Spokane Falls Daily Chronicle - Mar 21, 1890
Front Page
SEATTLE'S LAST SON DEAD
How The Indian Won His Spurs and Became Chief
The last man bearing the name of Seattle died a few days ago at the Old Man house, near Port Madison, says the Seattle Press. John Seattle was the last of old Seattle's sons, Angeline, the old chief's daughter, being now the only surviving child.
It has not been generally known how Seattle became a chief. Mr. S. F. Coombs says that while calling on old Seattle at the Old Man house, he learned the following regarding that old gentleman's early history and why he had been a chief:
It seems long before any white people had settled on Puget sound, and about the time the Hudson Bay company were establishing their posts in the northwest, the Indians living on the Upper White river and the mountain Indians had banded together to make a flight on the Puget sound tribes, or those known as the Old Man House tribe. Word reached them that a force of those mountain Indians were about to start in canoes from Upper Green and White rivers in such numbers and so well armed that if they reached Duwamish, now Elliott Bay, that the old Man House tribe would be wiped out.
A council of the old and wise ones gathered, and Seattle, then a young man not over 20, volunteered and devised a plan to check the enemy in reaching salt water. All of the rude instruments in the shape of axes were called for. They left Elliott Bay by canoes and by trail, Seattle heading the expedition.
A short distance above the mouth of Black river, on White river, the bluffs came so close together that fir trees chopped down on one side would reach the bank on the opposite side. It was at this point that Seattle commenced felling trees. By dark three trees were stretched across the river and so arranged that a canoe could not go under without first upsetting. Seattle had his men ambushed on either side with their rude implements of warfare, mostly bows and arrows.
Seattle did not have to wait long after dark before the mountain Indians came paddling down, and before those behind could know what was the matter at the front some five or six large canoes with over 100 warriors were struggling in the water, and many who reached the shore were soon dispatched by Seattle's Flatheads.
The remaining canoes that were checked before getting under the obstruction, were turned back, and the plot to clean out the Puget Sound or clam-eaters was frustrated, and young Seattle was declared chief of the Old Man tribe, which then comprised all the Indians between Alki point and above Skagit head on Puget Sound.
Old man Seattle never learned the Chinook jargon. Always when giving white people information he had an interpreter. Old Seattle must have been past ninety at his death.
Mr. Coombs says that when he arrived at Port Madison over thirty years ago, the big logs and posts they rested on at the Old Man house were a great wonder to all. The logs reaching across from one post to another must have been 150 feet long, and many of them three feet at the butt, and about one and a half to two feet at the smaller end. These logs were no doubt placed in position without the aid of any gear, purchase or machinery.
Old man Seattle could not inform us as to when they were first erected. He said the new cedar posts were replaced in the ground from time to time as the old ones became decayed.
The interpreter informed us that old man Seattle had seen at least 2,000 Indians at that point at a time - the occasion of his being selected chief after the routing of the mountain Indians - was a grand event to him at least. Then there must have been upward of 2,000 gathered at that place.
Front Page
SEATTLE'S LAST SON DEAD
How The Indian Won His Spurs and Became Chief
The last man bearing the name of Seattle died a few days ago at the Old Man house, near Port Madison, says the Seattle Press. John Seattle was the last of old Seattle's sons, Angeline, the old chief's daughter, being now the only surviving child.
It has not been generally known how Seattle became a chief. Mr. S. F. Coombs says that while calling on old Seattle at the Old Man house, he learned the following regarding that old gentleman's early history and why he had been a chief:
It seems long before any white people had settled on Puget sound, and about the time the Hudson Bay company were establishing their posts in the northwest, the Indians living on the Upper White river and the mountain Indians had banded together to make a flight on the Puget sound tribes, or those known as the Old Man House tribe. Word reached them that a force of those mountain Indians were about to start in canoes from Upper Green and White rivers in such numbers and so well armed that if they reached Duwamish, now Elliott Bay, that the old Man House tribe would be wiped out.
