The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-12-17

In the death Of Henry L. Yesler Seattle
loses citizen whose name il written on
every page of its history. He was among
the leading spirits Of Seattle. alike when
it was frontier settlement, q struggling
village, growing town and a great COM
mercial city. While there are many who
have done much in the work of building
this city, it may be said with justice to all
that no man has done more than Henry
L. Yesler.
Mr.. Yesler came to Puget Sound, not
among the very first settlers, but long be-
fore civilization had firmly established
itself on these shores. Before him there
had come many whose names are today
honored as those of courageous and far
seeing men who believed in the possibili-
ties of this region and saw in the future
Yesler, however, was the first man who
saw the future aud had at his command
the means of making step toward its re-
alization. Before he came the pioneer
assailed the giants of the forest
with the axe alone. He brought
the steam engine and the saw. He may
well be called the father Of the lumber
industry of Puget sound, for he con-
structed the first saw mill on its shores,
and the great industry which has made
Puget sound lumber familiar article of
commerce throughout half the globe had
its inception in the modest mill erected
by Mr.. Yesler on the shore of Elliott bay
less than forty years ago.
Among the most notable traits OF Mr..
Yesler's character was his intense loyalty
to the city of his adoption and his unwav.
eling faith in its future greatness. If
there ever was day, from the moment
that he first selected Seattle as his home
until the day of his death. that he did not
believe in the greatness of its destiny and
the certainty Of its future, he never
revealed the doubt. Through good
and evil, through progress and stagna-
ton, through prosperity and adj
versity, he never wavered. In the
struggling settlement OF thirty years ago
he saw the great city of today, and the
greater city that is to be. AS he looked
from the door of his modest home toward
the mill, which was the sole industry and
almost the sole resource of the village, he
saw the great buildings and warehouses,
the homes of commerce and Of trade, that
now occupy the ground over which he
gazed.
His belief in the future Of Seattle was
woven into his nature. 1t did not, how
ever, render him oblivious to the fact that
only earnest and persistent human en-
deavor could bring about the fultilment of
the destiny which he foresaw. No man
labored more than he for the welfare of
this city. In every public movement he
was among the foremost. In every bust
ness enterprise he bore his part. The saw
null which he built in the early days ana
the magnificent buildings reared in his de-
Ginning years alike attest the faith which
he had in the future OF this city. His
prosperity was the prosperity of Seattle,
and he ever felt that Sea.tle's advance
meut was his own.
Personally Mr.. Yesler WAS an affable
and kindly man, straightforward, gener-
Gus and confiding. Those who knew him
were his friends. He will be remembered
| with fond regret by hundreds who have
come directly within the influence of his
warm snd genial nature, aud go long as
this city exists his name will be known
and honored as that OF one who. for al
mos forty years, fought manfully in
every battle that was waged for Seattle
| lie fought with his rifle against the savage
J Zoe and with his voice and his vote
against the foes Of more recent years.