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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
- The $1 Million Syndicate: How Three Men Bet Big on Tumwater’s Water Power
A wealthy trio from Kansas City arrives in Olympia with a million-dollar plan to build mills and a cable railway, signaling a massive shift in the territory's economic future.
- The Fight for Washington’s Capital City
A Seattle writer argues that moving the seat of government east of the Cascades would cripple maritime commerce.
- The State's First Great 'To-Do' List
Acting Governor Charles E. Laughton’s 1891 address to the legislature provides a rare, wide-angle snapshot of a young Washington State struggling to build its infrastructure, protect its forests, and define its civic identity.
- The State’s Office is a ‘Sailor’s Boarding House’: Olympia’s Desperate Search for a Capitol
With state officers scattered across the city in “miserably-ventilated” rooms and valuable records stored in sheds, Representative Collins introduces a bill to erect a temporary building on business property.
- A Blackmail Scheme at the Statehouse?
Legislators suspect a proposed liquor licensing bill is less about temperance and more about extorting the state's saloon owners.
- Washington Tide Land Bill Would Create Sales Commission
A new bill moves through the state legislature to codify how the state will survey and sell off the submerged lands along the shoreline.
- The 'White River Assembly' Takes on the State Senate
A scathing labor petition read aloud in the Washington State Senate sparks both laughter and warnings of political reckoning for those who ignored the working class.
- The Salmon Wars of 1891: Puget Sound’s Battle for Fishing Sovereignty
While the Columbia River dictated state fishing laws, Washington’s northern waters faced an existential threat, prompting a legislative clash over spawning cycles and local control.
- The Forgotten: Advocating for Washington Territory’s Deaf, Blind, and Feeble-Minded Children
A compelling 1885 editorial highlights the territorial government's failure to educate citizens with disabilities, framing their exclusion as both a moral failing and a future burden.
- The Insurance Company That Refused to Pay
After his steamboat, the Wildwood, burned at the dock in Olympia, Thomas Quail publicly denounced the insurance companies that refused to settle his claim.
- The Captain, the Thief, and the Midnight Chase
When a suspected cattle rustler boarded a steamer to flee across the border, a determined captain navigated a tense confrontation at the Olympia wharf.
- The 1885 Fight to Protect the Workingman’s Tools and Bedding
A proposed territorial law sought to expand property exemptions from debt, shielding everything from a mechanic's tools to a family's bedding from creditors.
- The Right to Seize Silent Tracks
In 1886, territorial legislators debated a radical bill to reclaim abandoned railroad rights-of-way, arguing that the public interest outweighed corporate ownership.
- The Logger's Protective Association
After enduring wage cuts and rising costs, Washington's loggers begin organizing to push back against a legislature that seems determined to strip away their protections.
- The Forgotten Pioneer History of the Puget Sound
A remarkable 1888 address recalls the precarious early years of Washington Territory, from the first colonial settlements to the grit required to build a government in the wilderness.
- The Bid to Bring the Rails to Olympia
When the Puget Sound and Gray's Harbor Railroad Company looked to move its terminal away from the shallow waters of Little Skookum Bay, a committee of Olympia’s finest set out to land the contract.
- The Doomsday Cult of South Union
While the rest of the country debated silver and trade, a group of Thurston County farmers were preparing for the final apocalypse.
- Log Loader Killed on the Port Townsend Southern
A tragic workplace accident in Bucoda leaves a man dead as he attempts to unload heavy timber.
- The Political Betrayal of Seattle
At the 1892 State Democratic Convention, a coalition of Pierce County delegates and King County defectors successfully turned the party platform against Seattle's Lake Washington Ship Canal project.
- A Slanderous Campaign Against John H. McGraw
A rival paper spreads a rumor that the Republican gubernatorial candidate was born abroad and thus ineligible for office, prompting a sharp defense from the Post-Intelligencer.
- The Battle for Olympia's Waterfront
A local judicial candidate sparks a red-hot municipal contest by claiming public tide lands for his own, setting the stage for a bitter election fight.
- The Olympia Legislative Power Struggle
A dramatic standoff at the Olympia Hotel as Republican factions scramble to secure the House speakership and organize the new government.
- Democratic Party Caucus Descends into Backroom Chaos
While Washington legislators bicker behind locked doors in Olympia, party infighting stalls the state’s business.
- Railroad Lobbyists Left Grumbling in Olympia
A legislative meeting with railroad attorneys devolved into a farce when key senators failed to show, leaving the powerful corporation representatives dazed and empty-handed.
- The Governor’s Pen and the Missing Partner
Governor McGraw prepares to slash the state budget while a political souvenir publisher flees Olympia with his partner's cash.