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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 11 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 7 |
| 1893 | 8 |
| 1894 | 15 |
| 1895 | 15 |
62 stories matching fleet
- Naval Officers Advocate for a Fresh-Water Canal
High-ranking officers from the USS Mohican argue that a ship canal connecting Puget Sound to Lake Washington would provide a vital, secure fresh-water anchorage for the U.S. Navy.
- The Willard Ainsworth's Dangerous Nine-Month Cruise
A Seattle sealing schooner heads for the coast of Japan and Siberia, defying revenue cutters and maritime pressure to secure a massive catch.
- A Moment of Grace Amidst the Pageantry of Politics
During a political procession in Seattle, a bedridden girl’s fleeting interaction with President Benjamin Harrison captures a rare moment of humanity.
- The Floating Fortress at Baker's Wharf
Seattle prepares for the Fourth of July as a heavily armed U.S. Navy monitor arrives to show off its new steel power.
- The Sunset of the Union Pacific Fleet
A silent corporate takeover leaves 200 sailors and dockhands in Seattle suddenly out of work as the Puget Sound and Alaska Steamship Company assumes full control of the wharf.
- The Iron Will of the Port Blakeley Mill
How a massive steam-powered sawmill on Bainbridge Island became the beating heart of Seattle's early timber economy.
- The Great Debate Over Naming Washington
When the territory was preparing for statehood in 1888, a local newspaper polled residents on whether to keep the name 'Washington'—and many feared confusion with the nation's capital.
- The Unproven Future of the 'Attractive Townsite'
Northern Pacific President Thomas F. Oakes visits the burgeoning town of Everett in 1892, skeptical of its long-term viability despite the optimism of its East Coast developers.
- The Heroes of the Revenue Marine
An officer recounts a decade of daring rescues and high-seas law enforcement along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.
- The Rosalie Joins the Puget Sound Fleet
A newly built steamship, once intended for Alaska routes, is purchased for the Victoria run, signaling a shift in local maritime competition.
- The Great Debate: Where Should Seattle's Ship Canal Go?
In 1892, federal engineers weighed the massive engineering feat of connecting Lake Washington to Puget Sound, deliberating whether to carve the path through Salmon Bay or Smith Cove.
- The Forgotten 'Thousand Isles' of the San Juans
An 1888 dispatch captures a fleeting moment when the San Juan Islands were poised to become the Pacific Coast’s premiere summer resort, complete with massive lime kilns and romantic orchards.
- The 'Oscar and Hattie' Proves a Bounty of Fish
A schooner returns from Alaska, signaling the dawn of a new independent fishing industry in Puget Sound.
- The 'Second Gibraltar': Britain’s Plan to Fortify Puget Sound
Tensions mount on the Pacific border as the British Admiralty, spooked by U.S. sealing regulations, orders immediate military improvements to the entrance of the Puget Sound.
- John L. Sullivan's Seattle Takeover
When the world’s heavyweight champion brought his traveling theatrical troupe to town, the city went into a frenzy of gawking, impersonations, and mass hysteria.
- The Centennial Parade and the Future of the National Guard
A look back at the grand military display in New York as a blueprint for rapid mobilization on the Pacific Coast.
- Ten Gales, Three Lost Schooners, and a Widow Who Wasn't
A Seattle seal hunter back from eight months in the North Pacific describes a season that swallowed whole crews — and explains why he'd rather kill seals with a spear than a gun.
- Two Seattle Shipmates and the Hurricane That Sank a Fleet
Capt. D. Mullan and cigar-store owner L. S. Borchers, survivors of the 1889 Samoan cyclone, met in Seattle and remembered the Nipsic's escape.
- The $5,000 Wager That Sent a Man Around the World With Nothing
Paul Jones reaches Seattle with $300 left to earn, a paper suit on his back, and a Boston bet that has already carried him through Japan and the Suez Canal.
- Seattle's Half-Million-Dollar Gamble to Dig a Canal to the Sea
Boosters promised a transformed city: a Lake Washington ship canal, reclaimed Squak Slough farmland, filled tide lands and Seattle as the 'Liverpool of the Coast.'
- The Sealing Monopoly Judge Swan Called a ‘Monumental Humbug’
A federal report from Port Townsend shows Puget Sound sealers thriving while a Smithsonian expert blasts the Alaska Commercial Company’s grip on the Pribilof Islands.
- The Octopus and the Seal: A Local Captain’s War Against a Washington Monopoly
In 1901, Port Townsend resident James G. Swan published affidavits from experienced hunters to debunk Professor Elliott’s claim that seal pups sink like stones, exposing the Alaska Commercial Company’s stranglehold on federal policy.
- Seattle's Canal Gamble
Boosters asked Seattleites to pledge a weekly sum to bring the Lake Washington ship canal—and the jobs and ships they believed would follow.
- The Captain, the Cook and the Hidden Boats
After a Tacoma court ordered Henry Plitz to pay damages for assaulting his cook, the captain sold his fleet to a brother-in-law. A federal commissioner now wants to know if the whole thing was a sham.
- A Fourth of July Armada: Seattle's Yacht Clubs Race and Light Up the Harbor
The Northwestern Yachting Association gathers at West Seattle to set the rules for the holiday regatta, as local clubs ready their fleets and a fireworks-lit naval parade is planned for the evening of the Fourth.