- May 24th [of 1853]. After hard rowing in the hot sun we passed the north end of Vashon’s Island, and reached a place known as New York, on Elliott Bay13, and encamped on a hot sandbar. There is only one house at this point. The scenery of the Sound is not conspicuously marred by civilization, as this is the first house we have seen since we left Steilacoom.
- Mr. [Charles Carroll] Terry was the town proprietor of New York [Alki], which never grew beyond one house. The first settlers of Seattle located there. They soon moved over to Yesler’s saw mill, on Elliott Bay, and with that for a center, they radiated along the shore, into the woods and over the hills to Lake Washington, laying the foundation of the Queen City of the Sound. We crossed over to Seattle on the 25th before continuing on our way, and there we saw the saw mill and a few blockhouses for the mill hands. These were situated several blocks back from the wharf line of the city, as established after the great fire of 1889.
- I was obliged to discharge the guide I had obtained at New York [Alki], as I had found him gambling in the Suqualmish camp and he had shown himself worthless in other respects. An Indian loitered about our camp for two days, offering to inform against the murderer of [Judah] Church, if he were paid for it. I put him off, and on the evening of the 29th, Hancock came over from Port Townsend and told me that the Indians had told him that one Sla-kai, a Skagit Indian, had killed Church. The next day [May 30, 1853] a man named Martin Tafster agreed to get the Indian if the matter were kept quiet. So I decided to visit Dungeness and return on the east side of Whidby island through Deception passage, where it was said that the Indian could be found.
- A fair breeze springing up, we decided to take advantage of it, and after a delightful sail we reached New York [Alki] at midnight and pitched camp. The following day we passed to the east of Vashon island, but wind and tide being against us, we did not reach the mouth of Steilacoom creek until 1 that night.
- Ursa Major (Wikipedia)
Ursa Major (/ˈɜːrsə ˈmeɪdʒər/; also known as the Great Bear) is a constellation in the northern sky, whose associated mythology likely dates back into prehistory. Its Latin name means “greater (or larger) bear”, referring to and contrasting it with nearby Ursa Minor, the lesser bear. In antiquity, it was one of the original 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD, drawing on earlier works by Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian, and Assyrian astronomers. Today it is the third largest of the 88 modern constellations.