What is the history of land settlement in Seattle?
Nominal legal land settlement was provisionally established in 1855 (with treaty terms for what is now Seattle not implemented). Doc Maynard's land claim lay south of today's Yesler Way, encompassing most of today's Pioneer Square Historical District and the International District.
How old is the city of Seattle?
What is now Seattle has been inhabited since at least the end of the last glacial period (c. 8000 BCE—10,000 years ago). Archaeological excavations at what is now called West Point in Discovery Park, Magnolia confirm settlement within the current city for at least 4,000 years and probably much longer.
Who were the people of Seattle before white settlement?
In the history of Seattle before white settlement, thirteen prominent villages existed in what is now the city of Seattle. The people living near Elliott Bay, and along the Duwamish, Black and Cedar Rivers were collectively known as the doo-AHBSH, or People of the Doo ("Inside").
What did the settlers see in Seattle?
The Seattle Times. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2006-05-07. Retrieved 2006-04-21. and Anderson, Ross; Green, Sara Jean (2001-05-27). "The settlers saw trees, endless trees.
What was Seattle before?
New YorkIts first name was New York, then Duwamps, then finally it was renamed Seattle named after Chief Noah Sealth who was chief of the two tribes living in the area ("Seattle" is an anglicized rendition of his last name).
What is the landscape of Seattle?
Seattle is a city surrounded by both water and mountains. It is situated on a narrow but hilly isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington. To the west lie the Olympic Mountains; Mount Rainier rises in the south; and the Cascade mountain range is found to the east.
How did Seattle size change in the years after it was established?
Seattle was incorporated in 1869, eighteen years after the first white settlers arrived. From these beginnings, Seattle's population grew to over 80,000 by 1900, tripled in the following decade, and expanded to about 550,000 people by 1960, a number that has remained relatively stable to the present.
What is Seattle known for historically?
The city served as outfitter, ship builder and transshipment port for the thousands of prospectors and millions of tons of goods heading north to the gold rush. Seattle hosted the first of several world's fairs held in the Pacific Northwest when the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition opened in 1909.
Why is Seattle called Seattle?
This village was soon named Seattle, honoring the Duwamish Indian leader named Sealth. The new town's principal economic support was Henry Yesler's lumber mill at the foot of Mill Street (now Yesler Way), built in 1853.
How Seattle was built?
Seattle, known as the Emerald City and founded in 1851, was metaphorically built on the logging industry and geographically established on marshes at sea level. The first neighborhood settled by the ever-so-humble pioneers came to be called Pioneer Square.
Why does Seattle have an underground city?
The Seattle Underground is a network of underground passageways and basements in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. They were located at ground level when the city was built in the mid-19th century but fell into disuse after the streets were elevated.
Who were first people in Seattle?
These original settlers were Luther M. Collins (1813-1860), Collins' wife Diana, and their children Lucinda and Stephen, Henry Van Asselt (1817-1902), Jacob Mapel (or Maple) (1798-1884) and his adult son Samuel Mapel (or Maple) (1827-1880). The area of the Van Asselt claim was annexed to the City of Seattle in 1907.
What does Seattle mean in Native American?
The name of Seattle actually comes from Chief Si'ahl (pronounced “See-ahlth) which makes Seattle the only major city named after a Native chief. Chief Si'ahl was the leader of both the Suquamish and Duwamish people; it was the Duwamish lands that currently make up metropolitan Seattle.
Why is Seattle so hilly?
Seattle's topography is due largely to Pleistocene ice age glaciation. Nearly all of the city's seven hills are characterized as drumlins (Beacon Hill, First Hill, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne Hill, Mount Baker) or drift uplands (Magnolia, West Seattle).
What does the name Seattle mean?
Seattle--means reconciler...Chief Sealth (Seattle) was a great leader and orator who reconciled the American Indians and the white settlers. The city Seattle is named after him. Seattle also means wisdom. because of the great and inspiring word that chief Seattle conveys on his message.
How old is the city of Seattle?
About 171 yearsSeattle / Age
How would you describe Seattle?
