Organization

Intelligencer

Named in 29 stories. Back to all names

Apr 25, 1872The Rowdy Election of 1872: When Seattle Politics Was a Bare-Knuckle BrawlA stormy Republican County Convention in 1872 exposes the messy, insider-heavy machinery behind early Seattle's local government.Seattle, WA
May 16, 1872The Rotten Beef Scandal of 1872When a local market was accused of selling diseased meat, the ensuing war of words revealed the thin line between journalism and extortion in early Seattle.Seattle, WA
Aug 29, 1872The Tax Collector’s Secret: How Seattle Officials Hid Debts to Profit from AdvertisingA local newspaper exposes a scheme where the School District collector withheld tax information, forcing taxpayers to pay exorbitant advertising fees to clear liens they didn't know existed.Seattle, WA
Sep 5, 1872The Paper War: How Seattle’s ‘Public Thieves’ Exposed a Corrupt RingIn 1872, the *Puguet Sound Dispatch* accused local officials and the rival *Intelligencer* of extorting taxpayers through inflated advertising rates for tax sales, framing it as a 'Tammany ring' stealing from the public.Seattle, WA
Sep 12, 1872The Tax Swindle: How Seattle’s Printer Defrauded His NeighborsIn 1872, the publisher of the *Puget Sound Dispatch* exposed a collusive scheme between local tax collectors and a rival newspaper to overcharge delinquent taxpayers for legal notices, sparking a bitter war of words in the territorial press.Seattle, WA
Mar 30, 1876The Palace of Ink and PineA satirical look at a new, supposedly 'palatial' three-story printing office in Seattle, which turns out to be just one story above a Chinese wash-house.Cherry Street, Seattle, WA
Jul 27, 1876The Paper War: Port Townsend vs. SeattleIn 1876, a small rival town accused Seattle of economic sabotage over who printed their business cards.Port Townsend, WA
Aug 19, 1876The Partisan’s Price: How Civil Service Reform Cost a Delegate His SeatIn 1876, King County’s Republican establishment turned on Judge O. Jacobs for refusing to hand out federal jobs to party loyalists, revealing the brutal mechanics of the spoils system in early Washington Territory.Fort Ward, Bainbridge Island
Sep 14, 1876The Grasshopper Exodus: How a Plague in Nebraska is Filling Seattle's StreetsAs locusts devour the Midwest, desperate farmers look to Washington Territory for salvation—and the *Intelligencer* sees an opportunity to boost settlement.Seattle, WA
Sep 22, 1876The Road to Nowhere: Seattle’s Neglected Gateway to the InteriorAs travelers from Yakima and Walla Walla flock to the Snoqualmie Pass route, they find it worse than ever. The *Intelligencer* demands immediate action to save Seattle’s economic future.Snoqualmie Pass, Snoqualmie, WA
Dec 5, 1876The Potato Famine That Never Left the SoundA century and a half ago, Seattle farmers lamented the mysterious collapse of the Puget Sound potato trade, marking the end of a boom that once promised regional prosperity.Seattle, WA
Dec 11, 1876The 1876 Snapshot of a Growing SeattleA new city directory reveals the frantic pace of 19th-century growth, cataloging the small businesses and shifting population of a frontier town on the cusp of modernization.Seattle, WA
Dec 19, 1876The Muddy Arteries of Early SeattleDecades before modern paving, Seattle’s civic leaders struggled to build a passable road to the Renton coal mines, leaving thousands of settlers and farmers stranded in the mire.Washington Street, Seattle, WA
Dec 22, 1876Seattle’s Surprisingly Mild Winter of 1876While outsiders imagined the Pacific Northwest as a frozen, inhospitable tundra, locals were enjoying a 'genial' December filled with blooming garden flowers.Seattle, WA
Dec 27, 1876The Promised Land of Puget SoundAn 1876 editorial from Seattle’s 'Intelligencer' pitches the Pacific Northwest as a hardship-free utopia for those fleeing the failures of the East.Seattle, WA
Dec 29, 1876The Mud-Hole of Commercial StreetAn 1876 editorial campaign to transform Seattle's 'wretched' mud-caked thoroughfare into a paved road using convict labor and harbor ballast.Commercial Street, Seattle, WA
Jan 31, 1877The Price of Neglect: Seattle's 1877 Health CrisisAs diphtheria sweeps through a growing Seattle, an 1877 editorial warns that city-wide sanitation failures and individual negligence are turning the climate's natural health into a breeding ground for disease.Seattle, WA
Feb 26, 1877The Myth of the Land MonopolyAn 1877 Seattle newspaper sets the record straight for prospective homesteaders: unlike California, Washington Territory is free from the crushing weight of Spanish land grants and speculative hoarding.Seattle, WA
Mar 1, 1877The False Promises of the Arctic Gold RushAn 1877 dispatch from Seattle warns local laborers that chasing get-rich-quick mining dreams in the North leads only to bankruptcy, while those who commit to farming the region’s soil build actual wealth.Mill Street, Seattle, WA
May 25, 1877The 'Lazy' Reservation: A White Settler's Rant Against Indian FarmingIn May 1877, a Seattle correspondent published a vitriolic letter in the *Intelligencer* challenging claims of Native agricultural success on the Suckley Reservation, arguing that federal land policies encouraged 'idleness' and demanding the lands be opened to white settlers.Yakima, WA
Dec 22, 1877The 'Rat' Printers of SeattleWhen an 1877 newspaper attempted to cut costs by firing union compositors, the resulting strike sparked a fierce, public feud between rival publications.Seattle, WA
Jan 12, 1878The Political Gossip That Almost Toppled a JudgeIn an era of vicious party-line journalism, a Seattle editor defends his local officials against accusations of being 'copper-heads' and 'carpet-baggers,' echoing today’s heated partisan discourse.Seattle, WA
Aug 21, 1878The Bankruptcies of 1878: A Wave of 'Fraudulent' Insolvency?As financial panic grips the Pacific Coast, Seattle editors decry a suspicious surge in businesses filing for bankruptcy before new laws take effect.Seattle, WA
Oct 30, 1880The Vandalism of Seattle’s FencesAn 1880 editorial decries the 'wanton vandalism' of men and boys who whittled, tore, and marked up the city’s decorative fences, signaling a growing urban friction between private pride and public mischief.Seattle, WA
Oct 31, 1880The Price of Saving the CountryIn 1880 Seattle, a local paper captures a cynical, all-too-familiar conversation between two men on the street regarding the true value of political engagement.Seattle, WA
Nov 3, 1880The Ghost of Belltown and the Battle for the BallotIn 1880, as Seattle’s population swelled, the newspaper sparred with shipping reports over the identity of a neighborhood that 'did not exist' and the urgent need for more polling stations.Belltown, Seattle
Nov 6, 1880The Newspaper Feud That Rocked 1880s SeattleAn editorial from the Intelligencer exposes the bitter, vitriolic infighting between two local publishing factions during a pivotal municipal and general election season.Seattle, WA
Nov 9, 1880The Smallpox Scare of 1880When a woman was quarantined in the local pest house for suspected smallpox, local doctors sparred over whether her condition was actually a common venereal disease.Seattle, WA
Nov 23, 1880The Sad Martyr of Snohomish CityA local official’s descent into obsession over an impossible get-rich-quick scheme mirrors the mania of early Washington's frontier booms.Snohomish, WA