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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
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421 stories
- The Expulsion of Bellingham’s Chinese Residents
In 1885, citizens of Bellingham signed a pledge to systematically boycott and remove their Chinese neighbors, marking a dark chapter in Washington's labor and social history.
- The Deadly Spring Gun of Whatcom
A man who set a loaded trap for intruders in his cabin faces a murder conviction, setting a major legal precedent for property defense.
- Bellingham Bay Burned While Puget Sound Choked on Smoke
Forest fires from the British border to the Olympic Mountains sent a pall over Seattle, slowed steamers and trains, and destroyed homes, a bridge and a thirty-room mansion near Whatcom.
- The Deadly Spring-Gun Trap of Whatcom
A laborer seeking shelter in a boarded-up cabin is killed instantly by a rigged shotgun, sparking a legal inquiry into property traps.
- Cowboy Terry Caught Running Chinese Immigrants Across the Sumas Line
A notorious border outlaw, already linked to a fatal shootout, is arrested by customs inspectors after a stolen railway speeder is stopped south of Sumas.
- The Explosion at Deadman's Point
A colossal blast of two and a half tons of dynamite levels waterfront shanties and shatters windows miles away.
- The Boom That Built Bellingham: How Four Towns Merged Into One City
In the spring of 1904, the bustling communities of Sehome, Whatcom, Fairhaven, and Bellingham were rapidly converging. With housing prices soaring and carpenters working day and night, this historic merger created the city we know today.
- The Dawn of Political Equality
Washington Territory grants women the right to vote, marking a landmark triumph for human rights.
- The Swindled Sheep of Whatcom County
A malicious act of agricultural sabotage left 2,000 sheep dead, exposing the brutal desperation of early range life.
- The Whatcom Million-Dollar Bet
Citizens of Bellingham Bay pledge their own wealth to lure the railroad, hoping to transform their sleepy coastal town into a Pacific terminus.
- The Trial That Nearly Triggered a Lynching
A Whatcom jury's acquittal of George Bwiloos for a brutal murder left the town in an uproar, sparking a desperate, failed manhunt by local citizens.
- The Trial That Stoked a Mob: The Swiloos Case
After an accused murderer was acquitted, the citizens of Whatcom waged a campaign of social ostracism against the jury, reflecting deep racial tensions and extrajudicial outrage in 1892 Washington.
- The Bogus 'Happy Valley' Real Estate Scam
A swindler in Fairhaven has been selling plots in a 'Happy Valley' addition that exists only on paper and a mountain.
- The Struggle for Industry in Fairhaven
A local Chamber of Commerce defends its record against editorial attacks, citing structural economic barriers and the legacy of broken 'boom' promises.
- The Kidnaping of Sam
A witness speaks out against the detention and deportation of a Chinese laborer by a local official.
- Border Smuggling and Violence Near Wickersham
A citizen posse intercepts a group of thirteen migrants near the railroad tracks, leading to a shootout and local manhunt.
- Fatal Trap Set for Burglars Results in Arrests
Two men are in custody for murder after their booby-trapped cabin killed an intruder in Whatcom County.
- The Deadly Spring-Gun Trap
A Whatcom man faces a murder conviction for setting a booby-trapped shotgun to defend his vacant cabin.
- The 'Hell-Trap' Murderer Sentenced to Ten Years
A man who built a lethal spring-gun trap in a remote cabin is sentenced for the death of a laborer who simply sought shelter from the cold.
- The Collapse of a Fairhaven Empire
A prominent banker faces arrest as the Bank of Fairhaven closes its doors, leaving the county's finances in chaos.
- Nineteen Japanese Immigrants Arrested After Trek from Canada
Destitute group walks from Vancouver, B.C., to Whatcom in hopes of finding work in Seattle.
- The Border-Walking Japanese Laborers
An early 1894 legal test of the 'pauper and assisted immigrant law' sees laborers shuttled back and forth across the Washington-Canada border.
- The Sky Turned to Smoke: Forest Fires Choke Puget Sound
Fires across Whatcom, Skagit and the Olympic Mountains destroyed bridges, barns and a shingle mill, derailed a Great Northern train and left Puget Sound under a suffocating haze.
- The Bakery War on Holly Street
A bitter rivalry between two Whatcom bakers escalated into a criminal attempt to poison customers with concentrated lye.
- Vigilante Sentiment Grows After Sunday Violence
A wave of fights and assaults by 'tramps and toughs' on Harris Street leaves the town calling for better policing.