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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1891 | 9 |
| 1892 | 46 |
| 1893 | 69 |
| 1894 | 60 |
| 1895 | 44 |
235 stories
- 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.
- A Breath of Fire-Damp Killed Twenty-Three Blue Canyon Miners
A coal-mine explosion near Lake Whatcom wiped out nearly an entire shift just before it was due to change, leaving only two survivors to tell what happened underground.
- Fire Damp and Twenty-Three Dead at Blue Canyon
A gas explosion in a new coal working near Lake Whatcom kills twenty-three miners and forces a state inspection into what the company knew about the mine’s ventilation.
- Twenty-Three Miners Died in a Nearly Undamaged Mine
Inspector Edmunds told a Seattle paper that the Blue Canyon explosion was one of the strangest disasters he had ever seen: the mine was barely damaged, yet 23 men were dead, most killed by concussion and gas.
- A Town Buries Its Miners
Funeral services for the Blue Canyon mine disaster dead fill Bay View cemetery as a coroner's jury begins asking whether enough air—and enough regulation—reached the men underground.
- 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.
- Twenty-Two Miners Dead at Blue Canyon
A fire-damp explosion at the Blue Canyon coal mines kills twenty-two, and the paper turns to relief for widows and orphans.
- Lummi Fishermen Fight for Their Reefs
Prominent Lummi leaders seek an injunction against salmon canning companies to protect their traditional fishing grounds from industrial traps.
- Lummi Nation Fights Salmon Trap Incursion
The U.S. government intervenes on behalf of the Lummi people to stop commercial fishing interests from blocking their treaty-guaranteed fishing grounds.
- 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.