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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 17 |
| 1876 | 16 |
| 1877 | 14 |
| 1878 | 18 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1880 | 2 |
70 stories matching dispatch
- The Ghost of the 1873 Crash Still Haunts Seattle
As the Seattle Weekly Dispatch reflects on the long, agonizing economic recovery from the Panic of 1873, the parallels to our modern housing and labor struggles reveal a century-old cycle of debt and instability.
- The Rowdiest Port in the Pacific Northwest
An 1872 report describes the brutal realities of the maritime labor market in Port Townsend, where sailors were coerced into service and returned to shore battered and bruised.
- The Midnight Pork-Thieves of Belltown
A wave of petty food thefts from residential pantries has Seattle neighbors on edge, prompting warnings about the 'nocturnal nippers' prowling the city's outskirts.
- The Great Greenback Tug-of-War
A Seattle reader squares off against national editors over the power of the government to define the value of money itself.
- The Myth of the 'Frozen' Northwest
An 1877 dispatch to a San Francisco newspaper explains the 'warm belt' of air—the Japan Current—that kept Puget Sound from being a frozen wasteland.
- The Fight for Rail Dominance: Seattle vs. Portland
In 1877, Seattle newspapers were already sparring with Portland over land grants and regional infrastructure, revealing the early economic anxieties of a growing port city.
- The Seattle-Tacoma Rivalry Began with Petty Insults
While Tacoma boosters once mocked Seattle’s 'niggardly' natural gifts, the Dispatch fired back with a masterclass in civic trash-talk.
- The Price of Separation in 1878
A legal summons published in the Puget Sound Dispatch highlights the harsh reality of divorce proceedings in territorial Seattle.
- The Newspaper War of 1878
Before the digital age, Seattle's editors fought their battles in court and print, trading accusations of corruption and forgery.
- The Panic Over 'Free Love' and Women's Rights in Early Seattle
An editorial from the Puget Sound Dispatch decries the growing suffrage movement, labeling advocates as threats to the 'sanctity of the marriage relation.'
- The Great Land Sell-Off
The Northern Pacific Railroad begins dumping vast swaths of Washington Territory land onto actual settlers for $2.60 an acre.
- The Pioneer Moralists of Chehalis
While Seattle’s 1872 boosters bragged about their town’s vibrant saloon culture, the neighboring Chehalis valley was being touted as a teetotaling, prosperous paradise of butter-makers.
- The Newspaper Feud That Put Seattle’s City Hall to Shame
When an anonymous local columnist tried to smear Seattle’s city leadership as 'unnecessary ornaments,' the Evening Dispatch fired back with a sharp defense of municipal stability.
- The Hidden Dens of 1870s Seattle
A citizen appeal from 1872 exposes how unchecked public gambling was eroding the moral and financial fabric of the developing waterfront town.
- The Great Railway Monopoly Struggle of 1877
An editorial from the Seattle Weekly Dispatch reveals the town's early, bitter fight against the Northern Pacific Railroad's land-grabbing tactics.
- The 'Virtuous Spasm' of 1876: Seattle’s Early Critique of Political Greed
An editorial from the Puget Sound Dispatch captures the simmering public outrage over a government scandal in Washington Territory, drawing parallels between national corruption and the mismanagement of local university land grants.
- The City Clerk’s Sharp Rebuke to the Intelligencer
In 1878, Seattle’s local government publicly called out the city’s leading newspaper for 'misrepresentation' regarding the municipal debt.
- The New Frontier on the Shores of Lake Washington
While the city worried over mysterious prowlers, settlers were carving out orchards and gardens from the old-growth forests near Lake Washington, marveling at the land's hidden potential.
- The Railroad Gamble
In an 1878 editorial, the Seattle Weekly Dispatch argues that the economic survival of the region depends on using Chinese labor to build the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad, claiming that white capital refuses to invest unless labor costs are kept low.
- The Stranger at the Oriental Hotel
A local man's keen instincts and a sharp-eyed witness led to the capture of a fugitive murderer hiding in plain sight in a Seattle rooming house.
- The 'Ring' and the Rot: A 1872 Call for Municipal Reform
A scathing letter to the editor of the Puget Sound Dispatch exposes a culture of county-level corruption and financial mismanagement that mirrors modern political frustrations.
- The Disgraceful Scrawl of Territorial Law
A scathing editorial from the Weekly Dispatch reveals that the Territorial Legislature's laws were so poorly drafted, blotted, and grammatically mangled that the editor suggests burning them to avoid litigation.
- The Seattle Editor Who Fought a Mob
After being accused of being a 'blatant traitor' and a secret sympathizer of Lincoln’s assassin, Seattle publisher Beriah Brown strikes back at his political rival.
- The Price of Printing: A 19th Century Fight Against 'Cheap John' Contracting
An editorial from the 1873 Seattle Dispatch excoriates the municipal habit of awarding city printing contracts to the lowest bidder, arguing it degrades the press and serves only the interests of 'ward demagogues.'
- The Chief Who Just Wanted to Be Left Alone
While Washington settlers braced for potential conflict with Chief Moses in 1878, a local merchant argued the indigenous leader was being provoked by a political usurper, not a desire for war.