Seattle Welcomes the Nation's Press
A grand banquet at the Hotel Brunswick celebrates the Northern Pacific Railroad's arrival, marking Seattle as the new commercial capital of the Northwest.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Yesterday at about 1 o'clock p.m., the Eliza Anderson steamed soundward to meet the Pacific, which was billed to arrive at 6 p.m., having on board a party of representative journalists who have been accompanying the 'last spike' party to this coast. The steamers met off Alki Point and as they drew together, three cheers were proposed and given with hearty good will to the journalistic party. Arriving at the wharf the party were greeted by members of the Executive Committee, headed by John Leary, Esq., and escorted to the Hotel Brunswick. At 6:30 p.m., guests and citizens to the number of 150 sat down to a sumptuous banquet. After the wants of the inner man had been diligently attended to, toasts and speeches were in order. Hon. A. B. Nettleton, editor of the Minneapolis Tribune, stated as a secret not until now disclosed, that he was authorized by Jay Cooke to expend, if necessary, $1,000,000 in collecting, printing and publishing matter concerning the route, resources and characteristics of the country traversed by the iron horse.
“They have told us what we have always believed—that here at Seattle is to be the city of the great Northwest.”
This event captures the precise moment Seattle secured its position as the region's dominant terminal, shifting the power dynamic of the Pacific Northwest forever. Today’s debates over regional infrastructure and growth still echo these 1883 efforts to 'sell' the city to outsiders.
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