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1. The Great Yakima Duck Caper

   A wild northern bird is lassoed in the middle of town by electric light, leading to a spectacle at the local hotel.

   Sep 17, 1891The Yakima HeraldYakima Avenue, Yakima, Yakima CountyStrange But True

2. The Auditor's Office Feud

   A public spat between the Yakima Herald and Auditor Myron R. Ellis over the hiring of partisan clerks and the outsourcing of county printing contracts.

   Feb 26, 1891The Yakima HeraldYakima, Yakima CountyCity Hall

3. The Cross-Threaded Nozzle That Cost Ellensburg the Race

   In an 1889 hose-cart contest, North Yakima’s fire team beat Ellensburg—but the day’s real drama was a stuck coupling and a heartbroken nozzleman.

   Jul 16, 1891The Yakima HeraldYakima, Yakima CountyStrange But True

4. The State Must Pay the Men It Called to Put Down the King County Riots

   The Washington Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Gov. Ferry's National Guard troops were in state service during the King County riots—and that the state, not the soldiers, must bear the cost.

   Dec 18, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyWork & Pay · City Hall

5. The Art of Roping a Bear

   After a close call with a grizzly, a local man returns to the wilderness to capture a cub with a lariat for the town's amusement.

   Sep 10, 1891The Yakima HeraldMoxee, Yakima, Yakima CountyStrange But True

6. Sheriff Seizes Olympia's 'Bob-Tail' Streetcars Over a $250 Note

   A small debt owed by the North Olympia Land Company brought the Main Street line to a halt, while its manager blamed grading, weather, and stalled power negotiations for the delay.

   Nov 13, 1891The Olympia TribuneMain Street, Olympia, Thurston CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

7. The Mountain Tacoma Tried to Take

   A railroad president's marketing decree put 'Tacoma' on maps of the great peak across the East — while Seattle refused to surrender the name of a British admiral who never saw it.

   Dec 5, 1891The Olympia TribuneTacoma, Pierce CountyBoom & Bust · Strange But True

8. The Churchgoer With a Murder Warrant Waiting

   For three years, Sprague knew R. J. Howard as a trusted young man and Methodist probationer. Then a Lincoln County sheriff walked into Lewis' store and called him by another name.

   Oct 16, 1891The Olympia TribuneSprague, Lincoln CountyTrue Crime

9. Murphy Forever: A Rival Editor Skewers Olympia's Perpetual Councilman

   Days before the First Ward election, the Tribune turns its sarcasm on Councilman John Miller Murphy — newspaper editor, theater proprietor, professed temperance man, and, by this account, a fixture in the council chamber and at the bar he once voted to close.

   Dec 5, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

10. A Packed House Watches a Dying Cardinal Bring Down the Curse of Rome

    Touring tragedian Keene fills the Olympia Theater with Bulwer's 'Richelieu' — and promises Shakespeare's Richard III for tonight, with 'but a few seats left.'

    Nov 6, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia Theater, OlympiaNightlife

11. The Night Olympia Went to War — and Nobody Shed a Drop of Blood

    A touring tragedian closes his engagement with six acts of Shakespearean murder, and the army court-martial in town turns out in force to watch.

    Nov 7, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyNightlife

12. The Railroad’s Big Heist: Northern Pacific Claims Indian Land It Doesn’t Own

    As the Puyallup Reservation faces a legal siege from the Northern Pacific Railway, federal officials warn that a treaty-protected land grab could strip thousands of acres from Native families for pennies on the dollar.

    Jan 24, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPuyallup Reservation, Tacoma, Pierce CountyExclusion & Resistance

13. The State’s Office is a ‘Sailor’s Boarding House’: Olympia’s Desperate Search for a Capitol

    With state officers scattered across the city in “miserably-ventilated” rooms and valuable records stored in sheds, Representative Collins introduces a bill to erect a temporary building on business property.

    Jan 26, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

14. The Octopus and the Seal: A Local Captain’s War Against a Washington Monopoly

    In 1901, Port Townsend resident James G. Swan published affidavits from experienced hunters to debunk Professor Elliott’s claim that seal pups sink like stones, exposing the Alaska Commercial Company’s stranglehold on federal policy.

    Feb 1, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPort Townsend, Jefferson CountyFollow the Money

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