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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 53 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 6 |
| 1860 | 12 |
| 1861 | 60 |
| 1862 | 65 |
| 1863 | 44 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 14 |
| 1876 | 10 |
| 1877 | 12 |
| 1878 | 8 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 4 |
| 1883 | 39 |
| 1884 | 12 |
| 1885 | 19 |
| 1886 | 11 |
| 1887 | 9 |
| 1888 | 6 |
| 1889 | 58 |
| 1890 | 8 |
| 1891 | 218 |
| 1892 | 194 |
| 1893 | 111 |
| 1894 | 19 |
| 1895 | 112 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 24 |
| 1904 | 6 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 95 |
| 1910 | 7 |
| 1911 | 11 |
| 1912 | 4 |
| 1914 | 11 |
| 1915 | 8 |
| 1916 | 11 |
| 1917 | 3 |
| 1919 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 13 |
| 1924 | 4 |
| 1925 | 10 |
1,327 stories
- Oregon Cavalry Recruits Sought for Expedition Against Native People
A recruitment call for the First Regiment of Oregon Cavalry to combat Indigenous resistance on the frontier.
- The Hard-Fought Battle for the Eight-Hour Day
A landmark labor bill limiting work hours for women passes the Washington State House amidst intense opposition from industrial interests.
- The Case for Washington Statehood
A San Francisco paper argues Washington Territory has the population, wealth and schools to join the Union — and urges Congress to admit it.
- The Scandalous Governor Who Never Was
A political fixer with a reputation for bribery and forgery was appointed Governor of Washington Territory, triggering a national outcry that exposed the deep corruption of the era's patronage system.
- The Governor and the Ghost Democrats
When Territorial Governor Elisha Ferry was accused of lying to win a seat at a convention, his refusal to name thirty phantom 'Democrats' sparked a fierce political scandal in Seattle.
- The Political Brawl at the Territorial University
A scathing editorial from 1872 exposes a 'Klux clan' of government officials caught in a web of corruption, bribes, and public dishonesty.
- The Price of Patronage: Political Graft in Washington Territory
A scathing editorial exposes how federal appointments in the Washington Territory were treated as commodities, with government officials accused of padding their estates through systemic corruption.
- When a Railroad Held the Territory Hostage: The 1877 Fight Over the Northern Pacific Land Grant
Governor Ferry's message to the Legislature proposes a 10-year extension for the Northern Pacific—but warns the territory will be crippled if the western terminus lands in Portland instead of Puget Sound.
- The Great Olympia Mill Fire: A City's Heart Stolen by Flame
In the early hours of October 16, 1876, a devastating fire consumed the steam sawmill and all its property in Olympia, Washington Territory, leaving the community to wonder how they will replace their primary source of timber processing.
- The Great Olympia Fire: How a City Rallied Against the Flames
When an August blaze threatened to consume Olympia's business district, the community, including local women, rushed to save the heart of the town.
- The Constitutional Convention's Partisan Gridlock
Delegates in Olympia debate the structure of the state's future judiciary, clashing over judicial term limits, court size, and political representation.
- The Fight Over Corporate Power
A proposed constitutional provision regarding stockholder liability triggers alarm among Seattle businessmen.
- The Struggle to Build a State
Delegates gather in Olympia to hammer out a constitution, clashing over county boundaries and the location of the capital.
- The Struggle to Draft Washington’s Constitution
Delegates at the 1889 convention in Olympia face intense debate over corporate regulation and public warehouse oversight.
- Washington's 1889 Convention Settles Prohibition, Corporations
Delegates in Olympia rush to finalize state constitutional provisions, including contentious debates over railroad commissions and alien land ownership.
- The Hard-Fought Birth of Washington's Constitution
Exhausted delegates in Olympia spend a grueling day debating the future of school lands, property rights, and the framework for a new state government.
- The Shadow of the Railroad: Tide Lands and Public Trust
As Washington state's constitutional convention drags on, delegates engage in a fierce legislative showdown over the fate of public tide lands, pitted against powerful rail and improvement corporations.
- The Trial of Judge Hoyt
Facing a barrage of 'partisan slander' in the race for state office, Judge John P. Hoyt fights back against claims he acted as a railroad puppet and denied due process to labor protesters.
- The Senatorial Duel: A Tale of Two Cities and One Beltway Seat
As the Washington legislature prepares to convene in 1891, the race for the U.S. Senate descends into a fierce local rivalry between established incumbent Watson C. Squire of Seattle and the ambitious newcomer Judge William H. Calkins of Tacoma.
- The Wheat Blockade
A political standoff at the state capital reveals the struggle between Eastern Washington farmers and the railroad monopolies.
- The Political Bazaar of 1891: How the Calkins Faction Tried to Buy the Senate
In a frantic scramble to seize power, legislative 'strikers' in Olympia flooded the capital with promises of patronage and political favors, mirroring the high-stakes, behind-the-scenes maneuvering that still defines state politics.
- The Three-Way Split: How Bitter Feuds Carved Eastern Washington
In January 1891, the state legislature dissolved Lincoln County into three new entities—Grant, Big Bend, and remaining Lincoln—to settle a decades-long battle over county seats that once involved armed men holding courthouse keys.
- The Man Who Exposed the Bribe: Metcalfe’s Stand Against Olympia’s ‘Boodle’ Gang
In a rare display of moral courage in Washington's early political history, Representative Metcalfe turned a bribe into evidence, sparking a war with corruptionists that the paper defends as necessary for good government.
- The Disappearing Witness in the Senatorial Bribery Scandal
As the state legislature remains deadlocked in a bribery probe, a mysterious figure named Atwood vanishes after allegedly attempting to buy votes.
- The Senatorial Bribery Scandal Rocking Olympia
A state judge admits to soliciting votes for the Senate through promises of state institution locations, casting a shadow over the political corruption of the 1891 legislative session.