This Date with 8: November 13, 1851 — The Denny Party Lands on Alki Point
Phillip Willis
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — On this day in 1851, the Denny party landed on Alki Point.
A few men in the Pacific Northwest had sent for their families, urging them to “come at once” to what they described as a perfect place to start a new life — so the families packed up, with big dreams of building a new community, and boarded the Schooner Exact.
But on the day they arrived at Alki Point, those dreams hit their first obstacle… the weather.
It rained, and rained, and rained.
The women were less than impressed already, but were completely horrified when they saw the cabin their husbands had been building. It wasn’t even finished yet! Ugh.
Their first winter was so cold, damp, and miserable that in the spring, they packed up, and moved about a dozen miles northeast as the crow flies, across Elliot Bay to a more sheltered spot.
The Duwamish and Suquamish peoples were led by Chief Si’ahl, pronounced “Seattle” (yes, like the city). They helped the Denny party survive those early days, and the settlement that would eventually turn into the iconic city from the hit movie “Sleepless in Seattle” got it’s name in honor of that Chief.
Today, you can find the Alki Point Memorial, which marks the spot where the Denny Party made landfall.
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