 A major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling .The Seattle area was inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers.Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived from Illinois via Portland, Oregon, on the schooner "Exact" at Alki Point on November 13, 1851.