Showing 1 - 20 of 81 results
Adams County -- Thumbnail History
Adams County is a predominantly rural county located in southeastern Washington, with Ritzville serving as county seat. Since 1952 Columbia River water brought through the Columbia Basin Project has irrigated region's fertile volcanic soil. Adams County measures 1,925 square miles, ranking it 14th in size among Washington's 39 counties. It is bordered to the north by Lincoln County, to the east by Whitman County, to the south by Franklin County, and to the west by Grant County. As of 2005, Adams County has a population of 17,000, two-thirds of whom live in rural parts of the county. Othello (population 6,120) and Ritzville (population 1,730) are the largest towns. Agricultural pursuits include dry-land wheat farming, irrigated apple orchards, and field crops (primarily potatoes). The vegetable- and fruit-processing industry, especially potato processing and French fry manufacturing, provides most of the county's industrial employment. As of 2006, Adams County's population was 52 percent Hispanic, with most Hispanic residents being of Mexican heritage.
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Bagley, Daniel (1818-1905) and Clarence B. Bagley (1843-1932)
Daniel Bagley was a Methodist preacher who traveled west in covered wagons with his family in 1852 as part of the Bethel Party. He and his wife Susannah Whipple Bagley (1819-1913) and son Clarence Bagley arrived in Seattle in October 1860. Daniel Bagley established the Brown Church in Seattle in 1860 and besides preaching became a key advocate for the Territorial University and its location in Seattle. He also managed the Newcastle coal mines. His only son, Clarence Bagley, was 17 when he arrived in Seattle. He became a printer, publisher, and writer, a founder of the Washington State Historical Society, and the region's first and preeminent historian.
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Bank of Commerce (Yesler) Building (Seattle)
The Bank of Commerce Building (common name, Yesler Building) at 95 Yesler Way, is located on the southwest corner of 1st Avenue S and Yesler Way and was one of three "legacy" buildings commissioned by Henry L. Yesler (1810-1892) to celebrate Seattle's pioneers. Designed by architect Elmer H. Fisher (ca. 1840-1905) and built in 1890-1891, it was called the Bank of Commerce Building after the first of the three start-up banks it incubated between 1891 and 1905. The others were the Scandinavian-American Bank and the Seattle State Bank. All three were instrumental in bringing eastern capital to rebuild Seattle after the Great Fire of 1889, and they supported fledgling businesses, especially those of immigrants from Italy and Scandinavia. Although a third floor, designed by Albert Wickersham (1891-1920), was completed in 1906, the banks eventually outgrew the space, and by 1911 they had all moved to other facilities. The following decades were hard on the entire Pioneer Square area, and this former home of banks was reduced to housing a shoe store, dentists' offices, an Army surplus store, the Afro-American Club, and other short-term tenants. After World War II, the Yesler Building became one of the many properties of landowner Sam Israel (1899-1994), and is currently owned by Samis, the foundation he established in 1987. In 1970, the Pioneer Square area where the building is located was designated as both a National Historic District and a local preservation district, and shortly thereafter the building was upgraded structurally and renovated. Today, in 2009, the building remains the property of Samis, and temptingly offers the Rocky Mountain Candy Company on the first floor and Skyn Spa upstairs.
File 8984: Full Text >
Bell, William Nathaniel (1817-1887)
William Nathaniel Bell and his wife Sarah Ann (Peter) Bell (1819-1856) were members of the Denny party that arrived on Alki (present-day West Seattle) on the schooner Exact in 1851. The Bells helped to establish the settlement that became Seattle, settling north of the future downtown in "Belltown." After Indians attacked Seattle on January 26, 1856, William Bell and his ailing wife left Seattle for California. Sarah Ann died that year, but Bell did not return until 1870. He sold some of his lots, which had become valuable, built the Hotel Bellevue, and engaged in other businesses.
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Bengston Cabin (Sammamish)
The Bengston cabin, located in Sammamish (eastern King County) on Duane Isackson's property at 3019 244th Avenue NE, is the oldest-standing pioneer structure in Sammamish. Built in approximately 1888, the cabin served as the home of James and Johanna Bengston until Johanna passed away in 1946. Vacant since the 1950s, the little modest one-room (plus closet) log cabin is today (2008) slowly deteriorating, but still stands as mute testimony to the pioneer era on the Sammamish Plateau in the late nineteenth century. This account, written by Sammamish Heritage Society historian Phil Dougherty, reprints Dougherty's articles, "Little House on the Plateau" (Sammamish Review, July 30, 2008, p. 10) and "Pioneer Spirit Lives On in Sammamish Cabin" (Sammamish Review, August 6, 2008, pp. 12-13) and is reprinted with the kind permission of the Sammamish Heritage Society.
