Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine2 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1907 | 22 |
| 1908 | 187 |
| 1909 | 198 |
| 1910 | 107 |
| 1916 | 1 |
107 stories
- The Woods Are Tinder: Fire Crews Battle Blazes Across the Pend Oreille Valley
With the forest dry as tinder, deputy fire wardens, lumber crews and ranchers scramble to contain dozens of small fires — while a landowner's brush burn kills two people near Colville and lands him under arrest.
- The Great Pend Oreille Water Grab
A massive water rights filing for the Pend Oreille River has sparked intense debate over the feasibility of diverting water to the Quincy flats.
- Newport Saloon Owners Sue the Railroad That Remade Their Street
John Koch and Max Weinkauff say the Idaho Washington Northern turned Fourth Street from a business center into a smoky, obstructed nuisance—and they want $10,000.
- A Midnight Death at a Disorderly Resort—and a Jury That Cleared Everyone
W. Bien died in a scuffle at Gladys Bien's Ione resort. Nine people were arrested; a coroner's jury released them all.
- Winter Fire Destroys Cottage Near Old Town
A morning fire leaves a local family homeless, while a separate blaze claims a notorious dance hall just as its license expires.
- The Battle for the LeClerc Creek Homesteads
After years of legal uncertainty, the Secretary of the Interior rules in favor of settlers against the Forest Service.
- The Ione Mill Dam Gave Way, Taking Half a Million Feet of Logs With It
A Tuesday afternoon break at the Panhandle Lumber Co. dam sent a 35-foot head of water through the canyon and delayed the mill for months.
- The Newport Club Burns: A Saloon's Last Call Comes as Smoke
A midnight blaze in 1910 destroys one of Newport's oldest business buildings — the former miners' saloon that went dry after local option — and the owners say they won't rebuild.
- A Spokane Gun Club Tried to Shoot Down Three Homesteaders on Calispel Lake — and Lost
The Calispel Valley Gun Club fought Carlton Finley and the Desart family all the way to the General Land Office over lakefront claims. The homesteaders won every point.
- The Railroad Wants the County Road — and Newport's Businessmen Sign On
Panhandle Lumber's proposed logging railroad would require the county to vacate a public road up a gulch west of town; practically every businessman in Newport petitions to hand it over.
- The Battle for the LeClerc Creek Basin
Settlers face off against the U.S. Forest Service in a high-stakes legal fight over homestead patents and timber rights.
- A Power Surge for Newport
The Northern Idaho & Montana Power Co. completes a major infrastructure investment, signaling a new era of industrial potential for the town.
- The Bullet That Vanished in the Hospital
A loaded .22 goes off in a Newport hospital room, and the bullet disappears—X-rays suggest Mrs. France swallowed it.
- The Fight for the Pend Oreille River
A local congressman intervenes to prevent a federal shutdown of river improvements, sparking a debate over land rights and conservation.
- The Dry Wave Hits Stevens County
Voters mandate the closure of saloons outside incorporated towns, leaving the region scrambling for legal spirits.
- Bureaucratic Blow to Kaniksu Homesteaders
A sudden reversal in federal policy by Secretary of the Interior R.A. Ballinger threatens the residency claims of forty settlers in the Kaniksu National Forest.
- New Lodging House Opens to Meet Housing Demand
As Newport grows, a new lodging house named after the town's namesake opens to accommodate the influx of workers.
- Smallpox Scare Hits Newport
A logging camp worker arrives in town carrying a contagious disease, forcing the city to confront the need for a pest house.
- A High-Wire Act Above Fourth Street
A building mover narrowly escapes death after being swept off a roof and left dangling from telegraph wires.
- A Crowbar Through the Skull: The Mill Hand Nobody Heard in Time
John Krips, a 30-year-old laborer tearing down the old Spirit Valley mill, was killed instantly when a falling timber drove his own crowbar through his head. His body was shipped home to Minnesota.
- A Poisoner Stalks Newport's Dogs
At least fifteen canines dead in ten days as someone laces meat with strychnine — five in a single day on the South Side.
- Two Drunks, a Jailbreak, and a Marshal Who Came Back
A rowdy Fourth-week in Newport: 21 arrests for drunkenness in June, a lumberjack hauled off the Spokane train, and two Blanchard men who nearly battered their way out of jail.
- A Slot-Machine Row Spills Across the Tracks
Two men working a saloon machine with slugs ended in a street fight, a freight-train escape attempt and $25 fines in Newport's police court.
- Two Drunk Loggers Asleep on the Tracks; One Never Woke
Louis Dunn and Cephus Gott, loggers for the Rauch crew, lay down on the Great Northern rails after a night of drinking. A train found them — killing Dunn and maiming Gott. It was the second Rauch man killed by a train in six months.
- A Boy Carrying His Little Brother Dies After a Fall on Fence Rails
Fifteen-year-old Stanley Tarbox of Usk stumbled while giving his six-year-old brother a piggyback ride. Days later, an intestinal obstruction killed him on the operating table in Spokane.