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• 1870–1879 ×

1. The Jailhouse Houdini of Seattle

   While awaiting trial for boat stealing, a prisoner named Burton used a hidden knife to fish biscuits through his jail bars and plotted his escape with remarkable bravado.

   Feb 23, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

2. The Miracle Cure at the Yesler Sawmill

   In 1877 Seattle, a local laborer offers a glowing, desperate endorsement for a traveling 'nerve doctor' promising to cure the ills of the industrial grind.

   Mar 7, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountySnake Oil

3. The Oyster Swindler of State Street

   A mysterious philanthropist promises to feed the hungry of Seattle, only to vanish and leave the bill at a local restaurant.

   Mar 8, 1877The Daily IntelligencerState Street, Seattle, King CountyTrue Crime

4. The Tragic Death of a Chinese Cook at Port Gamble

   An accident in shallow water claims the life of a laborer, highlighting the precarious conditions for workers in the Puget Sound mill towns of 1877.

   Mar 22, 1877The Daily IntelligencerPort Gamble, Kitsap CountyDisasters

5. The Practical Joke of the Frontier

   A settler’s terrifying encounter with two armed Indigenous men concludes not with the massacre he feared, but with a surreal—and expensive—demanding of his household supplies.

   Mar 24, 1877The Daily IntelligencerLewiston, Whitman CountyExclusion & Resistance · Strange But True

6. The Original Seattle Growth Strategy

   In 1877, business leaders debated how to fund a private office to lure immigrants from 'grasshopper-stricken' regions, mirroring today's debates over attracting talent and industry to the Pacific Northwest.

   Mar 24, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

7. The Lawyer Who Couldn't Help: A Woman’s Disillusionment with Seattle’s Legal System

   In April 1877, a desperate woman seeking financial support from her absent husband walked into a Griswold Street lawyer's office, only to leave more skeptical of the legal profession than when she arrived.

   Apr 5, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

8. The Mill That Stopped: A City Holds Its Breath

   When Colman’s sawmill ceased its daily roar for repairs, the silence was so profound it forced Seattleites to confront their terrifying dependence on industrial machinery.

   Apr 10, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

9. The Butter Paradox

   Why is Seattle, surrounded by some of the world's richest grazing land, importing its butter from California?

   Apr 11, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King County

10. The Great Rancher's Fiasco: When Seattle Met the 'Eastern Immigrant'

    A local farmer’s desperate search for farmhands on the docks of Pioneer Square ends in comedy of errors, revealing a cultural clash between Washington Territory agriculture and the influx of Eastern settlers.

    Apr 17, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay · Strange But True

11. The Man Who Paid for Nothing

    A witty anecdote from Seattle's early days captures the city's growing confidence and irreverence toward authority.

    Apr 18, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

12. The Dog Who Defied Gravity (and the Mayor)

    A canine visitor to Seattle’s Tremont Hotel proves that while political patronage is hard to shake, a dog’s instinct for self-preservation is stronger.

    Apr 20, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

13. The Canal That Could Freeze England: A Climate Warning from the Isthmus of Panama

    In 1877, Seattle’s press warned that digging a canal through Central America might divert the Gulf Stream, plunging Europe into an ice age—a bizarre but prescient look at early environmental anxiety.

    Apr 25, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

14. The Steam Laundry That Would Save Your Clothes (And Your Wallet)

    In May 1877, Seattle businessman L.D. Frank announced a bold new venture: a steam-powered laundry on Commercial Street that promised to clean clothes faster and cheaper than the traditional Chinese method—while explicitly excluding Chinese workers.

    May 2, 1877The Daily IntelligencerCommercial Street, Seattle, King CountyExclusion & Resistance

15. The Mill That Never Was: A Snohomish Land Deal and a Promise from Washington

    While local men scramble for housing and business lots in the booming town of Snohomish, a mysterious letter from D.C. hints at federal support for a post route to Pullman, just as a major timber contract is awarded locally.

    May 13, 1876The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyBoom & Bust

16. The Tragic Death of James Riley: A Local Defense Against 'Ill-Treatment' Claims

    After a man recently sent from Snohomish to the Territorial Asylum died suddenly in Steilacoom, local papers rushed to defend their community's actions against accusations of negligence.

    Jun 17, 1876The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish County

17. The Day Snohomish Became a Ghost Town: A Fatal Accident and the Paper That Got It Wrong

    A logger’s tragic death in Holmes Harbor was so widely reported that it appeared in newspapers across the territory—except for one crucial error: they all got the location wrong.

    Jul 1, 1876The Northern StarHolmes Harbor, Island CountyStrange But True

18. The Secular Send-off

    When a Snohomish family rejected the fire-and-brimstone dogmas of the 1880s, they hired a friend instead of a priest to speak at a funeral, sparking a radical discourse on death, reason, and kindness.

    Jul 22, 1876The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyStrange But True

19. The Rapid Growth and Growing Pains of Puget Sound

    A local correspondent reports on the shipping boom, the rush of Indigenous harvest workers, and the unsettling pace of land speculation.

    Sep 2, 1876The Northern StarFront Street, Seattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

20. The Mental Health Crisis of 1876

    A local man is taken away to Steilacoom after his monomania turns threatening.

    Oct 7, 1876The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish County

21. Native man’s accidental drowning in the Snohomish River

    A local man is found drowned after his canoe was discovered drifting empty on the river.

    Oct 21, 1876The Northern StarSnohomish River, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyDisasters

22. The Town's New Mill Promises Prosperity

    A new lumber mill is nearing completion, promising to keep capital within the Snohomish community and provide steady work for local men.

    Dec 2, 1876The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyBoom & Bust

23. A Night Out, A Forgotten Medical Crisis

    A husband’s late-night obsession with the contentious 1876 presidential election nearly costs his wife her life.

    Dec 23, 1876The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyStrange But True

24. The Final Deadline

    A foreman for the Times, devoted to his craft until his final breath, dies after a sudden illness.

    Dec 23, 1876The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyStrange But True

25. The Million-Shingle Miracle: How Snohomish River Steamers Defied the Odds

    In a stunning display of industrial might, the steamer Yakima loaded 106,000 shingles in a single day, helping to push the river's winter yield toward one million—a feat that put Snohomish at the center of the global timber trade.

    Feb 24, 1877The Northern StarSnohomish River, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyBoom & Bust

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