> +<p>page 119: "necleus" changed to "nucleus" (to be the nucleus of a great collection).</p> +<p>page 129: "isnt'" changed to "isn't" (Well, it isn't yours).</p> +<p>page 131: "Denny's" changed to "Dennys'" (to and fro in the Dennys' cottage).</p> +<p>page 147: "occured" changed to "occurred" (The first occurred when I was a small child).</p> +<p>page 149: "well-night" changed to "well-nigh" (its head was well-nigh severed from its body).</p> +<p>page 154: "swop" changed to "swap" (so he told the Indian he would swap his girl).</p> +<p>page 156: "Taulatin" changed to "Tualatin" (Then we moved out to the Tualatin Plains).</p> +<p>page 159: "was" changed to "what" (Arriving at what was called)</p> +<p>page 164: "already" changed to "all ready" (We were all ready to start).</p> +<p>page 169: "hasty-constructed" changed to "hastily-constructed" (to cross them in hastily-constructed boats).</p> +<p>page 170: "hardlly" changed to "hardly" (I can hardly imagine how any one could understand).</p> +<p>page 210: "convenince" changed to "convenience" (what is their daily convenience).</p> +<p>page 240: "withour" changed to "without" (and without murmur).</p> +<p>page 253: "culumny" changed to "calumny" (humiliation, calumny, extreme and underserved).</p> +<p>page 254: "reptitions" changed to "repetitions" (hence there appear some repetitions).</p> +<p>page 263: "setlement" changed to "settlement" (the women in the settlement).</p> +<p>page 270: "flower-decekd" changed to "flower-decked" (flower-decked virgin prairie).</p> +<p>page 276: "shore" changed to "short" (A short time before).</p> +<p>page 290: "diging" changed to "digging" (digging out "suwellas").</p> +<p>page 291: "others" changed to "others'" (best of others' conclusions).</p> +<p>page 322: "accidently" changed to "accidentally" (he was accidentally wounded).</p> +<p>page 325: "tims" changed to "times" (few of us here in those early times).</p> +<p>page 357: "obejct" changed to "object" (And man's the object of His constant care).</p> +<p>page 360: "have" added to text (and would, if living, have made).</p> +<p>page 361: "pollysyllabic" changed to "polysyllabic" (polysyllabic language not more like).</p> +<p>page 363: "explantion" changed to "explanation" (an explanation of his mission).</p> +<p>page 366: "rememben" changed to "remember" (but I do not remember any).</p> +<p>page 384: "supose" changed to "suppose" (Don't you suppose I can).</p> +<p>page 390: "rythmic" changed to "rhythmic" (Fills our pulses rhythmic beat).</p> +<p>page 393: "protuded" changed to "protruded" (their feet protruded below).</p> +<p>page 412: "Or." changed to "Ore." for consistency (Columbia county, Ore.).</p> +<p>page 422: "tself" changed to "itself" (and had buried itself in the earth).</p> +<p>page 423: "ecstacy" changed to "ecstasy" (in a mute ecstasy of mellow satisfaction).</p> +<p>page 424: "Atkin" changed to "Atkins" (Dick Atkins).</p> +<p>page 432: "orothodoxy" changed to "orthodoxy" ('my orthodoxy has been a little shaky of late).</p> +<p>page 453: "hundrd" changed to "hundred" (at three hundred and sixteen dollars per acre).</p> +<p>page 454: "foolhardly" changed to "foolhardy" (he was simply foolhardy).</p> +<p>page 455: "finishishing" changed to "finishing" (while the white pin of the finishing).</p> +<p>page 482: "the the" changed to "the" (and the family moved in).</p> +<p>page 488: "childred" changed to "children" (their children never realized).</p> +<p>page 499: "massacreed" changed to "massacred" (who was massacred).</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blazing The Way, by Emily Inez Denny + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLAZING THE WAY *** + +***** This file should be named 39334-h.htm or 39334-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/3/3/39334/ + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Pat McCoy, Bruce Jones and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp000frontis.png b/39334-h/images/opp000frontis.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..29658dd --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp000frontis.png diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp017.png b/39334-h/images/opp017.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d676c61 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp017.png diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp049.png b/39334-h/images/opp049.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3229e83 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp049.png diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp081.png b/39334-h/images/opp081.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..074f433 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp081.png diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp105.png b/39334-h/images/opp105.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8c4df2d --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp105.png diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp113.jpg b/39334-h/images/opp113.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ea7124 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp113.jpg diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp145.png b/39334-h/images/opp145.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7c67817 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp145.png diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp193.jpg b/39334-h/images/opp193.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..da0d9a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp193.jpg diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp209.jpg b/39334-h/images/opp209.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad62a11 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp209.jpg diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp241.jpg b/39334-h/images/opp241.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc74c2f --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp241.jpg diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp257.png b/39334-h/images/opp257.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3c289de --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp257.png diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp273.jpg b/39334-h/images/opp273.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8be0bcb --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp273.jpg diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp289.jpg b/39334-h/images/opp289.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eaf6a04 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp289.jpg diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp337.png b/39334-h/images/opp337.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5716741 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp337.png diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp369.png b/39334-h/images/opp369.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..aaa2319 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp369.png diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp385.png b/39334-h/images/opp385.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..31d852e --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp385.png diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp401.jpg b/39334-h/images/opp401.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6cd70d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp401.jpg diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp481.png b/39334-h/images/opp481.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eabe658 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp481.png diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp489.jpg b/39334-h/images/opp489.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..05016b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp489.jpg diff --git a/39334-h/images/opp493.jpg b/39334-h/images/opp493.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..50ccf9b --- /dev/null +++ b/39334-h/images/opp493.jpg |
