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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 9 |
| 1884 | 8 |
| 1885 | 6 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 2 |
29 stories
- The Great Skagit Flood of 1887
Thousands of acres of farmland are submerged as the Skagit River hits record-breaking, catastrophic levels.
- Wildfire Threatens Pleasant Ridge Settlement
A brush fire east of La Conner consumes a sheriff's home and endangers local homesteads.
- The Captain, the Stowaway, and the Revolver
A confrontation on a Puget Sound steamer between a captain and an armed traveler reveals the wild and precarious nature of local maritime transport in 1886.
- Steamer Burned to the Waterline on the Skagit
A fire sparked by a boiler quickly consumed the steamer Fanny Lake, leaving passengers and crew with nothing but their lives.
- Puget Sound Baptists Debate Their Future
A stormy regional meeting in Skagit City reveals deep divides over prohibition, Bible translation, and independence from Eastern missionary boards.
- First Election in Skagit County
Voters braved the rain to select the new county’s first officials, with eighteen women casting ballots in Laconner.
- A Logger's Amputated Leg, a $700 Bill, and the Lodge That Wouldn't Pay
Skagit logger Daniel Kehoe lost a leg, and La Conner's United Workmen covered three months of care. His Nevada home lodge had not reimbursed them.
- Tragedy on the Skagit River
A pioneer family's desperate journey to Mount Vernon ends in a fatal accident on the river.
- The Treacherous Eddies of Anacortes
A boating trip on the Skagit river turns into a desperate struggle for survival when a squall capsizes a local family.
- Blood on the Waterfront: A Bloody July 4th in LaConner
A quiet holiday celebration in the Skagit County mill town turned violent when a local businessman was stabbed in a saloon dispute.
- The Skagit County Sheriff’s 'First Class' Hotel
Newly formed Skagit County lacks a proper jail, forcing the sheriff to board inmates at local hotels at public expense.
- The Promised Land of Hayview
A new town platted on Padilla Bay promises a boom in lumber, and land-seekers are urged to stake their claims.
- Corporate Audacity: The Northern Pacific Land Grant Controversy
A scathing report on how a railroad company attempted to keep massive public land grants despite failing to build the promised infrastructure.
- The Skagit River Claims the Steamer Josephine
A local steamer is reported to be in a 'very perilous position' after sinking in the Skagit River, with its hurricane deck submerged.
- Trapped by the Skagit River's Winter Fury
An eyewitness account from January 1885 describes the deadly isolation of the Skagit Valley as the river choked with ice, cutting off pioneer settlers from the outside world.
- The Miracle of the Swinomish Flats
A century and a half ago, the Skagit Valley’s richest farmland was dismissed as worthless marshland. Today, it’s an agricultural powerhouse.
- The Skagit's First Steam Logging Railroad
A new industrial era for the Upper Skagit river as local logging ramps up production with a custom-built iron engine.
- The Unlucky Steamer Fanny Lake
After surviving a sinking, the riverboat meets a fiery end on the Skagit.
- Homesteading Reality Check for the Skagit Valley
A blunt warning to new arrivals: the frontier isn't a land of ready-made farms.
- Steam Comes to the Skagit Timber: Contractors Sign On to Build a Logging Railroad
Nettleton and T. F. Smart took a contract from the Stakely Mill Co. to build and equip a substantial iron or steel logging railroad on the Skagit, part of a shift from ox teams to locomotives.
- The Gold Rush That Wouldn't Die
While the world moved on, a handful of prospectors still staked their claims in the rugged North Cascades, braving ruined trails and washed-out bridges for a few dollars of gold a day.
- The Fiery End of the Steamer Gazelle
A small stern-wheel steamer, once a fixture of the Willamette River, burns to the waterline while awaiting a load of shingles.
- A Grand Fraternal Celebration on the Skagit
When the Odd Fellows gathered to dedicate their new hall in 1885, they saw their organization as the ultimate bulwark against the cruelty of the world.
- The Mail Finally Comes to the Skagit
After months of persistent advocacy and cartographic lobbying by Edward McTaggart, the Skagit Valley secures its first semi-weekly mail route.
- The Incorporation of La Conner
A local correspondent reports on the first election in the newly minted city of La Conner, following the 1884 legislative session.