Seattle’s History

Seattle’s History

Of all the 50 states, Seattle’s history could be the most colorful. Its saga began on the time when the last of the massive glaciers retreated to the Polar Regions and evidently it would still another millennium before Seattle’s last chapters would probably be filled.

Historians’ ponderings over Seattle history was answered when archaeologists excavated areas in Discovery Park in West Point, Seattle. The excavation confirmed that the larger part of the area, which is Seattle today, was inhabited by what they call the “Marmes man”. But nobody can tell anything more than its name.

The most reliable record of habitation was with the Dkhw’Duw’Absh and Xachua’Bsh people which was the ancestry of the Duwamish Indians. These inhabitants settled on permanent wooden structures that clusters into several localities sprinkled over the region. They have been occupying “Seattle” even before wars are waged on the Old World and right through 1850 –when the first American settlers arrive to colonize the New World. And ever since that time, Seattle history has been punctuated several colorful accounts.

The Denny Party was (as traditionalist insisted) credited in founding Seattle. Some say that Seattle was founded unintentionally, citing that it only happened because Arthur Denny needed to take root for the upcoming winter. Whatever reasons it may be, when the party settled, it was for good. A number of reasons to were propped up. There was a rapid development in most of United States: houses being built, ranches erected to facilitate livestock and to tame captured stocks, barricades and log walls for protection against Indian excursions, and the first ever Seattleites make good use of the surrounding trees to engage in commerce. Some theorized that Seattle was originally intended as a trading block (after the successful befriending of the Indians in the area) for lumber which are then transported to the greater parts of USA.

Seattle history had showcased a number of economic booms. One of them is the flourishing lumber trade during its early years. The Seattle lumber business was in so much activity that it ultimately denuded a large portion of its forests. A short while later a ban was resolved that forbade the cutting of more trees and resulted the downfall of Seattle’s lumber industry. After a while, the term “Skid Row” was interred permanently into the English Webster.

Seattle’s next boom was inadvertently caused by the Klondike Gold Rush where swarms of Californian prospectors and goldpanners crossed the region towards Canada where promises of wealth awaited them. Seattle became once again became a trading post, a transporting harbor or a crossroad for those heading north.