Most tourists do not
know that Pike’s Place Market is haunted.
Over the years many witnesses
have seen an old lady--most often on the lower level. She appears so real that
many witnesses do not figure out they have seen a ghost until afterward.
It is said this ghost was the
eldest daughter of Chief Sealth--which through misspellings and
mispronunciations became “Seattle.” Her
Duwamish name was Kikisoblu but the early Anglo settlers in the area named her
Princess Angeline.
In 1855, the Treaty of Point
Elliot required the Duwamish leave their land for a reservation. Princess
Angeline ignored the order and stayed in Seattle.
She lived in a waterfront
shack where the market sits today. She survived by taking in laundry and
selling hand woven baskets along the street.
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| Princess Angeline's shack. Photo: Edward Curtis |
She was a well-known figure
in the city. She walked bent over with a cane. She always wore a handkerchief
on her head and a shawl around her shoulders.
_of_the_Duwamish,_1896.jpg) |
| Princess Angeline Photo: Edward Curtis |
One reason it is known what
she looked like is a young photographer at the time--Edward Curtis took many
pictures of her.
When Princess Angeline died
at the age of 84 in 1896 the citizens of Seattle gave her a big funeral. She
was buried in a casket that was made to look like a canoe.
Her ghost has haunted the
Market for decades. She appears so life like most witnesses at first are just
taken aback by the sight of this odd old woman.
In Leslie Rule’s book
entitled, Ghosts Among Us she tells a
story about one of her friends when she was a teen growing up in Seattle. Her
friends and her often rode the bus downtown and hung out in the market in the
1970s--this was when it was still a hippie hang out.
One day one of her friends went
to the Market alone, while there she saw a sight that upset her. She saw
an old woman she described as being a Native American.
This woman stared at her with
piercing eyes that sent a chill down her spine. She was extremely old,
toothless and wore a shawl. A smell of decay clung to her.
She muttered something, which
the teen could not understand. She told Rule later that she wondered if this
old lady was an evil witch that cast a spell on her. Rule’s friend was so
frightened she has never gone back to the market.
Several years later when Rule
heard other stories about Princess Angeline she wondered if this was the odd
lady her friend saw.
In recent years, one shop
owner on the lower level who sales beads saw an older woman dressed strangly in
her store looking at beads in the back. When she approached this woman to ask
if she needed assistance she disappeared.
She made inquiries and heard
the story about Princess Angeline’s ghost. She has continued to see her ghost
in her shop--she is now more comfortable with this sight. The owner states the
ghost always checks out her beads in the back--then she fades away.
One day the shop owner saw
her walk right through the back wall.
Most witnesses state the
Princess moves slowly. Some state she even glows--in shades of lavender, blue
and pink.
Other witnesses have seen a
young Native American boy walking with her. The shop owner of the bead store
has seen this ghost as well.
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| Lower levels where ghost has been seen. |
It is said her ghost is felt
near a central wooden column in the lower level. This area is always cold and
several people who have taken pictures in this area have discovered anomalies
in their photos.
In Part l of Seattle’s Pike’s Place Market the history of this historic market is shared.
In Part l of Seattle’s Pike’s Place Market the history of this historic market is shared.
