The site was first aligned by university astronomers to set the axis of the stadium so the sun would not shine in the players' eyes — although almost everyone expected it to rain. Using the same sluicing methods employed to hose Denny Hill into Elliott Bay, workers carved out the site and built the stadium in only a little more than six months. They finished just 12 hours before the inaugural game against Dartmouth College on Nov. 27, 1920.

The Tacoma photographer Chapin Bowen recorded this sweeping impression of that dark day, when the university 11 lost to Dartmouth, 28-7. The place, of course, was packed, and many of the 30,000 seats were warmed by those who had paid for the right to sit in them by subscribing to the building fund. The campaign copy read "Buy a Seat and Build the Stadium." Name plaques were also offered for $50 and $100.

Since that first loss, the Huskies have won about 75 percent of their games here, and the seats have multiplied to 75,000. In 1968 the grass was replaced by Astro-Turf — a first for a major college. The school had to stock an extra 200 pairs of special shoes for their opponents.

For those who are counting, first in 1923 and 13 times since, the Huskies have made it to the Rose Bowl. Perhaps most impressively, the school's athletic department claims that Husky Stadium is consistently voted "the most scenic football structure in the nation." That probably has more to do with the view from the stadium than of it.

Vol. 1 and Vol. 3 of Paul Dorpat's books, "Seattle Now & Then," are $19.95 each from Tartu Publications, P.O. Box 85208, Seattle, WA 98145.