1902, WA: David Denny confirms he spoke Jargon and some Lushootseed
Here we have it from the horse’s mouth.
Just as I’ve already concluded about numerous Settlers of the Seattle area, so early “pioneer” David Denny confirms:
Dave Denny’s dog (image credit: HistoryLink)
Folks spoke both (early Northern) Chinook Jargon there, and as much Lushootseed Salish as they could pick up. (That’s Dxʷləšucid or Txʷəlšucid to you.)
I’m hard pressed to think of any other Settler community in the Northwest where a basic acquaintance with the local tribal language was such a common occurrence. I bet it was quite pidginized Lushootseed, though.
This point emerges in David Denny’s contribution to an always debated topic, the supposed original Indigenous name of Mt Rainier:
FROM THE PEOPLE.
APPLIED TO ANY OLD MOUNTAIN.
Seattle, Dec. 4, 1902
To the Editor: I have often thought
of giving my views with reference to the
Indian name of Mount Rainier. Coming
to the country when young, I readily
learned the Chinook jargon, and in pro-
cess of time learned to understand and
speak the native Indian language com-
mon on what is now known as Puget
sound, from Snoqualmie to Olympia. I
have made careful inquiry of the In-
dians in regard to their name for Mount
Rainier and I’ve found that their name
was Tecobed, which really means “Snow
mountain,” and I understand that the
name Tecobed applies to any mountain
perpetually covered with snow. For in-
stance, Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens,
Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, or Mount
Baker would be designated by this word.An erroneous impression with many
is that the Indians were poor in lan-
guage; on the contrary, the native
tongue was voluminous, mouth-filling,
polysyllabic, and suited to an impassion-
ed oratory. D. T. DENNY.
— from the Seattle (WA) Post-Intelligencer of December 8, 1902, page 4, column 5