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Blaine, David (1824-1900) and Catharine Paine Blaine (1829-1908)
David Blaine and Catharine Paine Blaine came to Seattle from Seneca Falls, New York, the site of America's first women's rights convention, in which Catharine Paine participated. The Blaines were Methodist missionaries who arrived in Seattle in 1853 via the Isthmus of Panama sea route. David founded Seattle's first church, called the "Little White Church," and Catharine became Seattle's first teacher and school administrator. After the January 1856 Battle of Seattle (a conflict with Indians), the Blaines left for missionary duty in Portland. They returned to Seattle in retirement in 1882.
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Boren, Carson Dobbins (1824-1912)
The pioneering contributions of Carson Dobbins Boren to the founding of Alki (in future West Seattle) and Seattle began and ended within a short period of six years. Carson Boren was a member of the Denny party, which arrived in 1851. He was the brother of Mary Ann (Boren) Denny (1822-1912), who was married to Arthur Denny (1822-1899), and Louisa Boren Denny (1827-1916), whose marriage to Arthur's younger brother David Denny (1832-1903) was the first non-Indian wedding in Seattle. Arthur Denny was the acknowledged leader of the immigrant party that chose Seattle as the site of a future town.
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Borst, Jeremiah (1830-1890)
Jeremiah Borst is considered to be the father of the Snoqualmie Valley, located in north central King County. A soft-spoken man with a lisp, he was the first permanent white settler in the valley. He planted an orchard, raised onions and potatoes, grazed cattle, and eventually went into hop farming.
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Borst, Kate (1855-1938)
Kate Kanim Borst was a Native American woman who was the third wife of Snoqualmie Valley settler, Jeremiah Borst. During her lifetime, she witnessed the transformation of the valley from prairies and Indian encampments to the beginnings of suburbia.
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Bracken, Robert (1841?-1906)
Robert “Bob” Bracken was the first permanent white settler in Asotin County. He arrived late in 1861 when the area was still an Indian reservation. Bracken engaged in stock ranching in Asotin County for more than 40 years, living in various places throughout the county. He later became “the authority” of the history of Asotin County in the 1860s, when it was mostly “Indian Territory.” Bracken died in 1906, but several landmarks in Asotin County still bear his name.
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Brackett, George (1842-1927)
George Brackett is customarily regarded as the founder of Edmonds (Snohomish County) as well as an early logger in Bothell. Born and raised in eastern Canada, he logged there and in parts of the United States before coming to Seattle about 1870. Searching out new stands of timber, he rowed along the eastern shore of Puget Sound in 1870 and was attracted by the site that became Edmonds. In 1876, he purchased acreage and moved there; meanwhile he logged an area along the Sammamish River at a spot still called Brackett's Landing in present-day Bothell. In 1884 he platted a town, which he named Edmonds; after its incorporation in 1890, he became the first mayor. He operated a mill and a wharf and maintained several businesses in Edmonds and was the first postmaster. He donated property for a school after classes were originally held in his barn. He served several terms on the city council, the last one a few years before he died in Edmonds on December 27, 1927.
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Brown, Amos (1833-1899) and Alson Lennon Brown (1868-1942)
Amos Brown was a prominent early citizen of Seattle. He was a pioneering lumberman in the Puget Sound region beginning in the 1850s and had substantial real estate holdings in present downtown Seattle and in several counties along Puget Sound. Amos Brown built a cottage for Princess Angeline, the daughter of Chief Seattle, and in other ways was kind to her. He served as a member of the Seattle City Council, and was remembered as an "honored pioneer of the city." His son Alson Brown became a lawyer, and used his inherited wealth to develop an experimental farm in the Nisqually Valley just south of Olympia. The 2,300-acre farm thrived from 1904 to 1919, and was considered a model of efficiency.
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Bush, George W. (1790?-1863)
George W. Bush (1790?-1863) was a key leader of the first group of American citizens to settle north of the Columbia River in what is now Washington. Bush was a successful farmer in Missouri, but as a free African American in a slave state, he faced increasing discrimination and decided to move west. In 1844, Bush and his good friend Michael T. Simmons (1814-1867), a white Irish American, led their families and three others over the Oregon Trail. When they found that racial exclusion laws had preceded them and barred Bush from settling south of the Columbia River, they settled on Puget Sound, becoming the first Americans to do so. Bush established a successful farm near present day Olympia on land that became known as Bush Prairie. He and his family were noted for their generosity to new arrivals and for their friendship with the Nisqually Indians who lived nearby. Bush continued modernizing and improving his farm until his death in 1863. Named George Washington Bush in honor of the nation's first president, he has no known connection to the family of the two later presidents who share with him the name George Bush.
