The Everett Massacre: A Bloody Sunday on the Waterfront
An armed confrontation between I.W.W. protesters and a citizens' posse leaves six dead and scores wounded after a failed landing in Everett.
“The fight must be won.”
Stories from Everett
80 storiesShowing Everett only. Show the whole archive · browse other towns
The Day the Waterfront Turned on Its Workers
In November 1916, a boatload of union men arrived at the city dock and were met by two hundred armed deputies. Everett has never fully agreed on what happened next.
“We are all leaders.”
The Widow and the Land Graber
An Indian widow and her children reclaim their land after being defrauded by a prominent guardian.
“It was some time before the eyes of the unfortunate Indian woman were opened to the deceit and trickery which had been practiced on her.”
The Everett Massacre
A bloody confrontation between I.W.W. free-speech protesters and a citizens' posse leaves six dead and scores wounded on the Everett waterfront.
“The fight must be won.”
The Everett Massacre Prisoners Arrive
Forty-one members of the Industrial Workers of the World were transported under heavy guard to the Snohomish County jail following the bloody confrontation on the waterfront.
“Forty-one members of the Industrial Workers of the World, charged with murder in connection with the fight here.”
The Unsanctioned Heavyweight Brawl in Everett
A six-round bout between two Seattle men leaves the local marshal scrambling to explain why the law failed to stop the illegal fighting.
“Marshal Greene, the Populist candidate for re-election, is busy explaining how this thing could go on under the eyes of the police.”
The Streetcar Strike and the Press
Everett labor leaders push back against media portrayals of the ongoing streetcar strike, demanding an end to misrepresentation.
“This fight is but a part of the nation-wide struggle between property rights and human rights—the dollar sign against flesh and blood.”
The Laundry Strike of 1910
Striking laundry workers in Everett launch a campaign for higher wages and against the 'laundry trust,' enlisting public support to run their own mobile collection service.
“Twenty cents for a fine shirt and five dollars a week for the girl worker.”
The Price of Public Water
Everett’s labor leaders take on the Stone-Webster utility monopoly in a high-stakes battle over rigged rates and watered stock.
“These three items alone represent about $243,000 of watered stock, on which the company claims the right to earn 10 per cent.”
The Dispossession of Josephine Hatch
A Snohomish widow, unable to speak English, sues a powerful land conglomerate for swindling her out of a multi-million dollar stake in the founding of Everett.
“Mrs. Hatch is a full-blooded Indian, unable to write or even speak English, and claims that suit is made necessary through her having been defrauded of the property by reason of her ignorance.”
Washington Women Win the Vote
Following the historic 1910 election, the Labor Journal celebrates the enfranchisement of women and calls for a new era of worker-led political power.
“The battle is over—the battle is begun! Let labor unite in our next city election and demonstrate the power of the producer.”
The Everett Dock Riot Trials Approach
A judge in Everett sets the date for the mass trial of 73 I.W.W. members accused of murder following the violent confrontation on the Everett municipal docks.
“Judge J. T. Ronald of Everett has named March 5 for the beginning of the trials of 73 men... charged with murder as a result of the municipal dock riot.”
A 1909 Newspaper Campaign Against Japanese Immigrants
A local labor newspaper warns that the white working class of Everett faces the same economic ruin as San Francisco due to competition from Japanese laborers.
“It becomes then not a question of race hatred... but a question of existence on the plane of living that the white man has created.”
The Great Everett Fire Scare of 1909
Eight suspicious fires in one night set the city into a panic, sparking rumors of professional arsonists.
“Fire was the great leveler which swept away for the moment all caste and class distinction.”
The Lumber Barons and the 'Request' to Quit the Union
A fiery editorial from The Labor Journal exposes the intimidation tactics used by mill owners to keep workers from organizing.
“Of course this could not be construed as a threat! Just a dignified 'request' from a big-hearted corp to its men to remember the fatherly solicitude it has always shown toward them.”
The Everett Street Car Strike
Striking transit workers face off against a 'soulless corporation' as public sympathy mounts against the company's use of hired thugs.
“The city is full of them today and they are here for no good purpose.”
The Strikebreakers Who Became Policemen
During a four-month strike at Sumner Iron Works, Everett's police commission armed strikebreakers with police authority—and the Labor Journal demanded to know who was protecting whom.
“One of the strike-breakers declares: 'Everett is the easiest city in the country in which to carry a gun.'”
