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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 4 |
| 1884 | 4 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 2 |
13 stories
- The Great Dayton Fire: A Block of Ashes and a City’s Near Miss
On the night of April 2, 1882, flames consumed three blocks in downtown Dayton, Washington. While the town paid with its buildings, Seattle’s own fire department narrowly escaped disaster thanks to a single force pump.
- Masked Vigilantes Hang a Convicted Murderer in Dayton Jail
James McPherson, convicted of murdering E. H. Cummins at New York Bar, was taken from the Dayton jail by masked men and hanged, despite a governor's reprieve and a new trial order.
- ‘You Are Hanging an Innocent Man’: A Condemned Killer’s Last Words Before 4,000 Witnesses
Ezra Snoderly, one of the Cummins murderers, is hanged in Dayton’s courthouse square — insisting to the very end that he dies for another man’s crime, while the crowd judges him ‘game.’
- The Constitutional Question of Local Option
A landmark court ruling in Dayton challenged the constitutionality of Washington's local option liquor laws, sparking a debate on police power and contracts.
- A Lynching in Dayton: When Neighbors Decided the Law Was Too Slow
After James McPherson, one of the Cummins murderers, won a new trial and a reprieve, a Dayton mob hanged him—prompting the Post-Intelligencer to ask why vigilante justice was reviving in Washington Territory.
- The Mob That Met Its Match in Dayton
A man targeted for a vigilante lynching fights back and escapes his attackers, leaving his would-be murderers in the shadows.
- The Wheat Harvest Duel of Whitman County
A boozy dispute over farm chores between two longtime neighbors ends in a shotgun confrontation that left one man injured and the other behind bars.
- The Strange Prophecies of a Civil War Veteran
After a seizure, a former Union captain and Dayton attorney experiences a mental break involving visions of the end of the world.
- The Death of Canada Owenby
A notorious prisoner faces his end in Dayton, avoiding the gallows through a rapid decline in health.
- Fatal Dispute Over Clothing
A young man dies after a confrontation with an elderly neighbor over missing clothes.
- The Shadowy Business of Proxy Voting
Local political observers call out the 'proxy convention' system for allowing unelected outsiders to hijack political representation.
- The Northern Pacific Railroad's Toll on Travel
A new restrictive policy forces passengers to pay more by banning alternate routes via the Union Pacific.
- The Moose in the Kitchen
When an unexpected visitor crashed a domestic scene in Huntsville, a group of women took matters into their own hands.