The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-03-21
duty to stop disunion.' He went to WASH
ington City and entered the Union ser


vice.
.sHe fell like hero at ChantiiIy, and I'M
der the flag which he had taken from his
coIor-bearer. who had received mortal
wound His was splendid career that
the nation should honor. We recently
saw his sword and historic pictures at the
home Of his widow and son at Dorchester,
Mass, and were impressed with these
relics of spirit that had done SO much for
the progress Of the country and mankind.
s'The state Of Washington is his monu-
ment, and progressive thought his eulogy.
His great mind and energy brought order
out of chaos, and set the flag, in whose
folds he died, forever under the cleaning
dome of the colossus Of American mount
aims and over the celestial blue of the Pa
cific harbors of the Puget sea.
Seattle was a Duwamish chief, and q
true friend of the white race. whom he
seemed to follow on account Of their
superior intelligence. lie gave the name
to an early settlement, which is now q
great city, and which seems destined to
become one of the important port cities OF
the world; for when, in 1852, some forty
years ago, the pioneers of Alki point left
the town which they had laid out and
called New York and removed to the other
side of the bay, they named the place
Seattle. from the friendly chief, instead Of
New York. Alki means by and by; and
Seattle is likely to become the New York
of the Pacific and one of the great ports
for Asiatic trade. With the immense
agricultural and mineral resources with
which it is surrounded. with its inexhaust-
iblc stores Of timber. its sublime scenery
and delightful climate. with its direct and
natural water road to. Japan and China,
and its opportunity of manufacturing for
the Asiatic market the kind Of goods that
England mas to carry to the same markets
over an adventurous course of three times
the distance, with the great demand for
grain among the relocating countries Of
the East, the mind cannot map the posi-
bilities of this port city for the next
hundred years or more. The prophecy of
its enterprising citizens, that it will one
day be one of the great cities in the world,
is not unlikely to be realized, and it is in
teresting to ask what was the history of
the chief who gave the name to this new
Troy of the Puget sea.
"He was at this time somewhat adj
vanced in life, portly man, of benevolent
face, recalling the picture OF Senator Ben
ton, of Missouri, whom he is said to re-
semble. He was the chief of the Du-
wamishes, small tribe inhabiting the
territory around what is now Elliott bay.
He became friend of DR.. Maynard, one
of the pioneers of the new town, and Of
General Stevens, the great territorial gov
ernor. He was well known to Foster,
Denny, Bell and Borden, who took claims
where the city now stands. His last years
were passed at Port Madison, where he
died in 1866, at a great age.
Governor Stevens confirmed his
sachemship, and Seattle became the pro-
tector and good genius of the town. A
curious legend, which seems to be well
founded, is related of tax which Seattle
levied upon the new town, for the sake of
the trouble that the name would give him
in the spiritual world. When Duwamish
Indian lost near relative Of the same
name by death, he changed his own name,
because the name might attract the ghost
of the deceased, and so cause him to be
haunted. The tribe believed that departed
spirits loved their old habitations, and the
of their names and deeds, and
81 oiACy ShdASC0 thSAI 00SACS 0uA P11CCS On
the death of relatives, that they might not
be disturbed by ghostly apparitions.
Why do yon ask for . tax?' asked .
pioneer of Seattle.
The name of the town will call me
back after am dead, and make me un-
happy. ! want my pay for what / shall
suffer then now
Z It hope that the rapid growth Of the
great city Of the North does not disquiet
the gentle and benevolent soul of Seattle.
The city should raise monument to him
that he may see he is kindly remembered
when he comes back tovisit the old asso-
Citations of his name and life. Or. better
for his shade. the city should kindly care
for his daughter. poor old Angelina Seat
tie, who at the time of this writing (1S901
is beggar in the streets of uplifting COM
mercial palaces and lovely homes!
1--WE visited her in the hut outside of the
city some months ago to ask her if she
saved Seattle in 1855 by giving information
to the pioneers that the woods around it
were full of lurking Indians bent on plot
to destroy it, for there is legend that on
that shadowy December night, when Seat
tie was in peril and the council of Indian
" iucb duu ICSOltCu W uCSlToY the
town before morning, Jim, a friendly
Indian, was present at the conference as a
spy. He found means to warn the pioneers
of their immediate danger.
The ship of war Decatur, under Captain
lay in the harbor. Jim, who
had acted in the Indian council secretly
in the interest of the town, had advised
the chiefs to defer the attack until early in
the morning, when the officers of the
Decatur would be off their guard.
might fell on the Puget sea. The
people went into the block-house to sleep,
and the men of the Decatur guarded the
town, taking their stations on shore. As
the night deepened thousand hostile In
dams crept up to the place and awaited the
when the guard should 90 on
board the ship for breakfast, and the people
should come out of the block-house and 60
to their houses, and set the gun behind
the door,
1T was on this night, according to the
legend, that old Angelina as she was
now called, became the messenger that
saved the inhabitants from destruction.
1.-The legend has been doubted, and when
we asked the short, flat-faced old woman.
as she answered our knock, if she was the
daughter of the chief who saved Seattle.
she simply said, Chief, grinned, and made
a bow. She was ready to accept the ira
ditional honorS of the wild legend, worthy
of the pen of a Cooper.
son returning from our visit to old
we asked Hon. Henry L. Yesler,
the now rich pioneer, why the princess
was not better cared for by the people of
the city. He himself had been generous