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• 1878 ×

1. The Midnight Attack on a Chinatown Cigar Stand

   A deliberate arson attempt threatens to ignite the heart of downtown Seattle after rags soaked in coal oil are discovered burning against a Chinese-owned business.

   Apr 27, 1878Puget Sound DispatchWashington Street, Seattle, King CountyExclusion & Resistance · True Crime

2. The Fight for Seattle’s Railroad Future

   In 1878, Seattle’s civic leaders battled Northern Pacific rail monopolies to secure the city's future as the region's commercial engine.

   Jan 5, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

3. The Bankrupt Giant and the Tacoma Land Ring

   A skeptical editor exposes the Northern Pacific Railroad's questionable finances and a suspicious telegraph campaign used to inflate land values in Tacoma.

   Jan 19, 1878Puget Sound DispatchTacoma, Pierce CountyBoom & Bust

4. The Forgotten Hero: Major Granville Haller’s Fight Against Military Perjury

   After decades of distinguished service in the Mexican-American and Indian Wars, a decorated officer was summarily stripped of his rank based on a peer’s 'dreamed' accusation of disloyalty.

   Apr 13, 1878Puget Sound DispatchYakima River, Yakima, Yakima CountyStrange But True

5. The Deadly Gift Sent to the Melodeon

   A scorned woman in Seattle finds herself the target of a sophisticated homemade bomb disguised as a gift.

   May 11, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyTrue Crime

6. The Harassment of Mrs. Robinson

   A vulnerable woman in Seattle is subjected to a months-long campaign of targeted abuse, culminating in an arson attempt that nearly burned down a local hotel.

   May 25, 1878Puget Sound DispatchMain Street, Seattle, King CountyTrue Crime

7. The Great Seattle Railroad Swindle

   How corporate speculators and land rings bypassed honest stockholders and plundered the future of the city's waterfront.

   May 25, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle Waterfront, Seattle, King CountyFollow the Money

8. The City That Almost Wasn't: How Seattle Lost Its Railroad Bet

   When the Northern Pacific Railroad bypassed Seattle in favor of Tacoma, local investors faced a choice: watch their city wither or build their own line.

   Jun 8, 1878Puget Sound DispatchDuwamish Bay, Seattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

9. The Waterfront Conflict: Escalating Violence on Yesler's Wharf

   Tensions boil over as displaced workers and local youth clash in a series of violent altercations on the Seattle waterfront.

   Jan 26, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyExclusion & Resistance

10. The Wild West of Washington Journalism

    When the courts declared they had no power to punish libel, Seattle editors went to war with their pens—and their reputations.

    Feb 9, 1878Puget Sound DispatchJames Street, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall · Scandal

11. The Terminus Bait: How the Northern Pacific Played Seattle

    In 1878, Washington residents saw through the railroad's broken promises and the cynical 'town lot' real estate schemes that kept the city waiting for a line.

    Feb 23, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money · Scandal

12. The Great Incorporation Panic of 1878

    When a legal technicality threatened to render Seattle’s entire municipal government illegitimate, a frantic scramble to re-incorporate revealed the fragile foundations of early frontier law.

    Mar 2, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

13. The Fight for Seattle’s Rail Future

    In 1878, a local leader rallied Seattle to demand federal land reform and a railroad connection, decrying the influence of corporate interests over the prosperity of the Territory.

    Mar 9, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

14. The Unincorporated City of Seattle

    In 1877, a legal crisis regarding Seattle's city charter left the municipal government in limbo, struggling to prove its own legitimacy while 'disaffected individuals' looked to take advantage of the chaos.

    Apr 6, 1878Puget Sound DispatchCommercial Street, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

15. The Unlikely Heroism of 'Old Yesler'

    Derided as a 'hog' and a 'dog-in-the-manger' for years, Henry Yesler silences his critics with a massive financial commitment to Seattle’s future.

    Jun 22, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

16. The Politics of Poverty: Seattle’s 1878 Voter Suppression Fight

    A century and a half ago, local officials tried to implement a 'poll tax' to restrict voting rights, sparking a fierce debate over whether a citizen’s right to participate in democracy could be tied to their financial status.

    Jul 6, 1878Puget Sound DispatchJames Street, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

17. The Scapegoat of Pierce County

    A prominent local businessman finds himself the target of a smear campaign after a financial scandal guts the county treasury, revealing the toxic power of public rumor in 1870s Tacoma.

    Aug 17, 1878Puget Sound DispatchTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall · Scandal

18. Seattle Miners Rush to Sultan River Gold Claims

    When a chance discovery in the dry bed of the Sultan River sparked a desperate dash for fortune, the town of Snohomish was left nearly deserted as laborers abandoned their jobs to try their luck in the mud.

    Sep 21, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSultan River, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyBoom & Bust

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. The Rising Tides of Industry

    An 1873 editorial reflects on the fragility of Pacific Coast harbors, warning that unchecked mining waste and silt are creating an uncertain future for maritime commerce.

    Aug 10, 1878The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

24. The Ghost of Washington Street

    A retired detective recalls a haunting murder investigation in 1870s Seattle, where a father’s vengeance and a daughter’s grief ended in the deep waters of the bay.

    Aug 12, 1878The Daily IntelligencerWashington Street, Seattle, King CountyTrue Crime

25. The Frontier Scares of 1878

    A report from Kittitas detailing a violent encounter on Poll Creek sparks fears of conflict between settlers and Wilbur’s band of Indians in the Yakima territory.

    Aug 20, 1878The Daily IntelligencerYakima, Yakima CountyExclusion & Resistance · True Crime

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