First published by Charles Bagley in 1888, Arthur Denny's Pioneer Days recounts 
his experiences on a wagon trail from Illinois, describes his role in the 
founding of Seattle in 1851, and provides a short history of the early 
settlement. 

Denny's account is brief, a mere 83 pages, but is delightful to read, both for 
the information it provides about life on Puget Sound a century ago as well as 
for its straight forward style.

Transcribed by lwinn@u.washington.edu
http://students.washington.edu/lwinn/text/index.html

***************


Pioneer Days on Puget Sound

by Arthur Denny


	It is now thirty-six years since I came to Puget Sound, and I am more
and more impressed with the fact as each succeeding year rolls by that
the early settlers of the country will very shortly all have crossed
over the river and be soon forgotten, for we may all concede the fact
that we shall be missed but little when we are gone, and that little
but a short time; but when we have met the last trial and our last camp
fire has died out some may desire a knowledge of such facts as we alone
can give.  I shall therefore give a brief account of my removal to the
Pacific coast and my recollections of early settlements on the Sound,
in which it will be my earnest endeavor to state nothing but the facts,
and I shall confine myself largely to what I know to be true, and when
I have occasion to speak of matters outside of my own knowledge of the
facts stated. No one person can be expected to get all the items or
note all the circumstances that may be of some little interest to those
who are to come after us, and I think it by no means improper for any
of the few early settlers now left, who may be so disposed to
contribute what they can to make up a record, which must now be very
quickly done if done at all.  The most important thing in my estimation
is to make no wrong or incorrect statements.  Let it be the pride of
old settlers to state the truth.  It is no time for romancing or
painting fancy sketches when we are nearing the end of our voyage.  The
work is too serious for fiction.  We want solid facts only. 
	We left our Illinois home on April 10, 1851, and crossed Iowa from
Burlington to Kanesville, a Mormon town, (now Council Bluffs) on the
Missouri river, traveling via New London, Mount Pleasant, Fairfield
Agency, Ottumwa and Eddyville.  We crossed the Missouri river on May
5th and traveled up the north side of the Platte river, and passed Fort
Larimie on Friday, June 6th.  Estimated distance from Missouri river at
530 miles. On Saturday, the 21st of June, we crossed the summit of the
South Pass.  We reached Fort Hall on July 4th, distance estimated at
1,104 miles.  From Fort Hall our line of travel was on the south side
of Snake river.  Saturday, the 5th, we camped a mile or two above
American Falls, and on Sunday morning as we passed the falls we
observed a large encampment of Indians on the opposite side of the
river and an armed party of eight or ten crossing just at the foot of
the falls.  This party came to the front of our little train, which at
the time numbered only four wagons and seven men, and endeavored to
induce us to stop, pretending that they wanted to trade, but we
declined to halt and after we had passed them a short distance they
fired, but on looking to the rear we could only see the puffs of smoke
when they fired from behind the rocks, and at the same time we could
hear the bullets whistle and see the dust fly where they struck, but
fortunately they did not hit any of us. We now saw others crossing and
running down the river toward the mouth of a ravine which we were
approaching, but we succeeded in crossing and gained an advantageous
position where we halted and waited for them to come in range of our
rifles, but seeing our advantage they took good care to keep out of
range.  This was the only instance in which we encountered hostile
Indians on the whole trip.  A few weeks later a family by the name of
Clark, while traveling two or three miles ahead of the main train, were
ambushed and massacred, as near as I could learn at the same ravine I
have mentioned and no doubt by the same band who attacked us.  On
Monday, August 11, we arrived at the Dalles, and John N. Low, C. D.
Boren and myself chartered a boat  to take us and our families down the
river and sent our teams over the mountains by way of Barlow's Pass. 
We arrived in Portland, Friday August 22d.  The estimated distance from
the Missouri river to the Dalles is 1,765 miles-- eighty days' travel. 
Entire time, ninety-seven days, and to Portland, 108 days.  At this
time all the western portion of Iowa was a very sparsely settled
country, and after crossing the Missouri river it was without
settlement to the Dalles, and there we found only traders' tents.  The
ground on which the Umatilla House now stands was then occupied by the
tent of Wm. Craig, an Indian trader of note, and the boat which we
chartered, belonging to a man by the name of Tudor, lay in the mouth of
the creek at that point.  At the Cascades we found the first houses
which looked really like civilization.  F. A. Chenoweth was building a
tram road for the transfer of freight and passengers around the rapids,
and at the upper landing were the Bradfords, Bush and Biship, with
others not now remembered.  There was also a small, side-wheel steamer,
called the Flint, nearly completed intended to run between the Cascades
and the Dalles in which service she entered that fall, but I do not now
remember who built or owned her, but there can be no doubt of the fact
that she was the first steam boat above the Cascades.  The navigation
of that day between Portland and the Cascades differed somewhat from
the present time.  Chenoweth was running an old brig, called the Henry,
no longer fit to go to sea, between Portland and the Cascades.  Our
baggage was the first freight to pass over the tram road, and was taken
over on a car by hand, while we made the trip on foot to the lower end
of the rapids, where we boarded the brig and made the voyage to
Portland by sail and the help of the current.  We found Portland quite
a thriving town probably containing a population of 2,000 or more even
at that early period, giving promise of future greatness.  It was
reported at 821 inhabitants by the census of 1850, and in 1853 claimed
6,000, hence I do not think my estimate for 1851 can be far out of the
way.  
	On leaving home for what we called the Pacific coast we had no other
purpose or expectation than  to settle in the Willamette valley but we
met a man on Burnt river by the name of Brock, who lived near Oregon
City and had come out expecting to meet some friends, failing in which
he turned and came back with us to the Dalles.  He gave us information
in regard to Puget Sound, and called attention to the fact that it was
about as near to the Sound from where we first struck the Columbia
river, now known as Umatilla Landing, as it was to Portland, but as yet
there was not road over the mountains by which it could be reached.  My
attention was thus turned to the Sound, and I formed the purpose of
looking in that direction, but soon after our arrival in Portland my
wife, one child  and myself were taken with ague which held us until
late in the fall, most effectually defeating all my plans for
examination of the country.  In the month of September J. N. Low and my
brother, D. T. Denny, drove Low's cattle over to Judge Ford's, on the
Chehalis river, for winter range, with the purpose also of examining
the country, and while awaiting a report from them I received a visit
from Thomas Chambers, father of David and A. J. Chambers, who gave me
information which greatly increased my interest in the Sound country. 
At Olympia they fell in with Lee Terry, and the three there joined
Capt.  Robert C. Fay, and  came down to the Duwamish river exploring. 
On the 25th of September they went up as far as where H. VanAssalt, L.
M. Collins and Jacob Mapel and Samuel Mapel, had shortly before
determined to locate. 
	While looking around Low and Terry concluded to locate a town site,
and with that view made a joint location on Alki Point, and Low hired
my brother to remain on the claim with Terry, while he returned to
Portland for his family, and on the 28th day of September, Terry and my
brother laid the foundation for the first cabin.  When Low returned to
Portland, the schooner Exact, Capt. Folger, was fitting for a voyage to
Queen Charlotte Island with gold prospectors, and to touch at the Sound
with emigrants, and we determined to take passage on her.  She sailed
on the 5th of November, 1851, and cleared at Astoria, as shown by the
custom house records, on the 7th.  We crossed out on the same day, and
on Thursday, the 13th, our party, consisting of myself and family, 
John N. Low and family, C. D. Boren and family, Wm. N. Bell and family,
and Charles C. Terry landed at Alki Point, added to which were my
brother, David T. Denny, and Lee Terry making in all twenty-four
persons--twelve adults and twelve children--all at the present time
(November 13, 1887,) living but six.  The increase has been
seventy-nine, all now living but six, making a total of 103  persons,
and total number of deaths in thirty-six years, 12.  Our first work was
to  provide shelter for the winter, and we finished the house begun by
my brother and Lee  Terry for J. N. Low, and all took shelter in it
from the rain, which was falling more  or less every day, but we did
not regard it with much concern, and seldom lost any time  on that
account.  We next built a log house for myself which increased our room
very  materially, and made all more comfortable.  We had now used up
all the timber suitable  for log houses which we could get without a
team, and we split cedar and built houses  for Bell and Boren which we
considered quite fancy, but not so substantial as the log  houses. 
