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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1879 | 4 |
15 stories
- The Ghost of Tacoma's Original Downtown
Before the railroad turned Tacoma into a boomtown, the city's future was fought over by competing pioneers and land speculators.
- The Hop Gold Rush of the Puyallup Valley
In 1877, a booming agricultural industry turned the Puyallup Valley into a high-stakes arena of heavy capital, immigrant labor, and unpredictable environmental risks.
- The Siege at Keets Mine
A desperate labor standoff unfolds as miners seize a Washington claim over unpaid wages, fortifying their position against the contractor.
- Brutal Assault on Indigenous Woman Reported
An Indian woman, identified as Mrs. J'ouls, suffered a fractured skull during a violent attack near the Puyallup reservation.
- The Boomtown Frontier: A Traveler's Account of New Tacoma and the Puyallup Valley
As the Northern Pacific Railroad carves its path into the frontier, a correspondent journeys from Snohomish to witness the rapid, chaotic, and industrious birth of New Tacoma and the hop-heavy Puyallup Valley.
- The Day the River Ran Red: A Tacoma Tragedy
In a brutal dispute over territory and pride, 'Negro Bob' was shot dead by Kennek Joe in Tacoma, highlighting the violent intersections of race, labor, and frontier justice in 1877.
- The High Cost of Being 'Across the River'
In 1878, Sumner settlers faced a familiar struggle: a transportation monopoly that forced them to pay as much to haul freight across the river as to ship it 150 miles by rail.
- The Promised City on the Sound
Promoters in 1879 painted a utopian vision of New Tacoma, promising a perfectly planned metropolis designed for wealth and grandeur at the terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
- The Boomtown Hype of 1870s Tacoma
A booster-style editorial from the Snohomish Eye argues for a direct shipping route to New Tacoma to bypass Seattle's influence.
- The Ghost of the Puyallup Valley
A traveling account reveals a local man's elaborate deception, as his supposedly dead family is found alive and well at the Puyallup station.
- Forging the Future: The High Stakes of the Wilkeson Coal Line
As the Pacific Northwest transitions into an industrial powerhouse, a new rail line connects the rugged interior to the sea, promising to turn a wilderness of cedar and coal into a bustling mining frontier.
- The Gendered Crisis of the Washington Asylum
A brief, callous report from 1878 chronicles an individual suffering a mental health crisis, shedding light on the historical intersection of medical pathologization and gender nonconformity in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Hard-Won Coal of Wilkeson
A persistent mining operation in Wilkeson struggles with geological faults and shifting veins to keep the fuel moving toward the Puget Sound.
- The Excelsior Boom: How Puyallup Turned Wood into Bedding
A nascent industry in the 1870s aimed to replace imported hair for mattresses with locally milled cottonwood shavings.
- Life and Labor at the Carbon Coal Mines
A look inside the 1878 mining boom in Wilkeson, where company-owned land and rugged infrastructure defined the lives of the workers.