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It was late August back in 1851 when the Denny Party, the eventual founders of Seattle, arrived in Portland, Oregon. But they didn鈥檛 stay in Portland long, because of what they had heard from a 鈥渕ystery man鈥� who had crossed their path in eastern Oregon.

Arthur Denny was the leader of the Denny Party, a group of settlers who left Illinois and headed for the Willamette Valley in 1851. They ultimately settled on Native land off Puget Sound, and founded the City of Seattle, instead of sticking around in Oregon.

Along the Oregon Trail, Arthur Denny met a man named Brock 鈥� no first name given 鈥� at a place called Burnt River. This is close to what鈥檚 now Huntington, Oregon, along the Snake River. It鈥檚 not far from the Idaho border, and is about 85 miles from Boise.

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What we know from Arthur Denny about Brock (from Denny鈥檚 memoir) is that Brock lived in Oregon City, south of Portland. Brock was at Burnt River in the summer of 1851 expecting to meet friends coming from the east. The friends didn鈥檛 arrive, so Brock ended up traveling west with the Dennys, from Burnt River a few hundred miles along the Oregon Trail to The Dalles.

Somewhere along the way, Brock told Arthur Denny that all the desirable land in the Willamette Valley had already been claimed by settlers. But, he also said, there was plenty of good land still available around Puget Sound.

From The Dalles, the women and children and a few of the men floated the rest of the way to Portland by boat, while

the other men in the party drove the wagons and livestock to the city via the Barlow Road.

In September 1851, Arthur Denny, lay sick in bed in Portland. He recalled what Brock had told him, and he sent brother David Denny north in search of suitable land, and the rest is history.

Mystery man

For about 150 years, this was pretty much all anyone knew about Brock. He was a man of mystery, an Oregon Trail archetype, a Pacific Northwest enigma, as well as the occasional subject of speculation by newspaper columnists (including John Hinterberger of The Seattle Times).

But, with some expert help from a handful of local historians, and a little digging in the archives, it turns out that much has already been discovered about Brock, and few more dots were connected this week.

Amy Platt works for the Oregon Historical Society, researching, writing, and editing the online resource called the . Apart from trying to identify who Brock was, Amy Platt also wondered about his motivations.

鈥淲hy is he telling the Dennys to go north?鈥� Platt asked. 鈥淚, at first, thought he was being kind of sneaky about it, ‘There’s no land in Oregon, you don’t want to go there.’ But by [1851], most of the Upper Willamette was settled and the land was claimed. There was quite a bit of land south still available, but he might not have known that.鈥�

Amy Platt wasn鈥檛 able to determine Brock鈥檚 motivations, but she鈥檚 a talented researcher, and right away, she tracked down two potential Brocks, who both happened to be named George. One was from Kentucky, and one was from Ohio.

Then, Platt found that historian had, in fact, already identified 鈥淕eorge Brock鈥� and mentioned him by his full name in a book called which was published by University of Washington Press back in 2005.

Coll Thrush grew up in Auburn, and he鈥檚 now a history professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

For Professor Thrush, there was no 鈥渁ha moment鈥� when he first identified George Brock back in the 1990s, as he was doing research that would later inform “Native Seattle.” He can鈥檛 even recall exactly how he came across the evidence: microfilm of a tiny scrap of newspaper with an undated obituary for George Brock, pasted in a scrapbook at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland.

In some ways, it seems as if the specifics of who Brock was don鈥檛 even matter that much. Whatever his name or background, he鈥檚 enough of an archetype of the Oregon Trail 鈥� an American of European descent 鈥� that perhaps little is to be gained from investing too much in the way of time and resources to try to identify him.

But then again, there鈥檚 something tantalizing about specificity, especially for what is such a pivotal moment in Seattle history. Does Professor Thrush think it鈥檚 silly to even wonder who Brock really was? Yes and no, he says.

鈥淭he Denny Party and the other people who came in those early years are part of much broader waves of migration and immigration, so a single figure like that doesn’t matter so much,鈥� Thrush said. 鈥淚 think it tells us more about ourselves and our interest in finding that single moment where everything changes. And as a historian, I struggle with that in my own writing, too, where I’m always looking for those moments when things could’ve gone differently.鈥�

鈥淏ut it’s important that we think about the bigger stories, and not get too caught up in which George it was,鈥� he said.

