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66 stories matching squatter
- Clearing the Beach Squatters
City authorities order the removal of squatters living on the tide lands as the city begins to enforce strict land claims.
- Eviction Threatens Historical Black Settlement in Tacoma
A US Marshal is ordered to collect rent from 450 squatters living on a 163-acre tract established by early Black settlers.
- The Waterfront Tug-of-War: Squatters vs. The Empire of A.A. Denny
As Seattle's waterfront boomed, property titan A.A. Denny moved to clear 'squatters' from valuable harbor land, sparking a public anxiety over property titles that echoes through the city's growth.
- The Great Squatter Takeover of 1891
A landmark court ruling in Tacoma triggered a chaotic, overnight land grab as hundreds of squatters claimed property near the city's residential core.
- The Squatter-Citizens of Port Angeles
Before Port Angeles was fully incorporated, a determined association of residents occupied government land to force federal recognition and protect their homes from wealthy speculators.
- Seattle Squatters Push Land Fight to District Court
Squatters on the Seattle tidelands win a legal delay in a high-stakes title fight against A.A. Denny, as the city watches a $100,000 property dispute head to district court.
- The Surveyor's Chain Reaches Metaline—and Its Squatters
A Portland firm wins the contract to survey the township containing Metaline, opening the west side of the river to settlement while fine timber already occupied by squatters awaits formal title.
- Tragedy in the Mount St. Helens Backcountry
A toddler is maimed after an accident with a hatchet in a remote squatter camp.
- The Shantytown Showdown
While the city council debates the impeachment of the police chief, the residents of Seattle's 'Shantytown' organize a desperate legal defense against eviction.
- Squatter Killed in Massive Railroad Slide
A catastrophic hillside failure near Monroe Street buries part of a shantytown; a local man is missing and presumed dead.
- Timber Syndicates Used Dummy Squatters to Seize Washington’s State Lands
A state land cruiser describes a systematic scheme: Eastern syndicates paid men to squat on the best timber, commute it cheaply, then move on to the next quarter section—land meant to fund schools and public institutions.
- Fatal Family Dispute Over Squatter's Rights
A Lake Chelan property feud ends in a fatal shooting after a father and son attempt to intimidate a relative.
- Sullivan Lake to be Flooded for Power
The Inland Portland Cement Company plans to raise the lake level by 40 feet, submerging government timber and a squatter's homestead.
- The Shack Clearers of the Waterfront
A laborer finds himself in jail after being ordered by a railway company to tear down the homes of squatters living on the Seattle tideflats.
- The Squatter’s Right to the Land
The federal government defines the fine line between a settler's homesteading right and illegal timber harvesting on public lands.
- The Waterfront Land Wars
A railroad company wins an eviction suit against waterfront 'squatters,' highlighting the precarious state of living for those occupying valuable tide lands.
- Supreme Court Rules on School Land Squatters
A definitive U.S. Supreme Court decision resolves decades of uncertainty regarding land titles for Washington State school lands, ending claims by settlers like Anton Johansen.
- The Squatter’s Shack on the Waterfront
A railroad company wins its eviction battle against a man living on a harbor spit.
- The Town That Owned Nothing: Metaline's Squatters Fight Two Companies for Their Own Ground
Fifty residents of an unsurveyed Pend Oreille River mining camp petition the Spokane land office for a federal townsite — after a silver-lead company and a cement-clay claimant both tried to patent the ground out from under their homes.
- The State Can't Find Its Land — and Timber Companies Got There First
A state land cruiser reports that Washington's 670,000-acre capitol grant is mostly poor land already claimed by squatters working for big lumber outfits.
- Settlers Beat the State to the Best School Lands
Washington's land commissioners say squatters are claiming the best parcels before the state can select them for schools, putting millions at risk.
- The Battle for Salmon Bay’s Sand Spit
A multi-year legal feud over a railway right-of-way and a squatter’s claim reaches the courtroom.
- Washington Wins Its Tide Lands—and Willapa Oystermen May Finally Get Title
A federal ruling clears the way for state ownership of tide lands, threatening South Bend's mill wharf while offering squatters on Willapa Harbor a path to legal claim.
- Two Hundred Axes Clear the Woods for a 2,500-Soldier Colony
Port Angeles turned out an ax-and-saw brigade to fell forty blocks of townsite timber before a Michigan colony of veteran soldiers arrived — and the Secretary of the Interior steamed in to bless the work and the squatters' shaky claims.
- The Squatters of Port Angeles
A government land reservation intended for protection is caught in a web of bureaucratic delays, shifting administrations, and local political infighting.
Also about this, in other words
- The Squatter’s Defense
A Seattle homesteader fights back against accusations of ‘land grabbing’ in an era of rapid frontier development.
- The Squatter in the Two-Story House
A landowner is fighting a legal battle to evict a tenant who allegedly obtained permission to pitch a tent on the property only to move into the main house.