To our readers
Old newspapers, pinned to the places they wrote about — the streets you can still walk today.
Showing Cle Elum only. Show the whole archive · browse other towns
Armed settlers and their wives confront a canal company to defend their family farms from state-sanctioned land seizure.
“Both the men were very determined, and a promise to let daylight through either the company's employes or the contractor if a rail was touched, convinced Madison that he had better delay proceedings.”
A desperate battle over water rights in the Yakima Valley turned explosive when engineers were caught dynamiting a rival company's dam.
“The Union Gap Co. are pushing criminal proceedings against the men and irrigation matters up the valley are in a very mixed up condition.”
A catastrophic explosion at a mining magazine claims multiple lives, including a former Lynden pioneer.
“Large rocks and broken timbers were thrown over a mile from the scene of the disaster and the bodies of the laborers were only a handful of fragments when picked up.”
A territorial dispute over two Japanese women in North Yakima turns violent, forcing a desperate appeal for help in Seattle.
“The girls were discovered, and in Justice Gamble’s court, they expressed a desire to return with the Japanese men, but were fearful for their lives if the Chinamen were not restrained.”
Two separate, brutal robbery attempts in Cle Elum and Toppenish leave a farmer beaten and a laborer fighting for his life.
“The robbers demanded more money which they claimed was on the premises. Bean stated that his wife was in Roslyn and had taken all the rest of the money with her.”
A head-on collision between a work train and a locomotive leaves construction workers dead and local physicians scrambling in the wake of the worst accident on the Northern Pacific line.
“The scene of the accident, as described by those present, beggars description. Blood is scattered in every direction, and the neighboring rocks bear evidence of the fearful carnage.”
Tensions rise in the Kittitas Valley as miners clash over labor practices and claim ownership.
“There is considerable feeling over there in regard to employing Chinese in the mines.”
Citizens in Cle Elum adopt a brutal method of 'dealing with obstreperous hobos' using whips.
“The latter proposition was accepted, and Secour procured a blacksnake whip. The start was made, and in covering the distance the whip was laid on head, back, shoulders and legs with great vigor.”
A devastating blaze wipes out a business district, echoing the recent destruction in North Yakima.
“The good people of this thriving burg are beseeching Providence to keep old Boreas pumping to the north so as to avert a repetition of last Thursday’s devastation.”
A Northern Pacific railroad worker's family struggles with extreme poverty and illness in Cle Elum.
“A sad case of destitution and want was disclosed.”
After surviving a brutal winter, two miners on the Cascade mountains suffer life-altering injuries, highlighting the grim reality behind the region's mining industry.
“It is to be hoped the additional report that the mines are valuable properties is true.”
A coal train loses control on a steep mountain track, forcing a daring rescue by the crew.
“It looked as though an awful wreck was inevitable and the two brakemen and conductor jumped, but the engineer and fireman pluckily stayed.”
A mysterious defender emerges for the man who tried to charge immigrants with a shotgun.
“Do the commissioners of King county run the commissioners of Kittitas? Are they not capable of looking after the roads in their own county?”
A desperate group of Kittitas valley bachelors place a bizarre ad in a local paper, hoping to lure women to their remote ranches.
“Partners Wanted! Must be Females!! Beauty No Object!!!”
A weekend rush of 150 strangers—many said to be backed by a new company—re-staked claims under new names and left the camp braced for a mining war.
“Every claim that possibly could be was jumped and located in a new name, with the result that there is more mining war in the camp.”
A prospector’s winter isolation in the Cascade mountains turns into a desperate fight for survival against avalanches and mountain lions.
“His beard was as long as a Populist senator's.”
Citizens call for an investigation into whether an official is using his position to benefit a coal company.
“If Mr. Krutz is working for this or any other corporation, to the detriment of the settler, it is time the government made an investigation.”
A brutal mountain storm leaves one prospector dead and another miraculously stumbling into camp to report the horror.
“His hair was fluffed close on both sides of his head, his whiskers were singed off, and a smell of burnt hair and flesh filled the hut.”
A new gold strike in the 'old French pocket' sends miners racing back to the historic camp with reports of high-value veins.
“Today's report created great excitement here, and a number of men will leave for the camp tomorrow.”
A traveler recounts the grueling journey from Cle-Elum to Fish Lake, where prospectors and mountain air await—if you can survive the trip.
“A leather medal... is now under construction for the originator of the canard that the road is good between Cle-Elum and this point.”
A roadmaster at Cle Elum is arrested for padding six railroad crews with fictitious workers—until a foreman’s conscience, and the auditors, caught up with him.
“He is charged with carrying “straw” men on six of his sections and having instructed the foremen of the section gangs to carry the men.”
A young girl is fighting for her life after a rattlesnake attack near the Teanaway River.
“Dr. McCauley and W. V. Stephens went out and found the child's leg swollen to an immense size clear up to her body, and it was as black as ink.”
A debate unfolds regarding whether the Northern Pacific should build its new Cascade line through the Naches Pass or the Stampede Pass.
“Let us have a regular wood and iron road that can be run in good style.”
A six-foot-thick vein of coal discovered near Cle Elum marks a new development in regional resource exploration.
“The vein is some six feet in thickness.”
Prospectors are scouring the headwaters of the Yakima and Wenatchee rivers, unearthing silver and galena as the mining fever reaches an all-time high.
“Mountains are scaled by men, that scarcely any living animal except the mountain goat has traversed, in search of mineral.”
A prospector recovers a fourteen-ounce gold nugget from the Swauk district, highlighting the region's enduring mineral wealth.
“The largest gold nugget taken out of the Swauk placers in the past two years was brought down today.”
No stories match these filters.
Try a wider date range, another category, or clear everything and start again.