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Butler, Maude Eliza Kimball (1880-1963)
Maude Eliza Kimball Butler, born 1880, was a pioneer teacher-educator who devoted her life to public service and her family, a fidelity she inherited from her mother and bequeathed to her children and students. She was encouraged to be independent, self-reliant, and curious, and she was. She became a teacher at age 16, Wahkiakum County superintendent of schools at age 23, and widowed at age 36 with three children -- yet following the last, she resolutely survived to become a successful educator and parent. In addition to crusading for education, she pursued a full civic life and nurtured her own children to take on service careers. Her daughter, Julia Butler Hansen (1907-1988) was a groundbreaking state legislator and member of the U.S. Congress, and her son, James H. Butler (1908-1985), was chairman of the University of Southern California Drama Department from 1953 to 1974. Maude was an avid artist and possessed a full range of domestic skills. Said Julia Butler Hansen: "She was a brilliant, able, and talented woman, an excellent citizen and a wonderful mother ... . Her upbringing was strictly Victorian. Hers was a high code of duty, responsibility and morals but she was the most tolerant, adventurous and happy human being I have ever known" (J. B. Hansen to B. Leroy). Maude Butler died on December 9, 1963.
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Cayton, Horace (1859-1940)
Horace Cayton was the African American publisher of the Seattle Republican, a newspaper directed toward both white and black readers and which at one point had the second largest circulation in the city.
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Chief Seattle (Seattle, Chief Noah [born si?al, 178?-1866])
Chief Seattle, or si?al in his native Lushootseed language, led the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes as the first Euro-American settlers arrived in the greater Seattle area in the 1850s. Baptized Noah by Catholic missionaries, Seattle was regarded as a "firm friend of the Whites," who named the region's future central city in his honor. He was a respected leader among Salish tribes, signing the Point Elliott (Mukilteo) Treaty of 1855, which relinquished tribal claims to most of the area, and opposing Native American attempts to dislodge settlers during the "Indian Wars" of 1855-1856. Chief Seattle retired to the Suquamish Reservation at Port Madison, and died there on June 7, 1866. This essay includes a sound recording of the correct pronunciation of Chief Seattle's name, provided by Skagit elder Vi Hilbert (1918-2008).
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Columbia Maternal Association
The Columbia Maternal Association -- the first women's club in what is now Washington state -- was organized in 1838 by the wives of six pioneer missionaries. Only two of the women were mothers at the time, but two others were pregnant, and they all expected that motherhood would be among their primary roles in life. Isolated in what they considered a "heathen land," far from family and friends, they turned to each other for help in "the right performance of our Maternal duties" (constitution of the Columbia Maternal Association). The women had been familiar with such groups through Protestant church circles in their home towns in New England and upstate New York. By creating an association of their own, they connected not only with each other but with the worlds they had left behind.
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Comeford, James Purcell (1833-1909)
James Purcell Comeford first arrived in Snohomish County in 1872 and ran a trading post on the Tulalip Reservation for six years. He founded Marysville in 1878, naming it after his wife Maria. He built the first store and hotel in town, organized its first school district, and established Marysville's first post office. He platted the town of Marysville, and dedicated the filing of the plat in February 1885. Later in life he was active in real estate and was also known as a gentleman farmer. Comeford died in 1909, and is known as the "father of Marysville."
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Conklin, Mary Ann (1821-1873) aka Mother Damnable
Mary Ann Conklin ran Seattle's first hotel, the Felker House, at Main Street and 1st Avenue S. Her profane vocabulary and fiery temper earned her the moniker "Mother Damnable" which later transmuted into "Madame Damnable" when she diversified the hotel business by adding a brothel on the upper floor. She died in 1873. Felker House burned to the to ground in the Great Fire of 1889.
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Cook, Mortimer (1826-1899)
Mortimer Cook (1826-1899), born in Mansfield, Ohio, founded the town of Bug on the northern shore of the Skagit River in 1885 and soon renamed it Sedro. His lasting legacy was building the first drying kiln to reduce the weight of the western red cedar in his sawmill, making rail shipment of the wood more competitive. Cook had founded a town before, Cook's Ferry in British Columbia, after coming to the Northwest during the 1858 Fraser River gold rush. And Cook had built a fortune in California as a banker and as mayor of Santa Barbara before moving his family to the Skagit River. He died in the Philippines in 1899.
