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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 2 |
| 1859 | 3 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 3 |
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1864 | 3 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 27 |
| 1877 | 23 |
| 1878 | 8 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 3 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 40 |
| 1884 | 34 |
| 1885 | 51 |
| 1886 | 23 |
| 1887 | 27 |
| 1888 | 35 |
| 1889 | 88 |
| 1890 | 14 |
| 1891 | 81 |
| 1892 | 170 |
| 1893 | 165 |
| 1894 | 195 |
| 1895 | 222 |
| 1896 | 1 |
| 1897 | 5 |
| 1898 | 11 |
| 1899 | 43 |
| 1900 | 5 |
| 1902 | 3 |
| 1903 | 88 |
| 1904 | 75 |
| 1905 | 6 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 29 |
| 1909 | 101 |
| 1910 | 22 |
| 1911 | 11 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 11 |
| 1915 | 14 |
| 1916 | 35 |
| 1917 | 16 |
| 1918 | 6 |
| 1922 | 5 |
| 1923 | 22 |
| 1924 | 5 |
| 1925 | 4 |
| 1929 | 2 |
27 stories matching decid
- City Hall's Belt-Tightening Cost Two Officers Their Badges
Facing a sudden budget crunch in 1876, the Seattle City Council moves to dismiss two members of the police force to balance the books.
- The Nine Men Who Refused to Work: Seattle’s First Labor Standoff
In December 1876, nine coal miners at the Seattle bunkers defied orders on the ship *War Hawk*, leading Commissioner Smith to commit them to jail until the vessel sailed.
- The Flooding of the Talbot Coal Mine
A sudden rush of water from a subterranean reservoir halts production, leaving the company to debate expensive drainage tunnels versus imported pumping gear.
- The Bachelor's Ruse: A Victorian Love Game in Seattle
A lonely Seattle bachelor attempts to 'test' his ward’s character through a series of elaborate, scholarly letters, only to find himself the one being studied.
- The Wellington Strike: When Coal Miners Said 'No' to a Pay Cut
In July 1876, 70 miners at the Wellington colliery were fired for refusing a wage reduction, bringing the mine to a halt in a struggle that defined labor relations on the Pacific Northwest frontier.
- The 'Lava-Bed Ranger' and the Brawl at the Saloon
A rowdy evening in 1876 Seattle ends in a courtroom, highlighting the rough-and-tumble street life of a frontier town.
- 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.
- The Iron Road Presses Through the Swamp
As Seattle expands its industrial footprint, laborers battle the elements to push a new railroad through a boggy frontier.
- The City That Couldn't Keep Up: Seattle’s Housing Crisis of 1876
As immigrants flood in from Kansas and beyond, the city's building boom fails to match the demand for shelter, threatening a severe shortage before winter sets in.
- The Saloonkeeper’s Open Letter to Seattle’s 'Hounds of Malice'
A local business owner fires back at the city’s political elite, accusing them of using moral grandstanding and the threat of liquor laws to dismantle his livelihood.
- The Price of Apathy in the 1876 Seattle Election
A pre-election plea from the Daily Intelligencer warns that if 'responsible' business owners don't turn out to vote, the city will pay a heavy cost in taxes and mismanagement.
- The Nerve-Wracking Election of 1876
As Seattle waited on the results of a razor-thin presidential race, telegraph wires buzzed with conflicting claims that would eventually decide the future of the nation.
- The Drunken Voter and the Drain: Seattle’s 1876 Election Reform Ideas
While the 1876 presidential election left the nation in suspense, the local Seattle press used the quiet polling day to propose strict new moral and administrative reforms for the growing town.
- The Midnight Escape from the War Hawk
A maritime labor dispute turns into a dramatic midnight jailbreak from a leaky ship at the Seattle waterfront.
- The Great Escape at Port Madison
A convicted murderer slips past a guard and vanishes into the thick brush, sparking a frantic island-wide manhunt.
- The Day the Seattle Gold Lottery Fell Apart
A grand public spectacle at Occidental Square took a sour turn when organizers confessed they had sold only half the tickets, forcing a desperate, on-the-spot slashing of prize money.
- The Great Emigration Heist: How Oregon and California Stole Washington’s Future
A territorial report reveals that aggressive agents in San Francisco are actively sabotaging settlers bound for the Pacific Northwest, leaving only one man from a Nebraska colony to tell the tale.
- The Unrelenting Doorbell: A Victorian Guide to Handling Salesmen
A satirical look at the day in the life of a beleaguered homemaker besieged by solicitors in 1870s Seattle.
- 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.
- The Midnight Butcher of Seattle
A traveler stops for the night at a remote fisherman's hut, only to find himself terrorized by the sound of steel scraping against stone.
- The Unsung Pioneers Clearing the Skagit River
While the territory hailed the opening of the Skagit Valley to navigation, the men bankrolling the arduous labor of clearing the massive log jam were left bankrupt.
- The Ring That Ruled: Whatcom’s Postal War and the Coal Company’s Grip
A furious letter from Blaine exposes how the local post office was hijacked to serve the interests of the coal barons, turning a bureaucratic dispute into a battle for democratic survival.
- The First White Family: A Pioneer’s Log-Cabin Legacy
An excerpt from the diary of a local historian recounts the arrival of Mr. Thompson in Snohomish in 1864, detailing the rugged journey up the river and the humble beginnings of what is now a thriving town.
- The Bread and Butter Vote: How the Custom House Ring Rigged Port Townsend Politics
In a stunning display of patronage politics in September 1876, federal employees in Port Townsend marched in lockstep to defeat local opposition, proving that government jobs were still the ultimate political currency.
- Two Hundred Lives, One Closed Door: The Pacific Inquiry
Witnesses swore in Port Townsend that the steamer Pacific was rotten when she sailed. Now the very inspectors who certified her seaworthy are investigating her loss — in secret.