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1. The 'Whisky Trade' at Port Townsend

   A British gunboat captures twelve Indigenous prisoners following violent disorder fueled by the illegal supply of American spirits across the border.

   Apr 10, 1878The Northern StarPort Townsend, Jefferson CountyExclusion & Resistance · Nightlife

2. The Great Land Grab of 1878: A Territorial Tug-of-War

   While D.C. legislators bickered over the Northern Pacific Railroad's land grants and portage routes, Washington Territory settlers fought to secure their homestead rights against corporate expansion.

   Apr 10, 1878The Northern StarKalama, Cowlitz CountyFollow the Money

3. The Monopoly That Almost Killed the Nooksack

   Before the valley flourished, settlers fought to break the stranglehold of absentee speculators and corporate monopolies that kept the river choked with logs and local trade shackled.

   Jun 12, 1878The Northern StarBellingham, Whatcom CountyFollow the Money

4. The Mother of Discontent: Abigail Scott Duniway’s Rally for Rights

   In an impassioned 1878 address to the Territorial Convention, activist Abigail Scott Duniway demanded Washington women be granted the vote, framing the domestic 'insurrection' of disenfranchised wives as a parallel to the American Revolution.

   Jul 20, 1878The Northern StarOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

5. The Shadow of the Indian Wars in the Snohomish Valley

   As rumors of conflict and uprisings on the upper Columbia stir the frontier, Snohomish locals organize a volunteer militia to defend their settlements.

   Jul 13, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyExclusion & Resistance

6. The Exclusionary Pledge of La Conner

   A frontier town in the Swinomish Flats organizes a formal, collective boycott against Chinese residents, highlighting the intense racial tensions of the 1870s Pacific Northwest.

   Mar 6, 1878The Northern StarLa Conner, Skagit CountyExclusion & Resistance

7. The Constitutional Crisis of 1878

   Before Washington was a state, Governor Elisha P. Ferry issued a desperate call for a convention to define its future.

   Mar 6, 1878The Northern StarWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyCity Hall

8. The Brutal Labor of Clearing the Snohomish River

   For over two years, crews braved the most dangerous and grueling work in the territory to clear the river for navigation, battling everything from treacherous snags to a lack of promised payment.

   Jun 12, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish River, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyWork & Pay

9. 1878 Timber Land Act Opens 160-Acre Sales

   A new federal law promises to open up public forests in Washington Territory to private ownership, setting the stage for decades of industrial exploitation.

   Aug 17, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyFollow the Money

10. The Forgotten Bid for Washington Suffrage

    While the 1878 proposed state constitution for Washington Territory was largely a blueprint for governance, it contained radical separate articles granting women the right to vote and hold office long before the 19th Amendment.

    Sep 28, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyCity Hall

11. The Great River Jam of 1877

    How three determined settlers cleared a quarter-mile of timber that engineers said would take years to move.

    Jan 30, 1878The Northern StarStillaguamish River, Stanwood, Snohomish CountyWork & Pay · Strange But True

12. The Sausage-Maker’s Siege

    A local merchant finds his business—and his family—hounded by a neighborhood rumor mill gone wild.

    Apr 10, 1878The Northern StarMain Street, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyScandal

13. The Logjam at Priest Point

    A long-standing practice of mooring logs in the Snohomish River clashes with federal authority, leaving local loggers caught in a bureaucratic net.

    Apr 17, 1878The Northern StarPriest Point, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyFollow the Money

14. The Night of the War Dance: A Frontier Survival Story

    A young fur trader, caught in the crossfire of escalating tensions during the Indian Wars, finds his only salvation in the quick thinking of a woman named E-wan.

    Apr 17, 1878The Northern StarBig Bend, Snohomish CountyExclusion & Resistance · Strange But True

15. The Stranger Who Cheated Fate

    A high-stakes gambling dispute near Cathcart leads to a harrowing encounter with frontier justice.

    May 22, 1878The Northern StarCathcart, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyNightlife

16. Gold Fever and Tribal Tensions: A Dispatch from the Sauk Mines

    Returning from the mountains, a prospector describes the arduous reality of mining the Sauk, while reflecting on Chief Moses’s urgent plea to live in peace with settlers outside of the reservation system.

    Aug 17, 1878The Northern StarSauk River, Sauk, Skagit CountyExclusion & Resistance

17. The Magic Well of the Upper Skagit

    An 1877 expedition pushes beyond the edge of known maps into the upper Skagit wilderness, encountering glowing tunnels, giant eagles, and the promise of a rugged agricultural frontier.

    Feb 27, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyStrange But True

18. The Sudden Tidal Surge at Tatoosh Island

    A quiet visit to the lighthouse boat house turns into a desperate struggle for survival against the Pacific.

    Mar 27, 1878The Northern StarNeah Bay, Clallam CountyDisasters

19. The Iron Road to Tenino

    After years of fits and starts, Olympia residents push to finish a vital rail connection, mirroring the modern-day struggle for infrastructure and investment.

    Apr 17, 1878The Northern StarOlympia, Thurston CountyBoom & Bust

20. The High Cost of Being 'Across the River'

    In 1878, Sumner settlers faced a familiar struggle: a transportation monopoly that forced them to pay as much to haul freight across the river as to ship it 150 miles by rail.

    May 15, 1878The Northern StarSumner, Pierce CountyFollow the Money

21. The Stench of the Exchange

    A Snohomish newspaper takes aim at an upstream sanitation disaster, warning that the town’s growth is outpacing its infrastructure.

    May 15, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyBoom & Bust

22. The Heroic Kitchen Defense

    When a kitchen fire threatened to raze her home, a Snohomish woman didn't wait for help, personally battling the flames until the structure was saved.

    May 29, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyDisasters

23. The Struggle for Steamship Service at Oak Harbor

    When the captain refused to land because the water was too shallow, a determined community built their own way to the deep water.

    Jun 12, 1878The Northern StarOak Harbor, Island CountyBoom & Bust

24. The Unseen Agriculture of the Duwamish Valley

    A survey of the productive farmland, nascent dairy industry, and pioneering spirit of the families turning the Duwamish and White River riverbanks into a breadbasket for Seattle.

    Jul 13, 1878The Northern StarSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

25. The Dream of a 'Super Highway' for the 1870s

    Before modern infrastructure, Snohomish visionaries imagined a direct, transformative road from Seattle to Bellingham Bay to unlock the potential of the interior.

    Aug 10, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyBoom & Bust

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