Research the archive
Narrow 25,688 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1883 | 4 |
| 1890 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1895 | 3 |
16 stories matching lie
- 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.
- The Magic City of Puget Sound
A booster’s portrait of 1890 Fairhaven, capturing a boom town fueled by speculation, deep-water access, and massive infrastructure projects.
- The Well That Killed Twice
A promising new homestead a few miles east of Whatcom became a death trap when a pocket of gas swallowed John Kidwell and the neighbor who tried to save him.
- 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 Great Skagit Jam: How Local Men Tried to Unplug the River
In 1876, a massive logjam blocked the Skagit River for miles. While officials debated expensive dredging projects, local loggers took matters into their own hands with picks and dynamite.
- The Mystery of the Double-Wound Suicide
A grain dealer is found dead in his office with a bullet in his head and another in his chest, raising questions of how a single gun could be responsible.
- The Wild Life and Vanishing Legacy of Betsy Jones
A century-old property dispute in Bellingham unearths the chaotic, cross-continental saga of a woman whose life defied Victorian conventions.
- A Tragic Afternoon at Whatcom Creek
A seven-year-old boy drowns while playing on log booms, sparking a somber community funeral.
- Tapping Lake Padden for Fairhaven's Future
Engineers break ground on a massive water infrastructure project designed to support a city of 30,000.
- The Failed Promise of Nooksack Oil
A local oil drilling venture stalls as mismanagement and a 'crooked hole' lead to worker layoffs and deep investor suspicion.
- The Mysterious Death of J. J. Bersing
A Russian tailor is found dead with his throat cut in his cabin on the Nooksack River, leaving neighbors and authorities suspecting foul play.
- A Wave, Unbarricaded Doors, and the Wreck of the Buckeye
The wrecked steamer is found near Fairhaven as passengers blame the mate and a drowned Anacortes liquor dealer goes to the grave without an inquest.
- The Governor's Booster Sermon for Washington Territory
Gov. Newell told a Whatcom crowd that timber, coal, fisheries and harbors made the territory's future inevitable—and that the greatest city would rise at the entrance to the Straits.
- Whatcom Wakes Up, and Every Town Wants the Railroad
A Walla Walla correspondent surveys the 1883 Puget Sound boom: Whatcom's lots double, a wharf reaches deep water, and Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham and Fairhaven all claim the coming terminus.
- Gold Dust at the Foot of Mount Baker
A steamer passenger's letter reports that Whatcom merchants have bought gold from Indigenous prospectors—and that plenty more may lie near Bellingham Bay.
- Deserters on the Cow Paths: Three British Sailors Slip Into Blaine
Three sailors flee the British warships at Esquimalt, stealing down the east coast of Vancouver Island by night to cross into American soil at Blaine.