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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 53 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 7 |
| 1860 | 13 |
| 1861 | 59 |
| 1862 | 65 |
| 1863 | 46 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 14 |
| 1876 | 9 |
| 1877 | 11 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1879 | 3 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 36 |
| 1884 | 11 |
| 1885 | 18 |
| 1886 | 10 |
| 1887 | 9 |
| 1888 | 6 |
| 1889 | 57 |
| 1890 | 8 |
| 1891 | 221 |
| 1892 | 194 |
| 1893 | 107 |
| 1894 | 18 |
| 1895 | 113 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 23 |
| 1904 | 5 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 94 |
| 1910 | 7 |
| 1911 | 11 |
| 1912 | 4 |
| 1914 | 11 |
| 1915 | 8 |
| 1916 | 11 |
| 1917 | 3 |
| 1919 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 13 |
| 1924 | 2 |
| 1925 | 10 |
1,310 stories
- High Court Reverses Bribery Ruling in School Board Scandal
The State Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for three men accused of attempting to bribe a school board member with $5,000 to reconsider a textbook vote.
- Olympia Selects Design for New High School
The school board settles on a design by architect B.F.M. Weeks, sparking a debate over whether to build in brick or Tenino stone.
- Buy the Mudflats, Give Them Away, and Pray for a Payroll
Olympia's newly organized Improvement Company wants every business man in town to buy one $100 share so it can purchase the tide flats and hand them, free, to any manufacturer willing to set up shop — because railroads and construction crews come and go, but a payroll stays.
- The Tax Collector’s Quiet Heist in Thurston County
Assessments against “unknown owners,” doubled fees and $9,000 in illegal exactions left property titles tangled and taxpayers furious.
- A Territorial Judge, a Killing, and a Governor's Bad Appointment
A grand jury has charged Judge E. C. Fitzhugh with murder in the death of Andrew Wilson, turning a territorial appointment into a test of Governor Stevens's judgment.
- The Quartermaster’s Arithmetic: Scrip, Pork, and Profiteering in Washington Territory
A detailed audit of Quartermaster General W. W. Miller’s books exposed inflated prices, unexplained payments, and scrip issued for vouchers the commissioners had already disallowed.
- Sheriff’s Hammer Sets the Price: Hotel Olympia Sold for $48,322.30
With no other bidders, A. H. Chambers and J. F. Gowey bought in the hotel for the Hotel Olympia Company—then the trustees named T. I. McKenny president.
- Olympia Loses the Capitol: A Letter Writer Predicts the Seat of Government Will Move to Vancouver
A Steilacoom correspondent gloats that Olympia's 'mandarins' overplayed their hand in the territorial legislature — and that the $30,000 Congress set aside for a capitol building will sit unspent while the prize drifts south.
- The Battle for the Capitol Grounds
A public dispute erupts between the Acting Governor and a Capitol Commissioner over the bidding process for clearing the grounds in Olympia.
- The Mortgage Freeze of 1897
New state legislation intended to protect farmers from foreclosure has inadvertently choked off agricultural lending.
- The Deal That Broke a Senator: Allen's Surrender to King County
Ex-Governor Moore recounts the pressure campaign that turned Senator John B. Allen from his allies and toward the King County faction—an insider's tale of patronage, loyalty and betrayal in Washington's early state politics.
- The Engineer Who Says Olympia Stiffed Him for Sewer Plans
A civil engineer hired to draft Olympia’s sewers says the city accepted his $700 bid, starved him of data, then canceled his contract and paid another man $1,500 for plans he calls a public nuisance.
- Suffragists Meet in Olympia as the Ballot Fight Goes to the Supreme Court
The Washington Equal Suffrage Association gathers at Tacoma Hall to choose national delegates—and to find new lawyers for a case that could decide whether women vote.
- Two Weeks In, Still No Senator: Olympia's Republicans Tire of the Ankeny Fight
The legislature has been in session a fortnight and Washington still has no United States senator. A colleague's insulting letter blows up, the Wilson and Allen camps fold, and a caucus is called to force the thing to an end.
- The $35 Fee That Became $335: Insurance Commissioner Schively's Sliding Scale
Olympia investigators say J. H. Schively charged newly organized insurance companies whatever they would bear—then kept the difference. With 75 companies heard from and $8,000 in excess fees alleged, the evidence is headed to the governor.
- Acquitted by His Own Senate, and the Governor Says the People Will Judge Him
Washington's insurance commissioner beat all twelve impeachment charges on a 14-to-26 vote. Governor Hay called it a violation of the senators' oaths — and handed the case to the voters.
- A Unanimous Vote to Push Women Out of the Beer Halls
The Washington House backed a bill barring women from working anywhere intoxicating liquor was sold—aimed at waitresses and 'beer rulers' in variety theaters and saloons.
- When 'He' Also Meant 'She'
A uniform school bill ended legal doubts about women serving as county superintendents and school directors—and ordered that masculine pronouns in the school law include women.
- Who Pays for the Streets That Boost Land Values?
A taxpayer objects as Olympia considers borrowing from the general fund to cover private street-grading debts in distant additions.
- The Senate Says Yes to Women’s Suffrage—For Now
A constitutional amendment to let women vote cleared the Washington Senate with 21 votes and 9,450 petition signatures, but a reconsideration motion threatened to undo it.
- Tacoma Tries to Halt the State Capitol
Tacoma's Chamber of Commerce calls Olympia's new capitol a waste in hard times, but lawmakers vote down a bill to stop the work.
- Twenty-One Land Claims, One Pennsylvania Syndicate, and a Fraud Hearing in Olympia
Federal agents say twenty-one Satsop River entries were fraudulently made for an out-of-state syndicate; the contest is being heard in Olympia’s land office.
- The Fund That Grew While the Injured Went Hungry
Washington's 1911 workmen's compensation law was meant to protect the men who built the state. A decade later, the lumber industry was paying less into the accident fund than ever — and injured workers were getting a fraction of what the cost of living demanded.
- The San Juan Island Forgery: A Soldier’s Scam and a Territorial Cover-Up
In the tense weeks of the Pig War standoff, a U.S. Army sergeant allegedly forged paymaster certificates to steal $1,604 from a local man in Olympia, sparking a legal battle that exposed corruption within the military ranks.
- Olympia’s Blackest Day: A City on the Brink of Ruin
A recent fire in the state capital exposes the desperate need for modern water works and steam engines, as Olympia’s leadership warns that 'any morning may see the balance of the city in ruins.'
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