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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1891 | 9 |
| 1892 | 46 |
| 1893 | 69 |
| 1894 | 60 |
| 1895 | 44 |
235 stories
- The Price of a Scandalous Settlement
New Whatcom city leaders face backlash over a proposal to accept devalued warrants and bad bank certificates to settle a massive treasurer's embezzlement.
- Embezzlement Scandal Rocks Whatcom Bank
Col. C. M. Atkins, cashier of the suspended First National Bank, faces multiple charges of embezzlement after being arrested at his home.
- Fatal Booby Trap in Whatcom
Two men are being hunted after a 'trap gun' rigged to a door killed an unsuspecting visitor.
- The Deadly Man-Trap of Whatcom
A man is held without bail after a spring-gun trap set on his property results in a fatal shooting.
- Tragedy at the Waldron Fire
A Fairhaven woman dies after slipping on ice during a blaze.
- A Bank Scandal in Whateom
The Cashier of the First National Bank of Whateom faces a bench warrant over a $10,000 loan, allegedly secured with inflated land values.
- The Trial of the Deadly Gun Trap
A Whatcom man faces trial for setting a lethal snare that killed a man, marking a rare legal precedent for the state.
- The Treasurer’s Empty Coffers
A trial begins in New Whatcom over missing public funds, with the defendant maintaining an air of 'stolid indifference' while his family watches.
- County Money Drained Into a Doomed Bank — and an Effigy on Dock Street
A Whatcom banker stands accused of steering $50,000 in county funds into a failing institution, while angry citizens string up a stuffed likeness of him on a telegraph pole.
- The Blaine Fisherman Who Pulled Seven People Out of the Water and Never Told Anyone
Hans Nielson is 24 years old, slight of build, and has saved seven lives in ten years — two in Denmark, five around Blaine — and calls each rescue a thing 'only incidental to the life of a water toiler.'
- The Firebug of Fairhaven
A former assistant fire chief is arrested in Fairhaven after being caught hiding under a building just as a new fire broke out.
- Tragedy at the Cornwall Mill Wharf
An engineer perishes in the fog while securing a log raft in Whatcom.
- Whatcom County Vendetta: A Land Claim Reopens a Frontier Killing
A routine land-office inquiry near Ferndale revived the story of John Guildy, who shot two members of the Mayfield family and was then hunted down and killed by a nine-man posse.
- A Border Dragnet Closes Around Chinese Travelers
Two men captured near Wickersham are ordered deported, while 740 Chinese passengers arriving at Vancouver put officers on alert along the border.
- Bellingham’s Industrial Boom of 1888
A look back at the rapid transformation of the three Bellingham Bay towns as railroads and mills reshaped the landscape.
- The Wild Rise of Fairhaven
How a 'Dirty Dan' ranch transformed into a bustling, debt-free boomtown in just eighteen months.
- Arson Attempt at Bellingham Bay Sun
A suspicious candle-in-oil setup is discovered in a Fairhaven newspaper office, raising questions about insurance fraud.
- The Fake Telegram That Almost Started a Diplomatic Incident
A bored telegraph operator in Blaine sparked a scandal after forging a message from Secretary of State James G. Blaine to a town assembly, causing embarrassment for local officials and leading to an investigation by the Pacific Postal Telegraph Company.
- The Great Whatcom Railroad Brawl
Construction crews for two rival railroads face off in a pitched battle over a trestle crossing, turning a civil dispute into a physical struggle on the tracks.
- An Interracial Marriage Scandal in Whatcom
A young man files for divorce, alleging his wealthy widow wife treated him as a menial servant and schemed to discard him for a new husband.
- The Sinking of the Alaska
A coal-laden ship goes down off Cape Flattery, leaving a captain and crew to fend for themselves in the open sea.
- A Deadly Dispute on the Whatcom Road
A rancher takes his own life after a violent domestic confrontation and a days-long standoff with the sheriff.
- The Industrial Slaughter at the Edge of the State
How a remote peninsula became the center of a massive salmon-canning boom.
- The Burden of Local Debt in Whatcom County
Citizens and municipalities face a staggering $63,000 annual interest bill on bonds used to build schools and infrastructure.
- Smuggling Across the Border
A new team of customs officials is struggling to curb the flow of undocumented Chinese laborers entering the U.S. through the northern boundary, as local agitators reportedly run wild.