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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 468 |
| 1877 | 317 |
| 1878 | 91 |
| 1880 | 97 |
973 stories
- The Tragedy of a Desperate Courtship
A jilted suitor’s attempt to force a marriage ends in violence and a desperate shooting near Seattle.
- The Political Brawl for Seattle’s Soul
On the eve of the 1876 mayoral election, Seattle’s political landscape is marked by accusations of voter fraud, candidate interference, and a bitter struggle for city hall.
- The Wellington Strike: When Coal Miners Said 'No' to a Pay Cut
In July 1876, 70 miners at the Wellington colliery were fired for refusing a wage reduction, bringing the mine to a halt in a struggle that defined labor relations on the Pacific Northwest frontier.
- The Murderer in the Parlor
A frontier tavern killing, a suspicious trial, and a woman who rose from obscurity to the height of Washington society—only to be haunted by a past she thought she’d buried.
- Tragedy in Two Acts on the Cowlitz
A young man's accidental death in the woods is followed by the complete destruction of his family's home by fire, leaving the mourning parents with nothing.
- The City That Couldn't Keep Up: Seattle’s Housing Crisis of 1876
As immigrants flood in from Kansas and beyond, the city's building boom fails to match the demand for shelter, threatening a severe shortage before winter sets in.
- The Vampire Panic of Seattle
A grim, gothic account of a 'vampire' outbreak in a local immigrant community, documenting the desperate, violent lengths to which villagers went to protect their own.
- The Great River Flood of 1876
As heavy rains inundate the Duwamish Valley, Seattle settlers and livestock struggle to survive the rising waters.
- The Unsung Pioneers Clearing the Skagit River
While the territory hailed the opening of the Skagit Valley to navigation, the men bankrolling the arduous labor of clearing the massive log jam were left bankrupt.
- The Ghost of a Train Passenger
A traveler on an express train encounters a sweet, golden-haired girl in a shawl, only to discover she was a desperate murderess fleeing toward the Canadian border.
- The Great Seattle Land Battle of 1877
A federal decision sheds light on the messy early scramble for ownership of downtown Seattle, as speculators and the city vied for title to the waterfront.
- A Deadly Saloon Fight Ends in a Public Execution-Style Killing
An altercation over a game of cards in the mining settlement of Kent leads to a gruesome death and a cold-blooded confession on the tracks.
- The Hilltop Inferno: Arson Claims a Seattle Landmark
When the residence of J.P. Robbins burned in 1877, the city’s lack of water infrastructure and public apathy turned a potential save into a total loss.
- A Close Call on the Hill
After a devastating nighttime fire in 1877, Seattle residents grapple with the fragility of a wooden city and the lack of basic firefighting infrastructure.
- The Tragedy at No. 21 Nixons Street
A Puget Sound trader’s sudden descent into madness leaves a wife dead and himself in his blood on the floor of their attic home.
- The Stone That Crushed: A Fatal Day at Seattle’s City Hall
Two men are killed and another left for dead when a scaffold collapses during the construction of the new municipal building, exposing the deadly risks of civic ambition in 1877.
- The Race for the Rails: Seattle’s Fight to Keep the Northern Pacific Branch
As Oregon competitors maneuver to steal federal land grants, a local correspondent warns that losing the railroad connection could leave Washington Territory behind for decades.
- The Land Grab That Stalled Seattle’s Growth
A local editorial warns that the Northern Pacific Railroad’s hoarding of millions of acres is strangling settlement and development in Washington Territory.
- The Great Land Grab: Seattle's Board of Commissioners Condemns Northern Pacific’s 'Gross Swindle'
In a rare show of unified civic resistance, Thurston County officials denounce the railroad's seizure of public lands as an outrage against settlers.
- The Slave Ship That Vanished: An Old Man’s Confession in Seattle
A weathered sailor walks into a Seattle saloon and recounts the night his crew mutinied against a slaver, only to watch the ship sink with 200 souls aboard.
- The Land Grab That Built Tacoma: How the Northern Pacific Railroad Stole Millions of Acres
A furious editorial in the Seattle Star exposes the Northern Pacific Railroad’s scheme to misappropriate public lands for a private coal line, arguing that the company is using legal loopholes to steal from settlers in King and Snohomish counties.
- The 'Lazy' Reservation: A White Settler's Rant Against Indian Farming
In May 1877, a Seattle correspondent published a vitriolic letter in the *Intelligencer* challenging claims of Native agricultural success on the Suckley Reservation, arguing that federal land policies encouraged 'idleness' and demanding the lands be opened to white settlers.
- The Plague at the Doorstep: Seattle’s Battle Against Smallpox in 1877
As smallpox ravages Port Orchard and Salmon Bay, the city's Health Officer takes drastic quarantine measures against Indigenous communities, highlighting the fragile public health infrastructure of early Seattle.
- The Rising Tides of Industry
An 1873 editorial reflects on the fragility of Pacific Coast harbors, warning that unchecked mining waste and silt are creating an uncertain future for maritime commerce.
- The Ghost of Washington Street
A retired detective recalls a haunting murder investigation in 1870s Seattle, where a father’s vengeance and a daughter’s grief ended in the deep waters of the bay.