File 8902: Full Text >
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Showing 1 - 20 of 134 results
Mexican and Spanish settlers complete Neah Bay settlement in May 1792.
In May 1792, Mexican and Spanish settlers commanded by Salvador Fidalgo complete the first permanent European settlement in present-day Washington at Neah Bay near the northern tip of the Olympic Peninsula. Explorer Manuel Quimper had claimed the bay and named it Nunez Gaona on August 1, 1790. The camp is only briefly occupied before Spain retreats from the Pacific Northwest under threat of war with Great Britain.
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Hudson's Bay Company opens Fort Vancouver on March 19, 1825.
On March 19, 1825, the Hudson's Bay Company opens Fort Vancouver on a bluff above the north bank of the Columbia River where the city of Vancouver, Clark County, is now located. For the next 20 years, the British-owned company, with its Fort Vancouver headquarters presided over by chief factor Dr. John McLoughlin (1784-1857), is the leading non-Indian presence in the region.
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Dr. Marcus Whitman establishes a mission at Waiilatpu on October 16, 1836.
On October 16, 1836, Dr. Marcus Whitman (1802-1847), a Presbyterian missionary and a physician, establishes a mission at Waiilatpu on the Walla Walla River. He chooses the site because of its proximity to the Cayuse tribe and to the Hudson's Bay Company post at Fort Walla Walla. Whitman will assist many wagon-train immigrants from the United States, but will convert few of the natives. In 1847, members of the Cayuse tribe will murder Whitman and other whites at Waiilatpu.
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Robert Newell and Joseph Meek reach Fort Walla Walla with the first wagons driven overland to the Columbia River in September 1840.
In September 1840, Robert Newell, Joseph L. Meek, and their families reach Fort Walla Walla, the Hudson's Bay Company trading post on the Columbia River in present day Walla Walla County, with three wagons that they have driven laboriously from Fort Hall in Idaho. Newell and Meek, fur trappers from the Rocky Mountains, are on the way to settle with their families in Oregon's fertile Willamette Valley. Their wagons are the first to reach the Columbia River over land, and they open the final leg of what becomes known as the Oregon Trail to wagon traffic.
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James Scarborough occupies Chinook Point on the Columbia River on December 1, 1843.
On December 1, 1843, Englishman James A. Scarborough (1805-1855) settles at Chinook Point on the Columbia River in what will become Pacific County, Washington. Scarborough will file a Donation Land Claim and occupy the property until his death in 1855. The land will ultimately become Fort Columbia, part of the U.S. Army’s defense of the mouth of the Columbia River.
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Michael T. Simmons settles at Tumwater in October 1845.
In late October 1845, Michael T. Simmons (1814-1867) of Kentucky Iowa, and Missouri settles at Tumwater near the Falls of the Deschutes River. Tum-wa-ta is a Chinook Jargon word for strong water or waterfall. Simmons calls the location New Market to signify that there is an alternative to the Hudson's Bay Company post at Nisqually. It is the first American settlement in what would become the state of Washington.
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George W. Bush settles with his family at Bush Prairie near Tumwater in November 1845.
In November 1845, George W. and Isabella James Bush and their five sons settle near Tumwater on a fertile plain that comes to be known as Bush Prairie. They and their party, which includes their good friend Michael T. Simmons (1814-1867) are the first Americans to settle north of the Columbia River in what is now Washington. The Simmons party makes the historically significant decision to settle north of the Columbia primarily because the discriminatory laws of the provisional government of Oregon Territory prohibit George Bush, an African American who is a key leader of the group, from settling south of the river.
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Esther Clark Short and her family settle near Fort Vancouver on December 25, 1845.
On December 25, 1845, Esther Clark Short (1806-1862) arrives at the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Vancouver in what will become the city of Vancouver, Clark County. She, her husband Amos Meade Short (1808-1853), and their children explore the area near the fort and the Willamette Valley across the Columbia River before becoming the first American settlers to locate permanently in the future Clark County. They claim a section of land near Fort Vancouver, where they will establish their farm. Their move will lead to tension with the British Hudson's Bay Company, which seeks to confine American settlement to south of the Columbia River. The Shorts will not be deterred and will successfully defend their claim, which stretches from the banks of the Columbia River up to what is today W Fourth Plain Boulevard and Main Street. After Amos's death, Esther will play a pivotal role in building the new city of Vancouver.
