Seattle Prior to The Bon Marché

          In order to understand the social and economic climate of Seattle during the time of The Bon Marché's founding in the city, its important to note not only Seattle's prior history, but also how current events at the time played a considerable role in the store's success. As noted earlier, like many other western frontier towns, Seattle started more as a for-profit industry than as a city. As Seattle historian William C. Speidel noted, "[The fact] they built a city …was purely coincidental. If they could have made more money by not building a city, then that is what they would have done."[i] The whole issue really began about 14,000 years ago when the Vashon Glacier retreated, carving out Puget Sound and leaving lakes, rivers, and large areas of land suitable for many different forms of evergreen trees.[ii] After the United States acquired the area that became the Oregon Territory in 1846, the Donation Land Act of 1850, without any consideration of the native population, gave any settler up to 320 free acres of land.[iii] Meanwhile, the California gold rush was still in full swing. As thousands of people poured into the new state, basic needs such as clothing and shelter were in large demand. With local resources already being tapped out, some looked northward for additional natural resources such as lumber.

          Arthur Denny was one of these shrewd entrepreneurs who though he had just found himself a way to make some easy money. On 28 September 1851, Denny, along with family members and others eager to seek out new wealth, such as John Low and Lee Terry, made their first settlement on a level area of coastline that juts out into Puget Sound.[iv] While this establishment on Alki Point (which means "by and by"[v], now a part of West Seattle) would not be the permanent home of Seattle, it is of historical significance as the first white settlement in the area. In October 1852, Henry Yesler arrived from Ohio to build Seattle's first steam-powered saw mill.[vi] This would not be the last mill to arrive, as the export of lumber, along with coal discovered in 1863, would be Seattle's primary source of revenue through roughly the end of the century.[vii]

          Quite possibly the most significant event in the early history of Seattle occurred on 06 June 1889. Overheated glue in a cabinetmaker's shop ignited a blaze that razed most of downtown Seattle.[viii] Although no one died, the fire did cause over $15,000,000 in property damage.[ix] The city now found itself at a crossroads; it could either crumble into frontier ruin or pick up and start over. The very next day over 600 citizens including government leaders met to plan their next steps. They decided not simply to rebuild downtown, but to start the city over from scratch. The city would be raised to prevent flooding. Streets would be widened. Wooden structures would be prohibited. The city not only needed capital to do this work – but someone to supply the goods to make this new city.[x]