In 1882 Isaac Kinsey Bechtel (1848-1890) arrived in the Puget Sound area and bought 129 acres around what is now Main Street in downtown Bellevue. He had left his wife, Isabella (Lind) Bechtel (1852-1938), and their children behind in Waterloo, Ontario, but in 1885 he was able to send money for them to join him. The cabin Mr. Bechtel built functioned as their home as well as Bellevue's first post office, and he served as postmaster from 1886 until his death four years later in a logging accident.

The letter pictured here was written by Isaac, who signed for himself and Isabelle, and includes an additional message at the end written in a different, unsigned hand, likely Isabelle's. The letter is addressed to Isaac's mother, sister, brother, and family. Although these individuals are not named in the letter, when it was written both of Isaac's parents, Joseph B. Bechtel (1824-1895) and Sarah (Miller) Bechtel (1828-1907), were alive and farming in an area largely populated by fellow Mennonites of German decent. Of Isaac's four brothers and seven sisters, only his youngest sibling, John M. Bechtel (1866-1935), and his niece, Melinda (Sitler) Lawton (1879-1942), appear to have been living at home at the time.

The letter was written about two weeks after the Great Seattle Fire on June 6, 1889, which destroyed about 25 city blocks (around 120 acres), including the entire business district, four of the city's wharves, and the railroad terminals. Mr. Bechtel recounts how he had reached downtown Seattle about five hours after the fire first started, accompanied by his son, Herbert Amherst Bechtel (1873-1959), and five "camp men," probably from a logging camp on his land. The men witnessed citizens using a bucket brigade to save the last brick building standing, which housed the Post Office and Land Office. Mr. Bechtel continues his letter about three weeks after the fire and describes the city as "bussle [sic] and activity as brick masons, carpenters, painters, and laborers can get all the work they can do." He writes that there were already five or six one-story brick buildings built, and that about 300 tents were set up for conducting business.

There is an imprint on the top left corner of the first page from Southworth, an American stationery company in business since 1839.

Caption information source: The Seattle Daily Times, "Bellevue Gets A Name, A Post Office And A School," June 16, 1983, pp. 94-95; and "Mrs. Bechtel, Early Bellevue Settler, Dies," June 17, 1938, p. 15.
Caption information source: "Bellevue — Thumbnail History," by Alan J. Stein, HistoryLink.org Essay 313.