About the time we had completed out winter quarters the brig Leonesa,
Capt.  Daniel S. Howard, came to anchor in the bay.  Seeing that the
place was inhabited by  whites the captain came on shore seeking a
cargo of piles, and we readily made a  contract to load his vessel.  We
had no team at the time. but some of us went to work  cutting the
timber nearest to the water, and rolled and hauled in by hand, while
Lee  Terry went up the Sound and obtained a yoke of oxen, which he
drove on the beach from  Puyallup with which to complete the cargo, but
we had made very considerable progress  by hand before his arrival with
the cattle.  Alki Point had not been a general camping  place for the
Indians, but soon after we landed and began clearing the ground for our
 buildings they commenced to congregate, and continued coming until we
had over a  thousand in out midst, and most of them remained all 
winter.  Some of them built their  houses very near to ours, even on
the ground we had cleared, and although they seemed  very friendly
toward  us we did not feel safe in objecting to their building thus
near  to us for fear of offending them, and it was very noticeable that
they regarded their  proximity to us as a protection against other
Indians.  On one occasion during the  winter Nelson came with a party
of Green River and Muckilshoot Indians, and got into an  altercation
with John Kanim 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 Kanim away and keeping them apart
until  Nelson and his party left, and he still lives but John Kanim was
killed years ago in a  similar feud in Tulalip; it, however, was not
unusual for them to have a great war of  words and no one hurt.   
	Col. G. O. Haller tells a good story which illustrates this point
very well, of a    difficulty occurring between two opposing parties on
Whidby Island, in which he thought it was necessary to interpose to
prevent bloodshed.  He called on Tom Squi-qui, who spoke English, to
interpret for him, while he would talk to them and thus prevent
violence.  After he had spoken a few words, Tom exclaimed, "Don't be
afraid Major, they aint going to shoot.  You see if Indian is going to
shoot, he shoot before other fellow gets a chance and then talks." 
	Low and Lee Terry, as before stated, had located with a view of
holding donation claims and laying off a town, which they did toward
spring.  The Terrys being New Yorkers, first named the place New York,
but afterwards changed it to Alki, which all old settlers know
signifies "by and by," "before long." 
	The object of all who came to Oregon in early times was to avail
themselves of the privilege of a donation claim, and my opinion to-day
is that every man and woman fully earned and merited all they got, but
we have a small class of <i>very small</i> people here now who have no
food word for the old settler that so bravely met every danger and
privation, and by hard toil acquired, and careful economy, saved the
means to make them comfortable during the decline of life.  These,
however are degenerate scrubs, too cowardly to face the same dangers
that our pioneer men and women did, and too lazy to perform an honest
day's work if it would procure them a homestead in paradise.  They
would want the day reduced to eight hours and board thrown in. 
	Toward spring Bell, Boren and myself began to look for claims.  We
had looked up the coast toward Puyallup during the winter and did not
like the prospect.  In the month of February we began exploration round
Elliot Bay, taking soundings and examining the timber.  Piles and
timber being the only dependence for support in the beginning, it was
important to look well to the facilities for the business.  After a
careful examination of the harbor, timber and feed for stock, we, on
the 15th of February, 1852, located and marked three claims in one
body.  The southern boundary we fixed on the point at what is now the
head of Commercial street, and on the north where Bell and D. T. Denny,
who soon after located his claim, now join.  We had left out stock in
the Willamette valley to winter, and our plan was to get the stock 
over, and then divide and move onto our claims.  On the 23d of March
the Exact came in on her return from the gold expedition, having failed
to find anything of interest.  Boren and my brother took passage on her
to Olympia on their way to the valley for the stock, leaving Bell and
myself in charge of the claims and families.  I am under the unpleasant
necessity of again speaking of the inconvenience of illness, situated
as we were.  During the winter we did not shake with ague, but had not
fully recovered, and before the return of the boys with the stock we
were all down again shaking every other day, and so continued until
August, which was a very embarrassing situation for me, but I do not
now remember that I ever felt particularly despondent or like giving up
the struggle, for struggle it truly was.  On the 31st of March Dr. D.
S. Maynard arrived at Alki in company with Seattle and a number of his
tribe who had been stopping at Olympia during the winter.  Their object
was to establish a camp for fishing, and the Doctor was intending to
pack salmon when the season for them came.  After an examination of the
point, now called Milton, and other places on the bay they selected the
southern point on our claims.  Maynard at first declined to take a
claim, stating that he only wanted a temporary location to pack fish
for the season, but on further consideration he concluded to accept our
offer and make a permanent location, and we accordingly moved our
boundary north to what is now the south line of Mill street in order to
accommodate him with a claim.  On April 3, 1852, Bell, Boren's family
and Maynard moved over leaving myself and family too unwell to move
until a house could be built.  Bell camped on the north and Boren on
the south side of our territory until they could build cabins for
themselves, and they then built one for me on t he bluff at the mouth
of the gulch which runs to the bay in front of where the Bell Hotel now
stands and moved us over.  The front of our territory was so rough and
broken as to render it almost uninhabitable at that early time. I dug a
well forty feet deep in the bottom of the gulch and only got quick sand
with a very limited amount of water.  Direct communication with the
bay, by which we received all our supplies at that time, was next to
impossible, owing to the height of the bluff, and I next built where
Frye's Opera House now stands, and we divided the territory so  that
each could have access to the water and make the claims as nearly equal
as possible. 
	In October, 1852, H. L. Yesler arrived form Portland, looking for a
location for a steam saw mill.  He was pleased with the situation where
Boren and Maynard joined, and as there had not yet been any claims
filed in the land office. which at this time was in Oregon City, they
each agreed to give him a portion of their territory in order that he
might also obtain a claim.  These several adjustments were all amicably
made, as all were anxious to enlarge the settlement as much as
possible.  The policy of laying off a town, and the name, had been
discussed and agreed upon by us before Yesler came, which accounts for
the fact that he does not appear as one of the proprietors in the first
plat which was filed for record.  All had gone smoothly until the time
when we (Boren, Maynard and myself) were to record a joint plat of the
town of Seattle, when it was found that the doctor, who occasionally
stimulated a little had that day taken enough to cause him to feel that
he was not only monarch of all he surveyed, but what Boren and I had
surveyed as well.  Consequently Boren and I, on the 23d day May, 1853,
filed the first plat of the town of Seattle.   When in the evening of
the same day, his fever had subsided sufficiently, the Doctor filed his
also.  Thus it will be seen that the ground had been occupied for more
than a year before the town was laid off. 
	Early in 1853 J. N. Low sold his interest at Alki Point to Chas. C.
Terry, and moved to the neighborhood of Olympia.  Terry's brother
having previously returned East, he thus became sole owner at the
Point.  On the 18th of April, 1855, he and Edward Lander bought the
front half of the Boren claim, and he soon after opened business in and
became a resident of Seattle, and on July 11, 1857, exchanged his Alki
property for a portion of the Maynard claim, and Maynard took up his
residence at Alki. 
	When our party landed at Alki Olympia was quite a village, having
been settled in 1847 by E. Sylvester.  In 1851 Capt.  Lafayette Balch
located at Lower Steilacoom, and J. B. and John M. Chapman at the upper
town.  Of our emigrant party who came by the Exact, James Hews and
family settled at Steilacoom; H. H. Pinto and family and D. R. Bigelow
at Olympia. John Alexander and family landed at Olympia, where they
wintered and in the spring of 1852 located on Whidby Island.  Alford M.
Miller, who was one of the Exact's party of gold prospectors, also
located on Whidby Island, and H. H. Pinto crossed back and settled at
Cowlitz landing. 