A council of the old and wise ones gathered, and Seattle, then a young man not over 20, volunteered and devised a plan to check the enemy in reaching salt water. All of the rude instruments in the shape of axes were called for. They left Elliott Bay by canoes and by trail, Seattle heading the expedition.
A short distance above the mouth of Black river, on White river, the bluffs came so close together that fir trees chopped down on one side would reach the bank on the opposite side. It was at this point that Seattle commenced felling trees. By dark three trees were stretched across the river and so arranged that a canoe could not go under without first upsetting. Seattle had his men ambushed on either side with their rude implements of warfare, mostly bows and arrows.
Seattle did not have to wait long after dark before the mountain Indians came paddling down, and before those behind could know what was the matter at the front some five or six large canoes with over 100 warriors were struggling in the water, and many who reached the shore were soon dispatched by Seattle's Flatheads.
The remaining canoes that were checked before getting under the obstruction, were turned back, and the plot to clean out the Puget Sound or clam-eaters was frustrated, and young Seattle was declared chief of the Old Man tribe, which then comprised all the Indians between Alki point and above Skagit head on Puget Sound.
Old man Seattle never learned the Chinook jargon. Always when giving white people information he had an interpreter. Old Seattle must have been past ninety at his death.
Mr. Coombs says that when he arrived at Port Madison over thirty years ago, the big logs and posts they rested on at the Old Man house were a great wonder to all. The logs reaching across from one post to another must have been 150 feet long, and many of them three feet at the butt, and about one and a half to two feet at the smaller end. These logs were no doubt placed in position without the aid of any gear, purchase or machinery.
Old man Seattle could not inform us as to when they were first erected. He said the new cedar posts were replaced in the ground from time to time as the old ones became decayed.
The interpreter informed us that old man Seattle had seen at least 2,000 Indians at that point at a time - the occasion of his being selected chief after the routing of the mountain Indians - was a grand event to him at least. Then there must have been upward of 2,000 gathered at that place.
Spokane Falls Daily Chronicle - Mar 21, 1890
Front Page
SEATTLE'S LAST SON DEAD
How The Indian Won His Spurs and Became Chief
The last man bearing the name of Seattle died a few days ago at the Old Man house, near Port Madison, says the Seattle Press. John Seattle was the last of old Seattle's sons, Angeline, the old chief's daughter, being now the only surviving child.
It has not been generally known how Seattle became a chief. Mr. S. F. Coombs says that while calling on old Seattle at the Old Man house, he learned the following regarding that old gentleman's early history and why he had been a chief:
It seems long before any white people had settled on Puget sound, and about the time the Hudson Bay company were establishing their posts in the northwest, the Indians living on the Upper White river and the mountain Indians had banded together to make a flight on the Puget sound tribes, or those known as the Old Man House tribe. Word reached them that a force of those mountain Indians were about to start in canoes from Upper Green and White rivers in such numbers and so well armed that if they reached Duwamish, now Elliott Bay, that the old Man House tribe would be wiped out.
A council of the old and wise ones gathered, and Seattle, then a young man not over 20, volunteered and devised a plan to check the enemy in reaching salt water. All of the rude instruments in the shape of axes were called for. They left Elliott Bay by canoes and by trail, Seattle heading the expedition.
A short distance above the mouth of Black river, on White river, the bluffs came so close together that fir trees chopped down on one side would reach the bank on the opposite side. It was at this point that Seattle commenced felling trees. By dark three trees were stretched across the river and so arranged that a canoe could not go under without first upsetting. Seattle had his men ambushed on either side with their rude implements of warfare, mostly bows and arrows.
Seattle did not have to wait long after dark before the mountain Indians came paddling down, and before those behind could know what was the matter at the front some five or six large canoes with over 100 warriors were struggling in the water, and many who reached the shore were soon dispatched by Seattle's Flatheads.