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Edmund Sylvester and Levi Smith stake a claim on the future site of Olympia in October 1846.
In October 1846, Edmund Sylvester and Levi Lathrop Smith stake a joint claim to 320 acres on Budd Inlet at what will become Olympia. Smith choses a two-acre clearing to build a 16-foot-square log cabin. The Squaxon tribe maintained a winter settlement there that they called "Cheet-woot" or bear (at high tide, the shoreline resembled a bear). Smith names the property Smithfield. Sylvester settles on Chambers Prairie.
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Native Americans force settlers to leave Whidbey Island in August 1848.
In August 1848, local Puget Sound Indians force two white settlers, Thomas W. Glasgow and Antonio B. Rabbeson, to abandon farms on Whidbey Island, located in northern Puget Sound. Among the Native peoples are members of the Duwamish, Snoqualmie, and Snohomish tribes. It will be two years before settlers successfully establish themselves in the Puget Sound region away from the protection of the two Hudson's Bay Company farms at Nisqually and Cowlitz and the U.S. settlement in the Tumwater-Olympia area.
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Ebey surveys Puget Sound in the spring or summer of 1850.
In the spring or summer of 1850, Colonel Isaac Ebey (1818-1857) conducts a reconnaissance of Puget Sound, including Elliott Bay, the Duwamish River, and Lake Washington. His glowing description inspires several early settlers to make their homes in the Puget Sound region.
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Schuyler and Eliza Saunders settle at future site of Chehalis on May 1, 1850.
On May 1, 1850, Schuyler (1810-1860) and Eliza (1826-1900) Saunders choose a homestead near the confluence of the Newaukum and Chehalis rivers. They are the first non-Indian settlers in the immediate vicinity, though there are a number of other settlements nearby along the Chehalis River. Neither Schuyler nor Eliza have town-building ambitions and the land on which they settle would gain a reputation for its sogginess. But Saunders' Bottom, as it came to be known, would eventually grow into the town of Chehalis with the help of the Northern Pacific Railroad and later settlers' desire to make the town a commercial center.
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John Holgate explores the Duwamish River by canoe but does not stake King County land claim during the summer of 1850.
During the summer of 1850, John Cornelius Holgate (1828-1868) canoes up Puget Sound from the village of Olympia. He explores the Duwamish River, and considers settling on the site (the future Georgetown) claimed the following year by King County's first white settlers -- Luther M. Collins (1813-1860), Henry Van Asselt (1817-1902), Jacob Maple (or Mapel) (1798-1884), and Samuel Maple (1827-1880). Historian Edmond Meany (writing in 1909) and others incorrectly give the honor of "the first settler of Seattle" to Holgate, writing that he selected land but neglected to register his claim.
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Donation Land Claim Act, spur to American settlement of Oregon Territory, takes effect on September 27, 1850.
On September 27, 1850, the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 takes effect. The act creates a powerful incentive for settlement of the Oregon Territory by offering 320 acres at no charge to qualifying adult U.S. citizens (640 acres to married couples) who occupy their claims for four consecutive years. Amendments in 1853 and 1854 continue the program, but cut the size of allowable claims by half.
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Isaac Ebey is the first permanent U.S. settler on Whidbey Island on October 15, 1850.
On October 15, 1850, Col. Isaac N. Ebey (1818-1857) files a claim on Whidbey Island under the Donation Land Law, less than a month after its passage.
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Zakarias Martin Taftezon, Ulrich Freund, and Clement Sumner file land claims to the future city of Oak Harbor on January 4, 1851.
On January 4, 1851, Zakarias Martin Taftezon (1821-1901), Swiss Ulrich Freund, and New Englander Clement W. "Charlie" Sumner file claims under the Donation Land Law at what will become the city of Oak Harbor.
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Alfred A. Plummer and Charles Bachelder settle on the site of future Port Townsend on April 24, 1851.
On April 24, 1851, Alfred A. Plummer (1822-1883) and Charles Bachelder land on a beach at the mouth of Port Townsend, an extensive bay at the northeast corner of the Olympic Peninsula in what is now Jefferson County. They immediately file land claims and begin building a cabin. Plummer and Bachelder are the first non-Indians to settle in the area called Kah Tai by the Clallam Indians whose land it is. Six months later they join with two newer arrivals, Loren B. Hastings (1814-1881), and Francis W. Pettygrove (d. 1887) to establish the new town of Port Townsend, which they name for the bay.
