The Other Way West: The Baker-Denny Party, 1866

In the spring of 1866, a party of 16 people sold everything they owned in New Providence, Clark County, Indiana, and set out for the Pacific Northwest — not by wagon trail, but by sea. The journey cost an estimated $16,100 at the time, roughly equivalent to $337,000 today.¹

The Decision to Leave

The Baker and Denny families who made this journey were originally from South Carolina and Kentucky. Both families had strong and influential ties to their communities and were successful in business – but perhaps most surprisingly, they already had relatives living in what would become the State of Washington. Those relatives had already been there for 18 years.

The relatives were Arthur A. and David Denny – two of the group members of the Denny Party who are credited with founding Seattle.

I strongly believe this connection had something to do with why these families made the journey to Washington, and why they chose the route they did.

The Party

Below, I’ve broken the party into four family groups. Groups 2, 3, and 4 are the grown children of Group 1 — meaning this was a multigenerational family migration. Henry L., John W., and Sarah L. Denny Baker were all older children of Samuel T. and Lucy A. Denny. The age of each person at the time of departure from Indiana is listed in parentheses.

The Route

By 1866, the transcontinental railroad was still three years from being completed. Although the Pacific Railroad Act was passed and authorized in 1862, lines like the Central Pacific and Union Pacific wouldn’t be completed until 1869, and the Santa Fe even later still, meaning an unbroken rail journey was not an option.⁴

For a party of 16 making the journey west, overland travel would have carried considerable risk. Disease, supply failures, brutal terrain, unpredictable weather, and conflict along emigrant routes were all well documented – and far more common for the period. With five children under the age of 10 and the family’s financial means to choose otherwise, sea travel was shorter and ultimately safer – even accounting for its own risks of shipwreck and disease on the Isthmus.

25 Mar 1866 – New Providence, Indiana, to New York – Train

Family stories tell us that the decision to come west was not even considered unless the entirety of the family could make the journey together. The only member unable to join them was the family dog — left behind due to the expense.

When they boarded the train for New York on March 25th, they were stepping into a country still recovering from conflict. The Civil War had ended just 11 months prior, and I have to imagine the family witnessed considerable devastation and reconstruction as they made their way east. The train journey itself would have taken roughly four days, given the available routes and average speeds of the time.

29 Mar 1866 |New York to Aspinwall (Panama) – Steamer (Arizona)

When the family arrived in New York, they boarded the Steamer Arizona bound for Aspinwall, Panama. The Arizona was a Pacific Mail Steamship Company vessel that had only entered service on this exact route 24 days earlier, making her nearly brand new when the Baker-Denny party came aboard.⁵ The journey between New York and Aspinwall took steamships roughly 8 to 10 days.

8 Apr 1866 |Crossing the Isthmus – Train

The Panama Railroad was completed in 1855, spanning a total of 47 miles across the isthmus. Based on the route’s length, typical train speeds of the era, and stops approximately every 4 miles, the crossing likely took around 4 hours — though factors like weather and luggage transfers could have added time.³

“First class passenger fare was $25; children under 12 paid $6.25; second class fare was $10. Personal baggage was ten cents a pound, mail 22 cents a pound, and coal $5.00 per ton. First class freight in boxes or bales ran 50 cents per cubic foot. All freight charges were paid in gold.”

9 Apr 1866 | Panama to San Francisco, California – Steamer (SS. Golden Age)

The family boarded the SS Golden Age and departed Panama, making stops along the Mexican coast — likely at Acapulco and Manzanillo — before arriving in San Francisco.⁸

The crossing from Panama to San Francisco typically took 18 to 22 days, though the Golden Age’s documented runs suggest some voyages came in faster under favorable conditions. It is worth noting a small historical discrepancy: records place the Golden Age on the California Steam Navigation Company’s San Francisco–Portland coastal route by this period, rather than the Panama run. Whether she made an irregular voyage south or whether the ship name was recorded imprecisely in family documents remains an open question worth further research.³

According to family documents, the party originally planned to continue directly to Puget Sound upon reaching San Francisco — but they missed the connecting steamer. Rather than wait, they adjusted their plans and booked passage to Portland, Oregon instead.

1 May 1866|San Francisco to Portland, Oregon – Steamer

Sometime between their arrival in San Francisco on April 22nd and May 1st, the party boarded another steamer bound for Portland, Oregon. With Washington still a territory at the time, scheduled passenger service to Puget Sound was neither frequent nor reliable — making Portland the most practical next destination. Based on the distance and average steamer speeds of the era, the journey north would have taken approximately 4 to 5 days.

What happened over the next three years after the arrival in Portland is less clear. Family documents contain slightly conflicting information, and Albany, Oregon appears in several family obituaries as an intermediate stop. It appears that at least part of the group — Family Group 1 — stayed in Albany with extended family, likely waiting for conditions in the Seattle area to be more settled and accessible. They wouldn’t arrive in the Seattle area until April 14th, 1869 — nearly three years after leaving Indiana.

Apr-Nov 1869 – Arrival & Dispersal

Family Groups 1, 2, & 3

It seems that all three of these family groups ended up settling together in Seattle.