Seattle is a bustling place that thrives with industrial, commercial, and cultural activity around the clock. Its waters teem with great oceangoing ships, its streets with automobiles, its rail lines with transcontinental freighters and passenger trains, and its skies with aircraft of every description.
What is Seattle best known for?
Seattle is famous for Starbucks and overall coffee culture, grunge music scene, the Seahawks, the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, headquarters of a lot of the tech industry (including both Amazon and Microsoft), hiking, kayaking, and general outdoors lifestyle (think REI).
What type of climate is Seattle?
temperateThe climate of Seattle is temperate, classified in the Mediterranean zone by the main climatic classification (Köppen: Csb) but some sources put the city in the oceanic zone (Cfb). It has cool, wet winters and mild, relatively dry summers, covering characteristics of both.
What body of water surrounds Seattle?
Seattle is divided in half by the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which connects Lake Washington to Puget Sound. From east to west, it incorporates Union Bay, the Montlake Cut, Portage Bay, Lake Union, the Fremont Cut, Salmon Bay, and Shilshole Bay.
How long has Seattle been inhabited?
What is now Seattle has been inhabited since at least the end of the last glacial period (c. 8000 BCE—10,000 years ago). Archaeological excavations at what is now called West Point in Discovery Park, Magnolia confirm settlement within the current city for at least 4,000 years and probably much longer.
What was the history of Seattle before 1900?
History of Seattle before 1900. Two conflicting perspectives exist for the early history of Seattle. There is the "establishment" view , which favors the centrality of the Denny Party (generally the Denny, Mercer, Terry, and Boren families), and Henry Yesler. A second, less didactic view, advanced particularly by historian Bill Speidel ...
What did Alki and Seattle do to build San Francisco?
Seattle and Alki offered plenty of trees to build San Francisco and plenty of hills to slide them down to water. A climax forest of trees up to 1,000–2,000 years old and towering as high as nearly 400 feet (120 m) covered much of what is now Seattle. Today, none of that size remain anywhere in the world.
How tall is the Seattle forest?
A climax forest of trees up to 1,000–2,000 years old and towering as high as nearly 400 feet (120 m) covered much of what is now Seattle. Today, none of that size remain anywhere in the world.
How many acres were needed for the University of Washington?
The legislature had tacked on the requirement that a grant of 10 acres (40,000 m 2) of land would be required for the university to be built, which they presumably thought would be sufficient to prevent its construction. However, Denny wanted his town to grow and donated the land, creating what would be "one of the biggest and most effective central core properties in the United States". The University of the Territory of Washington (later the University of Washington) opened on November 4, 1861. There were barely enough students to run it as a high school, let alone as a university, but over time it grew into its originally grandiose name.
When was the Nominal Legal Land Settlement established?
Nominal legal land settlement was provisionally established in 1855 (with treaty terms for what is now Seattle not implemented). Doc Maynard's land claim lay south of today's Yesler Way, encompassing most of today's Pioneer Square Historical District and the International District.
When was Seattle founded?
The founding of Seattle is usually dated from the arrival of the Denny Party on November 13, 1851, at Alki Point. The group had travelled overland from the Midwest to Portland, Oregon, then made a short ocean journey up the Pacific coast into Puget Sound, with the express intent of founding a town.
What was the first transportation in Seattle?
The earliest transportation for the settlers, like for the Duwamish natives, was heavily reliant on water. As a consequence, much of the early growth of the city was tied to the waterfront. Logs were skidded through town to the mill, where timber could be shipped up the Puget Sound. Efficient land transportation was slow to develop. In 1873, Tacoma was chosen as the terminus of the Northern Pacific Railway, bypassing Seattle. In response, Seattle chartered its own railways with minor success: the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad and the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway. The Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad began construction in 1874, but never ended up reaching Walla Walla. It did however reach towns that were able to supply coal to Seattle. The Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway began later in 1885, and brought growth to towns along its route. [11] Transportation within the city was slow to develop as well. It wasn’t until 1884 that the first horse-drawn streetcar was introduced in downtown Seattle along 2nd Avenue. Despite the initial slow growth of transportation, the next 5 years would see the introduction of the first cable car and the first electric streetcar. [12]
What was the largest structure in Seattle?