	On the 16th of September, 1851, Henry VanAssalt, L. M. Collins, Jacob
Maple and Samuel A. Maple selected claims on Duwamish river, and on the
27th of the month moved onto them from Nesqually river, where Collins
had previously settled and where also Wm. Packwood and George Shaser at
the time were living, but I have not the exact date of their settlement
on the Nesqually.  There were of this party in all seven persons, all
now dead but VanAssalt.  In the spring of 1851 A. A. Plummer and
Charles Bachelor located at Port Townsend.  A few days after our party
landed at Alki Point, F. W. Pettygrove and L. B. Hastings came across
from Portland and camped over night with us on their way to Port
Townsend, where they made arrangements to locate, returned and brought
their families around on the schooner Mary Taylor, arriving as I have
been informed, on the 19th day of February, 1852.  Of the other early
settlers in the vicinity of Port Townsend  now recalled Albert Briggs,
A. B. Robinson, J. G. Clinger, E. S. Fowler, John F. Tukey, J. J. H.
VanBokkelin, Thomas Hammond, R. Ross, H. C. Wilson, Henry Webber and
James Kaymes. 
	T. W. Glascow told me of a settlement he made on Whidby Island in
1848, or possibly not till 1849, but owing to the threats made by the
Indians he determined to vacate his claim, and in the fall of 1850,
Col. Ebey located on or very near the place he had vacated.  Recently I
received a letter from R. H. Landsale, who came to Oregon in October,
1849, in which he gives a narrative of his early  experience on the
Sound which I think worthy of preservation, and I shall give it in his
own language.  
	"Reached Tumwater in January, 1851.  Founded Major Goldsborough at
Simmon's and Col. Ebey at Olympia.  Being advised by Ebey, started down
Sound February 5th for Whidby Island, with King George, Duke of York,
and Duke of Clarence. Steilacoom was just then being settled, a vessel
unloading at the time.  Reached Port Townsend, saw immense Indian
houses, but no settlers yet.  Plummer not long after took his claim
there.  Crossed to Whidby Island and settled at Oak Harbor, February
10th.  Made a good garden that year.  Col. Ebey told me of Snoqualmie
Falls, and I had Indians take me.  Saw the Falls; prepared and
walked--one Indian carrying baggage--to top of divide in Snoqualmie
Pass.  In the summer Asher Sargent landed horses at Oak Harbor for Wm.
Wallace and family, who settled at Crescent Harbor--so named by myself.
 I had now been many months alone, the few men being off helping to
load piles for San Francisco wharves, so I fastened up cabin, potatoes,
etc., and left to spend the winter at Olympia.  As I approached Alki
Point I saw a white man standing on the beach with a surveyor's staff
in his hand looking to see who the white man approaching might be, and
the man on the beach introduced himself as Arthur A. Denny.  In March,
1852, helped to build a scow to take Crockett and Ebey's stock to
Whidby's Island.  As soon as we landed, I abandoned my claim on Oak
Harbor on account of the mud flats, and took my claim at Penn's Cove. 
In 1851, there were three settlers at Oak Harbor, Martin Taftson,
Clement W. Sumner and Ulric Friend." 
	In the spring of 1853, the brig Cabott Capt. Dryden, came from
Portland with quite a number of settlers for the Island. She made
Penn's Cove by way of Deception Pass.  Of these now recalled who came
by her were James Buzby and family, Mrs. Maddox and family, R. L. Doyle
and wife Mrs. Dr. J. C. Kellogg and family, the Dr. having crossed by
way of the Cowlitz, and Mrs. Smith and daughter, mother and sister of
Dr. H. A. Smith. 
	It may be said with propriety that the settlement of the Sound below
Olympia, or Budd's Inlet, by American citizens, began substantially in
1851.  This remark of course does not include the Puget Sound
Agricultural Company's station at Fort Nesqually, and the Hudson Bay
men connected with it, or even a few American citizens in the vicinity.
 At this time all white men were supposed to know each other, and their
location and occupation, between the mouth of the Cowlitz River and
Cape Flattery. 
	The man who had the best stock of health and the most faith and
pluck, was the most wealthy, for we were all capitalists in those days.
 Each one expected to help himself, and as a rule all went to work with
energy to open up the country and make homes for themselves and at the
same time they were ever ready to help each other in case of need or
misfortune, and I well presume to say that if the people now possessed
more of the spirit that then actuated the "old moss backs," as some
reproachfully style the old settlers, we would hear less about a
conflict between labor and capital, which in truth is largely a
conflict between labor and laziness. We had no eight hour, nor even ten
hour days then, and I never heard of any one striking, not even an
Indian, except that every man who was worthy of the name (and I am
proud to say that there were few exceptions then,) was found striking
squarely and determinedly at whatever obstacle stood in the way of his
success. How unfortunate that it is not so now, for I confidently
assert that for those coming to the Sound now there is a brighter
future and a lighter task if they will but lay hold in the right
spirit, than there was for those who came in early times.  In 1853 we
had quite an accession to ou population on the Sound, from the
immigration of that season, a number of whom came over the mountains by
the Naches Pass. 
	In the fall of 1853, A. L. Porter located a claim on the prairie,
which takes its name from him, and Dominick Corcoran and James Riley
located on Muckleshoot prairie, the three being at the time the
farthest out in that direction. Lower down the valley were Wm. H.
Brannan, Geo. King, Harvey Jones, Enos Cooper, Moses Kirkland, Wm. Cox,
Joe and Arnold Lake, John M. Thomas, R. H. Beaty, and D. A. Neely.  At
and near the junction of White an Black rivers were Wm. H. Gilliam,
Joseph Foster, Stephen Foster, A. F. Bryant, Charles E. Brownell and
further up Black River O. M Eaton, Joseph Fanjoy, H. J. Tobin and Dr.
R. M. Bigelow.  On the Dewampsh River, of those now remembered who have
not already been mentioned, we have John Buckley, August Hograve,
George Holt, Dr. S. L. Grow, G. T. Grow, J. C. Avery, Eli B. Maple, C.
C. Lewis, Bennet L. Johns. 
	On the lake John Harvey, E. A Clark, T. D. Hinckley, Lemuel J.
Holgate, on the bay south of town, John C. Holgate, Edward Hanford,
John J. Moss, and at the mouth of the river Chas. Walker. 
	On the Puyallup were R. A. Finnell, Abiel Morrison and family, John
Carson and family, J. W. McCarty  and family, Isaac Woolery and family,
Willis Boatman and family, Adam Benson Daniel E. Lane, Wm. Kincaid and
family, and others not now remembered-- Nicholas Delin was located at
the mouth of the River. 
	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 at that time to provide feed for them, which caused us a good
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 grasslands to the Northwest, where we might find feed in
case of necessity, but we were to busy to explore until in December
1852, when Bell, my brother and myself determined to look for the
prairie.  It was slow and laborious traveling through the unbroken
forest and before we had gone far Bell gave out and returned home,
leaving us to proceed alone.  In the afternoon we unexpectedly came to
a body of water, and at first thought we had inclined too far eastward,
and struck the lake, but on examination we found it to be tide water.
From our point of observation we could not see the outlet to the Sound,
and our anxiety to learn more about it caused us to spend so much time
that when we turned homeward it soon became so dark, that we were
compelled to camp for the night without dinner, supper or blankets, and
we came near being without fire also, as it had rained on us nearly all
day and wet our matches so that we could only get fire by the flash of
a rifle, which was exceedingly difficult to do under the circumstance. 
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 for
us, and the thing of most interest to us just then, was he had his
pockets filled with hard bread. 
	This was our first knowledge of Shilshole Bay, which we soon after
fully explored and were ready to point new comers in that direction for
locations.  The first to locate were Dr. H. A. Smith, Edmund Carr, E.
M. Smithers, David Stanley, John Ross, F. McNatt, Joseph Overholts,
Henry R Pearce, Burley Pearce and Wm. A. Strickler. McNatt and the
Pearces afterward changed their location, and Ira W. Utter and -- Hall
came in and occupied the ground at first held by them.  Some of them
had the impression that the bay must be a great resort for salmon in
their season, and therefore named it Salmon Bay, but time proved it not
to be a very appropriate name.  The narrative of our travels and
discovery in this case will doubtless sound strange to some now, but it
was not uncommon for inexperienced persons then to get lost between the
bay and the lake, and in some cases it was necessary to look after them
to prevent their suffering.  In April, 1853, Dexter Horton and Thomas
Mercer arrived, and Mercer settled on the claim where he still lives. 
