BLAZING THE WAY

OR

TRUE STORIES, SONGS AND SKETCHES
OF PUGET SOUND AND OTHER
PIONEERS

BY
EMILY INEZ DENNY

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR AND
FROM AUTHENTIC PHOTOGRAPHS

SEATTLE:
RAINIER PRINTING COMPANY, Inc.
1909

[Pg 4]

[Pg 5]

To My Dear Father and Mother,
Faithful Friends and Counselors,
Whose pioneer life I shared,
This book is affectionately dedicated
By THE AUTHOR

[Pg 6]

A star stood large and white awest,Then Time uprose and testified;They push’d the mailed wood aside,They toss’d the forest like a toy,That great forgotten race of men,The boldest band that yet has beenTogether since the siege of Troy,And followed it and found their rest.
—Miller

[Pg 7]

PREFACE

BLAZING THE WAY.

In the early days when a hunter, exploreror settler essayed to tread the mysterious depthsof the unknown forest of Puget Sound, he tookcare to “blaze the way.” At brief intervals hestopped to cut with his sharp woodman’s ax agenerous chip from the rough bark of fir, hemlockor cedar tree, leaving the yellow inner barkor wood exposed, thereby providing a perfectguide by which he retraced his steps to the canoeor cabin. As the initial stroke it may well beemblematical of the beginnings of things in thegreat Northwest.

I do not feel moved to apologize for thisbook; I have gathered the fragments within myreach; such or similar works are needed to setforth the life, character and movement of theearly days on Puget Sound. The importanceof the service of the Pioneers is as yet dimlyperceived; what the Pilgrim Fathers were toNew England, the Pioneers were to the PacificCoast, to the “nations yet to be,” who, followingin their footsteps, shall people the wildswith teeming cities, a “human sea,” bearing onits bosom argosies of priceless worth.

[Pg 8]It does contain some items and incidentsnot generally known or heretofore published. Ihope others may be provoked to record theirpioneer experiences.

I have had exceptional opportunities inlistening to the thrice-told tales of parents andfriends who had crossed the plains, as well aspersonal recollections of experiences and observationduring a residence of over fifty yearsin the Northwest, acknowledging also the goodfortune of having been one of the first whitechildren born on Puget Sound.

Every old pioneer has a store of memoriesof adventures and narrow escapes, hardshipsbravely endured, fresh pleasures enjoyed, rudebut genial merrymakings, of all the fa

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BLAZING THE WAY

PREFACE

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