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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1879 | 1 |
15 stories
- The Bankrupt Giant and the Tacoma Land Ring
A skeptical editor exposes the Northern Pacific Railroad's questionable finances and a suspicious telegraph campaign used to inflate land values in Tacoma.
- The Absurd Scheme to Build a Railway to the Top of Mount Rainier
When a coal mine failed, desperate land speculators proposed a preposterous tourist railroad to the summit of the mountain to boost property values.
- The Scapegoat of Pierce County
A prominent local businessman finds himself the target of a smear campaign after a financial scandal guts the county treasury, revealing the toxic power of public rumor in 1870s Tacoma.
- The Perilous Path to Nowhere
A survey team's disastrous expedition into the Cascades exposes the grand delusions of railroad barons chasing land grants.
- The Great Land Ring of the Northern Pacific
Settlers of Washington Territory take on a powerful railroad corporation accused of hoarding public land for private profit.
- The Battle for the Unsurveyed Frontier
A 19th-century court case in Steilacoom exposes the tension between local land speculators and the ideal of the 'actual settler' on the Washington frontier.
- The Tragedy of a Forgotten Soul
After a man drowned at a Tacoma wharf, his body was left exposed among 'ravenous fishes' for a full day before a private citizen finally intervened to provide a burial.
- The Great Land Sell-Off
The Northern Pacific Railroad begins dumping vast swaths of Washington Territory land onto actual settlers for $2.60 an acre.
- The 'Folly' of Tacoma: A Steamboat Traveler’s Skeptical Report
An 1876 visitor finds the new city of Tacoma lacking and highlights the tragic loss of local boys at sea.
- The Unstable Ground Beneath Tacoma
A historic landslide on the Tacoma waterfront serves as a stark reminder of the city's precarious geography.
- The Bear Who Sat Through Sermon
A black bear wandered into a North Creek church during Sunday service, causing panic among the congregation before calmly exiting—leaving behind a confused minister and an eager bear hunt.
- The First Railroad Built on 'Siwash' Labor
In a stark reflection of territorial labor practices, the first contracts for the Puyallup Valley Railroad have been awarded to Meeker & Mann, with plans to employ local Indigenous workers for four miles of track.
- The Great Hops Hoax: Tacoma’s ‘Massive’ Landslide Turns Out to Be a Trifle
Panic swept the Sound when reports claimed a catastrophic slide at Tacoma had buried buildings and halted rail traffic. The Dispatch reveals the truth: only twenty acres of land moved, knocking over a few Chinese cabins, while the real drama was just steamers running late.
- The Jailbreak at Milton
A man detained by the authorities in Milton on suspicion of insanity successfully escaped by stealing the clothes of his own guard.
- An Explorer's Curious Discovery in the Puyallup Valley
In 1878, a local explorer ventured into the uncharted territory of the Puyallup Valley, reporting back with observations that bordered on the absurd.