Thrush’s research has often focused on the Native Americans who were here long before Denny or Brock.

Finding George Brock

But we know that others have wondered about Brock, and it turns out that also identified George Brock. This happened around 2000, at the behest of then MOHAI historian Lorraine McConaghy.

Neither Engeman nor McConaghy can narrow the date of this discovery. Engeman says that, as it was for Thrush, there was no 鈥淓ureka!鈥� moment when he found George Brock, that it was 鈥渏ust another day at the archives.鈥�

Meanwhile, back at the Oregon Historical Society, Amy Platt says she is 70 percent sure that Thrush and Engeman were right: George Brock from Ohio is our mystery man, the mystical midwife of metropolitan Seattle.

So, what do we know about him, exactly?

George Brock was born in 1814 in , in eastern Ohio and came to the Oregon Country in 1843, which was the first really big year of migration on the Oregon Trail.

George Brock married a woman named Eunice Davis in 1857; he was in his early 40s, she was 17 or 18. They had two sons and a daughter, and eventually owned many acres of agricultural property in Forest Grove, west of Portland off of Highway 26.

George Brock lived to be 80 years old and died in 1894. He鈥檚 buried in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Somewhere along the line, George Brock and his wife Eunice divorced. She married Newton J. Walker in 1884 or 1885 and they operated a hotel in Gaston, Oregon, south of Forest Grove. Eunice Davis Walker died in 1928 and is buried in Forest Grove a few feet away from her first husband, George Brock.

One thing that鈥檚 not clear is if Arthur Denny and George Brock ever met again once they鈥檇 parted ways at The Dalles. From the tone of Denny鈥檚 memoir, written in the 1880s, this seems unlikely. Arthur Denny died in 1899 at age 76.

A monument to Arthur Denny and George Brock?

Nearly 170 years later, do people in , the community nearest to the spot where Arthur Denny and George Brock first met, know about their town鈥檚 proximity to this pivotal moment in Northwest history?

A phone call to Huntington City Hall rang directly to Mayor Candy Howland. She鈥檚 in her sixties, and grew up not too far away in Boise, Idaho.

鈥淚’ve been here for 35 years and I’ve never heard that story,鈥� Mayor Howland said.

But, Mayor Howland said, even though the city of Huntington didn鈥檛 yet exist in 1851, there鈥檚 a place a few miles outside of town called that she theorizes might be just the spot where history was made 167 years ago.

鈥淭he Snake River runs through there, and that is where all of the people that came from the east going west (on the Oregon Trail) stopped … it was like a trading post,鈥� Mayor Howland said.

鈥淪ome of them would cross the Snake River at , and go into (the) Idaho side, some would go on into Willamette Valley, and some would go out toward (the) Bend area.聽 This is kind of where everybody kind of broke up, depending on what direction they went,鈥� she said.

鈥淭he reason it’s called Farewell Bend,鈥� the mayor added, 鈥渋s because that’s where everybody said 鈥榝arewell鈥� to everybody.鈥�

One other version of the origin of Farewell Bend name is because this is where Oregon Trail travelers said 鈥渇arewell鈥� to the plentiful water supply of the Snake River before heading up and over the hills.

Modern Huntington

Much has changed since 1851 in the area that鈥檚 now called Huntington.聽 The Burnt River still runs north of town, but the Old Oregon Trail was supplanted by old US Highway 30, which is now the main street through town. Then, Interstate 84 bypassed that stretch of US 30 鈥� and Huntington 鈥� years ago, though the freeway is easily accessible just a few miles outside of town.

Huntington was a staging area for the railroad for decades, and a small rail yard is still in operation between the north edge of town and the Burnt River.

About 400 people live there nowadays, and the town has become somewhat infamous in recent years these as a destination for , much to the chagrin of Mayor Howland.

Since Seattle as we know it wouldn鈥檛 exist were it not for what happened near Huntington, how would Mayor Howland feel about installing a new sign on the outskirts of town? It could say, 鈥淲elcome Idahoans for your marijuana needs … and The Cradle of Seattle.鈥�

鈥淗ey, that鈥檚 a good idea,鈥� said the mayor, who鈥檚 obviously a good sport. 鈥淚鈥檒l have to bring that up to the council.鈥�

Do you know more about George Brock or are you a descendant? If so, please send email to Feliks Banel (fbanel@kiroradio.com) and share your story.

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