He brought the first wagon to Seattle, and at the time there was not a
rod of road on which to run it, but we improved the trail so that the
wagon could pass as far northward as his claim.  Of the early settlers
in Seattle and vicinity now remembered who have not been mentioned as
locating claims were Hilory Butler and wife, S. W. Russell and family,
T. S. Russell, Robert Russell, Geo. F. Frye George N. McConnaha and
family, Franklin Matthias, Henry Adams, William P. Smith and family,
David Phillips, L. V.. Wyckoff, S. Wetmore and family, M. D. Wooden,
Ira Wooden, Walter Graham, John A. Chase, Wm. G. Latimer, Charles
Plummer, Dr. J. Williamson, William Hefner, S. M. Holderness, David
Maurer, Robert Gardner, Jacob Wibens, Gideon Hubbard, Thomas Steward,
N. H. Oglesbee, John Margrave, J. W. Margrave, Mrs. Conklin, George
Bowker. 
	Of those on Whidby Island not otherwise mentioned were Robert Bailey,
Capt. William Robertson and family, Walter Crockett Sr. and family,
John Crockett and family, Samuel Crockett, Walter Crockett Jr., Charles
Crockett, Hugh Crockett, Samuel Hancock and family, Henry McClurg,
William and Benjamin Welcher, John Kinneth and family, J. S. Smith and
family, Capt. Coupe and family, C. H. Ivins and family, John Thomas and
James Davis, Jacob Ebey and family, Geo. W Beam, Nathaniel D. Hill,
Robert Hill, Humphrey Hill, William B. Engle, C. T. Terry and mother,
Grove Terry and wife, George Kingsbury, Captain Barstow, Samuel Libby,
Robert Hathaway, Thomas Cranney, Lawrence Grennan, Major Show and
family, Isaac Power and family, S. D. Howe, R. B. Holbrook, G. W. L.
Allen, Thomas Hasty and family John Condry J. Y. Sewell, Edward
Barrington, Charles C Philips, Robert C. Fay, Thos. and Samuel Maylor,
Caleb Miller and family, A. M. Miller, John M. Izett, James and Milton
Mounts. 
	Out first year on our claims (1852) was spent in building homes and
getting out piles and timber as a means of support.  That year we were
visited several times by the brig Franklin Adams, Capt. L. M. Felker,
and about as regularly by the brig John Davis, owned and commanded
first by Capt. Geo. Plummer and next by Capt.. A. W. Pray.  Each lumber
vessel carried a stock of general merchandise, and upon them we
depended largely for our supplies.  In the winter of 1852-53, but few
vessels visited the Sound for several months, and as a consequence it
was time of great scarcity, amounting almost to distress.  Our pork and
butter came around  Cape Horn and flour in barrels from Chili, sugar
mostly from China in Mats.  That fall I paid $90 for two barrels of
pork, and $20 a barrel for flour.  I left on barrel of the pork on the
beach in front of my cabin, as I supposed above high tide, until it was
needed. just about the time to roll it up and open it there came a high
tide and heavy wind at night, and like the house that was built upon
the sand it fell, or anyway it disappeared.  It was the last barrel of
pork in King County, and the loss of it was felt by the whole community
to be a very serious matter.  There were different theories about it . 
Some said it would float and had gone out to sea.  Others thought it
had rolled down by the action of the waves into deep water.  We all
turned out at low tide in the night with torches and searched the beach
from the head of the bay to Smith's Cove but the pork has not yet been
heard from.  After the loss of the pork our flour and hard bread gave
out, but fortunately we had a good supply of sugar, syrup, tea and
coffee, and with fish and venison we got along quite well while we had
potatoes, but finally they gave out.  We then had to make a canoe
voyage to the Indian settlement on Black river to get a fresh stock of
potatoes.  Flour sold as high as $40 a barrel, but finally the stock
was exhausted so that it could not be had on the Sound at any price
until the arrival of a vessel which did not occur for six weeks or
more.  This was the hardest experience our people ever had, but it
demonstrated the fact that some substantial life supporting food can
always be obtained on Puget Sound though it is hard for a civilized man
to live without bread. 
	Yesler's was the first steam saw mill on the Sound, and when he began
to cut lumber we built frame houses and vacated our log cabins as
speedily as possible, and I believe his cook house for the mill was the
last log house in use in the place.  In the spring of 1853 J. J.. Felt
located at Apple-tree Cove and built a mill, which after the first
winter, was moved to Port Madison and afterward bought, enlarged and
improved by G. A. Meigs. Isaac Parker, Delos Watterman and S. B. Hinds
came up on the brig John Davis to assist Felt in building Apple-tree
Cove, arriving in Seattle Feb. 9th, 1853, and began work early in
March.  Also in the spring of 1853 Capt.  Wm. Renton came to Alki and
built a mill, which, early in 1854, he moved to Port Orchard.  It now
seems strange that men of such marked intelligence and experience as
they possessed could have overlooked and passed by such superior
locations as Madison and Blakely, but I suppose it was upon the theory
that Puget Sound is all a harbor, and it was not necessary to be
particular, a mistake that has been made in many other cases on the
Sound.  
	In July, 1853, Capt.  William C. Talbot came to the Sound in command
of the schooner Julius Pringle, to select a site for a saw mill, in the
interest of Wm. C. Talbot & Co., the firm being composed of himself and
A. J. Pope, of San Francisco, and Chas. Foster and Capt. J. P. Keller,
of East Machias, Maine.  Among other on the schooner were Cyrus Walker,
present manager of the Puget Mill Company, E. S. Brown, millwright,
Nathaniel Harmon, Hillman Harmon, David Foster and James White, all of
the State of Maine.  The cargo of the Pringle consisted of lumber,
tools and supplies necessary for beginning the proposed enterprise. 
They first anchored in Port Discovery Bay, from whence they made
explorations round the Sound as far south as Commencement Baby, and
finally determined to locate at Port Gamble, to which point the
schooner was brought and discharged as soon as possible, and building
commenced.  On the 5th day of September, 1853, the schooner L. P.
Foster, commanded by Capt. J. P. Keller, arrived 154 days from Boston,
having on board his wife and daughter, who were the first white women
to land at Port Gamble. 
	The Foster brought the mill machinery and general outfit and after
loading with piles at the head of the bay, was taken to San Francisco
by Capt. Talbot, Capt. Keller remaining in charge at the mill, where he
continued as resident partner and manger until his death.  
	This trio of noble pioneers, Pope, Talbot and Keller, being now all
dead, I think I may with propriety speak of their high character for
business integrity and enterprise.  They belonged to that class of men
who do not idly wait for something to turn up, but were full of energy
and push, and not only helped themselves but were ever ready to extend
a helping had to the needy and unfortunate. 
	When Capt. Talbot and party were looking for a location they found
Capt. Wm. P. Sayward, and J. K. Thorndyke busily engaged in building a
mill at Port Ludlow, which in time became one of the principal mills on
the Sound and has finally become the property of the Port Gamble or
Puget Mill Company.  Sayward, one  of the founders, died suddenly in
California, and Thorndyke, I think, is still living.   
	In 1853 Utsalady was located by Laurance Grennan and two partners,
Thompson and Campbell, and in 1858 Thomas Cranney brought an interest,
and under the firm name of Grennan & Cranney, they built a sawmill and
operated it in connection with the shipment of spars to Europe, which
was for a time their principle business.  This mill has also become the
property of the Puget Mill Company, and is now one of the largest mills
on the Sound.  Mr. Grennan, one of the founders died in 1869. 
	Seabeck was located in 1856 by a company composed of Messrs. S. Adams
and Marshall Blinn of San Francisco, and J. R. Williamson, Hill. Harmon
and W. B. Sinclair, of the Sound.  Work was commenced by Williamson in
the fall for that year and Blinn also came up the same fall with the
bark Brontes, and in July, 1857, they began to cut lumber. 
