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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 8 |
| 1884 | 5 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 5 |
| 1887 | 5 |
26 stories
- The Tragedy at Cle Elum
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.
- Farmers Organize Against Northern Pacific Monopoly
Producers in Ellensburg hold an indignation meeting to protest freight discrimination and the railroad's broken land grant promises.
- The Battle of the Kittitas Toll-Gate
A road construction project in the mountains has sparked a local rebellion, pitting frustrated residents against the private toll-road operators.
- The Railroad's Greed: How the Northern Pacific Extorted Kittitas County
Newly discovered reports reveal how the Northern Pacific railroad company used its immense corporate power to extort land from settlers and small-town business owners in Kittitas County.
- The Iron Horse Arrives in Ellensburg
A town celebrates the completion of the railroad track as the local mood turns jubilant.
- The Passing of a Seattle Kingpin
John Pinnell, the former proprietor of a notorious 'squaw-dancing' saloon in the city's early days, has died in Ellensburg.
- Major Fire Razes Ellensburgh Business District
A late-night blaze destroys a prominent general store and several neighboring residences in the heart of the growing town.
- The Price of Independence: Cold Mountain Miseries
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.
- The Brutal Work of Boring Stampede Tunnel
Deep in the Cascades, a reporter documents the grueling labor conditions of the men carving the Northern Pacific’s Stampede Tunnel through the mountain’s gut.
- Settlers Rise Against Railroad Land Grab
Kittitas County citizens demand the federal government forfeit Northern Pacific railroad land grants, accusing the monopoly of stifling settlement and hoarding millions of acres of land.
- The Birth of Ellensburg
A railroad company, a local politician, and a handful of property owners cut a deal to secure the future of a new town in the Kittitas Valley.
- A Delayed Blast Kills Four on the Railroad Grade Near Ellensburg
A charge that hung fire exploded as workers returned to the rock, killing four men and fatally injuring foreman Walker in one of the season’s worst construction accidents.
- The Great Ellensburg Prison Break
Three territorial prisoners pull off a daring escape from the Ellensburg jail, triggering a county-wide manhunt.
- The Ghost of the Johnson House
A boarder in Ellensburg vanishes on the morning train, leaving behind a spouse in poverty and a wake of unpaid debts.
- Battling the Cascades: A Railroad Contractor’s Winter Ordeal
Before high-tech de-icing, railroad crews in the Cascade Mountains spent months shoveling snow by hand just to keep the tracks from vanishing into the mud.
- The Promised Valley: A Land of Promise and Grit
A detailed dispatch from Kittitas County outlines the rapid transformation of the wilderness into a grain-producing powerhouse and the desperate need for rail infrastructure.
- Masked Men Try to Crack an Ellensburg Safe—and Flee at the First Shout
Two armed strangers cornered a clerk in S. Bliesner’s dry goods store, but his cries brought a crowd and the robbers vanished into it.
- A Wagon Road Paid For in Bacon and Grain
Kittitas Valley settlers bought stock in the Seattle and Walla Walla Wagon Road with labor and supplies as crews pushed toward Priest Rapids and the mountain passes.
- The Final Spike: Connecting the Cascade Division
A commemorative ceremony at the west portal of the Stampede Pass tunnel marks a massive milestone for Northern Pacific Railway expansion.
- From Pack-Saddle to Pioneer Town
How a lone merchant’s log store over the Cascades sparked the settlement of the Kittitas Valley.
- The Fight Over the Cascade Mountain Pass
A debate unfolds regarding whether the Northern Pacific should build its new Cascade line through the Naches Pass or the Stampede Pass.
- Harvest Hands Are Scarce, and the Bunch Grass Is Turning to Hay
Kittitas farmers face a labor shortage, prematurely ripened grain and a dry-weather hay crop as barley and fall wheat come in.
- The Hidden Wealth of the Mountains
Prospectors are scouring the headwaters of the Yakima and Wenatchee rivers, unearthing silver and galena as the mining fever reaches an all-time high.
- The Gateway to the Interior
Boosterism surrounding the progress of the Cascade Wagon Road, intended to bridge the gap between Puget Sound and the Eastern territory.
- New Coal Vein Discovered in the Cascades
A six-foot-thick vein of coal discovered near Cle Elum marks a new development in regional resource exploration.