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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 19 |
| 1877 | 22 |
| 1878 | 23 |
| 1879 | 4 |
68 stories matching half
- The Dream of a 'Super Highway' for the 1870s
Before modern infrastructure, Snohomish visionaries imagined a direct, transformative road from Seattle to Bellingham Bay to unlock the potential of the interior.
- The Contract Prison of the Skookum Chuck
A look inside the privatized territorial penitentiary of 1879, where convict labor was auctioned off to pay for a sheriff's enterprise.
- The Mill That Built a Town: Inside Port Discovery’s Industrial Heart
A rare look inside the massive lumber operation on Port Discovery Bay, where 60 men worked around the clock to feed the timber boom of the Pacific Northwest.
- The River That Swallowed a Steamboat: A Brave Attempt to Reach Snohomish Falls
Twenty-five passengers and tons of freight battled the treacherous Snoqualmie River on the steamer *Columbia*, only to be stopped by a massive landslide just miles from their destination.
- The Birth of the Snohomish Brass Band
A group of enterprising young men organize to bring music to the Snohomish community, pledging to be performance-ready in just a few months.
- The Great Skagit Jam: How Local Men Tried to Unplug the River
In 1876, a massive logjam blocked the Skagit River for miles. While officials debated expensive dredging projects, local loggers took matters into their own hands with picks and dynamite.
- The Unluckiest Farmer on the Swinomish Flats
Samuel Calhoun had already lost a fortune in grain. Then the steamer Dispatch capsized with another $1,000 of his crop aboard.
- The Lovers’ Lane of Snohomish
A newly constructed plank road, intended for industrial timber transit, becomes an unlikely promenade for the town's romantic youth.
- Knox the Stallion at Hilton’s Ranch
A prize-winning horse becomes the center of a regional breeding enterprise along the banks of the Snohomish River.
- The Man Who Left for Seattle and Never Arrived
A Snohomish man set out to arrange his family’s move. Days later, searchers had only a sighting near a shingle house and two troubling theories: sudden illness or foul play.
- The Changing Tides of the Snohomish
High water, booming mills, and the social transformation of a riverside community in 1877.
- The Saw That Conquered the Snohomish Timber Frontier
Before high-tech machinery, local loggers relied on the 'Silver Steel' saw, a tool marketed as the most efficient way to fell the giants of Washington Territory.
- The Last Voyage of Arthur Phinney: A Fleet of Steamers Bids Farewell to a Pioneer
In June 1877, the death of Port Ludlow founder Arthur Phinney triggered an unprecedented maritime funeral procession on Puget Sound, uniting rival steamship lines and hundreds of mourners in a tribute to a man who championed labor and community.
- A Sudden Loss in the Snohomish Valley
A quiet, tragic passing of a local woman highlights the intimacy and harsh realities of 19th-century pioneer life.
- The Knox Stallion at Hilton’s Snohomish Ranch
A high-pedigree horse on the banks of the Snohomish River offered a glimpse into the thriving frontier economy of the 1880s.
- The Railroad That Stole Our Land: How Seattle’s Interests Blocked Snohomish’s Future
A furious letter to the editor exposes how political maneuvering in Washington D.C. and Seattle kept vital federal lands locked up, denying homesteaders their rightful homes while railroad tycoons played games with territory.
- The Struggle for Steamship Service at Oak Harbor
When the captain refused to land because the water was too shallow, a determined community built their own way to the deep water.
- The First White Woman of the Skykomish
In the rugged valley north of Snohomish, pioneer settler Mrs. Furtun stands as a solitary female figure in a male-dominated frontier, marking the slow, steady growth of a region destined to become a timber and mining hub.
- The Newspaper Editor Who 'Drowned' in the Sound
After an editor’s unexpected delay while traveling to report on the regional resources of Washington, his local readers spiraled into a panic—leading to a very awkward, very alive homecoming.
- Sheriff to Sell Snohomish Land to Settle $75 Debt
A local property seizure in 1878 reveals the precarious nature of land ownership during the Snohomish County settlement era.
- Trekking Through the Frontier: The Sheriff’s Duty
A grueling journey through Whatcom County’s wilderness in 1878 to summon jurors, revealing a rapidly changing landscape.
- The Seattle Hotel That Won Over Snohomish Shoppers
A historic hotel and mercantile shop on the Sound becomes the preferred destination for Snohomish County residents seeking quality goods and fair dealing.
- The Brutal Trail to the Stillaguamish
A survey team mapping a new route through the wilderness describes a 80-hour stretch without water and the discovery of a 'white pine' frontier.
- The Tragedy at Tenino: A Mother’s Search for Her Child in the Flames
When a fire destroyed the home of Stephen Hogden and his boarder B.W. Ward on February 15, 1877, most escaped—but nine-year-old Nellie Ward was lost to the inferno.
- The Sheriff’s Auction: Losing the Land in Snohomish
A legal notice from 1878 reveals the harsh reality of frontier debt, as a local resident faces the forced sale of his 120-acre homestead to satisfy a court judgment.