	The first settler at Dungeness was Daniel F. Brownfield in 1852,
followed by B. J. Madison, J. C. Brown, Charles M. Bradshaw Elliot
Cline, John Thorton, Capt. E. H. McAlmon, Thomas Abernethy, John Bell,
S. S. Erwin, John W. Donnell, G. H.. Gerrish, Daniel Smalley and some
others not now remembered. 
	The first settlement on Bellingham Bay was in 1852, and those I now
remember were Capt. Pattle, Henry Roeder, R. V. Peabody, Edward
Eldridge, Daniel Harris, Capt. William Utter, A.  M. Poe, John Bennett
and E. C. Fitzhugh.  
	The first settlement was made on the Snoqualmie river, on the prairie
above the falls, by the Kellogg Bothers in the spring of 1858, followed
in the summer by J. W. Borst.  Their only means of transportation at
that time was by canoe from Seattle, by way of the Sound and Snohomish
river, and there was not then a house to be seen on the whole voyage
between Salmon Bay and their little settlement on the Snoqualmie.  In
1863 the first settlement was made in the Squak valley by John Casto
and wife,  John Halsted, Frederick Johnston, James Bush and family, Wm.
Dennis, J. P. Addams, Thomas Cherry , Nes Jacob Ohm and L. B. Andrews
and family.  Casto and his wife and Halsted were murdered by Snohomish
Indians in revenge for the murder by some two or three of their people
by a white man, and as usual in such cases, the whites who lost their
lives were in no way connected with the murder of the Indians.  This
circumstance, though not indicating a general hostile outbreak, had the
effect to break up the settlement for a time.  The name Squak, or
Squawk as I should spell it, is a corruption of the Indian name Squowh,
or as some would think to hear the Indians speak it, might more
properly be written Isquowh.  the tribe or band of Indians inhabiting
Squak Lake and its outlet, numbering not more probably than two hundred
when we settled on the bay, and now almost extinct, were Simumps, and
not as some call them Sammamish.  
	Duwamish, Snohomish and Suquamish are also all corruptions, and would
more properly terminate in "psh" as Dewampsh, Suquampsh, etc.  Our
first effort in anything like public road making was a county road from
Steilacoom City to Seattle.   Wm. N. Bell, L. M. Collins and John M.
Chapman were appointed by the county commissioners' court, of Thurston
County, Oregon Territory, as viewers, and reported on March 23, 1853,
from which I quote as follows: "From Seattle to Collins', on Dewampsh
river; thence on the dividing  ridge most of the way, striking the
Puyallup river one mile above Adam Benson's claim; thence to crossing
of Steilacoom creek; thence to Steilacoom, the terminus."  At the time
this report was made Thurston County had no longer jurisdiction of the
case;  having been divided.  The commissioners' court at the time of
division was composed of Sidney S. Ford Sr., David Shelton and myself,
and I retained and have since preserved their rather curious and now
ancient document.  We, however, did not abandon the effort to get the
road, but proceeded to open it by volunteer work and also a road form
Alki to intersect it near Collins', but these roads were traveled but
little, and after the first year were allowed to go out of use for want
of work to keep them open.  
	By act of Congress, approved Jan. 7th 1853, an appropriation of
$20,000 was made for a military road from Fort Steilacoom to Walla
Walla.  This money was expended under the superintendence of Capt. Geo.
B. McClellan, of the regular army, afterward Major General, in the year
1853, by way of the Naches Pass and as elsewhere stated, a number of
emigrants came over in that season.  
	Our people at once turned their attention to opening a road from
Seattle to intersect this military road, and practically accomplished
it, but by the next season it was found that the military road was not
a success, as a wagon road across the mountains, and we next turned in
the direction of the Snoqualmie Pass so called at the time, but it was
what in later times has been called Cedar River Pass.  It was in early
times used by  the Indians and Hudson Bay men as a pack trail and was
sometimes called by them Green River Pass.  This trail came over form
Nesqually and crossed Cedar River, well up that stream, and was
intersected by another from Snoqualmie prairie, and thence over the
mountains to the foot of Lake Kitcheles, and thence down the Yakima.  
	There was another line sometimes used by the Indians, called the foot
trail, which ran from the prairie up the south fork of the Snoqualmie
to a point within about five miles of the pass, and then crossed over
the divide to the West side of the lake, It was by this foot trail that
Lieutenant Tinkam came over in February 1854.  In the early summer of
1855 a party went out on a road expedition, composed of Judge Lander,
Dexter Horton, F. Matthias, Chas. Plummer, C.D. Boren, A. F. Bryant, J.
H.. Nagle, Chas. Walker, Dr. Bigelow,, and some others not now
remembered. They went  out by way of Squak and the falls of Snoqualmie.
 Some of them went over the mountains by the foot trail to the lake,
and others by the horse trail.  At one time they were camping at what
is known as Rattlesnake prairie, and one of the party was startled by a
rattling in the weeds, and reported that he heard a rattlesnake, which
investigation proved to be simply the dry seed pods of a weed, but it
was sufficient to give a name to the place which it has ever after
kept.  
	The party here again divided, some following the old trail over to
Green River and others down the Cedar..  As a result of this
exploration we proceeded to cut a trail out by way of Meridian prairie
and thence crossing Cedar river at the old Green river trail and out by
Rattlesnake Prairie; but this trail was never traveled to any extent. 
	The Oregon legislature session of 1852-53, divided Thurston county,
forming on the north Pierce, King, Island and Jefferson , and appointed
as a county board for King, J. N.. Low, L. M. Collins, and myself,
County Commissioners; H. L. Yesler , Clerk, and C. D. Boren Sheriff. We
all qualified except J. N. Low, and held the first Commissioners' Court
March 5th, 1853.  
	We obtained our mail from Olympia, the nearest postoffice, by a canoe
express for which service we hired Robert Moxlie to make weekly trips
between Seattle and Olympia.  All were required to pay twenty-five
cents a letter, and nearly all subscribed something in addition to
support the express.  For this service I gave the lot now owned by M.
R. Maddox upon which the City Drug Store now stands.  Our last express
was received August 15th, 1853, and brought us twenty-two letters and
fourteen newspapers.  August 27th, having been appointed postmaster, I
received the first United states mail ever delivered in Seattle, and
opened the office in  a log cabin, where Frye's Opera House now stands.
 I, however, was not permitted to enjoy the distinguished honors and
immense emoluments of the position long.  Dr. Maynard and two or three
kindred spirits very secretly represented to the Department that I was
not in sympathy with the administration; in fact that I was not only
Whig but an "offensive partisan," and got me relieved Oct. 11th, 1853,
by the appointment of W. J. Wright, a little drunken doctor. 
	This intrigue was discovered not long after the petition had gone on,
and Geo. N. McConnaha and other friends of the administration--in other
words Democrats--forwarded a protest, and on May 4th, 1854, I was
recommissioned by Horatio King, First Assistant Postmaster-General; but
I declined the appointment.  About this time Wright left the country,
forgetting to pay his bills before starting, or settle with the
Department, and Chas. Plummer was next appointed.  
	In early times we occasionally saw the Hudson Bay steamers, Beaver
and Otter, passing to and from the station at Nesqually, but as yet no
American steamer had ever navigated these waters.  The first American
steamboat was brought to the Sound by her owners, A. B. , David and
Warren Gove, on the deck of the bark Sarah Warren, in October, 1853.  
She was a small side wheeler called the "Fairy," and made several trips
to Seattle, and occasionally lower down the Sound, taking the place f
our canoe express in carrying the mail but she proved insufficient, as
a sea boat on the Lower Sound and a small sloop called the "Sarah
stone," was for a time put on the line by Slater & Webber.  In the fall
of 1854, James M. Hunt and John N. Scranton brought up the "Major
Tompkins" and contracted to carry the mail on the Sound, running
through to Victoria, and in March, 1855, she was wrecked in entering
Victoria harbor.  The next steamer was the iron propellor "Traveler," 
which came in the summer of 1855, and was commanded by Capt. J. G.