The cookhouse, being the largest structure in the town, was rented out by Yesler for public meetings. [6] . Both the lumber mill and the cookhouse made Yesler a very wealthy man as well as set Seattle up to be one of the most important cities in the region. Skid Road and Yesler's Mill. [19]
How many acres of land did Arthur Denny donate to the University of Washington?
He did however secure Seattle as the location for the University of Washington by donating 10 acres of land for its construction.
How many villages did the Duwamish have?
Given the proximity of villages to water, the main means of transportation was by canoe. By the time white settlers arrived in the area, there were as many as 17 villages settled by the Duwamish, made up of at least 90 longhouses. [3]
When did the Portland men arrive at Alki Point?
These men travelled by boat from Portland to scout the Puget Sound for a new settlement. On September 25th, 1851, they arrived at the mouth of the Duwamish river, and 3 days later they selected claims at Alki Point. [4] . The Alki Point settlement was organized into six blocks and eight lots.
What was the purpose of the Treaty of Point Elliott?
In 1855, the Treaty of Point Elliott was drafted to settle this, with the natives relinquishing their title to the land in exchange for reservation land.
How many women did the Chinese have in the first trip to Seattle?
With the success of his first trip, he raised funding to make a second trip, but fell short of his goal and only returned with 34 women. [14] There was an influx of Chinese immigrants in the late 1850s when gold was found in the rivers in Washington. Many of these immigrants ended up working as laborers in Seattle.
What county is Seattle in?
Seattle, chief city of the state of Washington, U.S., seat (1853) of King county, the largest metropolis of the Pacific Northwest, and one of the largest and most affluent urban centres in the United States.
Where was Seattle settled?
Aerial view of Seattle. The city was settled on November 13, 1851, at what is now West Seattle. It was relocated the following year to a site across Elliott Bay near a Duwamish Indian village. It owes its name to the Native American leader Seattle, chief of the Duwamish, Suquamish, and other tribes of the Puget Sound area.
Is Seattle a port?
A major port of entry and an air and sea gateway to Asia and Alaska, Seattle lies alongside Puget Sound, a deep inland arm of the northern Pacific Ocean, and is at the centre of a conurbation that is defined roughly by Everett to the north, Bellevue to the east, and Tacoma to the south. Seattle. Seattle, with Mount Rainier in the background.
Is Seattle a densely populated city?
The city is densely populated. The metropolitan area, loosely defined, has grown to embrace once far-outlying satellites such as Everett and Renton. The shift from urban to bedroom communities is a consequence of several economic considerations, among them the rapid escalation within the city of the cost of family housing. Many Seattle workers have elected to commute from distant but more affordable towns beyond the city proper. By the early 21st century some 200,000 workers commuted to downtown Seattle from neighbouring communities, creating heavy traffic and disruptions on interstate and regional highways. Despite the high real estate prices, however, the inner city remained popular among certain groups, such as young renters.
Is Seattle a western city?
Like other western cities in the United States, Seattle commands the resources of a broad hinterland, one that extends far east to the Great Plains of Montana.
How did Elliott determine the species of leaves?
Elliott carefully peeled apart hundreds of leaves stuck together by mud and layered like a pile of sticky notes. Washing the leaves in a variety of chemical baths helped Elliott determine the leaves ' structure and species.
What trees filled the forests before they were cleared for fields and fuel?
But little direct evidence exists to prove which tree species filled the forests before they were cleared for fields and fuel. Swamp-loving plants, such as sedges and tussocks, are the fossil survivors, not delicate leaves from hardwood trees.
What trees are in Conestoga Creek?
Before Europeans arrived, American beech, red oak and sweet birch trees shaded Conestoga Creek, according to a study the researchers published Wednesday in the journal PLOS ONE. Some 300 years later, those trees are gone. The same spot is now home to mostly box elder and sugar maple trees, said Sara Elliott, the study's lead author and a research associate at the University of Texas at Austin's Bureau of Economic Geology.
What tree was attacked by chestnut blight?
