In December of 1852 David and Arthur Denny and William Bell set off to explore the area north of Elliott Bay searching for good land. Bell, discouraged by the exhausting job of fighting through the incredibly dense vegetation and cold steady rain, turned back around 2 p.m.

The brothers continued on until they reached the tidewater, called Shilshole by the native residents. This is the first time on record that Shilshole was seen by Euro-Americans. The settlers soon named the tidewater Salmon Bay because of the huge seasonal salmon runs. Fifty years later Shilshole would be the Ballard Mill District with the salmon rarely seen in the sawdust and machine oil polluted water.

Early visitors tell of the lush wilderness forest that covered the shores of Puget Sound. The branches of the great cedars and Douglas firs interlocked overhead forming a wondrous canopy.

Far below a thick under story of salal, sword fern, devils club, Oregon grape, salmon berry and countless other species flourished in the shade of the giants. A waterfall cascaded off Phinney Ridge in the vicinity of today's Norse Home and at least six cold, pure, salmon-filled creeks raced down to the Sound through the forest that was to become Ballard.

Tulles flourished in the shallow water along Salmon Bay. In its natural state Salmon Bay had wide beaches rich with clams and mussels. Oyster beds on the north side of the bay were well known to generations of Indian women who made regular stops to collect the seafood.

When Ira W. Utter and Osborn Hall, a couple of adventurous college men from New York State who had made their way to Puget Sound Country by working as deckhands on a freighter sailing around South America, arrived at Elliott Bay around 1854 they were told about Salmon Bay. The pair battled their way through the primeval forest to take a look.

They walked the shoreline and followed game trails through the forest looking for land that appealed to them. They duly filed land claims under the pre-emption law. Following the legal requirements for claimants to live on the land and make improvements, i.e. clear the forest, build a cabin and raise domestic animals, the pair built cabins and began settling in.

Utter and Hall retreated to the Seattle community during the Indian uprising of the winter of 1855-56. Shortly thereafter, Hall sold his land to Utter and left the region.

Apparently, Utter thrived on pioneering and continued to live on his claim on Shilshole for almost 20 years. Utter was isolated from the Euro-American Seattle community, but he was not alone. From his correspondence with his family in New York we know that he became fast friends with the Indians who were a great help to him in learning how to survive in the wilderness. These people did not join the uprising of 1855-56. Indeed, they warned Utter and Hall of the danger.

Utter is an interesting pre-settlement figure. He was well versed in politics and well known by leaders in Seattle, located a half-day trek through the forest over Queen Anne hill.

Pioneer Puget Sound historian C.H. Hanford wrote in "Seattle and Environs" in 1854 that "Utter, a college man living as a hermit, except when he come to the village of Seattle for necessities, news and opportunities to be heard in debate. In this cabin in the forest he had a collection of classical books; and he kept his voice trained by reading good literature to his cows, who were very patient listeners.

Utter was reputed to have the best library in this part of the Oregon Territory. Suffering from ill health in the late 1860s, Utter returned to his family in New York where he died.

By the late 1860s more settlers made their way to Salmon Bay and the logging of the wilderness began in earnest.

The historic record tells that by 1885 most of Ballard was logged off, although old timers used to tell that in 1905 there was a small active logging camp located in the vicinity of today's 15th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 85th.

In 1882, Judge Thomas Burke with his wife, Carrie Burke, William R. Ballard and John Leary platted a large tract of land along Salmon Bay in 10-acre tracts. They named their real estate venture the Farmdale Homestead. Thus began the development of the wilderness on Salmon Bay into a thriving community that would become known as Ballard.