- Peter Smith in after years took up a donation claim on this spot, and as the garden was never reserved, he fell heir to it when the post was broken up. I started a small garden myself on the border of the little lake half a mile south of the post, and when I needed exercise I obtained it there. I rode over the sparsely settled plains in search of grouse and ducks and other game and went fishing in the Sound or in Steilacoom creek with the officers, but most frequently alone.
- May 23, 1853. The morning was devoted to putting our supplies and baggage on board and waiting in the mouth of Steilacoom creek for the tide. The captain (Floyd-Jones) came down to see us off. He crossed the creek on horseback, and was showing the doctor [John Miller Haden] an excellent method of keeping his feet from getting wet by putting them on the animal’s back, when he very suddenly found himself immersed completely. We laughed heartily at his discomfiture. It was slow work pulling through the Narrows, as the tide was against us. We lunched at Day Island11, a beautiful piece of land covered by an impenetrable pyramidal forest.
- 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.
- Bismuth (Wikipedia)
Bismuth is a chemical element with the symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resembling its lighter group 15 siblings arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth occurs naturally, and its sulfide and oxide forms are important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead. It is a brittle metal with a silvery-white color when freshly produced. Surface oxidation generally gives samples of the metal a somewhat rosy cast. Further oxidation under heat can give bismuth a vividly iridescent appearance due to thin-film interference. Bismuth is both the most diamagnetic element and one of the least thermally conductive metals known.