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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 9 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1884 | 20 |
| 1885 | 11 |
| 1886 | 10 |
| 1887 | 5 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 6 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 11 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 8 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1903 | 4 |
| 1904 | 3 |
| 1909 | 5 |
| 1910 | 3 |
17 stories matching domain
- The Land Grab That Built Seattle: How Indian Reserves Held Back the City
In 1877, local editors railed against federal land policies that reserved vast tracts of fertile Washington Territory for Native American use, arguing these 'monopolies' stifled white settlement and speculation.
- The Myth of the Land Monopoly
An 1877 Seattle newspaper sets the record straight for prospective homesteaders: unlike California, Washington Territory is free from the crushing weight of Spanish land grants and speculative hoarding.
- 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.
- The Black Pall Over Washington’s Future
A proposed decade-long extension for the Northern Pacific Railroad threatens to monopolize the territory's vast timber and mineral wealth while stifling independent settlement.
- The Human Canvas of 1876
A traveling marvel of the frontier, a man covered in 360 intricate tattoos, arrives in Seattle to tell his harrowing story of survival.
- The Myth of the Independent Pioneer
An 1877 editorial from the Seattle Intelligencer argues that the abundance of free, unsettled land in Washington Territory is the only thing keeping local wages high and preventing the labor unrest seen in crowded cities like Paris or London.
- The Great Land Ring of the Northern Pacific
Settlers of Washington Territory take on a powerful railroad corporation accused of hoarding public land for private profit.
- Debating the Northern Railroad's Route to Puget Sound
As the Northern Pacific Railroad eyed a Portland terminus to maximize its land grants, a fierce editorial demands the company fulfill its promise to connect the Columbia River to Puget Sound or forfeit its territory.
- When a Railroad Held the Territory Hostage: The 1877 Fight Over the Northern Pacific Land Grant
Governor Ferry's message to the Legislature proposes a 10-year extension for the Northern Pacific—but warns the territory will be crippled if the western terminus lands in Portland instead of Puget Sound.
- The Promised Land on Puget Sound
An 1878 booster letter to the Midwest paints a portrait of Washington Territory as a temperate, fertile frontier where anyone willing to work a log house could find independence.
- The Unchecked Ambitions of 1878 Seattle
A prophetic editorial from the Intelligencer reveals how early leaders envisioned Seattle as the industrial and commercial juggernaut of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Struggle to Clear the Skagit River
Loggers and settlers face a massive, shifting timber jam on the Skagit River, with locals debating the impact of land ownership on the future of the valley.
- The Checkerboard Trap: How the Northern Pacific Railroad Hoarded Washington’s Land
An editorial in The Daily Intelligencer exposes how the railroad company used federal land grants to block settlers from claiming homesteads, leaving thousands of acres in legal limbo and stalling the growth of Seattle and Tacoma.
- The Great Land Grab: Citizens Unite to Stop the Railroad's Theft of Public Soil
In a packed meeting at Reinig’s Hall, Snohomish leaders condemn the Northern Pacific Railway for hoarding millions of acres while building a secret coal line, vowing to fight Congress to return the land to settlers.
- The Unawakened Giant: Why Washington Territory Is the Next California
A sweeping editorial in the *Diligent Intelligencer* argues that railroads are about to unlock the 'inland basin' of Eastern Washington, transforming it from a feared desert into an agricultural empire rivaling the Golden State.
- The Land Grab That Stalled Seattle’s Growth
A local editorial warns that the Northern Pacific Railroad’s hoarding of millions of acres is strangling settlement and development in Washington Territory.
- The Great Land Grab: Tacoma Citizens Unite Against Northern Pacific’s ‘Squatter’ Tactics
In a packed hall at Reinig’s Hall, leading citizens condemn the railroad’s seizure of public lands and its attempt to claim hundreds of thousands of acres for a coal line that will never be built.