As mentioned above they arrived in Seattle on April 14th, 1869.

Family Group 4

William Henry Baker and his wife Sarah Louisa Denny Baker — did not follow the rest of the party to Seattle. Instead, they continued south to what would become the city of Tacoma. What they found there, and what happened in the months that followed, was documented by historian Herbert Hunt in one of the earliest histories of the region.”

“Other early comers were William and Sarah Louisa Denny Baker, and to them, four months after they came here, was born a baby girl, who has the distinction of being the first [white] child born in Tacoma.”¹⁰

The quote above reflects the language of the original text. The presence and history of Indigenous peoples on this land predates the Baker family’s arrival by thousands of years.

“Mrs. Baker says that when they came to Tacoma, they found four dwelling houses, a saloon, a store, and a hotel. The Bakers lived in a tent for two months, and then moved into the “lean to” of a log house which the McCarvers had used for a short time while their house was being completed. In this log house J.P Stewart, one of the early teachers in Steilacoom, was teaching the first school in Tacoma, with about thirteen children, all of whom belonged to the Baker, A.W Stewart, and Fleetwood families. In the lean-to little Lena Tacoma [Baker] was born, with no physician within miles of the place.”⁴

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Why it matters

For those researching the Bonney, Denny, Baker, and Spinning family lines of the Pacific Northwest, this party represents a foundational migration — the moment these families arrived on the land where their descendants would put down roots.

But beyond the genealogical connections, what strikes me most is the character it took to make this journey at all. These 16 people — ranging from grandparents to children under the age of 10 — sold everything they owned and chose the unknown.

I see that same thread running through my own family history — in my grandfather, who left home and pursued his dream of education when those around him chose differently. The circumstances were different, but the instinct was the same: to move toward something, even when it wasn’t the obvious or easy choice.

That trait didn’t appear from nowhere. It was carried here, across two oceans and a continent, by 16 people who believed the destination was worth the journey.”

Open Questions

• Why did William choose to settle in Sumner?
• Who were the relatives living in Albany?

What is still unconfirmed?

• Why did the family chose Albany as their pausing place before making a final push into WA territory. 3 years is a significant amount of time to not settle or put down roots. 3 winters, 3 years’ worth of planting and harvesting crops.
• The relatives in Albany, Oregon – my suspicion is that it’s the father or a closer relative of Arthur and David Denny (prominent Seattle pioneers) – John Denny?
• The train route the family took from Indiana to New York, and where exactly did they depart from?

Sources

1. In 2013 Dollars. 2026. “$16,100 In 1866 Is Worth $339,193.58 In 2026.” August 31. https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1866?amount=16100. ↩︎
2. Monon Train Depot, Borden Indiana. n.d. In Borden, Indiana. Online Image. Accessed September 21, 2026. https://bordenindiana.com/history.html. ↩︎
3. Ancestry. 1916. Seattle Pioneers. In Ancestry Family Tree Media. Newspaper Clipping. https://www.ancestry.com/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/193986431/person/192551611241/media/aa8052ef-54a1-4096-8333-f4186d4808a3?galleryindex=12&sort=-created.
   Ancestry Member: Linda Myhre ↩︎
4. Slatta, Richard W. 2006. “Western Frontier Life in America.” World Book Online Reference Center. http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar599110. ↩︎
5. Panama Canal Railway Company. 2025. “Panama Canal Railway.” Panarail.Com. https://www.panarail.com/en/history/index.html. ↩︎
6. New York Daily Tribune. 1866. “Passengers Sailed – for Aspinwall.” April 2. https://www.genealogybank.com/doc/newspapers/image/v2%3A1284B46450E6EE32%40GB3NEWS-12A28B2EB0788DD8%402402694-12A28B2F8AC60A98%407-12A28B332BEAC088%40Shipping%2BNews?h=5&fname=William&lname=Baker&fullname=&kwinc=&kwexc=&rgfromDate=04/01/1866&rgtoDate=04/28/1866&formDate=&formDateFlex=exact&dateType=range&processingtime=&addedFrom=&addedTo=&sid=tynvlveosbhlzeuusdcwacpzpbjbpnaq_ip-10-166-46-182_1790117998481. ↩︎
7. Watson, Brian. 2026. “TheShipsList|Steamships on the Panama Route.” Benjidog.Co.Uk. https://www.benjidog.co.uk/TheShipsList/PanamaRoute.php. ↩︎
8. Wikipedia. 2026. “Pacific Mail Steamship Company.” September 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pacific_Mail_Steamship_Company&oldid=1373059486. ↩︎
9. Oregon Historical Society. n.d. First Street, Portland. In Oregon History Project. Online Image. Accessed July 4, 2026. https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/first-street-portland/. [Catalog Number OrHi5490] ↩︎
10. Hunt, Herbert. (1916) 2022. Tacoma, Its History and Its Builders; a Half Century of Activity; Volume I. Legare Street Press. ↩︎
11. Newspapers.com. 1916. “Parents of First Babe Born in Tacoma and Their Child.” The News Tribune, November 22. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-tribune-sarah-l-baker-funeral/146825544/. ↩︎