Parker,  Next was the "Water Lilly," a small side wheel boat, brought
up by Capt. Wm. Webster. 
	The fifth and last one I shall mention was the " Constitution," put
on by Hunt and Scranton to fill the place of the "Major Tompkins." 
	The first religious service in Seattle was by Bishop Demers, a
Catholic, in 1852.  The next was by Rev.  Benjamin F. Close, a
Methodist, who came to Olympia in the spring or early summer of 1853,
and made several visits to Seattle during the summer and fall and the
same season Rev. J. F. DeVore located at Steilacoom.  C. D. Boren
donated two lots for a Methodist Episcopal church, and in November,
1853, Rev. D. E. Blaine and wife arrived and Mr. Blaine at once engaged
in the work of building a church on the lots donated by Boren  This was
the first and only church in the place until 1864, when Rev. Daniel
Bagley built the  Methodist Protestant Church, which he painted brown,
and the other being white they were ever afterward designated as the
"White " Church and the "Brown" Church. 
	Mrs. Blaine taught the first school, Miss Dorcas Phillips he second
and E. A. Clark the third.  
	These were not free schools, in fine and well-furnished houses, such
as the youth of the place is now favored with.  We were then glad to
get schools at any cost and paid the expense without a murmur; but
there is a vast difference now.  I am proud of the schools of Seattle
to-day, where a high school education is furnished free to every child
who choose to take it, and I regret that it is in many cases so little
appreciated by both parents and children that it almost justifies the
expectation that the next step will be to pay the children for going to
school, and allow them to strike for higher wages and shorter days with
the privilege of arbitrating the matter in the end. 
	The first Fourth of July celebrations north of the Columbia River,
of which I have any knowledge, was held at Olympia July 4th, 1852, on
the hill, where the old schoolhouse stood, but it was then new and
unfinished.  D. R. Bigelow was orator and B. F. Shaw, marshal, but I do
not now remember who read the declaration. 
	It was quite a respectable celebration, and was attended by most of
the population within a day's travel, and quite a number like myself,
from a greater distance.  Those times we traveled almost entirely by
canoe and never expected to make the trip from Seattle to Olympia in
less than two days.  In the winter I have frequently been three days,
and camped on the beach at night, and on one trip-- I well remember--In
December, 1852, the weather was so  stormy I had to camp two nights
before reaching Steilacoom.  
	In after years I have paid as high as ten dollars steamer fare to
Olympia, and when it got down to six dollars we thought it very
reasonable.  It always cost me more than that amount by canoe, when
traveling alone with an Indian crew, to say nothing of the comfort and
time saved by steamer, and time was quite as much of an object with us
capitalists then as now. 
	We all had to make the time count--no time for standing round and
finding fault because  someone else had the best show, or strike for
higher wages an expect some one to feed us while we were refusing to
work, as now seems to be the case.  During the first two or three years
after the settlement of the Sound fairly commenced, the Indians were
generally friendly, but in a few instances they committed murders when
they thought it could be concealed.  A man with whom I personally
acquainted, by the name of Church, came to the Sound in the fall of
1851, and that winter went to Whidby Island, locating on Crescent
Harbor, and was killed not long after by the Indians.  For this murder
one Indian was convicted and executed at Penn's Cove, and a surveyor by
the name of Hunt was murdered on the Swinomish Slough, for which two
Indians were convicted and handed at Whatcom.  Another case which I
remember was man by the name of Young, who had hired Indians to take
him down on the east side of Whidby Island in February 1853, and was
murdered by the two Indians he had in his employ.  The murder was soon
discovered and T. S. Russell, deputy sheriff with a party of four white
men and four Indians, went down to Holmes Harbor to arrest the
murderers, which they succeeded in doing, but after getting them into
their canoe, were fired upon by the Indians on the shore.  One man Dr.
W. F. Cherry, was mortally wounded and died the next day, March 6th,
1853.  The whites were all wounded, but none of them seriously, except,
Cherry. One of the prisoners was killed, the other escaped.  One of the
Indian crew was mortally wounded, and the other three escaped without
injury.  The whites claimed that they killed several of the hostile or
attacking party.   
	There was also a white man killed in 1853, and buried on Lake Union
near where the street railroad terminates at present .  These Indians
reported this murder, and the body was disinterred, but could not be
identified.  Two Indians were hanged for this murder without legal
trial, and precious to this, in July, 1853, and Indian had been hanged
for killing his cloochman, the same day he had committed the deed. 
Three persons-- all now dead-- were indicted for this offense, one of
them was tried and acquitted, and the other two discharged without
trial.  I have ever been opposed to mob law.  It is a most dangerous
method of punishing crime and settling grievances amongst civilized men
and where savages are concerned it is no better.  I have no doubt that
the two who men , one by the name of Rodgers, other Phillips, were
killed to compensate for the one Indian executed by the mob for killing
his squaw, and  I think that it is safe to say that it has always been
so in dealing with the frontier tribes.  If they commit crimes against
the whites and are dealt with and convicted under due process of law, I
am very sure that the effect is much more likely to be salutary, and
the penalty imposed accepted as a final settlement by the friends of
the offenders.  I think this theory is justified by the result in the
case of the two Snoqualmie Indians who were executed at Steilacoom
barracks for killing Milton Wallace at Fort Nesqually in 1849.  On my
arrival in the country, I early became acquainted with Pat Kanim, Chief
of the Snoqualmies, from whom I learned the particulars of this case. 
He seemed to have a wholesome fear of the law and the power of the
government and professed friendship for the whites the sincerity of
which he after wanted proved to the fullest extent, but the whites then
in the country were disposed to look upon him and his tribe with
distrust on account of their early trouble. 
	As early as the fall and winter of 1854, he gave me information of
the growing dissatisfaction and feeling of hostility among the Indians
east of the mountains, and by the spring of 1855, he showed such
concern that I became convinced of his sincerity. I could see no motive
but friendship, when he came to me privately in the night to warn me of
approaching danger to the whites.  When he made his last visit and
communication to me in the fall of 1855, shortly before the Indian
outbreak, he stated that he was going up the Steilaguamish river to
hunt mountain sheep, a circumstance to which I shall again refer. 
	In the summer of 1855, O. M. Easton and Joseph Fanjoy crossed the
mountains over the Cedar river trail on a mining expedition, followed
not long after by a party composed of L. O. Merilet, J. C. Avery, Chas.
Walker, -- Jamieson and Eugene Barier. 
	After this last named party had reached a point in the Yakima valley,
near Simcoe, and while Jamieson and Walker were traveling a short
distance in advance of the other three, they were shot down by Indians.
Fortunately those behind discovered what had happened in time to take
to the brush and make their escape.  They keep under cover during
daylight and traveled by night without trail or other guide than their
own skill as woodsmen, and succeeded in reaching the settlement in a
famishing condition.  
	The day before the return of this party Judge Lander, Hilory Butler
and myself started for a trip, looking to an improvement of the road
over the mountains, and camped at Black river, where we were to be
joined by Dr. Bigelow, but when this party reached town and reported,
it was at once seen that the Indians east of the mountains were picking
off all straggling parties, and a messenger was sent to call us back,
lest we should fall into a trap like Walker and Jamieson, and no doubt
Eaton and Fanjoy before them, as they were never heard of after. 
Shortly after this-- date give by A. L. Porter, which I accept as
correct, as September 27th, his house was attacked in the night, but he
had been apprehensive of danger for some time, and adopted the policy
of sleeping in the brush near by, and when the attack was made on his
house he at first thought it might be a party of whites wanting to stop
for the night, and approached so near in order to learn who it was,
that he came very near failing to escape.  Fortunately, however, he did
escape, and warned the other settlers of the danger; thus warned, they
came to Seattle for safety.  Just at this time the sloop of war
Decatur, Capt. Isaac S Sterrett, came to anchor in the harbor, and we
at once made a statement to him of our exposed situation, and request
for protection, which he promptly promised to give.  Gov. Stevens had
but recently made treaties with all the Indians on the Sound, and in
the Yakima county and was at this time in the Bitter Root country, not
aware of what was transpiring behind him; in fact not suspecting any
treachery or bad faith on the part of the tribes he had so recently
treated with. 
