Erasmus M. Smithers

Erasmus M. Smithers (February 17, 1830–1900, Renton, Washington) was one of the European pioneers of the Pacific coast and the founder of the city of Renton, King County, Washington. His wife and her first husband had settled on the land where the town is now located in 1853, fifteen miles (24 km) from what is now Seattle. At the time there were no white settlers at a point nearer than Seattle, which was then a frontier settlement.

Smithers was born in Virginia on February 17, 1830 to a family being of English origin and which had been among the early settlers in Virginia and North Carolina. His father, Samuel Smithers, a farmer, was born in Virginia, and married a Miss Hale, also a member of one of the old families of that state.

He was raised Virginia and his early education was very limited in scope. At age 19 he left Virginia and set out for the west. A friend had informed him that two young ladies were about to leave for Oregon with a company, and that one of the members of the party, Green Olds, desired to secure the services of a young man to aid him during the journey across the plains.

He paid $50 to join the company. On the May 8, 1852 the company embarked with twenty wagons drawn by ox teams. 15 miles (24 km) west of Omaha, Nebraska, a large band of Indians met them at a bridge and demanded a payment of one dollar a wagon before they passed on, but the settlers were able to fight them off.

The trip Iowa City, Iowa to The Dalles, Oregon took six months, and they then continued to Portland, Oregon where Smithers found a job assisting in the construction of a mill. In April, 1853, he went to Seattle, selling timber to ships bound to San Francisco, California. He brought with him from Portland three yoke of cattle and hauled logs to build the Fort Madison, Washington mill. When the Indian war of 1855 broke out, he volunteered for service, and continued a member of the volunteer militia until 1856.

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