From Roger Sale’s Writing a History of Seattle, a 21-part series broadcast on KRAB radio in 1970 and rebroadcast in 1975.

Seattle was a dense forest when Denny arrived and it’s important to recognize what an enterprise it was to build a city in the wilderness. Winters were rainy and muddy making efforts more difficult. Things like building a house and getting back and forth to work demanded fortitude and determination. Settlers must have felt triumphant to have accomplished things in a wet, cold region and the fragility of a pioneer city is something that should be noted in modern times.