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Luther Collins Party, first King County settlers, arrive at mouth of Duwamish River on September 14, 1851.
On September 14, 1851, Luther M. Collins (1813-1860), Henry Van Asselt (1817-1902), Jacob Maple (or Mapel) (1798-1884) and his son Samuel Maple (or Mapel) (1827-1880) arrive at the mouth of the Duwamish River and Elliott Bay in the future King County and begin exploring the area with an eye to selecting a Donation Land Claim.
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Collins, Van Asselt, and Maple (or Mapel) select first Donation Land Claims in King County on September 16, 1851.
On September 16, 1851, Luther M. Collins (1813-1860), Henry Van Asselt (1817-1902), and Jacob Maple (or Mapel) (1798-1884) and his son Samuel Maple (1827-1880) select the first Donation Land claims within the future King County. The four settlers choose rich Duwamish River bottomland in what would later become Georgetown.
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Denny Party scouts arrive at mouth of Duwamish River in future King County on September 25, 1851.
On September 25, 1851, David Denny (1832-1903), John Low (1820-1888), and Lee Terry (1818-1862) arrive in a vessel commanded by Capt. Robert C. Fay at the mouth of the Duwamish River in the future King County. They camp at Duwamish Head near an Indian village, and there meet Chief Seattle (d. 1866). On the evening of September 27, they greet the Luther Collins party as these settlers pass by on a scow on their way to their Duwamish River claims. On September 28, 1851, Low and Terry select Donation Land Claims on Alki Point.
File 5391: Full Text >
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A Story of Pioneering by Nicholas V. Sheffer (1825-1910), Part 1: Oregon Trail
In 1909, Nicholas Sheffer (1825-1910) was Whatcom County’s oldest pioneer. He prepared his reminiscences for The Lynden Tribune, which ran them in three parts in August of that year as “A Story of Pioneering: Being a Personal Narrative of Early Days in Northwest Washington, told to the Tribune by N. V. Sheffer, of 1854.” HistoryLink.org was made aware of this account by Whatcom County family historian Susan Nahas who connected Sheffer’s information with the HistoryLink.org story of Julia Benson Intermela (1855-1907), the half-Duwamish daughter of Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler (1810-1892). In Part 1 Sheffer treks from Indiana to California to Puget Sound.
File 7975: Full Text >
A Story of Pioneering by Nicholas V. Sheffer (1825-1910), Part 2: Indian Wars
In 1909, Nicholas Sheffer (1825-1910) was Whatcom County’s oldest pioneer. He prepared his reminiscences for The Lynden Tribune, which ran them in three parts in August of that year as “A Story of Pioneering: Being a Personal Narrative of Early Days in Northwest Washington, told to the Tribune by N. V. Sheffer, of 1854.” HistoryLink.org was made aware of this account by Whatcom County family historian Susan Nahas who connected Sheffer’s information with the HistoryLink.org story of Julia Benson Intermelia (1855-1907), the half-Duwamish daughter of Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler (1810-1892). In Part 2 Sheffer serves in the Territorial militia and meets a number of Seattle pioneers.
File 7976: Full Text >
A Story of Pioneering by Nicholas V. Sheffer (1825-1910), Part 3: Gold Rush
In 1909, Nicholas Sheffer (1825-1910) was Whatcom County’s oldest pioneer. He prepared his reminiscences for The Lynden Tribune, which ran them in three parts in August of that year as "A Story of Pioneering: Being a Personal Narrative of Early Days in Northwest Washington, told to the Tribune by N. V. Sheffer, of 1854." HistoryLink.org was made aware of this account by Whatcom County family historian Susan Nahas, who connected Sheffer’s information with the HistoryLink.org story of Julia Benson Intermela (1855-1907) the half-Duwamish daughter of Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler (1810-1892). In Part 3, Sheffer settles his family in Whatcom County near Lynden, but is quickly drawn to look for gold in Canada.
File 7977: Full Text >
A Story of Pioneering by Nicholas V. Sheffer (1825-1910), Part 4: Settlement
In 1909, Nicholas Sheffer (1825-1910) was Whatcom County’s oldest pioneer. He prepared his reminiscences for The Lynden Tribune, which ran them in three parts in August of that year as “A Story of Pioneering: Being a Personal Narrative of Early Days in Northwest Washington, told to the Tribune by N. V. Sheffer, of 1854.” HistoryLink.org was made aware of this account by Whatcom County family historian Susan Nahas, who connected Sheffer’s information with the HistoryLink.org story of Julia Benson Intermela (1855-1907), the half-Duwamish daughter of Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler (1810-1892). In Part 4, Sheffer works his trade as carpenter all over the Puget Sound region and Washington Territory.
