Chapter VII: Henry Van Asselt of Duwamish

In the Post-Intelligencer of December 8th and 9th, 1902, appeared the following sketches of this well known pioneer:

"At the ripe old age of 85, with the friendship and affection of
every man he knew in this life, Henry Van Asselt, one of the
founders of King County, and one of the four of the first white
men to set foot on the shores of Elliott Bay, died yesterday
morning at his home, on Fifteenth Avenue, of paralysis. Mr. Van
Asselt, with Samuel and Jacob Maple and L. M. Collins, landed in
a canoe September 14th, 1851, at the mouth of the Duwamish River,
where it enters the harbor of Seattle. They had come from the
Columbia River and were more than two months in advance of Arthur
Denny, one of the pioneer builders of the city of Seattle. Van
Asselt's name is perpetuated through the town of Van Asselt,
adjoining the southern limits of the city. He was well known all
over the Puget Sound country, and he was the last living member
of one of the first bands of white arrivals, on the shores of
Elliott Bay.

"Mr. Van Asselt was a Hollander, having been born in Holland
April 11, 1817, two years after the battle of Waterloo. He was in
his early youth a soldier in the Holland army during its dispute
with Belgium. An expert marksman and an indefatigable huntsman,
he came to America in 1850, on a sailing schooner, and a year
later was traveling the trail from the Central West to
California. Instead of going to the land of gold and sunshine,
Van Asselt headed north, reaching the Columbia River in the fall
of 1850. A year later found him crossing the Columbia River,
after a short sojourn in the mining camps of Northern California.
With three companions, L. M. Collins, Jacob and Samuel Maple,
Henry Van Asselt made the perilous journey from the Columbia
River to the Sound, where, near Olympia, he boarded a canoe, and
after two days' traveling reached the mouth of the Duwamish
River. Ascending the stream to the junction of the White and
Black Rivers, a distance of only a few miles, he staked out a
donation land claim of 320 acres in the heart of the richest
section of the Duwamish valley."

SAID VALUES INCREASED.

"The sturdy Hollander cleared the valley of its primeval forest
of firs, and made it truly blossom with farm products of every
description. The land today (1902) is worth $1,000 an acre and
upwards. At his death, the aged pioneer, the last of his
generation, had in his own name some 100 odd acres of this land.
Not many weeks ago he had sold twenty-four acres of the old
homestead as the site of the new rolling mill and foundry to be
constructed by the Vulcan Iron Works.

"Mr. Van Asselt was not the least interesting, by any means, of
the old pioneers of King County. In fact, until his death he was
the last living member of the first group of white men to set
foot on the shores of Elliott Bay. He was a very devout man, and
in the late years of his life, when he had retired from active
business, it was his custom to spend part of every Sunday at the
county jail, reading to the prisoners excerpts from holy writ and
giving them words of hopefulness and cheer. This duty was
performed for many years as regularly as was his attendance at
the Methodist Protestant church, in this city, of which he had
been for thirty years a member. It is to be said of the dead
pioneer that he was universally loved and respected, and it was
his proudest boast that he had never made an enemy in his life.
This was literally true.

"Crossing the plains in 1850, young Van Asselt was of great
assistance to his party in procuring game and in driving the
hostile Indians away, because of his superior marksmanship, which
he had acquired as a hunter on the estates of wealthy residents
of his native country. He landed at Oregon City, Ore., in
September, 1850, and the ensuing winter he spent in mining in
California. He accumulated a considerable sum, and, lured by
stories of the richness and vastness of the great Northwest, he
returned to Portland in 1851, and, crossing the Columbia, made
his way to the Sound country. On this trip he was accidentally
wounded, the bullet being imbedded in his shoulder. In the days
of the Indian troubles on the Sound, Van Asselt was safe from the
attacks of the hostiles, who held him in superstitious reverence
because of the fact that he carried a bullet in his body. They
believed that he could not be killed by a tomahawk. This fact,
perhaps, had much to do with his escape from assassination at the
hands of the hostiles in the Indian war of 1855.

"Jacob and Samuel Maple, who with L. M. Collins accompanied Mr.
Van Asselt to Puget Sound, have been dead many years. Arthur A.
Denny has been gathered to his fathers, along with many others of
the old pioneers of King County and Washington. Van Asselt is the
last of that hardy race that opened the wilderness on Puget Sound
and made it blossom like the rose.

"The news of the death of Van Asselt was received as a sad blow
among the people of Van Asselt, where the aged pioneer spent the
greater portion of his days in the house which still stands as a
monument to his rugged pioneer days. In Van Asselt the people
speak the name of the pioneer with reverence on account of the
many charities he extended to the poor during his lifetime, and
also on account of the many acts which he did in pioneer days to
save and maintain the peaceful relations with the savages.

"The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Van Asselt was celebrated in this
county, on Christmas evening 1862. All of those present at the
wedding have now passed away with a few exceptions.