	It was also most unfortunate that those having charge in his absence
were not calculated to deal understandingly with the Indians and
refused to believe that there was any danger until the outbreak came.
when in fact there was abundant evidence of the impending danger.  When
Acting Gov. Mason heard that Porter's house had been attacked, and that
through his escape and warning, the settlers on the upper White river
had left their homes and come to Seattle for safety and were engaged in
building block houses, he took Lieutenant Nugent with a squad of
soldiers from Steilacoom barracks and went out by way of Puyallup to
Mukilshoot and Porter's prairie and had a talk with the Indians, who
succeeded in deceiving him by professing friendship for the whites,
telling him that they were foolish for leaving and ought to come back. 
He came down White river by canoe to Seattle, and told the people they
ought to return to their homes at once, and were perfectly safe in
doing so.   
	He then went on board of the Decatur and made the same report to
Captain Sterrett, telling him that it was all a false alarm, and that
he might with perfect propriety leave at any time, and without delay,
departed for Olympia himself.  Capt. Sterrett at once concluded that he
had been victimized by a set of land sharks for purposes of trade, and
singled me out as one of the chief offenders.  He accordingly came on
shore as soon as Mason and Nugent had left, and called on me and in a
very heated manner, stated what Mason had said; that he felt that he
had been grossly deceived and imposed upon by us, and that he would
immediately get his ship under way and leave.  I replied that Mason,
and those to whom we had a right to look for protection, were deceived,
and that Mason had now deceived him, but if he chose to believe Mason
and desert us in time of extreme danger, I had no power to prevent his
doing so; and further, if our people, who were then here in safety,
were included by Mason's advice, to return to their homes they would be
murdered within a fortnight.  After reflecting a short time he
remarked, "How can I tell whom to believe; you seem to be so earnest I
will stay and find out for myself."  Some of us tried to induce those
who were here, but a number of them came to the conclusion that Porter
was alarmed without cause, and that Mason ought to know best and must
be right, and so returned to their homes.  It may now seem strange that
there could have been any doubt of the true situation, when it is
remembered that the fact was known to all that Walker and Jamieson had
been killed, and that Eaton and Fanjoy were missing, with no reason to
doubt that they had shared the same fate, yet many of the citizens were
ready to agree with Mason, and ridicule those who had given timely
warning, calling them timid and even cowards.  Within the time I had
predicted to Capt. Sterrett the outbreak came and on the 21st of
October, 1855, Wm. H. Brannan, wife and child, Harry N. Jones and wife,
Geo. E. King and wife and Enos Cooper were killed, and an infant child
of King's could not be found--whether it was killed or carried off will
never be known certainly though there is reason to believe that it was
killed and burnt in the house.  
	The settlers lower down the valley narrowly escaped and succeeded
in again reaching Seattle in safety.  The consternation and alarm was
now general, and none could be found to doubt the fact that the Indians
were unfriendly.  Those who, a short time before insisted that the
Indians were all friendly, would now declare most vehemently that all
were hostile, and must all be treated as enemies. 
	Immediately after the White river massacre, Lieut. Slaughter was
ordered up the old military road, to the Naches Pass, and after
reaching Porter's prairie, he sent down an express to Gov. Mason,
stating that Pat Kanim was dogging him at every step, and around his
camp every night.  On receipt of this dispatch, Mason sent and express
to Capt. Sterrett at Seattle, instructing him to immediately arrest two
of Pat Kanim's brothers, with all members of the tribe who were then
camping in Seattle, and put them in irons.  Having previously stated to
Capt. Sterrett that I had received information from Pat Kanim that
convinced me of his friendship and that of his tribe, the Captain did
not feel willing to take so important a step without consulting with
me, and sent for me to come on board the Decatur, when he stated what
he was directed to do, and that he must make the arrest at once, for
the Snoqualmies would certainly leave during the night. 
	This was startling news to me, and I most earnestly protested,
telling him that I knew Lieutenant Slaughter was mistaken, and that we
had enemies enough to look after without attacking our friends; but he
was so much disposed to act on Gov. Mason's orders that I finally
proposed,  if he would not disturb the Snoqualmies, I would be
responsible for their good conduct, and would probe to him that
Slaughter was wrong, by going to Pat Kanim's camp and bringing him in. 
He very positively refused to allow me to leave town, but consented
that I might send an express for Pat Kanim, and stand responsible for
them until their return, having a time agreed upon within which they
would be back.  Very fortunately for me, and probably for Pat Kanim
too, he was on hand within the time agreed upon.  He had his women and
children with him, and also brought a cargo of mountain sheep, venison,
horses and hides specimens of which he took on board and presented to
the Captain, who expressed the greatest surprise and satisfaction with
the conclusive proof, which I had thus furnished, of the good faith and
friendship of the Snoqualmies.  I never heard anything more from
headquarters of the hostile Snoqualmies,  but Pat Kaman was very soon
employed by the Governor with a party of his tribe, as  scouts and did
good service during the continuance of the war. 
	Now to refer again to the evil effects which have always, in my
opinion, followed any attempt to publish Indians by mob violence, as
was done here in the case cited before, in which tow white men were
secretly made  way with, I think the case of the Snoqualmies furnished
the strongest proof, that the effect  is very different, where they can
see that there is careful, dispassionate investigation, followed by
punishment for the wrong committed.  Pat Kanim and his brothers gave me
the particulars of their case, as I have before stated and professed to
accept the judgment of the court as just, and expressed a wish to
cultivate friendship with the whites and I thick we have conclusive
evidence of the sincerity of their professions, and that they were ever
afterwards the friends of the whites.  I will say farther, 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. 
	After the White river massacre it was determined to prepare for
defense in case of an attack on the town.  At the time there was a
large amount of hewn timber on hand twelve inches square, which was
well suited to the purpose.  Two houses were built of this timber, of
sufficient capacity to hold the entire population at the time.  One was
located at the junction of Front and Cherry streets, and the other at
the junction of Main an South Second streets, and the two joined by a
stockade which also ran from each blockhouse westward to the bay, and
was well calculated for protection on the land side of the town, from
whence all attacks were likely to come.  Early in the morning of
January 26th, 1856 the town was attacked by the Indians.  They had
congregated during the night and taken their position under the cover
of the timber, along the face of the hill, in readiness to make the
attack as soon as the people began to stir, but their presence was made
known by friendly Indians before the attack was made, and a howitzer
was fired by order of Capt. Gansvort in the direction indicated by the
friendly Indians which was promptly followed by an answer of musketry
all along the woods in the rear of the town, fully demonstrating the
fact that the place was really surrounded by the hostiles.  
	Fortunately all the whites who were sleeping outside of the stockade
escaped to the block houses without injury.  The firing was kept up all
day and two whites were killed, one, Robert Wilson, fell near the
southern block house, and the other, Milton G. Holgate, brother of Mrs.
E. Hanford, and Lemuel J. Holgate, who still reside among us, was shot
while standing in the door of the Cherry street block house.  Two
houses were burnt during the day, one near where the gas works now are
and the other the dwelling of Mr. Bell; several other houses, my own
among the number, were plundered during the evening, and everything of
value carried off. 
	It is a mere matter of opinion whether the town without the aid of
the Decatur would have been able to withstand the attack, but with the
help of the marines on shore and the guns of the Decatur in the harbor
it was quite a different matter.   
	Following the White river massacre the upper valley had been laid
waste, and now  as the hostiles withdrew from he attack on the town
they completed the work of destruction. With the exception of Alki,
which was out of their range and escaped destruction, I do not think
there was a house left standing outside of the present limits of the
town.  There were two or three that had been fired and not entirely
destroyed.  King county, at the commencement of hostilities, was in a
fairly prosperous condition, but now all was in ruins, and the entire
population was compelled to seek shelter and safety in Seattle or
elsewhere, and a great many were so discouraged that they left the
country.  The war continued until the fall of 1856, but I do not
propose to follow the subject father, as the principal incidents of the
struggle are matters of historical record already.  I will say,
however, that under protection of a company of volunteers there was
sufficient ground cultivated in the lower valley to supply the few
families that remained with vegetables for the next winter, but those
were times of pinching want and great privation such as we  never
experienced here except in the winter of 1852-53.  Those who remained
until the close of the ware were so discouraged, and so much in dread
of another outbreak, that they were unwilling to return to their homes
in the country an undertake the task of rebuilding them, and as a 
consequence it was years before we recovered our lost ground to any
great extent.  Business was generally stagnant.  Little in the way of
building or improvement was attempted.  Roads that had been opened
before the war had mostly became well nigh impassable, and some of them
entirely so, and active efforts were not resumed to improve our roads
and open communication with the country east of the mountains until
1865, a period of ten years.   
