The daughter of one of Seattle’s founding families, Emily Inez Denny (1853 – 1918) was both a painter and writer. Greatly influenced by seeing the drawings of Sarah Willoughby as a student at the Washington Territorial University, she took on painting as a life-long pursuit. This scene was created by the artist based on stories told to her by her parents, who landed at Seattle’s Alki Point in 1851. The first settlers had not yet learned to live from the abundance of Northwest nature, so traded with local Indigenous people. In her 1909 book, “Blazing the Way,” Denny noted: “A large salmon might be purchased for a brass button, while red flannel, beads, knives and other ‘ictas’ (things) were legal tender for potatoes, venison, berries and clams.”