"Mr. Van Asselt leaves a wife, Mrs. Mary Jane Maple Van Asselt; a
son, Dr. J. H. Van Asselt; two daughters, Mrs. J. H. Benadom, of
Puyallup, and Dr. Nettie Van Asselt Burling, and a grandson,
Floyd Julian, son of Mrs. Mary Adriane Van Asselt Julian, who
died in 1893. Mr. Van Asselt also leaves a brother, Rev. Garrett
Van Asselt, of Utrecht, Holland, and several sisters in Holland.

"The following were selected as active pallbearers: William P.
Harper, Dexter Horton, D. B. Ward, O. J. Carr, Isaac Parker, M.
R. Maddocks. The honorary pallbearers were: Edgar Bryan, Rev.
Daniel Bagley, F. M. Guye, Joseph Foster, William Carkeek, Judge
Orange Jacobs.

"As illustrative of the regard and esteem in which this pioneer
was held by those who knew him best, Dexter Horton, the well
known banker and capitalist, who met Mr. Van Asselt in 1852, said
last night:

"'Mr. Van Asselt was a man of sterling character. His word was as
good as a government bond. I knew him almost from the beginning
of his life here. He was one of the kindliest men I ever met.

"'For fifteen years after I came to Seattle I conducted a general
merchandise store here. There were mighty few of us here in those
early times and we were all intimately acquainted. I dare say
that when a newcomer had resided on the Sound, anywhere from
Olympia to the Strait of Fuca, for thirty days, I became
acquainted with him. They dropped in here to trade, traveling in
Indian canoes. There never was a man of them that I did not trust
to any reasonable extent for goods, and my losses on that account
in fifteen years' dealing with the early settlers were less than
$1,000. This is sufficient testimony as to the character and
integrity of the men who, like Van Asselt, faced the privations
and dangers of the Western Trail to find homes for themselves on
the Pacific Coast.

"'Mr. Van Asselt located on a level farm in the Duwamish valley
on his arrival here. He was a man of great energy and thrift, and
soon had good and paying crops growing. He used to bring his
produce to Seattle, either by Indian canoe, or afterwards, when a
trail was cut under the brow of the hill, by teams. This produce
was readily disposed of, as we had a large number of men working
in the mills and few to supply their necessities.

"'I remember that after he had lived here for several years he
moved to town and established a cabinet maker's shop. He was an
expert in that line of work. I have an ancient curly maple bureau
which he made for me, and Mrs. A. A. Denny has another. They are
beautifully fashioned, Van Asselt being well skilled in the
trade. Doubtless others among the old-timers here have mementos
of his handicraft.

"'Van Asselt was of the type of men who blazed the path for
generations that followed them to the Pacific Coast. His
integrity was unchallenged, and his charities were numerous and
unostentatious. He used to give every worthy newcomer work on his
ranch, and many an emigrant in those days got his first start
from Henry Van Asselt.'

"Samuel Crawford knew Mr. Van Asselt intimately since 1876. He
said last night:

"'Henry Van Asselt, or Uncle Henry, as we all called him, spent
the winter of 1850-1851 with my great-great-grandfather, Robert
Moore, at Oregon City, Ore., or more properly speaking, on the
west shore of the Willamette, just across from Oregon City. Mr.
Van Asselt told me this himself. Moore kept a large place, which
was a sort of rendezvous for the immigrants, and many a man found
shelter at his ranch. He gave them work enough to keep them
going, and Van Asselt found employment with him that winter,
making shingles from cedar bolts with a draw knife.

"'Mr. Van Asselt was one of the best men that ever lived. His
word was as good as gold, and he never overlooked a chance to do
a friend a favor. While he spoke English with difficulty, on
occasion he could make a good speech, and he always took a deep
interest in public affairs. There was probably no important
public question involving the interests of Seattle and the Puget
Sound country but that Mr. Van Asselt had his say. He did not
care for public office, however, but preferred to go along in his
quiet way, doing all the good that was possible. He firmly
believed in the future of Seattle, which he loved dearly, and I
remember many years ago of his purchase of two blocks of ground
on Renton Hill, in the vicinity of the residence where he passed
the last years of his life. This was nearly twenty years ago.'

"Thomas W. Prosch had known Mr. Van Asselt for many years. He,
too, paid a tribute to his fine character, and rugged honesty.
'Six years ago,' said Mr. Prosch, 'I went to talk with Mr. Van
Asselt regarding his early experiences on the Sound. He told me
of his long and arduous trip across the plains in 1850, and of
his escapades with the Indians then and afterward. He said
himself that he believed he led a charmed life, as the Indians
took many a shot at him, but without avail. He was a dead shot
himself, and the Indians had great respect for his skill. He was
a very determined man, and undoubtedly had a great influence over
the savages.

"'Mr. Van Asselt told me that he met Hill Harmon, a well known
Oregon settler, in the spring of 1851, and together they crossed
the Columbia and came to Olympia. From there they went with two
or three others to Nesqually, where they met Luther M. Collins,
one of the first settlers in King County. Collins endeavored to
persuade them to locate near him, but they wanted a better place.
Finally Collins brought them to the Duwamish valley and located
them here. One of the party bought Collins' place at Nesqually,
and he came here to locate with Van Asselt and the others.
Collins' family was the first white family to establish a home in
King County.'"