Celebrating Seattle’s forgotten birthday

It’s late September, that time of year when a mixture of frustration and wistfulness takes hold as an important date on the Northwest calendar, Seattle’s true birthday, is ignored once again.

It was back in April 1851 when a group of Americans from Cherry Grove, Illinois headed west on the Oregon Trail. The group, later to become known as the Denny Party, arrived in Portland in late summer 1851. The Willamette Valley was a popular final destination for settlers then, but to recent arrivals, including the members of the Denny Party, it already felt crowded.

Somewhere along the way west, Arthur Denny had heard there was still good land to be had on Puget Sound. Puget Sound, like the Willamette Valley, was at that time part of Oregon Territory. Oregon Territory was enormous; it included all of what’s now Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, along with parts of Montana, Wyoming, and British Columbia. The land, which had been jointly occupied by Americans and British for decades, had come under formal control of the United States in 1848. The Natives, of course, had been here for thousands of years.

Unlike most settlers, the Denny Party wasn’t looking to farm or raise livestock; they were looking for a place to build a new city. But after the long trek west, everyone was in need of a little downtime, and several members of the group were suffering from a common flu-like ailment called “the ague.” But winter was nigh and land had to be found. So an expedition comprised of John Low, Lee Terry and David Denny, 19, headed north to scout out potential places to settle.

The trio, known to history as the “Advance Party,” arrived at what’s now West Seattle on Sept. 25, 1851. A few other Americans had settled on the Duwamish River just days before, but not with the intent of creating a metropolis. So it was on that long-ago Thursday that a city was, in effect, born.

David Denny wrote a message to his brother Arthur letting him know that they’d found a good spot. It took several weeks, but Arthur and the rest of the settlers arrived via the sailing vessel “Exact” on a rainy, windswept November 13.

Throughout much of the 20th century, local civic leaders celebrated Founder’s Day on November 13, and a series of big events was held for the 150th anniversary back in 2001. But nowadays, interest in the city’s history has shifted to the more recent past of the Space Needle, coffee, grunge, and high tech. The past few decades have indeed been pretty amazing, but the origin stories and the old dates worth commemorating seem to be falling by the wayside.

To buck this trend, I’ll be doing my own little part this September 25 by hoisting a glass and wishing my hometown a Happy 162nd Birthday. I urge you to do the same.