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• 1870–1879 ×

1. The Constitutional Crisis of 1878

   Before Washington was a state, Governor Elisha P. Ferry issued a desperate call for a convention to define its future.

   Mar 6, 1878The Northern StarWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyCity Hall

2. The Brutal Labor of Clearing the Snohomish River

   For over two years, crews braved the most dangerous and grueling work in the territory to clear the river for navigation, battling everything from treacherous snags to a lack of promised payment.

   Jun 12, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish River, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyWork & Pay

3. 1878 Timber Land Act Opens 160-Acre Sales

   A new federal law promises to open up public forests in Washington Territory to private ownership, setting the stage for decades of industrial exploitation.

   Aug 17, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyFollow the Money

4. The Forgotten Bid for Washington Suffrage

   While the 1878 proposed state constitution for Washington Territory was largely a blueprint for governance, it contained radical separate articles granting women the right to vote and hold office long before the 19th Amendment.

   Sep 28, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyCity Hall

5. The Boom That Busted

   Reflecting on the 'mushroom' growth and subsequent economic fallout of 1870s Seattle, a local editor recounts a tale of over-speculation, debt, and the volatile reliance on steamship-driven growth.

   Aug 16, 1878The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

6. A Double Tragedy in Lewis County

   A tragic hunting accident leads to a young boy's death and the subsequent destruction of his family home by fire.

   Aug 26, 1876The Northern StarOlequa, Winlock, Lewis CountyDisasters

7. The Pacific’s Lesson: Floating Decks and Real Sailors

   A correspondent proposes turning steamer decks into life-rafts—and blames the wreck of the Pacific on owners who replaced seamen with freight handlers.

   Feb 5, 1876Puget Sound Weekly ArgusCape Flattery, Neah Bay, Clallam CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

8. The Smallpox Ship at the Wharf

   In September 1876, Port Townsend citizens met at the Old Court House to demand accountability after the steamer Dakota brought smallpox into their port.

   Sep 22, 1876Puget Sound Weekly ArgusPort Townsend, Jefferson CountyCity Hall

9. The Coin Toss That Named Portland — and the Man Who Founded Port Townsend

   A.M. Pettygrove comes back to the town he laid out in 1851, and the Argus retells how a flipped coin gave Portland its name, how a claim was sold for $5,000 in cash and leather, and how a Puget Sound bluff became a city.

   Nov 17, 1876Puget Sound Weekly ArgusPort Townsend, Jefferson CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust · Gone Forever

10. Robert Ingersoll’s Warning to the Washington Clerk

    The famous orator and freethinker warns young men against the soul-crushing nature of government bureaucracy in Washington D.C.

    Jun 1, 1877Puget Sound Weekly ArgusPort Townsend, Jefferson CountyWork & Pay

11. A Drunken Stabbing—and a Churchgoer Shot Without Cause

    On one violent Sunday, a wife stabbed her husband through the heart, and a young man shot a girl on her way to church before turning the gun on himself.

    Aug 11, 1876Puget Sound Weekly ArgusUtsalady, Island CountyTrue Crime

12. A Convent Escape and a Steamer Waiting: The Elopement That Ended in Port Townsend

    When her parents opposed the match on religious grounds, Mary Emma Kealy was cloistered in a convent. She escaped in a carriage, reached a waiting steamer, and married Ward Debeck in Port Townsend.

    Mar 23, 1877Puget Sound Weekly ArgusPort Townsend, Jefferson CountyScandal

13. The Mayor’s Peaches and the City’s Panic: A Night of Burglary in Pioneer Square

    Burglars break into Mayor Gattert’s home on Third Street, fleeing with nothing but a can of peaches, while public outrage over crime reaches a fever pitch.

    Jun 6, 1876The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall · True Crime

14. The Stinking Gutters of 1876

    While Seattle promoters bragged of a salubrious climate, a local newspaper editorial exposed the reality of deadly, stagnant cesspools lining the streets.

    Jun 21, 1876The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

15. The Radical Doctor of Seattle

    An 1876 lecture at the local Opera House challenges the city's elites, railing against the morality of wealth, the indignity of labor, and the hypocrisy of the church.

    Jun 22, 1876The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

16. The Centennial Fourth: Seattle's 1876 Independence Day Extravaganza

    Before the skyscrapers, Seattle celebrated the nation's 100th birthday with a massive, carefully choreographed procession of coal miners, firemen, and laborers winding through the dusty streets of a growing frontier town.

    Jun 23, 1876The Daily IntelligencerOccidental Square, Seattle, King County

17. The Spirit of '76: Seattle’s Grand Centennial Celebration

    A meticulous guide to how Seattleites organized their first massive city-wide celebration of the American Centennial in 1876, featuring a parade, a regatta, and grand fireworks.

    Jun 24, 1876The Daily IntelligencerOccidental Square, Seattle, King County

18. A High-Stakes Adventure on the River

    A young woman's terrifying ordeal while navigating the dangerous waters of the Snohomish River.

    Jun 29, 1876The Daily IntelligencerSnohomish River, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyDisasters

19. The Miracle of the Scalped Man

    A brush with death on the frontier: a survivor recounts the chilling moment he was scalped by Indians and miraculously saved by his traveling party.

    Jun 30, 1876The Daily IntelligencerPort Townsend, Jefferson CountyExclusion & Resistance · Strange But True

20. The Centennial Fourth: Seattle's 1876 Celebration

    On the eve of the nation's hundredth birthday, Seattle grapples with patriotic fervor, civic fire safety, and a growing political divide.

    Jul 3, 1876The Daily IntelligencerCommercial Street, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

21. The Centennial Vision for a Frontier Metropolis

    On the 100th anniversary of American Independence, a local orator laid out a grand—and strikingly prescient—economic blueprint for the future of Seattle and Washington Territory.

    Jul 10, 1876The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

22. The Battle for the Unsurveyed Frontier

    A 19th-century court case in Steilacoom exposes the tension between local land speculators and the ideal of the 'actual settler' on the Washington frontier.

    Jan 1, 1872Puget Sound DispatchSteilacoom, Pierce CountyFollow the Money

23. The Great Freeze of 1872

    When an arctic blast paralyzed Puget Sound, turning the Columbia River to ice and testing the grit of Seattle's early pioneers.

    Jan 1, 1872Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyDisasters

24. The Pirate King of Seattle

    A real-life adventure of a man who survived a childhood on a pirate ship and returned to Seattle to recruit a crew for a treasure hunt.

    Mar 14, 1872Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyLocal Legends

25. The Chinese Doctor’s Radical Revival

    A Seattle man, presumed dead after two weeks of typhoid fever, was brought back to life by a doctor’s unconventional intervention.

    Apr 11, 1872Puget Sound DispatchJackson Street, Seattle, King CountyStrange But True

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