The Forgotten Heir of Everett
A legal battle pits an Indigenous heir against local titans in the fight for the heart of a burgeoning city.
“The fact that Kromer, who was a highly educated man and came of a New York family, should have married a squaw, is surprising, but has numerous parallels in the early history of this rugged country.”
The Sea Gives Up a Member of the Ganiard Party
Four months after a storm swallowed a family of musicians bound for a dance, the body of young Wesley Ganiard is recovered near the mouth of the Snohomish River — but his mother is still missing.
“On an awful, stormy midnight the watchman at the Everett mill... heard above the rush of waters and the fierce blast of the gale one long agonizing shriek... It was the death note of the last survivor of the Ganiard party.”
Switchmen's Strike Tightens Its Grip on Northwest Freight
Despite railroad claims that operations are normal, the American Federation of Labor steps in to support the striking switchmen as shipping remains at a standstill.
“It is the policy of all corporations in time of strike to create the impression that they are doing business as usual, even though they sink a barrel of money making this monumental bluff.”
The Industrial Remaking of Everett's Waterfront
Federal authorities grant permission for a massive engineering project to wall off the Snohomish River delta, transforming a shallow tidal area into a deep-water harbor for industrial commerce.
“The withdrawal of the Old river from the Snohomish river system will therefore certainly do no harm to the general navigation interests of the Snohomish river.”
The Mob That Stopped a Cannery
Business owners in Everett face threats and intimidation for attempting to hire Chinese labor.
“One of them threatened to kick the 'moon-eyed lepers' off the dock when they landed.”
The Brutal Forced Exploitation of a Young Woman in Everett
A teenager is pressured into prostitution by her partner, exposing the dark underside of life in the booming town of Everett.
“Eleanor was asked by an officer why Huntoon did not marry her, and she tremblingly replied that he wouldn't until she 'earned a lot more money.'”
Tragedy on the Sound Shoreline
A fatal landslide on the Great Northern coast line buries a railway laborer alive, highlighting the recurring peril of unstable terrain along the Puget Sound.
“The whole of the great overhanging bluff seems to be slipping forward and breaking off like the ice from a glacier.”
The Growing Pains of Everett
A nostalgic look at the early days of Everett, from the rough-and-tumble construction boom to the economic despair of the 'hard times' and the eventual rise of a working-class city.
“Men are still living here who left their families with a month's credit at the grocery store and what little cash they had, and struck out afoot 150 miles where they had heard they might find work.”
Sawmill Workers Call for Exclusion of Asian Laborers
Meeting in Everett, the International Brotherhood of Sawmill Workers and Woodsmen adopt a resolution demanding the strict application of anti-Asian exclusion laws.
“It is impossible for us to compete with these people in any line of work, or profession and earn a competent living.”
Everett’s Baptism by Fire
After major conflagrations reveal a pathetic water supply, local labor leaders demand a municipal water system.
“It appears that every city must have its baptism by fire before it awakens to the necessity of adequate fire protection.”
The Streetcar Strike Was Only the Beginning
After forcing the Stone-Webster corporation to yield, Everett’s organized labor sets its sights on public control of utilities.
“This giant octopus has its tentacles reaching out into many states. It has powerful connections in Wall Street.”
Betrayed by the Railroad: The Wellington Disaster Survivors
After the catastrophic avalanche that killed nearly 100, laborers hired for rescue work are abandoned without food or pay, forced to trek 74 miles to Everett.
“They were just plain, even-day American workingmen who were willing to give an honest day's work for an honest day's pay and wholesome grub and decent treatment in return.”
Who Polices the Strikers?
Everett labor leaders demand transparency after discovering private companies were deputizing their own strike-breakers as law enforcement.
“Has a corporation rights and influence in this city not accorded to private citizens?”
Railroad Switchmen Walk Out in Massive Strike
Everett switchmen join a regional effort to shut down rail traffic from the Great Lakes to the Pacific in a fight for higher wages and safer working conditions.
“We desire the interest and the help of all friends of the laboring people.”
Abandoned and Starving in the Mountains
After the Wellington disaster, laborers recount being treated like 'cattle' by the Great Northern Railway while awaiting unpaid wages.
“The company treated us like so many cattle and fed us like hogs—Worse than hogs, because there is money in hogs and there was just so much work in us.”
Eastern Money Quietly Buys the Waterfront
In 1901 the best land in Everett changed hands in a deal whose terms were 'not made public.' Residents found out what it meant years later.
