Seattle, Washington

City History

The Denny Party arrived at Alki Point in the Seattle area on November 13, 1851. Naming the spot New York Alki (Alki is a Chinook word meaning "someday") showing their intentions of creating a great trading port. In April of 1852 the settlement was relocated to Elliott Bay and renamed Duwamps, a name that is preserved in the name of Seattle's Duwamish River. Duwamps was incorporated as a city in December 2, 1869 as Seattle after the chief of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes, Noah Sealth, or Chief Seattle. The main sponsor for naming the city after Chief Seattle was David Swinson Maynard. The central business district was destroyed by the Great Seattle Fire of June 6, 1889. The fire was started in a cabinet makers shop by a tipped glue pot. The fire burned 29 city blocks, all of the railroad terminals, and most of the wharves. Miraculously, no one died in the fire. The 1962 World's Fair was held in Seattle, Washington. The world famous Space Needle and Alweg monorail are part of the legacy left by the fair. The site of the fair was expanded and is now called the Seattle Center which houses an amusement park and the Pacific Science Center. On February 28, 2001 a magnitude 6.8 earthquake, the Nisqually Earthquake rocked the region and a state of emergency was declared. The damage was only moderate, but served as a warning that the area around the Seattle Fault is under a constant threat of natural disaster.

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Chief Seattle
1786 – 1866 Chief Seattle, or Sealth, was born around 1786 an grew to be a fierce warrior and the leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes in what is now Washington state. He earned his reputation at a young age by ambushing and defeating groups of enemies coming from the Cascade foothills up the Green River. He also led the attacks the Chemakum and the S'Klallam, tribes living on the Olympic Peninsula. For a Puget Sound native, Sealth was an imposing figure at nearly six feet tall, and his voice is said to have carried half a mile or more when he addressed the tribes. He took wives from the southeast of Duwamish Head on Elliott Bay and his first wife died during childbirth after bearing him a daughter. His second wife bore him sons and daughters, the most famous of which was Princess Angeline. Chief Seattle's gravestone reads "Seattle, Chief of the Suquamps and Allied Tribes, Died June 7, 1866. Firm Friend of the Whites, and For Him the City of Seattle was Named by Its Founders."