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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 4 |
| 1883 | 38 |
| 1884 | 12 |
| 1885 | 19 |
| 1886 | 11 |
| 1887 | 9 |
93 stories
- The Day Seattle Women Lost the Vote
In a bombshell ruling that blindsided the territory, the Supreme Court struck down the 1883 law that first granted Washington women the right to cast a ballot.
- Fire Ravages Olympia’s Government Buildings
The Surveyor General’s office, the Land Office, and a historic church are destroyed in a devastating overnight blaze.
- A Night of Ruin: Olympia’s Business District Ravaged by Fire
A catastrophic blaze tears through a full city block in Olympia, leaving shopkeepers and residents devastated in its wake.
- The Day Women Lost the Vote in Washington
A legal technicality regarding the wording of a territorial act effectively stripped Washington women of their hard-won voting rights in 1887.
- Washington Territory Grants Women the Vote
After passing the House previously, the suffrage bill clears the Council, marking a historic victory for equal representation.
- Washington Celebrates Equal Suffrage
Legislators, judges, and citizens gather in Olympia to hail the territory's historic move to enfranchise women.
- The Brutal Logic of Dispossession
Governor Newell’s biennial message advocates for the total dismantling of reservations in Washington Territory to prioritize white settlers' agricultural ambitions.
- The Tragedy on the Bridge: How a Drunken Arrest Turned Fatal
A routine police arrest at a lodging house in Olympia ends in the shooting death of a gas worker, highlighting a volatile era of street-level policing.
- The Final Voyage of the Wildwood
A steamship captain recounts the harrowing night his vessel burned to the water’s edge while docked at Olympia.
- Lobbyist Admits to Bribing Lawmakers
A longtime lobbyist testifies that he received thousands of dollars from the Northern Pacific Railway to kill legislation in the Washington Territorial House.
- The Deserted Wife Who Saved Her Homestead
When a man abandoned his land and his spouse in Olympia, the government tried to invalidate her claim—until a steely legal battle proved her right to stay.
- The Struggle for Order in 1885 Olympia
As anti-Chinese riots swept through Tacoma and Seattle, the citizens of Olympia gathered to pass a desperate set of resolutions, hoping to avoid the 'lawless expulsion' of their neighbors.
- The Riotous Mock Legislature of 1886
A railroad-backed lobby, frustrated by their political losses at the Olympia legislative session, staged a rowdy mock government to harass and demean King County representatives.
- The Broken Promise of the Gross Earnings Tax
A scathing look at corporate influence in Olympia, where politicians promised to repeal a tax break for the Northern Pacific Railroad and failed.
- Sawmill Company's 2,700-Acre Timber Land Fraud Exposed
A government investigation exposes how powerful sawmill companies in Washington Territory used dummy entrymen to systematically steal thousands of acres of federal forest land.
- The Governor’s Sudden Exit
After maintaining order during the 1885 anti-Chinese riots, Washington’s Republican Governor Watson C. Squire is ousted by a Democratic administration, leaving a polarized territory behind.
- A Territorial Governor’s Controversial Advice
Governor William A. Newell's 1883 message to the Territorial Legislature advocates for the forced assimilation of Indigenous people and a rigid, unadorned approach to public institutions.
- The Fight for Women’s Right to Serve on Juries
Prominent attorneys challenge the presence of female jurors in Washington territory, igniting a constitutional battle.
- A Settler's Deadly Stand at Johnson's Point
After a dance near Olympia turns hostile, logger Thomas Johnson shoots two Native men and wounds a woman, then surrenders to a mob demanding his scalp.
- The Postmaster Who Refused to Hire Women
An eighteen-year-old applicant details how she was misled and eventually dismissed by the Olympia postmaster due to her gender.
- Scandal at the Capital
A public altercation between a visiting 'Dean' and Olympia's Mayor leads to calls for her departure.
- The Olympia Scandal: A Town’s Moral Reckoning
A prominent local official’s public affair with a woman known as Mrs. Birdie Maxwell ruptures his household and sparks a criminal trial that captivates the community.
- The Senate Floor Fight Over Washington Women's Votes
As Washington Territory stood on the threshold of statehood in 1886, U.S. Senators debated whether they—or the people of the territory—had the right to grant women the vote.
- The First Fight for Women’s Suffrage in Seattle
Before statehood, the 1887 Washington Territorial Legislature sparked a fierce, floor-level battle over the right of women to vote and hold office.
- The Great Land Office Fire at Olympia
A catastrophic fire destroys essential territorial land records and plats, forcing homesteaders and pre-emption claimants to restart their filings from scratch.