Blazing the Way; Or, True Stories, Songs and Sketches of Puget Sound

A collection of reminiscences, sketches, songs and biographical notes recounts pioneer life around Puget Sound during early settlement. Part I relates overland crossings, river voyages, the Alki landing, the founding of Seattle and clashes with Indigenous neighbors. Part II presents personal portraits of settlers and families, social gatherings, hunts, civic efforts and occasional poems. Part III records Indigenous lifeways, frontier anecdotes, trade routes, the establishment of local institutions and military encounters. Illustrations, lyrical pieces and a miscellany of brief incidents and sketches combine to produce an intimate, fragmentary portrait of daily life, memory and community formation on the frontier.