“The consideration being withheld from the public record.”
The False Deputy of the Snohomish River Bridge
A machinist strike in Everett turns into a legal farce when a 'special police officer' is revealed to be a hired gun without any official authority.
“Who is paying Goodman's salary, the Metal Trades' Association or the taxpayers and citizens of Everett?”
The Search for Stolen Silks
A diplomatic incident erupts in Everett after authorities aggressively search the quarters of a French aristocrat and former diplomat.
“They assert that the officers insulted the lady, beside throwing the gentleman on the floor in a coarse and brutal manner.”
Rents Jump Twice in One Year on Hewitt Avenue
Mill hands in 1920 watched their rent climb faster than their wages — and the landlords' explanation will sound very familiar.
“The advance is compelled rather than chosen.”
The Winter the River Took Lowell
Days of warm rain on deep snow sent the Snohomish over its banks in 1917 — and families rowed out of their own second-story windows.
“The lowlands are its own.”
Everett Pushes for a City-Owned Water System
Advocates argue that water is a public necessity, not a commodity for private corporate profit.
“A public necessity should never be owned or controlled by a private corporation and operated solely for profit.”
The Hard-Won Fight for the Eight-Hour Day
While union machinists in Northern California celebrate a hard-won victory, their counterparts in the Pacific Northwest face strike-breakers and police intimidation.
“Strange world this we live in, where men high in the councils of societies that proclaim the brotherhood of man... will use every means at their disposal to defeat that which they proclaim they so ardently desire.”
The Art of the Industrial Squeeze
How the Steel Trust uses deliberate idleness and wage competition to break unions and keep workers in poverty.
“The trust believes that starvation is a great incentive to the kind of competition it likes.”
Ending the Corporate Bias Against Married Workers
A new state law finally forces employers to pay damages to the families of single men killed on the job, ending a decade of discriminatory hiring practices.
“For ten years the employers of our state have discriminated against employment of married men in favor of single men because... no such responsibility existed.”
Rockefeller's Land Company Comes to Town—and Everett Smells a Deal
A packed council chamber hears that John D. Rockefeller now controls the Everett Land Company, that the mills may run full, and that the county seat fight is on.
“The people of Everett are greatly interested in the road from Everett to Machias. If you will appropriate $4,000 to the Machias road the company will pay its taxes.”
The Parasite Trade: Fighting the Employment Sharks
A scathing report to the State Federation of Labor exposes how corrupt employment agencies trap migratory laborers in a cycle of debt and exploitation.
“These agencies have, year after year, become emboldened by successful extortion from the cheapest class of labor until they are today a parasite which we must attack with vigor.”
The True Cost of Industrial Life in Washington
A scathing look at why injured workers in 1910 were left destitute by a legal system that favored insurance companies over human lives.
“Their condition is worse than that of the slave in the days of slavery, for he, if injured, was cared for, as upon recovery he again resumed duty.”
A High-Stakes Battle for Everett’s Future
Federal court rules in $700,000 estate fraud case involving minors and the early developers of the city of Everett.
“The ground alleged is a conspiracy... to obtain this property from them for less than its true value, and that those proceedings, by reason of collusion, were hurried through superior court.”
The True Cost of Breaking a Strike
Financial reports from the Union Pacific reveal the heavy price corporations pay to replace union labor with forced, guarded workers.
“The principle: that labor, being a party to a contract, has a right to say under what conditions they shall labor, the hours they shall labor, and the returns they shall receive for those hours of labor. The right to be men, not serfs.”
Everett Saloon Shooting Ends in Acquittal
A jury clears a bartender of murder charges after he killed a former coworker who threatened his life.
“Dandridge, a negro known as 'Johnny the Shiner,' had been a porter in the saloon, and had been discharged. He was quarrelsome and of ungovernable temper.”
A Final Insult for a Fallen Engineer
After an Everett railroad engineer died in a tragic mountain fall, his employers refused to pay for his transport, offering only a boxcar for the journey home.
“But what cared they for his body, since it could earn them no more gold.”
Everett Machinists Strike for the Eight-Hour Day
As local metal workers walk off the job, the Chamber of Commerce hides behind 'open shop' rhetoric to suppress the growing union movement.
“If the truth were told the manufacturers do not fear the shorter workday half so much as they do the spirit of unionism.”
The Unstoppable March Toward Women’s Suffrage
A labor newspaper reflects on the sophisticated campaign for the women's vote, arguing that if the home is a woman's sphere, then her voice in government is essential.
