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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 6 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 19 |
| 1894 | 9 |
| 1895 | 5 |
| 1898 | 6 |
| 1900 | 64 |
| 1903 | 14 |
| 1904 | 3 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
44 stories
- Vigilante Mob Lynches Two Prisoners at Whitman County Jail
A masked party of fifty men broke into the courthouse to extract and hang a convicted assailant and a murder defendant, while a jury slept just feet away.
- A Mob Hanged Two Men at the Courthouse. Then the State Argued Over the Bill.
After Hill and Parker were lynched in Colfax, Attorney General W. C. Jones ruled that the county need not pay for a coroner's inquest—and said the real hunt for the mob belonged to a grand jury.
- The Ghost of a Mob in Colfax
Decades after a violent public lynching left a permanent stain on the community, the citizens of Colfax still wake to find ominous reminders scrawled on the sidewalk.
- The Night Colfax Burned
A Chinese cook's kerosene mishap destroys the heart of a small Washington town, exposing the dangers of inadequate civic infrastructure.
- The Sheriff’s Bold Stand Against Mob Rule
A newly minted newspaper editor-sheriff argues that local complicity, not just law enforcement failures, fuels vigilante violence in Washington.
- Violence in the Opium Dens of Colfax
A brutal feud between laborers in a remote Eastern Washington opium joint ends in a horrific shooting and a manhunt.
- The Mob is Not a Court of Law
An editorial reflection on the recent lynching of Bill at Colfax, arguing that a community’s failure to maintain a just legal system does not justify vigilante violence.
- The Local Press and the Mob
A critique of Washington newspapers that refused to take a hard moral stand against lynch law.
- When the Local Paper Cheers the Mob
A governor's push to prosecute the Colfax vigilantes draws a shocking defense from Whitman County newspapers—and a sharp rebuke from The Olympian.
- The Tragedy of the McDonald Family
A destitute family in Colfax is dismantled by the courts after years of poverty, illness, and local infamy.
- The Governor Condemns the Colfax Lynching Mob
Governor McGraw orders an investigation into the extrajudicial murder of two men in Whitman County, declaring that mob violence is no substitute for the courts.
- Secret of the Palouse River
A grisly discovery of blood-stained shirts and Spanish documents suggests a cold case murder.
- Tragedy in a Colfax City Well
Two workers were buried when a city well caved in, leaving one man critically injured.
- The Gallows at Colfax
A thousand spectators crowded the streets and hillsides to witness the final penalty for a murder in Whitman County.
- The Hanging of John Leonard
A thousand spectators gathered at the Whitman County courthouse to witness the execution of a man who claimed innocence to his final breath.
- Marshal Narrowly Survives Jailhouse Shootout
A prisoner in Colfax, suspected of being a relative of the James brothers, opens fire on the police chief while being locked in a cell.
- The Episcopal Debt Scandal in Colfax
A creditor, failing to collect a debt from a church congregation in Pullman, seized the rival building in Colfax, triggering a local legal battle.
- The Night Colfax Built an Opera House
A secret crew of Spokane masons raised the walls of a new theater in a single night—while the town's electric lights conveniently failed.
- The Desperate Exit of a Bank Cashier
A Colfax banker, caught in a web of financial irregularities, attempts to end his life as investigators uncover his missing funds.
- A Cabinet Pick Sparks a Land War in Whitman County
Fifty-six farmers south of Colfax protested Hoke Smith’s appointment as interior secretary, saying the Northern Pacific was taking title to land they had settled and cultivated.
- Colfax Bank Cashier Vanishes with $11,000
A small-town banker has absconded, leaving his depositors with a massive, unexplained hole in the books.
- A Tragic End in Colfax
A woman took her own life in Colfax after being forced into sex work by her husband, a gambler.
- A Morning Fire Takes City Hall and a Block of Colfax
A $16,500 blaze burned out the city hall, a livery stable, saloons, a restaurant, a lodging house and the telephone office.
- The Irrigation Land Swindle
A confidence man posing as a land agent scams thirty-five laborers out of their hard-earned wages.
- She Took the Bar Exam Beside Her Husband — and Became Whitman County's First Woman Lawyer
W. H. Harvey and his wife, E. M. Harvey, of Pullman, pass their oral examinations in Colfax, making Mrs. Harvey the first woman admitted to practice law in Whitman County.