The Denny Party was a group of

American pioneer American pioneers, also known as American settlers, were European American,Asian American, and African American settlers who migrated westward from the British Thirteen Colonies and later the United States of America to settle and develop areas ...

s credited with founding

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington. They settled at

Alki Point Alki Point (, ) is a neighborhood in western Seattle, Washington. It is a point jutting into Puget Sound, the westernmost landform in the city's West Seattle district. Alki is the peninsular neighborhood on Alki Point. Alki was the original se ...

on November 13, 1851.

History

On April 10, 1851, a wagon party headed by

Arthur A. Denny Arthur Armstrong Denny (June 20, 1822 – January 9, 1899) was an American politician and businessman who is regarded as one of the founders of Seattle, Washington., Special Collections, Washington State Historical Society (WSHS). Accessed online ...

left Cherry Grove, Illinois and headed west. The party included Arthur Denny's father

John Denny John Allen Denny (born November 8, 1952) is an American former professional baseball right-handed pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds, from ...

, his stepmother, two of his older brothers who ultimately settled in the

Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, his younger brother

David Denny David Thomas Denny (March 17, 1832, Part II: Chapter 3, p. 203. – November 25, 1903.) was a member of the Denny Party, who are generally collectively credited as the founders of Seattle, Washington, United States. Though he ultimately und ...

, his wife, Mary Ann Boren, Mary's younger sister Louisa, and their brother

Carson Boren Carson Dobbins Boren (December 12, 1824 – August 19, 1912) was an early founder of Seattle, Washington (see Denny Party). His sister Mary Ann was married to Arthur Denny, and his sister Louisa to David Denny. Boren was the first King Count ...

.Erin H. Turner, 2016. Wild West Women: Fifty Lives that Shaped the Frontier. TwoDot. p. 349. . Mary Ann Denny and was pregnant throughout the journey and Mary Ann's sister Louisa Boren ultimately married David Denny in 1861. On July 6, 1851, the party battled

Native Americans Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

American Falls The American Falls is the second largest of the three waterfalls that together are known as Niagara Falls on the Niagara River along the Canada–United States border. Unlike the much larger Horseshoe Falls, of which approximately 90% is in On ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

on the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

, but escaped unharmed. The following day they met John Low, and he joined the party. Late in July 1851 they reached the Burnt River in eastern Oregon where they encountered a man named Brock who suggested to Denny that

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

would be a good place to create a town. The Denny Party arrived in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

on August 22, 1851. Arthur Denny was ill and Mary Ann was about to give birth so the party convalesced in Portland. On September 2, Mary gave birth to a son, Rolland H. Denny. John Low and David Denny headed north to scout the possibilities. Along the way they were joined by Leander "Lee" Terry. In newly founded

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington. It had a population of 55,605 at the 2020 census, making it the state of Washington's 23rd-most populous city. Olympia is the county seat of Thurston County, and the central city ...

, they met Michael Simmons, the wealthy founder of

Tumwater Tumwater is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. The population was 25,350 at the 2020 census. The city is situated near where the Deschutes River enters Budd Inlet, the southernmost point of Puget Sound; it also borders the sta ...

. He guided them to Alki to scout as a possible site for a settlement. On September 28, 1851, at Alki, Terry and Low began building a cabin with help from the local Native Americans, and then staked claims to the land. They decided to name their new village New York. Low returned to Portland to alert the others, Terry looked for a

froe A froe (or frow), shake axe or paling knife is a tool for Wood splitting, cleaving wood by splitting it along the grain. It is an L-shaped tool, used by hammering one edge of its blade into the end of a piece of wood in the direction of the grai ...

to make redcedar shake shingles, and David Denny stayed on in the unfinished cabin. David Denny hurt his leg and was unable to complete the roof of the cabin. In Portland, Arthur Denny recruited

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

farmer

William Nathaniel Bell William Nathaniel Bell (March 6, 1817 – September 6, 1887), originally from Edwardsville, Illinois and later a resident of Portland, Oregon, was a member of the Denny Party, the first group of Euro-American settlers in what is now Seattle, Was ...

and his wife, and, by coincidence, Charlie Terry, Leander's younger brother. The Terry brothers, from

Waterville, New York Waterville (called ''Ska-na-wis'', "''long swamp''" by the Haudenosaunee) is a village in Oneida County, New York, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 1,473. History Long the traditional territory of the Iroquoian-sp ...

, had come west as part of the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

, but had not liked the rough and tumble of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. On November 5, 1851, the Denny Party left Portland on the schooner ''Exact'', bound for

and

Haida Gwaii Haida Gwaii (; / , literally "Islands of the Haida people"), previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago located between off the British Columbia Coast, northern Pacific coast in the Canadian province of British Columbia ...

. The ''Exact'' carried a number of settlers bound for Puget Sound in addition to the Denny Party, including

Daniel Bigelow Daniel Bigelow (24 March 1824 – 15 September 1905) was a pioneer lawyer and politician in Olympia, Washington. Biography Daniel Richardson Bigelow was born March 24, 1824, in Belleville, a hamlet in the township of Ellisburg, New York, a par ...

who settled in Olympia. After a difficult passage, particularly hard on the still-ill Denny, they arrived at Alki on November 13, where David greeted them with the words, "I wish you hadn't come." Denny was bitterly disappointed that Low and Lee Terry had already staked the relevant claims for Alki. However, he had no choice but to pitch in, finish the cabin and settle in for the winter. Denny convinced Bell and Boren that they needed to scout a different location. Once the worst of winter cleared, Denny and other party members explored as far as

Commencement Bay Commencement Bay is a bay of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. The city of Tacoma is located on the bay, with the Port of Tacoma occupying the southeastern end. A line drawn from Point Defiance in the southwest to Browns Point in t ...

(now the site of

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

Port Orchard Port Orchard, part of Washington state's Puget Sound, is the strait that separates Bainbridge Island on the east from the Kitsap Peninsula on the west. It extends from Liberty Bay and Agate Pass in the north to Sinclair Inlet and Rich Passag ...

, Smith Cove, and up the

Duwamish River