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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1891 | 6 |
| 1892 | 31 |
| 1893 | 48 |
| 1894 | 46 |
| 1895 | 34 |
172 stories
- The Elopement That Gripped Whatcom
When a thirteen-year-old girl ran away with a suitor, the resulting pursuit and public scandal exposed the harsh limits of autonomy and safety for youth in the 1890s.
- The Mayor's Fists in Whatcom
A City Council meeting spirals into chaos as the mayor orders the violent ejection of a dissenting councilman.
- Tragedy at Blue Canyon Mine
A Seattle carpenter falls forty-eight feet to his death after being struck by a coal car at a Whatcom County mine.
- A Bloody Brawl at Blue Canyon
A quiet laborer is left battered after a saloon dispute over a wrestling match turns into a targeted assault.
- A Violent Train Ride to Justice
An emigrant inspector draws his weapon on a prisoner during a heated rail journey, only to be cleared of charges by a federal court.
- Corruption Scandal Sweeps Whatcom
Former city officials are arrested for embezzlement while the community demands a grand jury to investigate municipal rot.
- Boodle and Bust in Whatcom
An embattled treasurer and a jailed clerk highlight a city spiraling into scandal as citizens call for a grand jury.
- A Scandal in Fairhaven's Coffers
How one official's massive theft transformed city tax enforcement forever.
- The Forged Deed of Fairhaven
A landmark land title dispute is settled in court after the discovery of a printing date discrepancy.
- The Deadly Logic of the Cabin Trap
A man sets a shotgun trigger to protect his home, with fatal consequences for a stranger.
- An Undocumented Arrival in Whatcom
A Chinese man found hiding in a tool box on a rail car bound for Seattle illustrates the brutal reality of the Exclusion era.
- The Woodin Mill Burns Down
A fire sparked by a friction belt destroys a major Fairhaven lumber mill, leaving forty-seven men jobless in an already struggling economy.
- The 'Dummy' Notes That Toppled a Bank
A financial scandal in Whatcom County exposes a web of fake assets and political maneuvering between rival cities.
- A Squall Off Chuckanut: The Mail Steamer Buckeye Goes Down
The steamer Buckeye capsized in Bellingham Bay in 1893, leaving passengers and crew clinging to a lifeboat and raft. All but one survived.
- The Buckeye Went Down in a Gale—and One Passenger Almost Made It
The steamer Buckeye broke up in the Salish Sea; a rescued stockman described how shifting cattle, a swamped lifeboat, and freezing water killed H. Kautzman within sight of help.
- Twenty-Three Dead, and a Jury Clears the Company
An inquest into the explosion that killed twenty-three miners at the Blue Canyon mine blames gas and dust — and flatly exonerates the company of any fault.
- Young Boy Killed by Electric Streetcar
A tragic streetcar accident claims the life of an 11-year-old child in Fairhaven.
- A Hostage Standoff on the First Road
A historical account of the 1858 construction of Whatcom County’s first road, involving an armed confrontation with Indigenous locals.
- The Woodchopper Who Rigged a Gun—and the Murder Trial That Followed
Newell S. Barr's cabin trap killed a would-be intruder in Whatcom; his lawyer vowed to take the property-defense question to the Supreme Court.
- The Cabin Door That Killed: A Man-Trap, a Storm, and a Supreme Court Warning
A Whatcom County man rigged a gun to fire when his cabin door opened. A storm-driven traveler triggered it and died—and Washington's high court upheld the conviction, ruling property rights stop short of deadly traps.
- A Young Mother Died After Being Taken From the People Caring for Her
Caroline Erickson, a Swedish immigrant who had just given birth, was removed to St. Joseph’s hospital against her will and died the next day; the woman who sheltered her blames the charity.
- Mountain Gives Way on Lake Whatcom
A landslide in the middle of the night destroys a picturesque farm and leaves its owners fighting for their lives in the frigid lake water.
- The Midnight Raid on the Roberts Store
Creditors and a sheriff's deputy staged a dramatic, late-night seizure of a Whatcom dry goods firm after a suspicious mortgage filing.
- Domestic Violence in Bellingham
A man attempts to murder his wife at a local hotel, claiming he wanted to end both their lives due to illness and poverty.
- The Great Northern Smuggling Case
A train conductor faces federal charges for allegedly attempting to transport Chinese passengers across the border.