Research the archive

• 1903 ×

1. The Midnight Feed Store Hold-Up

   A Spokane night watchman is tied up by intruders using a sledgehammer and miner's drill in a tense room robbery.

   Nov 12, 1903The Evening StatesmanFront Avenue, Spokane, Spokane CountyTrue Crime

2. The Price War at the City Limits

   Walla Walla merchants band together to fight outside competition allegedly undercutting local shops.

   Nov 12, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla County

3. City Council Caught in Illegal Power Play

   Local officials in Walla Walla are accused of violating the city charter to oust a veteran from his position as poundmaster.

   Nov 14, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyCity Hall

4. The Battle for Walla Walla's Smoke

   Local cigarmakers protest that city grocers are hyping 'home industry' while importing cheap cigars from out of town.

   Nov 17, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyWork & Pay

5. The Dry Creek Deadlock

   A long-standing dispute over a proposed road route on local farms finally reaches a stalemate, forcing the county to call in private arbitrators.

   Nov 17, 1903The Evening StatesmanDry Creek, Walla Walla, Walla Walla CountyCity Hall

6. City Council Abolishes Poundmaster Role to End Lawsuit

   In a four-minute legislative maneuver, the Walla Walla City Council eliminated the position of poundmaster to neutralize an ongoing legal dispute.

   Nov 18, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyCity Hall

7. The Walla Walla Candy Company Changes Hands

   After four years of growth, a local candy wholesaler retires to manage property, selling his business to a former grocery man.

   Nov 19, 1903The Evening StatesmanEast Alder Street, Walla Walla, Walla Walla CountyBoom & Bust

8. The Pulpit Versus the Millinery

   Tacoma and North Yakima ministers spark a public outcry by demanding women remove their hats during church services.

   Nov 20, 1903The Evening StatesmanFirst Methodist Church, Tacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

9. The Mysterious Woman Passing Forged Checks

   A woman allegedly defrauded five Ellensburg businesses using stolen identities before vanishing.

   Nov 20, 1903The Evening StatesmanEllensburg, Kittitas CountyTrue Crime

10. The Stubblefield Estate Gift

    Walla Walla business leaders scramble to close the funding gap to secure the Stubblefield home.

    Nov 20, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyBoom & Bust

11. A Missing Section 25: How a Clerk's Slip Could Cost the Collins Heirs $500,000

    Grandchildren of John Collins's first wife want a one-sixth share of the Seattle hotel property. The whole case turns on whether a territorial statute took effect on December 2, 1869 — or 42 days too late.

    Nov 21, 1903The Evening StatesmanSeattle Hotel, Seattle, King CountyFollow the Money

12. The Woman With the Little Girl and the Worthless Checks

    A forger calling herself Myra F. Parker worked Ellensburg shopkeepers with small purchases and big checks, then vanished into a Northwest-wide manhunt.

    Nov 23, 1903The Evening StatesmanEllensburg, Kittitas CountyTrue Crime

13. Walla Walla's School Board Election Turns on a Missing Financial Statement

    Taxpayers want the annual accounting the law requires, as the district prepares to spend $156,000 this year.

    Nov 24, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyCity Hall

14. The Detective Who Watched a Stenographer—and the Doctor Who Paid Him

    A Seattle lawsuit over unpaid surveillance opens a window onto Dr. J. Eugene Jordan’s relationship with Margaret Deboe, the young woman who killed herself with his revolver.

    Nov 25, 1903The Evening StatesmanSeattle, King CountyScandal

15. The Last Plank Goes Down on East Main Street's New Steel Bridge

    After months of "vexatious delays," Walla Walla's street commissioner can finally point to a finished span — and Sixth Street is next on the list.

    Nov 25, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyBoom & Bust

16. A Body Beside the Tracks Near Cathcart

    Dennis Wall, a Cathcart farmhand, was found dead in water beside the railroad with a head wound and two sets of new clothes nearby. A French farmhand who had been with him may know more.

    Nov 27, 1903The Evening StatesmanSnohomish, Snohomish CountyTrue Crime

17. Two Lives Declared Insane in a Walla Walla Courtroom

    Mary Calloway feared everyone meant to harm her; Alexander Clancey believed hundreds of soldiers were hunting him. Both were committed in superior court.

    Nov 27, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla County

18. Perjury Case Continues to Haunt Local Man

    After escaping prison for an initial conviction, John Adam Schmidt faces a new federal inquiry into subornation of perjury.

    Nov 30, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyTrue Crime

19. A Thanksgiving Invitation, an Order to Leave, and a Violent Reckoning

    A Black veteran of the Philippines campaign was invited to Fort Walla Walla for Thanksgiving. Ordered off the post, he returned days later to beat the officer who had expelled him.

    Dec 1, 1903The Evening StatesmanFort Walla Walla, Walla Walla, Walla Walla CountyTrue Crime

20. A Drugstore War Ends in a Beating on the Street

    W. A. Hardy, once manager of the Walla Walla branch of the Stewart Holmes Drug Company, was knocked down and kicked outside the Everett post office — the bitter fruit, he says, of a feud between the town's druggists.

    Dec 7, 1903The Evening StatesmanPost office, Everett, EverettScandal

21. The Political Machine War in Colfax

    Deep-seated factionalism and partisan meddling collide in a high-stakes race for the city's top leadership.

    Dec 7, 1903The Evening StatesmanColfax, Whitman CountyCity Hall

22. A Bitter Family Feud Over Stolen Farm Proceeds

    A Walla Walla father brings a lawsuit against his son, alleging the younger man embezzled partnership funds and property proceeds.

    Dec 11, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyScandal

23. The Tragedy at H Lake

    A young man breaks through thin ice while skating, leaving his companions helpless to save him.

    Dec 11, 1903The Evening StatesmanWilbur, Lincoln CountyDisasters

24. The Fight for Private Ballots

    Spokane voters are demanding an end to the era of 'ward heelers' peering over their shoulders at the polls.

    Dec 12, 1903The Evening StatesmanSpokane, Spokane CountyCity Hall

25. The Fight for Washington’s Courts

    Eastern Washington leaders protest a state court division scheme they claim would favor Seattle and Tacoma at the expense of local attorneys.

    Dec 12, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyCity Hall

Download all 1,332 as a spreadsheet (CSV)