“If the 'home is her sphere,' then her radius of activity and usefulness must be bounded on all sides by the atmosphere of the home. What problem of government... does not in the last analysis strike directly at the home?”
The Rotting Jaw: Labor’s Fight Against Deadly Phosphorus
Workers in American match factories face a horrific, disfiguring illness while the government debates banning the white phosphorus that causes it.
“There is no reason why an industry of this character, fraught with so much danger to the life and health of men and women... should be permitted to exist when its operation demands such heavy toll in human life.”
The Switchmen's Dilemma: A Fight for the Eight-Hour Day
Mayor D.W. Lawler details why railroad workers are rejecting mandatory arbitration under the Erdman Act, arguing it strips them of their power to strike while leaving them trapped in unfair conditions.
“The moment the public understands that the switchmen have not refused arbitration but have refused arbitration under the Erdman act and have refused to commit suicide, the attempt of the managers' committee to enlist public opinion against the switchmen will fail.”
Metal Workers Strike Against the Eight-Hour Day Opposition
Strikers in the metal trades enter their sixth month of labor action, defying industry leaders like Harrison Gray Otis who seek to suppress the eight-hour workday.
“The tendency of the times the world over is for shorter hours of labor. Shorter hours in the interest of health, of humanity, of the home and of the family.”
Labor Leaders Defy Court Power
A fiery speech by John Mitchell of the United Mine Workers at the A. F. of L. convention sparks a debate on the constitutionality of the federal judiciary's power to silence activists.
“If our liberties were ever lost, it would be through the usurpation and encroachments of the federal judiciary.”
The Corruption of the Bench
A scathing look at alleged corporate influence over the Washington State Supreme Court and the systemic capture of justice.
“One purchased decision makes the law for future generations. That is the way courts work—one final decision is binding upon all the judges in the same state.”
The Homestead That Built Everett
A multi-year land dispute over a timber claim settles in favor of the heirs of a deceased squatter, clearing the way for the city's future.
“The townsite of Everett was projected, and the heirs of Sines... now received information that the land their deceased brother had claimed as a home had become very valuable.”
The Firing of a Labor Advocate
Organized labor in Washington wages war on the state labor commissioner after he fires a deputy who actually enforced the law.
“Any jellyfish would be equally satisfactory.”
Chamber of Commerce Targets Striking Machinists
The Everett Chamber of Commerce declares for the 'open shop' amid a heated eight-hour workday strike.
“If we don't all hang together we will hang separately.”
Death the Price of a Job
A brutal internal railroad memo reveals that safety rules were meant for legal protection, while speed was the only metric that mattered for keeping a job.
“If railroad employees observed the companies' rules for safety the railroads of the United States would be within twelve hours hopelessly congested.”
Everett Voters Approve Commission Government
A tight race for a new municipal charter promises a flurry of political campaigning for the city's newly created executive positions.
“Three thousand voters signified that they didn't care a whoop what kind of administration Everett has by neglecting to even register.”
A Year of Struggle and Solidarity
Reflecting on the industrial battles of 1909-1910, Everett's union leaders recount the switchmen's strike and the ongoing fight for the eight-hour day.
“The eight-hour day is as inevitable in the metal industry as in any of the building trades.”
Everett Labor Joins Nationwide Rebellion Against U.S. Steel
Local union leaders rally to the national call to challenge the 'autocratic domination' of the steel industry as conflict over the open shop reaches a breaking point.
“This corporation in its mad greed for still greater riches sweeps aside, makes and unmakes law, its enactors and executors.”
The Contract Proof of a Hidden Strike
A labor newspaper exposes the desperate tactics used by the Sumner Iron Works to recruit strikebreakers through shady employment contracts.
“It is understood that I am to take the place of MEN ON STRIKE at the Sumner Iron Works, Everett, Washington.”
The Empire Sells Off the Smelter
Independent miners in the Pacific Northwest move to seize control of the Everett reduction works, breaking the stranglehold of the industry trust.
“The independent miners of the Pacific northwest have long sought to get out of the clutches of the American Smelting Refining company, known otherwise as the smelter trust.”
The Machine Behind the Badge
Striking Everett machinists allege that local industry and the police have merged, with company men serving as 'special police' to suppress picket lines.
“This case is so trivial the wonder to me is it was ever brought into court.”
