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1. Mountain of Earth Buries Northern Pacific Rails

   A catastrophic landslide near Palmer halts travel for days as crews scramble to clear the Green River route.

   Jan 22, 1891The Yakima HeraldGreen River, Palmer, King CountyDisasters

2. The Day the Mountains Slid into the Tracks

   A massive landslide near Palmer paralyzed Northern Pacific rail traffic, forcing stranded passengers to walk between trains.

   Jan 18, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPalmer, King CountyDisasters

3. The Tides That Move the Wells of Ocosta

   Early settlers discover a natural phenomenon where groundwater levels mimic the Pacific tides.

   Sep 24, 1891Aberdeen HeraldOcosta, Grays Harbor CountyStrange But True

4. The Respectable Olympia Doctor Who May Have Been a Missing Iowa Treasurer

   After Dr. S. C. Smith died in Olympia, an old army comrade wrote to ask whether the beloved physician was really Dr. S. C. Thompson, who vanished from Leon, Iowa, in 1872.

   Nov 25, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyTrue Crime · Scandal

5. Fatal Landslide Near Richmond Beach

   A foreman is buried alive after returning to a construction site to retrieve his coat as the earth gives way.

   Feb 18, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerShoreline, King CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

6. The Disappearing Witness in the Senatorial Bribery Scandal

   As the state legislature remains deadlocked in a bribery probe, a mysterious figure named Atwood vanishes after allegedly attempting to buy votes.

   Feb 2, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall · True Crime

7. Ten Strangers at the Tunnel: Is the Union Pacific Coming Back to Olympia?

   A corps of engineers has been quietly pacing the unfinished Tumwater tunnel, refusing to say who sent them or what they want — while heavy rain eats away at the abandoned work.

   Dec 19, 1891The Olympia TribuneTumwater, Thurston CountyBoom & Bust

8. The End of the Road for a Timber Swindler

   A notorious operator who preyed on hopeful settlers finally lands behind bars after a farmer refuses to be cheated.

   Feb 15, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money · True Crime

9. The Attorney General Says the Bible Doesn't Belong in Public School

   A ruling out of Olympia that Bible reading in the common schools is unconstitutional sets the state's country editors howling — and the capital's own dailies suddenly have nothing to say.

   Oct 13, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

10. The Last Goodbye: A Seattle Widow’s Final Sermon

    Rev. I.W. Read delivers a poignant eulogy for Addie Z. Pross at Market Street Baptist, reflecting on her hopefulness and refusal to gossip in the face of sudden death.

    Jan 25, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMarket Street, Seattle, King County

11. A Friday Harbor Citizen Tells a Rival Editor to Pack His Bags and Go

    When the San Juan Graphic blamed saloons for driving settlers to Orcas Island, a letter-writer fired back: if the moral air is so pure over there, why not start your paper there—we'll see you off with a band.

    Mar 6, 1891The IslanderFriday Harbor, San Juan CountyCity Hall · Nightlife

12. The Death Rate Was Up. The Health Officer Blamed the Syringe.

    In 1891 Olympia's health officer reported an unprecedented mortality spike—and pointed to morphine and cocaine injections, with young women said to be using them 'just for fun.'

    Nov 27, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

13. The Treasury Dept. Helps a Seattle Woman Recover Buried Riches

    After her nephew buried $150 in greenbacks near Gilman five years ago, the money decayed into an unrecognizable mass. Local bankers and federal experts worked together to save her investment.

    Feb 22, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerGilman, Issaquah, King CountyStrange But True

14. They Burned Letters to the Dead on Ayer's Hill

    Olympia's Chinese community gathered at a hillside cemetery in 1891 to honor eight departed countrymen with roast pork, red candles, wine and paper messages sent into the next world.

    Oct 12, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyGone Forever · Strange But True

15. The Senator Who Stood on the Train

    In the dead of night, a torch-lit mob marched through Spokane to greet U.S. Senator Warren G. Squire. But as he stepped onto the platform to deliver his victory speech, the rails betrayed him: the train pulled away before he could finish, leaving only his voice echoing into the dark.

    Jan 26, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSpokane, Spokane CountyCity Hall · Strange But True

16. The Governor's White Elephant and a Newspaper Deal

    A proposed $2,500 purchase of the Daily Olympian sets off talk of a King County power play, a governor's relief, and a political machine in the making.

    Nov 30, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyFollow the Money · City Hall

17. A Minister Takes a Geologist's Hammer to Genesis

    Rev. Napoleon Hoagland tells a packed hall that the rocks do not show six days of creation, and that reason — not an infallible book — is the believer's best authority.

    Oct 13, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyStrange But True

18. The Minister, the Miracle Cure, and Olympia's War on Drink

    Rev. Napoleon Hoagland preached "salvation by science" at Tacoma Hall, touting Dr. Keeley's famous remedy for alcoholism and urging Olympia to raise money so the poor could be treated too.

    Dec 7, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyNightlife · Snake Oil

19. There's "Dough" in Every Street Contract: A Preacher Takes On City Hall

    Rev. Napoleon Hoagland reads the nation's municipal record aloud — reeking streets, a million-dollar franchise given away, councilmen who elsewhere would count themselves lucky to stay out of prison — and asks why democratic America breeds more thieves than the Tsar's Europe.

    Dec 15, 1891The Olympia TribuneTacoma Hall, TacomaFollow the Money · City Hall

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