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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 62 |
| 1858 | 29 |
| 1859 | 52 |
| 1860 | 27 |
| 1861 | 101 |
| 1862 | 87 |
| 1863 | 69 |
| 1864 | 32 |
| 1865 | 11 |
| 1871 | 11 |
| 1872 | 140 |
| 1876 | 812 |
| 1877 | 678 |
| 1878 | 526 |
| 1879 | 64 |
| 1880 | 180 |
| 1882 | 130 |
| 1883 | 911 |
| 1884 | 499 |
| 1885 | 838 |
| 1886 | 492 |
| 1887 | 484 |
| 1888 | 440 |
| 1889 | 1,324 |
| 1890 | 287 |
| 1891 | 1,115 |
| 1892 | 2,855 |
| 1893 | 2,829 |
| 1894 | 2,116 |
| 1895 | 1,830 |
| 1896 | 2 |
| 1897 | 62 |
| 1898 | 196 |
| 1899 | 446 |
| 1900 | 114 |
| 1902 | 34 |
| 1903 | 1,332 |
| 1904 | 1,126 |
| 1905 | 124 |
| 1907 | 53 |
| 1908 | 351 |
| 1909 | 1,545 |
| 1910 | 413 |
| 1911 | 160 |
| 1912 | 73 |
| 1914 | 261 |
| 1915 | 300 |
| 1916 | 545 |
| 1917 | 332 |
| 1918 | 45 |
| 1919 | 5 |
| 1920 | 1 |
| 1922 | 18 |
| 1923 | 185 |
| 1924 | 151 |
| 1925 | 64 |
| 1928 | 14 |
| 1929 | 19 |
2,231 stories
- The Lost Cook of Lowell
A camp cook vanished from the logging woods near Snohomish, leaving behind his belongings and fueling local rumors of desertion or death.
- An Arduous Journey to the Ranch
A difficult canoe trip up the Snohomish River turns into an overland slog through downed timber.
- A Temperance Advocate Visits Snohomish
A visiting orator delivers a lecture on the virtues of the Olive Leaf Lodge, aiming to steer local young men away from the 'pernicious habits' of whisky.
- The Unluckiest Farmer on the Swinomish Flats
Samuel Calhoun had already lost a fortune in grain. Then the steamer Dispatch capsized with another $1,000 of his crop aboard.
- Twelve Days in Jail for a Drunken Woman—and the Men Who Walked Free
A Port Townsend letter protests a double standard after a woman is locked up for disorderly drinking while the town's inebriated men go unpunished.
- The Ship That Could Be Scraped With Fingernails
A Port Townsend jury acquitted a sailor who refused duty on the bark Caroline Reed after the vessel was shown to be dangerously rotten.
- A Grand New Hotel Rises on Port Townsend's Waterfront
A three-story block with a saloon, reading room, and thirty sleeping rooms opens at Water and Washington streets—a brick-and-mortar bet on the town's future.
- The First Scythes: Makah Men Arrive in Port Townsend Looking for Work
Five men from Neah Bay came to town in 1876 to hire themselves out as mowers. A local editor praised their tools—and exposed the era's patronizing ideas about 'civilizing' Native people.
- The Sovereign Grand Commander Comes to Port Townsend
General Albert Pike arrives by steamer to inspect the local lodges, lectures to the brethren, and is feted with a banquet and a Scow Bay clambake.
- Before the Next High Tide
An 1878 editorial warns that hauling gravel and pulling drift logs off the Point Hudson spit has already helped flood Port Townsend twice—and calls for an ordinance before the winter storms return.
- Six Men Break Out of Kitsap County Jail—and the Sheriff Wants Them Badly
A recent escape from the Kitsap County jail has lawmen posting rewards from $250 to $350 for Ah Tuck, Thomas McLean, and four other prisoners.
- Why Is There No Sawmill on Port Townsend Bay?
With foreign lumber ships crowding the harbor and the mills all seventy miles up the Sound, the Argus does the arithmetic on what the town is throwing away.
- A Pioneer Returns to the Old Home to Die
James J. Harned reached the Pacific at seventeen, became one of Port Townsend’s most useful citizens, and came back one last time to say goodbye.
- The Canoe Habit: A Barrier to Progress
A traveler visits Dungeness and finds the local reliance on canoes and traditional methods a stubborn obstacle to the region's economic modernization.
- A New Frontier Near Neah Bay
Surveyor R.P. Shotts reports on the opening of a new township, promising a flourishing settlement for hardy pioneers.
- The Blue Glass Delusion
A local man's obsession with the 'blue glass' health craze leads to a domestic disaster involving laundry bluing and a very angry wife.
- A Body in the Bay: The Cryptic Note Left in a Dead Man's Skiff
An unidentified man is found adrift in Admiralty Bay, and the only clue is a strange note in his pocket about a neighbor, a house, and cloth nailed to the walls.
- A Spark on the Roof: Fire at Rothschild & Co. Spurs a Petition Against Fireworks
Quick action saved a downtown Port Townsend store from burning, and the close call prompted residents to demand a ban on fireworks within town limits.
- A Taxpayer Fights the Assessor for Six Years — and Loses
William Craswell petitions the county board to strike fraudulent assessments from the rolls and demands back the money already taken; the commissioners refuse, then set the rates for everyone else.
- A Captain's Alaska Liquor Case Comes to Port Townsend
A federal warrant for importing liquor into Alaska and selling it to Native people sends Capt. Thomas Butler to Portland to answer the charge.
- The Lottery That Built Seattle: How a $5 Ticket Bought a Sawmill and City Blocks
In 1876, the Washington Territory authorized a massive state lottery to fund a road through the Cascades. The prize? A steam sawmill worth $100,000 and prime real estate in downtown Seattle.
- The Wettest Spring in Memory: Walla Walla’s Deluge and the Rainbow That Spanned Mountains
While Seattle residents fret over rain cisterns, neighbors to the east endure a historic deluge that has delayed planting and produced a rare midnight rainbow stretching from the Cascades to the Columbia.
- A Painful Mishap at the Mill
While working in the busy industrial quarter of Seattle, a laborer suffers a horrific injury to his arm.
- The Pioneer Infirmary for the Puget Sound Frontier
Dr. G.A. Weed announces the opening of a new hospital to serve the 'pressing wants' of the rugged workers and pioneers in the Washington wilderness.
- The Perils of the Frontier: Seattle’s First Industrial Hospital
In 1876, Dr. G.A. Weed opened a medical facility explicitly designed to care for the victims of Puget Sound’s dangerous timber and milling industries.