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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 4 |
| 1859 | 13 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1904 | 2 |
32 stories matching time
- The Widow’s Pig-Feeding Innovation
A resourceful widow in Steilacoom finds a way to feed her livestock using garden weeds and a boiler, turning a chore into a sustainable practice.
- Three Masked Men Knew Where the Grocer Kept His Money
A Steilacoom storekeeper is robbed of $137 at closing time, and police first look to twenty men just released from McNeil’s Island.
- The Forgotten Dreams of Steilacoom City
In 1880, a visionary booster pitched a grand transcontinental railroad terminus that he claimed would transform a quiet Puget Sound town into the 'metropolis' of the Pacific.
- A Night to Remember in Old Steilacoom
A dusty invitation to a long-forgotten ball reveals the social life of Washington Territory 25 years prior, documenting the vanishings of a frontier community.
- The Sad State of McNeil Island
A former inmate calls for books to replace the monotony of prison life.
- Fighting Whisky and a Free Fight in Steilacoom's Streets
A dozen strangers brawl outside Jerry Dennis's house, prompting the editor to demand the disorderly den be closed.
- A Runaway from the Olympia Jail
A man named Simmons, recently confined in the Olympia jail, has been spotted in Steilacoom.
- The Constable Who Charged for Mileage on Every Duck
A local anecdote about a frontier constable’s creative approach to fee collection.
- A Town Organizes a Vigilance Committee to Keep 'Northern Indians' Off Its Shore
Citizens meet at the Court House, resolve that 'no Northern Indians at any time be allowed to land at this place,' and appoint a standing Committee of Vigilance to enforce it.
- A Rumor of War on the Snake River
The Puget Sound Herald casts doubt on its own report of a battle between Col. Steptoe and Indigenous fighters, noting that no reliable account has arrived.
- Collapse of the Steilacoom Distilling Plant
A creditor seeks a receiver for a charcoal and creosote plant that failed to sustain operations after only four months.
- The Volunteers Were Paid Twice—Sometimes Thrice—For the Same War
A federal commission auditing the 1855–56 Indian War muster rolls finds men drawing captain's, wagon-master's and private's pay all at once—including a Nisqually ferry keeper who billed the government for the same ten ferrymen he never properly mustered in.
- The Farmer and the Unruly Ox
A cautionary tale of how cruelty toward livestock backfires on the master.
- A Gold Rush Romance in the Shadow of the Mines
In the rugged camps of the 1859 gold rush, a pair of lovers find their devotion tested by the harsh realities of frontier life and the relentless pursuit of fortune.
- The Political Pilgrimage to Steilacoom
In 1887, Washington Territorial legislators took a collective trip to inspect the state's asylum, but the solemn mission quickly devolved into a social affair that kept the real results hidden from the public.
- The Crumbling Walls of Steilacoom
A group of builders and taxpayers exposes shoddy construction at the new Territorial Asylum.
- The Day the Steamers Left Puget Sound
An 1861 Steilacoom editor warns that losing ocean steamship service will isolate Washington Territory and strangle its growth.
- The Whatcom Widow Who Bought the Coffin Before the Death
A five-times-married former Whatcom County first lady is back in the news—and old suspicions about her commissioner husband’s death at Steilacoom have followed her east.
- The Schooner That Never Came Back
A Steilacoom resident and a captain vanish after leaving Port Townsend; a rumor from Vancouver Island speaks of a wreck and murder.
- A Convict Hangs Himself at McNeil's Island — and No One Comes for Him
Charles Carlson, forty, serving eight months for selling whisky to Indians at North Yakima, is found hanging in a water-closet at the federal penitentiary. The warden cuts him down minutes too late.
- Gold Fever Empties Puget Sound
A schooner captain confirms rich strikes on the Fraser and Thompson rivers—and hundreds of workers are already leaving Victoria and the Sound for the mines.
- A Brutal Murder on the Trail to Fort Steilacoom
A soldier is found dead after a violent altercation involving multiple men, leaving the community in shock.
- A Rescue at Steilacoom
A 75-year-old Tacoma resident attempts to end her life in the Sound, only to be thwarted by a quick-thinking teenager.
- The Sewing Machine Tragedy
A neighborly loan of money for a sewing machine leads to a fatal confrontation on a Steilacoom road.
- The Wharf, the Steamer, and the Grudge
A Puget Sound steamer damages Steilacoom's private wharf; the repairs are made, but the landings become a running feud between a steamboat captain and the town.