File 7978: Full Text >
Arthur Denny: Pioneer Recollections
Seattle Pioneer Arthur Denny (1822-1899) wrote an autobiographical sketch in November 1890. It was printed verbatim in William Prosser's 1903 book, Puget Sound Country and is here reproduced in full.
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Autobiography of Joseph Banyan Hall
Joseph Banyan Hall (1857-1947) migrated to Spokane Falls in Washington Territory in 1884, working as a blacksmith and raising cattle and wheat. He later went into the hardware business in Spokane. Hall penned his autobiography in 1941 and it is here excerpted by his great grandson Richard Hall of Coupeville.
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Ben Snipes, Northwest Cattle King
Roscoe Sheller of Sunnyside gave this talk about Yakima and Ellensburg pioneer Ben Snipes (1835-1906) to an April 1958 meeting of the Spokane Westerners. The talk was published in the Fall 1959 issue of The Pacific Northwesterner and is posted here with the permission of the publisher.
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Boone, George (b. ca. 1844) and Florence (Ritchie) Boone (b. 1859) of Neptune Beach, Lummi Reservation
George and Florence (Ritchie) Boone and their family had the original allotment at Neptune Beach on the Lummi Reservation. This history of the family was contributed by Cheryl Metcalf.
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Central Themes of Washington History: Land, Cities, Women -- a Talk by Brewster Denny
This file contains a talk given by Brewster Denny to the Pioneer Association of the State of Washington on November 2, 1996. Brewster Denny is the great grandson of Seattle pioneer Arthur Denny. The talk is reproduced in full.
File 3262: Full Text >
Colville Valley (1870s-1880s): A 1928 Memoir by Thomas Graham
In 1928, Thomas Graham (1868-1946) wrote a series of articles in the Colville Examiner titled "50 Years Ago," recounting his experiences and observations as a teenager in the Colville Valley. His family had arrived in Stevens County from County Monaghan in Ireland on October 14, 1878, assisted by James Monaghan (1839-1916), who was a brother of Tom's mother, Rosanna Graham. Tom's father, also Thomas Graham, had emigrated from Scotland to Ireland, where he married Rosanna Monaghan. The family of nine sailed from Liverpool to New York, took the Southern Pacific to San Francisco, then a ship to Portland and the riverboat from Portland to The Dalles, where it was always necessary to portage around the cascades before continuing on by steamboat to Wallula. From there, they traveled over the Dr. Baker wood railroad to Walla Walla where James Monoghan met the family with two wagons to transport them over the Colville Road to the Colville area, a distance of more than 200 miles. This trip via Monaghan's LaPray Bridge over the Spokane River, took seven days, the family camping out all the way. They spent one night at the Monaghan homestead, now part of Chewelah, before continuing to Pinkney City, the town that grew up adjacent to military Fort Colville, just over three miles north of present Colville.
File 9188: Full Text >
Cowley, Michael M. (1841-1915), Spokane pioneer
The author of this People's History, Benjamin H. Kizer, was a Spokane lawyer acquainted with local pioneer Michael M. Cowley. Cowley worked as a sutler (an Army storekeeper) and prospector, settled at Spokane Bridge, and finally became a respected Spokane banker. Kizer prepared this biographical sketch for The Pacific Northwesterner, Vol. 9, No. 2 (Spring 1965), pp. 25-31. It is here edited by David Wilma and reprinted with the permission of the publisher.
File 7334: Full Text >
Daniel Drumheller: Good Genes and a Bit of Luck
The writer of this article on Daniel Drumheller was Norman Bolker, a retired physician in Spokane who was interested in western history. This story of one immigrant's battle with disease originally appeared in The Spokane County Medical Bulletin (Fall 1980). It is here reprinted from Norman Bolker, M.D., "Good Genes and a Bit of Luck," The Pacific Northwesterner, Vol. 33, No. 1 (Winter 1989), pp. 14-16.
