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Seattle lies on a narrow strip of land between the salt waters of Puget Sound and the fresh waters of Lake Washington. Beyond the waters lie two rugged mountain ranges, the Olympics to the west and the Cascades to the east. It is a city built on hills and around water, in a mild marine climate that encourages prolific vegetation and abundant natural resources.
The city is built on Indigenous land, the traditional territory of Coast Salish peoples, specifically the Suquamish and Duwamish Tribes. They lived in the region for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans or white settlers and developed extensive trade and social networks, along with a deep knowledge of the land and sea, and continue to live here today.
European settlers came to the Seattle area in 1851, establishing a townsite they first called New York, and then, adding a word from the Chinook language meaning "by-and-by," New York-Alki. They soon moved a short distance across Elliott Bay to what is now the historic Pioneer Square district, where a protected deep-water harbor was available. This village was soon named Seattle, honoring the Duwamish Indian leader named[Chief Seattle] Chief Sealth.
The new town's principal economic support was the [Henry Leiter Yesler lumber mill at the foot of Mill Street (now Yesler Way), built in 1853. Much of the mill's production went to the booming city of San Francisco, but the mill also supplied the fledgling towns throughout the Puget Sound region. A first failed attempt at incorporation lasted from 1865 to 1867. The official incorporation of Seattle was by the Territorial legislature on December 2, 1869; Seattle had more than 2,000 residents. Washington would not become the 42nd state until 20 years later in 1889.