Other kinds of trees found in the fossil layer that have since vanished from North America include the American chestnut, which was attacked by an imported fungal disease called the chestnut blight. Leaves from swamp plants also appear in the mud, confirming that the forested spot was on the upslope edge of a nearby wetland. [ Image Gallery: Plants in Danger]
What transformed the Northeastern forests?
European settlers transformed America's Northeastern forests. From historic records and fossils, researchers know the landscape and plants are radically different today than they were 400 years ago.
Where do the three dominant tree species found in the fossil forest leaves still exist today?
The three dominant tree species found in the fossil forest leaves still exist today in the Northeast, but in different proportions and in different places, Elliot said.
What is the purpose of the plat map?
The purpose of this map is to provide a georeferenced characterization of vegetation in the early stages of Euro-American settlement. One of the research uses for the surveys nationally is for presettlement vegetation. This data can be used to analyze presettlement vegetation patterns for the purpose of determining natural community potential, productivity indexes, and patterns of natural disturbance. The area of the original plat maps were townships; use of the data at a larger scale would not be appropriate.
Where are the original GLO maps?
The original GLO maps and field notes are housed in the Illinois State Archives in Springfield. Microfilm copies of the maps were made in the 1960's and distributed to several state university libraries and research centers across Illinois. We borrowed the set of microfilm housed in the Illinois State Geological Survey library. Each of the over 1,700 townships in Illinois have at least one version of the original surveyor's map. Additional redrafted versions are also available for most townships. The redrafted versions were created in the 1850's at the regional GLO office in St. Louis, Missouri. Cartographers used the original maps in consultation with the field notebooks to create a more complete map of the township. We used these redrafted GLO maps for our Early 1800's land cover Land Cover map.
What is a tract of low, poorly drained, soft land, permanently or semi-permanently?
A tract of low, poorly drained, soft land, permanently or semi-permanently water-covered, having aquatic and grass-like vegetation.
What is a lowland?
A lowland, usually highly fertile, along a stream; an alluvial plain.
What does "high bank" mean?
A high bank or bold headland, presenting a precipitous front; a steep cliff.
What is a stagnant stream?
A sluggish and stagnant stream that follows a winding course through alluvial lowlands, swamps, or river deltas.
What is attribute definition?
Attribute_Definition: Perimeter of feature in internal units.
Why were human bones preserved on the island?
Capriles noted that the human bones on these forest islands were preserved despite the poor conditions because they were encased within middens -- or trash heaps -- containing abundant fragments of shell , animal bones, and other organic remains.
Why is the current study strong and definitive evidence of the anthropocentric origin of these sites?
The current study provides strong and definitive evidence of the anthropocentric origin of these sites, because the archaeological excavations uncovered early Holocene human burials . These are the definitive proof of the antiquity and origin of these sites.".
What did the team discover about the forest islands?
The team's excavations of the forest islands revealed human skeletons that had been intentionally buried in a manner unlike that of typical hunter gatherers and instead were more akin to the behaviors of complex societies -- characterized by political hierarchy and the production of food. Their results appear today in Science Advances .
What is the mission of Ancient Origins?
This is the Ancient Origins team, and here is our mission: “To inspire open-minded learning about our past for the betterment of our future through the sharing of research, education, and knowledge”.
Why did the team not date the bones?
Because the human bones were fossilized, the team was unable to date them directly using radiocarbon dating . Instead, they used radiocarbon dating of associated charcoal and shell as a proxy for estimating the time range that the sites were occupied.
What does the word "burnt earth and wood" mean?
Burnt earth and wood suggests that the people at the Amaz onia settlement used fire. ( Lukasja / Adobe)
Does Amazonia have stone tools?
The area of the ancient Amazonia settlement lacks any type of rock for making stone tools. (Omer Bozkurt / CC BY-SA 2.0 )
How does deforestation affect the environment?
Deforestation has all sorts of troubling side effects, from shrinking habitats for forest species to increased global warming via a reduction in carbon dioxide–absorbing trees. Brazil has tried to protect its rainforests in the past decade, but pressure to clear away trees has risen again since 2013.
Why is the Keystone pipeline so controversial?