	In August, 1865, J. W. Borst, Wm. Perkins and myself determined to
make a trip over the Snoqualmie pass proper, for the purpose of finding
a more favorable line for a wagon road than by the Cedar river pack
trail.  At the time we could only find one Indian (Saniwa) who had ever
been through.  He stated that it was lower than where the trail
crossed, but was hard to get through on account of brush and timber,
but was good for a wagon road.  
	He would not undertake the trip, but gave directions to two young
Indians who took us up the foot trail, with which they were acquainted,
and pointed out the line of Lieut. Tinkam's travels and other whites
who had crossed since, but from that point through the pass where the
road now runs to near the head of the lake it was a trackless
wilderness, over which the Indians had not traveled except on rare
occasions, in fact going down by the east side of the lake it made a
distance of at least fifteen miles of unexplored country. 
	On this trip we left Borst's on August 13th, and made our first camp
at about nine miles, on the river bank.  On the 14th, at about
twenty-four miles, we left the foot trail, and at 5 o'clock camped on
the river.  The 15th, at about twenty-nine miles from  Borst's, by our
estimate, we crossed the summit, and at about nine miles from the
summit we reached the trail near the foot of the lake, where we found
John Ross, L.V. Wyckoff and Saniwa camped with our horse awaiting our
arrival.  I am aware that it is understood by some that Tinkam and
others had been over the some ground before, but I know from the
statement of the Indians and from our own observations that such is not
the fact. 
	From the camp at the foot of the lake Borst, Perkins and Indians
returns and Wyckoff, Ross and myself proceeded down the valley to the
old military road, and returned over the Naches Pass.  At this time
there was not a white person to be seen on the whole line of our
travels until we reached White river at Thomas' place. 
	On our return a party was organized to commence work immediately,
under the superintendence of Perkins, to open a road through the pass
by the line which we had explored, and they reached a point that fall
about fifteen miles above Borst's where work was suspended for the
winter, but was not resumed the next season. 
	In the summer of 1867 we again took up the work where Perkins left
off and opened  the road to a connection with the Cedar river pack
trail at the foot of Lake Kichelas.  Thus at last, after years of
effort, was accomplished a work which had been a favorite enterprise
with the people of the middle Sound from its first settlement. The road
was far from good, but it was at the time a great work, considering the
means available to accomplish it, and though poor, it served to open up
direct communication with the country east of the mountains. 
	This work mainly devolved upon and was accomplished by the people
of King County. If the Territory at large could have seen its
importance in the true light this would not have been so, but it would
have been improved and early made a general thoroughfare to the great
benefit of both sections of the Territory. 
	During my residence in this country I have endeavored to avoid making
statements, whether verbal or written, that would be misleading to
those who were looking to this Coast with a view of coming here to
settle; and I never yet advised any one to come, believing that the
only proper thing is for each one to take the who responsibility of
determine for themselves. 
	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 almost 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 the man thus  given them an undoubted right to abuse us
for their lack of food strong sense.  Then we all know too, that it had
been a common occurrence for those same fault finder to leave,
declaring that the county was not fit for civilized people to live in;
and not by any means unusual for the e same parties to return after a
short time ready to settle down and commence praising the e country and
climate as though they wanted to make and s for their unreasonable
behavior in the first instance.   
	I regret that we have no connected and reliable record of rainfall
and temperature from the first settlement of the Sound.   Where it is
necessary to depend upon memory I have found that great mistakes are
made and matters get badly mixed. 
	It is very common, as we all know, to hear people complaining of the
weather, asserting that it is the coldest or the hottest, the wettest
or the driest they ever saw without seeming to think how reckless and
misleading such expressions are.  Then the "oldest inhabitant" so often
confidently states that this is the coldest winter ever known.  The
news reporter interviews him, and out comes the announcement: "Coldest
winter on record," and probably the information that the climate has
greatly changed since the first settlement of the country, and very
likely assign reasons for the change, when, in fact if we had record of
rainfall and temperature for the time covered by the memory of the
oldest inhabitant, and his father before him, we would find that things
had remained substantially as they were ages before.  I will, however
take the risk myself of making some statements in regard to our Puget
Sound climate, which must be based largely on recollection or memory. 
The winter of 1851-2 being my first  in the country I would very
naturally have a more distance recollection of it that of succeeding
winters, and I can confidently say that it was quite a mild winter,  We
had but little snow and no freezing to speak of, ice not more than half
an inch in thickness.  The winter of 1852-3 was one or our coldest, but
I had the misfortune to break my thermometer before it got to the
coldest, and I could not replace it , and cannot, therefore, give the
temperature. 
	We had a twelve-inch snow on the bay, and I was informed that it was
much deeper at the head of the Sound.  The snow remained on the ground
two or three weeks, and ice formed on the mud flats and mouth of the
river, and floated back and forth with the tide so as to seriously
interfere with boats and canoes crossing the bay.  There would be
several hours during flood tide when the ice would be packed up toward
the mouth of the river that the bay was clear, the obstruction
occurring again with the ebb.  
	The coldest winter we ever experienced on the Sound was 1861-2.  I
then carefully observed my thermometer, and the lowest point reached by
my observation was two degrees below zero, and I have never known it
lower than that at any time.  It should be remembered that the amount,
or thickness of ice formed, does not depend so much on the actual
degree of cold as on the duration of freezing weather, and I think this
fact accounts to some extent for the different estimates we get of cold
weather when not based on instrumental observation.  Then there may be
a difference of several degrees in thermometers, and quite as much in
location or exposure; hence we have contradictory reports. 
	Of late years I have kept several thermometers by different makers,
and have compared them carefully to be sure that there was no great
error in the instrument.   With this preparation and a northern
exposure I have noted the following as the coldest days for the three
last winter: 
	February 11, 1884, 6 deg. above zero. 
	December 30, 1885, 10 deg. above zero. 
	January 17,, 1886, 14 deg. above zero. 
	February 4 and 5, 1887, 10 deg. above. 
	The heaviest wind storm since the settlement of the country was on
the night of November 16, 1875.  This was simply a strong gale which
threw down considerable timber and overturned light structures such as
shed and out buildings.  It is safe to assume that there has not been a
hurricane or cyclone on the Sound or west of Cascade mountains for ages
if ever, as there are no marks to indicated to anywhere in the timber. 
The marks and course of a hurricane could be plainly seen and traced in
the timber of this country for hundreds of years. 
	The deepest snow ever known here was in January, 1880, measuring four
feet and a half after it had settled, and would have measured much more
as it fell.  I made inquiry of the Indians, and could get no account of
anything like it before, and it may therefore safely be called unusual,
as the like has not been known to the white inhabitants except in this
instance.  
	In closing I will say that it was not my purpose to come down to a
late date in this sketch, but to confine myself to the very earliest
settlements on the Sound, and I have not to any extent spoken of
settlements at the head of the Sound and beyond it for the reason that
they antedate my time, and I therefore thought it proper to leave that
duty to someone who could to a greater extent speak from personal
knowledge.  Some may also think that I have omitted names which should
have been mentioned.  To this I will say I have doubtless failed to
recall some who were here in earliest times, and where I have spoken of
families I did not think it necessary to name all the member s of each
family.  Also there is a large number who rank as old settlers, and who
are worthy of honorable mention at all times, but do not come within
the time properly covered by these notes, and I hope someone who is
better qualified than myself will take up the history where I now leave
it.


END