The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-31
81 SOUND A HALF.CENTURY AGO.
s Backward a This Wonderful Country Is Was d the Close
i ne Year iS4o Before immigration Had Poured In

trip to the colunabis and there visited the
ana ne .sttlsnsnts a Astoria ana II tie
s Wdiamstts valley. Among other things
gave ne advice against the proposal 70 70
ess ns provisional government by the
Ratsrning to the East.
c. The whels party later visited Oregon ana
me North American review ~ Tor . July,
expsdltlon. II. II. HsnSroft in volume 70 me
xxvllI. Of his Pacific States. page ssl.
concPuoes MS account a. follows: "Meager
AZ WAS the. knowledge gathered by this
expedition. It's influence upon the affairs
oof the Pacific territory 81 the United
important The country then was little
known; and what Wilkes and his assoc
ciatss said Of i was for the most part
n not only true; but bore great nations
which hitherto were little more than myths
N tne woriQs mind. were now. clothed In
reality. Though exceedingly i'm
publ!shed reports OF this expedition formed
by far the most important literary work
hitherto hitherto issued by the United States gov
Members Of both the Vancouver ana the
Wilkes expeditions made numerous obser-
vations Of the natural history or this region
dS tssv with their
the natives. We can thus see that 4 half
century ago the world was far from being
Ignorant on Puget sounds geography,
Ean SGssny hs ana s sss0sy
lower Fraser river in the summer Of
lsR and to reach that station from head
quarters at Fort Vancouver 1t was found
SOUND and there obtain canoes from the In
dians ana travel thence to the Fraser. This
pointed out the necessity OF having Hud-
Pnss ss SOUND snd yv station MaY q The head
was selected near the mouth. Of the MIS-
queily river. II was called Fort Nisouaily
ana the oompahy's last agent there, Ed
ciiisen. still claims It a. his Sone ei'G Hn
has the priceless diary or record extending
from May, 1888, to the. present day. Besides
Ssrs wsrs ss Nass sna fort
barn. blacksmith shop and cabins. This
same year there came in the bark Gany-
mede two Recommendations and Tolinie.
Inc formers name has been given to one
OF our salmon. The latter became famous
Bay Company.
An Agricultural Company.
~ 1888 the Hudson Bay Company depart
" out Of the agricultural business There
was organised, as sort OF wheel within
9 wheel, the Puget Sound Agricultural
company. whose headquarters were frst at
removed to Victoria The branch COM
pany played an important part in the early
10SveNopment OF the Puget sound region.
thousands OF head OF sheep were brought
here. horned cattle and horses were also
Drought and for this station commerce and
agriculture took the place OF ur-trading.
w y. .s monopolised all the time and energy
the hrst commerce at Nisqually was the
curing of meats for shipment to the Rus.
ian,American stations
fhA A
arrive the store at Nisquaiiy was the he
chief source Of needed supplies, and It is
SAID SAID that ,. 20 jealous were the company's
sell 70 the Americans only the barest o me-,
cesAtiess They would have to show An
account for the rents in their old clothes
~as The sne eS sSI,d buy new ones This
time we are considering-a half century
Tho First Letter.
The honor Of being the first American
settler On Puget sound belongs to Mich
aei y. simmons. who was born in Shep-
pardsville, KY. August 5. 1914 He came
to Oregon in 1874 and made shingles at
1s44-H to pay for the board of himself
Tor Puget sound. but turned back, and
IN July, lS4b he took eight companions
piored IN e canoe as far as WILDLY is
land. Returning. he fixed upon Tum-
water Falls as the site Of his settlement,
ana in October returned to Vancouver
Tor his wife. When he returned to his
new home he was accompanied by James
n McAil!stsr, David Kindred. Gabriel Jones,
children. and two single men, Jesse Fer
guson and Samuel b. Crockett. These
Were the first American settlers on Pu-
s sn' A souma nq Msiho hey Richmond
spent short time at Fort Nisquaily, dur
ing which time. in 1912, his wife gave birth
70 the hrst American boy born north Of
mond did not settle or remain, and the
honor, therefore, belongs to the Simmons
party. The members OF this party took
Up claims within radius of six miles
John r. jackson had settled on Jack
son prairie Just before Simmons made his
second and successful trip. to Puget sound,
Puget sound home,
George Waunch, one of the companions
OF summons m, on his tour Of inspection.
nine men on Puget sound not in the en-
ploy of the. Hudson Bay Company.
Inc nrst house was built on Kindred's
simmons building the following s summer nrasr.e'
Though the Hudson Bay officers had
ting ns te ns Nort the sy v ssss set
party the following goods: Two hundred
bushels Of wheat at 50 cents bushel; 100
OF potatoes, at so cents bushel, and q
dozen head Of cattle, ut SO each.
Some New Arrivals.
In 1886 the Puget sound settlers were
increased by the arrival of Charles II.
Eaton and his brother. Nathan; Edmund
Sylvester and Levi L. Smith. who togeth-
er founded Smithfield, afterward Olympia,
when Sylvester inherited his dead part
ner's share; Alonzo Marion Poe, Daniel
10
In 1s47 three brothers named Davis ar
rived from Marion county. There also
arrived this year Samuel Cool, A. J.
Moore, BENJAMIN Gordon, Leander c.
Wallace. Thomas w. Glasgow, Samuel
Hancock, Elisha and William Packwood,
John Kindred, j. b. Logan. b. F. Shaw,
Robert Logan, A. D. Carnefix. Thomas
NJ Chambers, with his sons. David, An
drew. Thomas J. and Mclean, and George
Brazil and George Shazar.
In 1916 Simmons built the first flour mill
at Tumwater Falls. making the stones
from blocks of granite found on the
beach. The first crop of wheat was
Ground this mill