Blazing the Way; Or, True Stories, Songs and Sketches of Puget SoundDenny, Emily Inez
History
Blazing the Way; Or, True Stories, Songs and Sketches of Puget Sound
Denny, Emily Inez
Indians of North America -- Northwestern States; Oregon Territory -- History; Washington (State) -- History
"Miss Louisa Boren, who married Mr. David T. Denny, was the
younger sister of A. A. Denny's wife and came across the plains
with the Denny's in 1851.
"The house of A. A. Denny, in which the marriage took place, was
located near the foot of what is now Bell Street, and was the
first cabin built by A. A. Denny when he moved over from Alki
Point. Seattle was then a dense forest down to the water's edge,
and had at that time, in the spring of 1852, only three cabins,
namely: C. D. Boren's, the bride's brother; W. N. Bell's and A.
A. Denny's. Boren's stood where now stands the Merchant's
National Bank, and Bell's was near the foot of Battery Street.
"At first the forests were so dense that the only means of
communication was along the beach at low tide; after three or
four months, a trail was beaten between the three cabins. David
lived with his brother, but he built himself a cabin previous to
his marriage, near the foot of Denny Way, near and north of
Bell's house. To this lonely cabin in the woods, he took his
bride and they lived there until August, 1853, eking out an
existence like the other pioneers, chopping wood, cutting piles
for shipment, living on anyhow, but always managing to have
enough to eat, such as it was, with plenty of pure spring water.
"In August, of 1853, he built a cabin on the spot where now the
Frye Block stands and they passed the winter of 1853 there.
"In the spring of 1854 he built another cabin further east on the
donation claim, east of what is now Box Street, between Mercer
and Republican, and they moved into it, remaining there until
near the time of the Indian outbreak.
"Mr. Denny had acquired a knowledge of the various Indian
dialects, and through this learned much of the threatened
outbreak, and moved his family in time back to the house on the
Frye Block site, which was also near the stockade or fort that
stood at the foot of Cherry Street. During the greater part of
the winter of 1855 the women in the settlement lived in the fort,
and Mrs. Denny passed much of the time there.
"After the Indian trouble was over the Denny's moved out again to
their outside cabin. The Indians making the trouble were the
Swunumpsh and the Klickitats, from east of the mountains; the
Sound Indians, the Duwampsh and the Suquampsh, were friendly and
helped the whites a great deal. Sealth or Seattle belonged to the
Suquampsh tribe and his men gave the first warning of the
approach of the hostile Indians.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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