The Great Machinist Strike of 1910
One year into a bitter, coast-wide industrial struggle for the eight-hour day, union machinists look toward inevitable victory.
“The modern development of machinery makes imperative the lessening of the hours of toil. Economic progress cannot be stayed by any combination of capital.”
The Mother Who Disowned Her Son for Crossing the Picket Line
When a young foreman chose to break a strike rather than stand with his union, his mother publicly rejected his 'blood money' and reminded him of the solidarity that had saved their family.
“They must pay you for a chance to live and pay you for a place to die.”
The Price of a Life: Labor Fights Back Against Dangerous Legislation
Organized labor in Everett rallies against a proposed senate bill that would cap death and injury payouts for workers at $5,000.
“This bill settles the oft asked question, 'what is the value of a man's life?' Answer: $5,000.00.”
Organized Labor Campaigns to Exclude Asian Workers
Everett labor delegates pass a resolution targeting Japanese businesses in a push to solidify the city as a 'white man's country.'
“They were requested to urge upon the members of the various unions that all Asiatic labor was obnoxious to organized labor, and it was their duty to use all lawful means towards making this a white man's country.”
A Political Earthquake in Everett
Socialists secure three council seats as voters reject party lines, sparking talk of a new political era.
“The one great, big fact that has at last loomed large on the political horizon is that the meek and lowly followers of 'Gene Debs are going to have a hand in the future making of political pies in old Everett.”
Four Killed in Everett Bridge Tragedy
Two automobiles collided on the Weadwater Slough bridge near Everett, sending both vehicles and their passengers into twenty feet of water.
“With the wheels interlocked, the machines plunged through the guard rail and were submerged in 20 feet of water.”
A Three-Year Struggle on the Harbor
International President J.G. Brown visits local shingle weavers to discuss the intense, years-long strike against mill owners in Grays Harbor.
“The only thing on earth that some employers respected was the tingle of money.”
The Judiciary vs. The Industrial Worker
A fiery critique of judicial interference in workers' compensation laws, framing court-made obstacles as a betrayal of popular rights.
“If this bulwark of liberty is by judicial interpretation to become one more obstacle in the way of rational legislation, the sooner it is swept out of the constitution and out of the judicial mind, the better for all concerned.”
Everett Socialists Rally for Lawrence Strikers
Local unionists and radicals pack Liberty Hall to protest the brutal treatment of striking textile workers in the East and send a formal message to the President.
“The strikers in Lawrence and Muscatine have again demonstrated that the politic, military and judicial powers of our sovereign states are, instead of affording the protection of law to citizens within their legal rights, used by the capitalists to defeat the workers in their struggle against oppression.”
The Looming Gate: Labor and the Fear of the Canal
As the opening of the Panama Canal approached, the Everett Trades Council lobbied for strict immigration restrictions, fearing a flood of 'undesirables' into Pacific ports.
“The time to lock the door is before the horse is stolen.”
The House That Blocked the Train
A standoff between a homeowner moving a house and the Everett street railway leads to suspended service and a tense municipal conflict.
“The company, said Mr. Brownell, is not disposed to trust lightly the annoyance of submitting to obstructions and law suits, and if it must be it may suspend operations on the entire line.”
The French Laundry Showdown
A bitter labor dispute over an engineer's credentials at the French Laundry reveals the intense struggle for union recognition in 1912 Everett.
“I'm the guy what pulls the levers.”
The Price of Rent in the Underworld
A local editor exposes how landlords exploit marginalized women through extortionate rent, turning a police court spectacle into a sharp critique of societal hypocrisy.
“The sorriest spectacle and the saddest in this world is the degradation of womankind and we are brutal and callous enough to make it a jest.”
The Unproven Future of the 'Attractive Townsite'
Northern Pacific President Thomas F. Oakes visits the burgeoning town of Everett in 1892, skeptical of its long-term viability despite the optimism of its East Coast developers.
“I went down there the other day and found that they had rather an attractive townsite. It has quite a number of things to recommend it, but it has not yet come into competition with Tacoma or Seattle.”
An Anonymous Threat in Everett
A local bank janitor receives a typed, skull-and-crossbones threat to leave town or face accusations from his past.
“Attached to the letter, which was written on a typewriter, and evidently purposely mis-spelled to conceal the writer's identity, was the signature 'Poison,' with a skull and crossbones from a druggist's label.”
No stories match these filters.
Try a wider date range, another category, or clear everything and start again.