Denny Party

The Denny Party is a group of American pioneers credited with founding Seattle, Washington because they settled at Alki Point on November 13, 1851.

A wagon party headed by Arthur A. Denny left Cherry Grove, Illinois on April 10, 1851. The party included his father, stepmother, two older brothers who settled in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, his younger brother David Denny, his wife, Mary Ann Boren, Mary's younger sister Louisa, and their brother Carson Boren. Mary Ann was Arthur Denny's wife and his stepsister. She was pregnant throughout the journey. Mary's sister Louisa Boren married David Denny in 1861. Arthur Denny is said to have been ill throughout the journey, but remained the group's leader.

On July 6, 1851, they battled Indians at American Falls on the Snake River, but escaped unharmed. The following day they met John Low, and he joined the party. Late in July they reached the Burnt River in eastern Oregon where they encountered a man named Brock. He suggested to Denny that Puget Sound would be a good place to create a town.