The remaining canoes that were checked before getting under the obstruction, were turned back, and the plot to clean out the Puget Sound or clam-eaters was frustrated, and young Seattle was declared chief of the Old Man tribe, which then comprised all the Indians between Alki point and above Skagit head on Puget Sound.
Old man Seattle never learned the Chinook jargon. Always when giving white people information he had an interpreter. Old Seattle must have been past ninety at his death.
Mr. Coombs says that when he arrived at Port Madison over thirty years ago, the big logs and posts they rested on at the Old Man house were a great wonder to all. The logs reaching across from one post to another must have been 150 feet long, and many of them three feet at the butt, and about one and a half to two feet at the smaller end. These logs were no doubt placed in position without the aid of any gear, purchase or machinery.
Old man Seattle could not inform us as to when they were first erected. He said the new cedar posts were replaced in the ground from time to time as the old ones became decayed.
The interpreter informed us that old man Seattle had seen at least 2,000 Indians at that point at a time - the occasion of his being selected chief after the routing of the mountain Indians - was a grand event to him at least. Then there must have been upward of 2,000 gathered at that place.
Front Page
SEATTLE'S LAST SON DEAD
How The Indian Won His Spurs and Became Chief
The last man bearing the name of Seattle died a few days ago at the Old Man house, near Port Madison, says the Seattle Press. John Seattle was the last of old Seattle's sons, Angeline, the old chief's daughter, being now the only surviving child.
It has not been generally known how Seattle became a chief. Mr. S. F. Coombs says that while calling on old Seattle at the Old Man house, he learned the following regarding that old gentleman's early history and why he had been a chief:
It seems long before any white people had settled on Puget sound, and about the time the Hudson Bay company were establishing their posts in the northwest, the Indians living on the Upper White river and the mountain Indians had banded together to make a flight on the Puget sound tribes, or those known as the Old Man House tribe. Word reached them that a force of those mountain Indians were about to start in canoes from Upper Green and White rivers in such numbers and so well armed that if they reached Duwamish, now Elliott Bay, that the old Man House tribe would be wiped out.
A council of the old and wise ones gathered, and Seattle, then a young man not over 20, volunteered and devised a plan to check the enemy in reaching salt water. All of the rude instruments in the shape of axes were called for. They left Elliott Bay by canoes and by trail, Seattle heading the expedition.
A short distance above the mouth of Black river, on White river, the bluffs came so close together that fir trees chopped down on one side would reach the bank on the opposite side. It was at this point that Seattle commenced felling trees. By dark three trees were stretched across the river and so arranged that a canoe could not go under without first upsetting. Seattle had his men ambushed on either side with their rude implements of warfare, mostly bows and arrows.
Seattle did not have to wait long after dark before the mountain Indians came paddling down, and before those behind could know what was the matter at the front some five or six large canoes with over 100 warriors were struggling in the water, and many who reached the shore were soon dispatched by Seattle's Flatheads.
The remaining canoes that were checked before getting under the obstruction, were turned back, and the plot to clean out the Puget Sound or clam-eaters was frustrated, and young Seattle was declared chief of the Old Man tribe, which then comprised all the Indians between Alki point and above Skagit head on Puget Sound.
Old man Seattle never learned the Chinook jargon. Always when giving white people information he had an interpreter. Old Seattle must have been past ninety at his death.
Mr. Coombs says that when he arrived at Port Madison over thirty years ago, the big logs and posts they rested on at the Old Man house were a great wonder to all. The logs reaching across from one post to another must have been 150 feet long, and many of them three feet at the butt, and about one and a half to two feet at the smaller end. These logs were no doubt placed in position without the aid of any gear, purchase or machinery.
Old man Seattle could not inform us as to when they were first erected. He said the new cedar posts were replaced in the ground from time to time as the old ones became decayed.
The interpreter informed us that old man Seattle had seen at least 2,000 Indians at that point at a time - the occasion of his being selected chief after the routing of the mountain Indians - was a grand event to him at least. Then there must have been upward of 2,000 gathered at that place.
