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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 14 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 1 |
22 stories
- The Pig War: How a Single Shot Almost Started a War
A minor dispute over a pig on San Juan Island spiraled into an international standoff between the United States and Great Britain in 1859.
- The Pig That Almost Started a War
Before Seattle became a metropolis, Puget Sound was a wild frontier of rugged homesteaders, vigilante justice, and international border disputes sparked by a single, ill-fated swine.
- The Ghost Town That Only Existed on Paper
How two swindlers and a 'Nebraska Cyclone' preacher conned a community with a townsite located entirely in a duck-filled salt marsh.
- The Empire of Lime: How Roche Harbor Built a Company Town
By 1891, the San Juan archipelago had been transformed from a series of failed ventures into a million-dollar industrial powerhouse, complete with its own church, school, and company store.
- The Rancher and the Land-Grabbers
A San Juan Island homesteader faces trial for fighting off a crew of surveyors intent on jumping his claim.
- The Tragedy of Sherer’s Point
Three young men lost their lives in a sudden, icy maritime disaster off the coast of Lopez Island after a routine trip for groceries turned fatal.
- Surveyors Armed at Sucia Islands
Tensions rise over property disputes as land surveyors face armed interference in the San Juan Islands.
- Drowned in the San Juan Islands
A sailing excursion from Victoria to Anacortes ends in tragedy when an experienced sailor vanishes during a sudden storm.
- A Deadly Error on Lopez Island
A 70-year-old man, a repeat offender in accidental shootings, is critically wounded after being mistaken for a deer in a fern patch.
- The Tragedy of the Volunteer
A sudden squall on Roche Harbor claimed the lives of three boys while their parents remained unaware of the danger.
- The San Juan Huntresses of English Camp
Two young women in the San Juan Islands hunted a deer without a gun, pursuing it by rowboat until they could dispatch it with a knife.
- The Pig War's Lingering Ghost
Decades after the 'Pig War' nearly ignited a conflict between the U.S. and Britain, Colonel Granville O. Haller presents a historical accounting of the San Juan Island boundary dispute to the Washington State Historical Society.
- Tragic Workplace Death at Orcas Island Quarry
A laborer from Michigan is struck and killed by a falling rock at an island stone quarry, leaving a grieving family behind.
- The Great 'Sour Grapes' Feud of 1892
When a Tacoma newspaper attempted to trash the San Juan Islands as a speculative wasteland, the locals hit back in print—blaming the insult on petty jealousy over their loyalty to Seattle.
- A Close Encounter in the San Juans
A young woman fishing off Friday Harbor defends her boat against a shark, nearly capsizing in the process.
- An Editor Assaulted in Friday Harbor
A local editor was struck down by a county auditor with a heavy lead weight after a tense meeting in the commissioners' court.
- The Wreck of the Brittain
A maritime expert surveys the remains of a vessel lost on the rocks, detailing the disastrous navigation error that caused the sinking.
- The 'Citizens' Ticket' Plot in San Juan County
A Friday Harbor editor claims Democrats and Populists will skip their own nominations, then run a fusion slate disguised as a nonpartisan citizens' ticket.
- The Governor, the British Officer, and One Tiny Revenue Cutter
Elisha P. Ferry's old colleague recalled how the territorial governor ordered a British garrison off San Juan Island—backed by a worn-out cutter and a howitzer or two.
- A Treasure Hunt Gone Underwater
While digging for a water source on Shaw Island, a local man struck a geyser that swallowed his tools and promised a new lake.
- The Deadly Perils of Amateur Hunting
A satirical warning about the 'sporting' men of the Pacific Northwest who, in their eagerness to bag big game, frequently mistake their own relatives for deer.
- The Forgotten 'Thousand Isles' of the San Juans
An 1888 dispatch captures a fleeting moment when the San Juan Islands were poised to become the Pacific Coast’s premiere summer resort, complete with massive lime kilns and romantic orchards.