File 7266: Full Text >
Davis, James S. "Cashup" (1815-1896)
Randall A. Johnson wrote this article about Palouse pioneer James S. "Cashup" Davis in 1968 for The Pacific Northwesterner, the quarterly publication of the Spokane Westerners Corral. Johnson was born in Washington and graduated from Washington State University with honors in advertising and art. He worked as the advertising supervisor for the Washington Water Power Company in Spokane. The article, "Cashup Davis," The Pacific Northwesterner, Vol. 12, No. 4 (Fall 1968), pp. 49-57, is posted here with the permission of the publishers.
File 7279: Full Text >
Denny Party on the Oregon Trail by Dorothea Nordstrand
This account of the Denny Party's journey to the Pacific Northwest from Illinois was written by Dorothea Nordstrand. Nordstrand writes: When I started school in 1921 at the old Green Lake School, two of my classmates were Denny Grindall and Loretta Jennings, who were cousins. I believe they were both descendants of Arthur Denny. Perhaps that triggered my interest in the Dennys. In any case, I have always enjoyed reading about that family and have gathered much information over the years. This is the story of their journey to the Pacific Northwest on the Oregon Trail.
File 5647: Full Text >
Doc Maynard: Seattle Pioneer by Dorothea Nordstrand
This account of the stubborn, original, and generous life of the important Seattle pioneer Doc Maynard (1808-1873) was written by Dorothea Nordstrand.
File 4273: Full Text >
Dorothea Nordstrand recalls homesteading years (ca. 1911-1919) in Tiger, Pend Oreille County
In this People's History, Dorothea (Pfister) Nordstrand recalls her childhood years living in a log cabin in Pend Oreille County. The Pfister family homesteaded near Tiger for about a decade (1911 to 1919). In 2009 Dorothea Nordstrand was awarded AKCHO's (Association of King County Historical Organizations) Willard Jue Memorial Award for a Volunteer, for contributing these vivid reminiscences to various venues in our community, including HistoryLink.org's People's History library.
File 5267: Full Text >
Dorothea Nordstrand tells of the family's historic return to Tiger, Washington, in 2003.
In this People's History, Dorothea (Pfister) Nordstrand tells the story of her family's historic return to Tiger, Washington, on October 3, 2003. Dorothea was born near Tiger in 1916, the third child of Joseph and Mary Pfister. The Pfister family homesteaded near Tiger from about 1911 to 1919. Tiger is located in located in Pend Oreille County. In 2009 Dorothea Nordstrand was awarded AKCHO's (Association of King County Historical Organizations) Willard Jue Memorial Award for a Volunteer, for contributing these vivid reminiscences to various venues in our community, including HistoryLink.org's People's History library.
File 5674: Full Text >
Dorothea Nordstrand tells the story of Dandy, a Pend Oreille County horse in the 1910s
In this People's History, Dorothea (Pfister) Nordstrand tells the story of a horse with a mind of his own. This very strong-minded horse lived with the Pfister family near Tiger in Pend Oreille County. The "Daddy" and "Mom" mentioned in this story were Joseph and Mary Pfister, whose homestead was on Tiger Hill. Dorothea was born there in 1916. The family lived there from 1911 until 1919, when they were granted title to the property, sold it, and moved to Seattle. In 2009 Dorothea Nordstrand was awarded AKCHO's (Association of King County Historical Organizations) Willard Jue Memorial Award for a Volunteer, for contributing these vivid reminiscences to various venues in our community, including HistoryLink.org's People's History library.
File 5447: Full Text >
Dr. Henry Smith's Letter from Snohomish County (December 1863)
Seattle physician Dr. Henry A. Smith (1830-1915) figures prominently in early Seattle history as a doctor, a writer, and a farmer. He has been credited with transcribing Chief Seattle's famous 1854 speech. In 1863, Dr. Smith made a trip north to establish a settlement in the new county called Snohomish. Smith contributed an account to the Seattle Gazette in December of that year. Dr. Smith's letter is here reprinted from the Seattle Gazette (December 10, 1863) and is introduced by Everett Public Library historian David Dilgard. This People's History is reprinted from the Journal of Everett and Snohomish County History No. 1 (Winter 1980-1981), p. 28-29.
File 8307: Full Text >
Eli Mapel (or Maple): Pioneer Recollections, 1902
This file contains the complete text of an autobiographical essay by Seattle pioneer Eli Mapel (or Maple) (1831-1911), the son of Jacob Mapel (or Maple) (1798-1884). Eli arrived in Seattle on October 12, 1852, at the age of 20. He relates his experiences of traveling West by wagon, of the Indian wars, and of farming and logging. His recollections were published in a newspaper clipped by Clarence Bagley and found in Bagley's scrapbook.
File 2645: Full Text >
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