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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 6 |
| 1889 | 40 |
| 1891 | 42 |
| 1892 | 27 |
| 1893 | 104 |
| 1894 | 17 |
| 1895 | 113 |
349 stories
- The Eight-Hour Day: Washington Becomes the First to Legislate Labor's Limits for Private Industry
In a landmark session at the Olympia legislature, lawmakers passed an unprecedented bill declaring eight hours a legal workday for all labor performed by or for corporations and individuals, not just public works.
- Political Deadlock and Dirty Tricks in Olympia
Accusations of corporate puppetry fly in the Washington State Legislature as the battle for the U.S. Senate seat intensifies.
- The Reburial of Chief Leschi: A Puyallup War Chief Comes Home
In July 1895, tribes from across the Northwest gathered on the Nisqually reservation to disinter and rebury Chief Leschi and his brother Quiemuth — a warrior the pioneers remembered as an enemy, and honored as a brave man.
- The $500 Vote: How a Spokane Judge’s Bribery Plot Exposed Seattle’s Political Rot
In the winter of 1903, Washington’s legislature was paralyzed by a scandal involving bribed senators and a desperate governor. When Representative Metcalfe revealed he was paid to vote for Judge Calkins, the resulting investigation tore through Olympia’s elite, revealing a web of corruption that threatened to define the state’s young democracy.
- The Senator Who Wanted to Cut Off Every Chinese Man's Queue — and Jail Him
After Chinese cooks boycotted his Tacoma spice business, a state senator proposed fining and jailing any Chinese man who wore a queue, with state agents sent out to shear them.
- Drafting the Constitution
As the constitutional convention meets in Olympia, delegates navigate high-stakes debates over statehood, judicial reform, and the volatile question of woman suffrage.
- The Great Tide Land Tug-of-War
Delegates at the Washington Constitutional Convention debate whether to reserve the state's waterfronts for the public or sell them to private interests.
- Washington Legislature Rejects Women's Suffrage
A bill to submit the question of equal suffrage to the voters of the state fails to secure the necessary two-thirds majority in the House.
- Washington Writes Equal Access to Inns, Barbershops and Streetcars Into Law
In March 1895 the state legislature amended its civil-rights code so that every person in Washington — 'of whatever race, color or nationality' — could claim the full enjoyment of public accommodations, with fines and jail for those who refused.
- The Women's Suffrage Fight at Washington's Constitutional Convention
Delegates at the 1889 constitutional convention engage in a fierce debate over including women's suffrage, ultimately voting to put the question to the voters instead of enshrining it in the state constitution.
- The Political Smoke of 1891: Backroom Deals and Populist Uprisings
While Washington’s early legislature debated the direct election of senators and railroad regulation, backroom meetings at the Olympia Hotel signaled the enduring influence of corporate power.
- The Price of a Senate Seat: Inside the 1891 Power Struggle in Olympia
As a crucial U.S. Senate election looms, Seattle political figures and state legislators grapple with accusations of bribery, railroad monopolies, and the 'corrupt' influence of money in Washington’s halls of power.
- The Capitol Riots: How a Bribery Scandal Shook Washington’s First Legislature
In the halls of Olympia, Republican lawmakers turned on each other with fists and threats over a U.S. Senate seat, exposing a brazen attempt to buy votes that disgraced the young state.
- The Senator Who Bought His Seat
A Washington State legislator admits to accepting $200 to sway his vote for U.S. Senator, sparking a scandal in Olympia that mirrors modern concerns about political corruption.
- The Man Who Took the Bribe to Expose It
Representative Metcalfe’s daring sting operation against Senatorial corruption has turned him into a hero for reformers and a target for powerful enemies.
- Democratic Convention Splits Over Ship Canal
A bitter political brawl at the state convention in Olympia ends in a stinging defeat for Seattle’s most ambitious infrastructure dream.
- Republican Deadlock Finally Broken in Olympia
After intense lobbying and political maneuvering, John B. Allen secures the support needed to likely become the next U.S. Senator.
- One Day Late: The Veto That May Hang a Man
A clerk's date stamp, a messenger who cannot recall which day he ran an errand, and a condemned Italian at Tacoma whose last chance at a new appeal may have expired in the paperwork.
- The Midnight Smuggling Ring at Oyster Bay
Customs officials track a clandestine operation smuggling Chinese laborers into Washington via the mudflats near Olympia.
- A Senate Seat, a Caucus, and a Yakima Ditch Deal
In Olympia, Republicans moved to settle the U.S. Senate contest between Ankeny and Wilson—while opponents circulated a story that Wilson had traded a Congressional favor for stock in a Yakima irrigation scheme.
- ‘Bought for Hard Gold Coin’: The Railroad Bill Dies in Olympia
The Helm railroad bill, passed by the House, was killed in the Senate. Newspapers across Washington condemned the railroad lobby and the senators who voted against lower freight rates.
- The Suffragist Who Told Olympia She Was Already a Voter
Bessie J. Savage tried to register in Olympia in 1895, arguing the state constitution had made her a legal voter. When the city clerk refused, she took him to court.
- The Sabotage of Black Lake
A malicious attempt to breach a dike and flood the Olympia countryside by draining a massive volume of water into the Deschutes River was narrowly averted.
- The Day the Territorial Supreme Court Killed Women's Suffrage in Washington
In a landmark test case from May 1902, Judge Sash ruled that the Organic Act of Washington Territory only granted voting rights to males, effectively striking down local efforts to enfranchise women.
- The Last Midnight of the Washington Constitutional Convention
After fifty days of grueling debate and back-room maneuvering, delegates in Olympia finally finish the document that would define the state’s future.