Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 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 |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1876 | 8 |
| 1877 | 10 |
| 1878 | 3 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 13 |
| 1886 | 6 |
| 1887 | 8 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 10 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 9 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1893 | 8 |
| 1894 | 5 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1917 | 1 |
21 stories matching wretch
- The Mud-Hole of Commercial Street
An 1876 editorial campaign to transform Seattle's 'wretched' mud-caked thoroughfare into a paved road using convict labor and harbor ballast.
- The Perils of the Seneca Street Crossing
In 1877, Seattleites were forced to perform 'acrobatic feats' to traverse a dangerous gully, highlighting the city's struggle to keep pace with rapid infrastructure demands.
- The Transformation of the 'Lava Bed'
A historic Seattle neighborhood known for 'drunken revelry and hellish orgies' faces an impending industrial rebirth.
- The Mud of Commercial Street
Seattle’s main commercial artery was once a treacherous gauntlet of 'semi-fluid mud' and rats, nearly impassable for the city's horse-drawn wagons.
- The Tramp Economy of Early Seattle
A reporter encounters a 'bummer' among the weeds of Mission Bay, revealing the harsh, transient reality of laborers who roamed the Pacific Coast in the 1870s.
- The Confidence Man of Washington Street
A grifter exploited local tensions to con Chinese merchants out of $600 under the guise of buying off a prosecutor.
- Seattle Declares Victory Over Smallpox Outbreak
After twenty days of tension, health officials confirm the city is safe, though the bill for containment—and a sharp rebuke for those who brought the sickness to town—remains.
- The City’s Refusal to Put Prisoners to Work
An 1877 editorial slams Seattle’s leadership for failing to use jail inmates to clear public road obstructions, citing the 'delicate hands' of the prisoners.
- The Swift and Terrible Justice of the Gallows
A condemned man is rushed to the gallows in just five days, sparking outrage over the speed of the judicial process in Snohomish.
- The Unmasking of a Mason
A tense, public confrontation in a local Seattle establishment reveals the social friction surrounding the secret society's reputation in the 1870s.
- The Mud-Sunk Streets of Pioneer Square
A local editor slams city officials for leaving commercial thoroughfares in such disrepair that industrial wagons are being swallowed whole by the earth.
- The Dentist and the Stolen Mare
A frontier community falls for a charming drifter who performed medical miracles before making off with the local postmaster's horse.
- The Beach Road That Wasn't: Seattle’s First Infrastructure Crisis
In May 1877, the *Seattle Daily Intelligencer* sounded the alarm over the deteriorating condition of the city's primary artery to the waterfront, blaming poor drainage and a lack of gravel for turning the vital thoroughfare into a muddy trough.
- A Critique of Preachers' Neglect of Practical Reform
A biting editorial calls out local clergy for focusing on the 'unknown future' while ignoring the immediate sanitary crises, poverty, and vice plaguing the streets of Seattle.
- The Engine House Was Locked—and the Janitor Was at Church
When two fires broke out in Seattle's Chinese quarter, the engine house was locked and the janitor held the key. Bystanders put out the flames—and the paper demanded a fire department overhaul.
- The Misery of the Miser’s Hoard
A destitute family in 1870s Seattle survives a devastating house fire only to unearth a fortune hidden beneath the ashes of their former home.
- The Man Who Wouldn't Die: A Seattle Gallows Horror
In a gruesome spectacle that shook the young Territory of Washington, Francis Epps survived his own hanging by mere inches, crying for mercy as the crowd watched him dangle in agony before being cut down.
- The Night of the Knives: Snohomish Councilman and Printer Attacked in Coordinated Assault
Two men were ambushed on Third Street within hours of each other; one beaten with an iron bar, the other held at knifepoint. The paper warns that 'a general preparation for self-defense' may soon be necessary.
- The Mother-in-Law’s Vengeance
A cantankerous encounter at the local recorder's office reveals a domestic dispute that turns violent, involving a skillet and a very narrow escape.
- The Road Less Traveled: Seattle’s Shameful Contrast with Victoria’s Fine Highways
In 1876, the local press lambasted King County’s broken road system, praising British Columbia’s turnpikes as a model for Seattle’s own stagnant development.
- The Slave Ship That Vanished: An Old Man’s Confession in Seattle
A weathered sailor walks into a Seattle saloon and recounts the night his crew mutinied against a slaver, only to watch the ship sink with 200 souls aboard.