Meanwhile, because it takes so much energy to extract oil from the sands, this type of fuel is worse for global warming than regular crude oil. That's a big reason the Keystone XL pipeline, which would help bring Alberta's oil to market, has been so controversial in the United States.
What color are the fields around Chernobyl?
On the left, you see the area in 1986, just before the accident. There are cultivated fields (in light colors), small towns (in blue and purple), and old forests (dark green).
What color is nitrogen dioxide?
Images show concentrations of nitrogen dioxide in 2005 and 2011, from low (blue) to high (red). ( NASA, Images of Change)
Why did the wetlands in Iraq dry up?
During the 20th century, Iraq's lush wetlands between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers had mostly dried up because of a series of dams that had been constructed for electricity, as well as a deliberate strategy by Saddam Hussein to drain the wetlands and punish the region's Marsh Arabs for rebelling.
How much of the West Virginia rainforest was cleared in 1978?
In 1978, 2 percent of the state's rainforest had been cleared. By 2008, that was up to 34 percent — an area the size of West Virginia. You can see a more detailed progression in these images: New roads protrude into the forests like fishbones, with nearby trees vanishing soon after.
What happened to the desert in the 1960s?
The surrounding desert bloomed for a period, but it eventually led to disaster.
Overview
Founding
What is now Seattle has been inhabited since at least the end of the last glacial period (c. 8000 BCE—10,000 years ago). Archaeological excavations at what is now called West Point in Discovery Park, Magnolia confirm settlement within the current city for at least 4,000 years and probably much longer. The area of [toˈlɑltu] ("herring house") and later [hɑˈʔɑpus] ("where there are horse clams") at the then-mouth of the Duwamish River in what is now the Industrial District had been i…
Relations with the natives
This section draws heavily on Bill Speidel, Sons of the Profits (1967) and Doc Maynard (1978). Doc Maynard and Murray Morgan, Skid Road (1951, 1960, 1982) are especially useful on the events regarding resistance nominally led by Kamiakim in the January 1856 attack on the town.
The early Seattle settlers had a sometimes rocky relationship with the local Native Americans. There is no question that the settlers were steadily taking away native lands and, in many cases, …
Yesler's Mill
At first, Alki was larger than Seattle. "It was platted into six blocks of eight lots... and most of them had buildings on them that were in use. There weren't eight level, usable blocks in all of Seattle". However, when Henry Yesler brought "financial backing from a Massillon, Ohio capitalist, John E. McLain, to start a steam sawmill once he had isolated the perfect location for such a structure", h…
A city grows
The first Seattle fortunes were founded on logs, and later milled timber, shipped south for the construction of buildings in San Francisco. Seattle itself, in the early years, was, of course, also a place of wooden buildings, and remained so until the Great Fire of June 6, 1889. Even the early system of delivering water to the settlement used hollowed-out logs for pipes. Seattle in its early years relie…
Railroad rivalry and encroaching civilization
On July 14, 1873, the Northern Pacific Railway announced that they had chosen the then-small town of Tacoma over Seattle as the Western terminus of their transcontinental railroad. The railroad barons appear to have been gambling on the advantage they could gain from being able to buy up the land around their terminus cheaply instead of bringing the railroad into a more established Pacif…
Relations between whites and Chinese
Chinese first arrived in Seattle around 1860. The Northern Pacific Railway completed the project of laying tracks from Lake Superior to Tacoma, Washington, in 1883, leaving many Chinese laborers without employment. In 1883, Chinese laborers played a key role in the first effort at digging the Montlake Cut to connect Lake Union's Portage Bay to Lake Washington's Union Bay
The Great Seattle Fire
The early Seattle era came to a stunning halt with the Great Seattle Fire of June 6, 1889. It burned 29 city blocks, destroying most of the central business district; no one, however, perished in the flames, and the city quickly rebounded from the destruction. Thanks in part to credit arranged by Jacob Furth (as well as, according to Speidel, brothel-owner Lou Graham), Seattle rebuilt from the ashes with astounding rapidity. A new zoning code resulted in a downtown of brick and stone buil…