The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-06-29
His Lonely Grave Marked by a
Monument.
HOW THE CITY TOOK HIS NAME.
II Was Chosen by Pioneers Because IL
Was Euphonicus-Corrupt OF
Indian Names.

monument and danced around 1t in great
glee. On the Fourth of July the Indians
OF the tribe will formally celebrate the erec-
lion and will hold exercises around II in
their own peculiar way.
Since 1866, the date of Chief Seattle's
death the body has laid unmarked. save by
little mound of earth, half hidden under
the shadows of the forest and the monu-
ment marks the place where. perhaps the
most famous character of the early history
of Washington rests.
The monument is of Italian marble
representing cross and is most elegant,
beautiful and appropriate tribute to the
memory of the honored chief. 1t stands
seven feet high and the cross is twined with
ivy and has the letters II. III. s." beauti-
fully carved upon il. On one side of the
monument is the following inscription:
SEATTLE
Chief OF the Suquampsh and Allied Tribes,
Died June 7h 1866,
The Firm Friend Of the Whites aud for Him the
City of Seattle Was Named by its
Founders.
On another side are the words:
"Baptismal Name Noah sealtb, Age Probably so
Years"
The base bears in large numbers the
name that has since been made famous the
world over:
SEATTLE.
The monument was erected through and
by the efforts principally of Mr. A. A.
Denny and Mr.. Hillory Butler. Some of
the Indians OF Port Madison, who greatly
desired the monument, contributed small
amounts toward paying for it, as did also
several public spirited citizens of Seattle.
s~f liz fonf M IL, <,sf
is named after him, is a character often
heard of, but there are comparatively few
persons in the city or in the state who can
tell much about him. The Indians, espe-
cially the old ones, are adverse to talking
of the dead, on account of a strange super
stition that whenever the name of dead
Indian is mentioned he will be restless in
his grave.
the white people had named city for him,
was at first greatly displeased, and declared
that sit was enough to make him turn
over in his grave" He afterwards became
reconciled to the fact. and died without
the least resentment against, but on the
contrary q great love for the men who
used his name to name q city.
Mr.. A. A. Denny, who knew Chief Seat
tie for many years, commencing soon after
his arrival at Al-Ki point. nearly forty
years ago. yesterday gave toa Posr-INTELLI-
GENcER reporter the following interesting
information In regard to the subject of
this article:
'Chief Seattle" he said, twas born at
the old Man house, or 'Oleman house.
as the Indians call it, on the Port Madison
reservation. His father was Suquampsh
IL ~kH. Il N
date of his birth cannot be ascertained, but
have made careful inquiry among great
many of the survivors of his tribe and
should think that the chief was 80 years
old at the time of his death, or possibly
little more. He was not very old man at
the time Of his DEATH as we often hear of
his being.
His disposition was not of the turbu-
lent and aggressive kind, but was of the
mildest and most generous type. with all
the firmness and courage necessary to
defend and maintain the rights of his peo-
pie against unfriendly tribes. These traits,
coupled with more than ordinary intelli-
gence, gave him his influence among the
Indians of the Sound and commanded the
respect and friendship of the early settlers,
who now take pride in assisting in mark
ing his grave by the monument"
ut has been suggested by some of our
people," continued Mr.. Denny, "that it
would be the right thing to bring the old
chief over and bury him here and erect a
suitable monument. Bull l am sure his
people would never consent to the removal
and we must admit that they are right"
The town, now the city of Seattle, was
named by Messrs. A. A. Denny, William
~ III IN
The gentlemen were a long time in dis
cussing various names but finally settled
unanimously on Seattle" ana they do
not now remember who first proposed the
name. They wanted a distinctive, uncom-
mon word, one that would be as striking
as it was expressive, and they preferred an
Indian name. "Zecnalalitch," the Indian
name for this locality, was much too long
and cumbersome, and Elliot" after the
bay named for an English commodore, did
not suit. All at once Seattle" occurred
to them and with one accord they settled
on that name.
1t Is fact not generally known, and one
which will surprise not few, even of those
welt acquainted with the early history of
the Sound. that Seattle is not the correct
nor the original name of the historic In
uiaH CNick lof WuCIu the great city OF the
Sound is named. The men who took the
principal part in putting up the monu-
ment are all good Chinook scholars.
and they came to the conclusion that
Stealth" was the most nearly correct
spelling of the name. The Indians do not
articulate distinatly, and when the early
settlers first heard them pronounce the
name they at once repeated it Seattle. I"
and the Indians readily understood the
pronunciation of the word. Mr.. Denny
says that many of the Indian names of
places which are heard every day in Seattle
are not pronounced nor spelled as the In
disns themselves use the words. "Sauakr
is pronounced by the Indians Squowh or
Isquowh; Duwamish, Snohomish and SUI
quamish should be Duwampsh. Sno-
hompsh and Suquampsh, respectively; and
others are also slightly changed from the
Indian spelling.
Chief Sesttle's monument will long he
point of interest TO those interested in the
history of the city and the Northwest. and
viii doubtless be visited by many people
in the years 10 come.
FRoHLE's PYRoMANIA.
He Again Threatens to Burn George
Meisterss House.