Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 5 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 5 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
35 stories matching mutter
- A False Shock of Hair, a Slouch Hat, and $10 at Maplewood Station
A Tacoma department-store clerk steps off the Puyallup car and is stopped in the dark by a masked man in a false wig, who takes her money and orders her home on foot.
- The Monopoly of Water: A Seattleite’s Outrage Over Yesler’s Wharf
In 1877, a local citizen confronted the city's most powerful industrialist over his claim to the waterfront, sparking a debate about public access and private power that echoes in Seattle today.
- Vigilante Mob Executes Prisoners in Oysterville Jail
After the supreme court granted a new trial to two men accused of murder, a Pacific County mob took matters into their own hands, storming the jail and killing the suspects.
- A Convict’s Violent Outburst in Whatcom Court
A notorious criminal threatens a judge with violence before being transported to the state penitentiary in Walla Walla.
- The Indian Council’s Rebellion Against the White Shopkeepers
When an Indian girl was fined by her tribal council for purchasing flour at a white-owned store, a legal crackdown by territorial authorities sparked a tense political standoff.
- The Lost Letter of Port Townsend
A postal worker at the Port Townsend wharf brushes off a man’s frantic search for a missing letter, revealing a small, forgotten drama of 1888.
- A Leap from the Window at 1718 Madison
Assistant city electrician E.C. Buckley barely escaped a brutal assault after his landlord, driven by baseless jealousy, armed himself and hunted him down.
- The Nine-Inning Scandal at the Old Exchange
A local baseball game ends in a high-stakes confrontation that reads like a pulp novel, leaving one man bitter and another victorious.
- A High-Stakes Gamble at the Front Street Poker Table
A desperate gambler nearly takes his own life after a losing streak in Seattle's underworld, only to be saved by a sudden twist of fortune.
- The Great Pigeon Whiskey Heist
A Seattle police officer's bungled attempt to intoxicate local church pigeons ends in his own humiliation.
- The Persistent Peddler of Front Street
A persistent brush salesman tries to make a sale in 1876 Seattle, leading to an amusing exchange about baldness and local vanity.
- The Firebug of North Walla Walla
A vigilante guard in the northern district botched a midnight stakeout for a suspected arsonist, leaving neighbors on edge.
- A Desperate Plunge from the Coal Bunkers
A delirious man, suffering from the effects of alcohol, jumped forty feet from the Oregon Improvement Company's coal bunkers into the sound, surviving the fall only to be hauled back to shore.
- Vigilante Mob Targets Ballard Policeman
A vigilante mob descended on a Ballard home demanding that an acquitted police officer flee the county within 24 hours.
- The Mustard Plaster Misadventure
A traveler seeking relief from rheumatism accidentally treats the wrong man to a painful surprise.
- The Clam-Seller and the Street-Car: A Seattle Reckoning
When a man was killed by a train on a Seattle street, a bystander's callous comment sparked a confrontation that exposed the deep-seated tensions of the city's growing industrial landscape.
- Tacoma Moves to Halt the New State Capitol—and Seattle Cheers
A Tacoma Chamber of Commerce petition urged lawmakers to stop work on Washington's capitol until land values were settled. Seattle's chamber had just endorsed the opposite, and the House committee chairman blamed 'a few bankrupt land speculators.'
- The Silent Epidemic: Diphtheria in 1880 Seattle
A harrowing, vivid account of the early stages of diphtheria, a 'perplexing theme' of illness that terrorized families and baffled medical practitioners in the Washington Territory.
- The Wright Trial Turns on a Fall in the Night
A brother's testimony and a missing state witness unsettle a Seattle assault-and-robbery case as the jury nears a verdict.
- The Chinese Question: Seattle’s Editorial War Over Labor and 'Vermin'
In October 1876, the *Seattle Daily Intelligencer* published a blistering editorial defending Chinese laborers while simultaneously dehumanizing them as carriers of disease, revealing the complex economic dependencies and racial tensions of early Washington Territory.
- The Milk Route Aristocrat of Archer Avenue
A satirical social drama involving a milk route heiress and a love triangle, printed as news filler in 1881.
- The Child on the Train
A conductor discovers a feverish little girl wandering a train alone with only her doll for comfort.
- The Bridge That Broke: Tacoma's Infrastructure Crisis and the Union Mutiny
As a vital bridge spanning the Puyallup River collapses under its own weight, Tacoma residents face logistical chaos while a separate maritime labor dispute erupts into violence on the docks.
- The Midnight Butcher of Seattle
A traveler stops for the night at a remote fisherman's hut, only to find himself terrorized by the sound of steel scraping against stone.
- The Preacher, the Deed, and the Burning House
A small-town minister's affair with a married parishioner ends in arson, a whitewash trial, and an effigy swinging from an electric light pole in the heart of Oakesdale.