The Clam Bake Diplomacy of Alki Point
When Generals Logan and Sherman visited Seattle, the town rolled out the red carpet—and sixteen bushels of Puget Sound clams.
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.
When it was learned positively that General Logan and General Sherman would spend Thursday in Seattle, our people determined to treat them to an old-fashioned Puget Sound clam bake at Alki Point. The day dawned fair and bright, and barring the smoke which veiled from our view famous old Mount Rainier and the Olympic Range, the steamers were most auspicious. A bystander took from the bed a large-sized steaming clam and handed it to General Sherman, who was standing in the crowd. After admiring the steaming morsel for a moment, the General proceeded to devour it in real old Puget Sound style. From this time forward the onslaught was lively, and in less than half an hour all that remained of those sixteen bushels of clams were the shells. The ladies kept the two Generals and Charles A. Coffin busy for an hour or more, writing their autographs on the inside of clam shells, to be kept as souvenirs and pleasant reminders of the happy occasion.
“After admiring the steaming morsel for a moment, the General proceeded to devour it in real old Puget Sound style.”
Long before Alki Point became a popular urban beach park, it served as the literal and symbolic shoreline where Seattle hosted national dignitaries. The ritual of the 'clam bake' captures a frontier civility that has largely faded, replaced by the beach's modern role as a hub for recreational volleyball and sunset gatherings.
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