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| Year | Stories |
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| 1859 | 1 |
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68 stories matching equit
- The Fur Company’s Land Empire Is Declared Public Domain
A letter from Washington City reports that the Hudson’s Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural companies’ territorial claims have been ruled forfeit, opening their Nisqually and Fort Vancouver lands to American survey and settlement.
- The Dust That Cost a Dollar: Kennewick’s Summer of Dry Streets
With city coffers empty and saloon licenses expired, the Commercial Club faces a parching summer. Will business owners pay for water, or let the dust settle?
- The County’s Cold Shoulder: Seattle Bleeds for Indigent Sick
In April 1877, the City of Seattle faced a financial crisis as King County refused to pay medical bills for indigent patients, leaving local taxpayers to foot the bill for care that should have been shared.
- The Battle for Belltown's Fire Engine
A citizen's fiery demand that the city stop hoarding firefighting resources in the business district and grant the northern residents the protection they pay for.
- The Strange Fate of a Goldendale Defendant
A legal dispute takes a turn when two attorneys realize their client paid them in horses, which he then traded away.
- The Railroad Tax Fight in Benton County
A Superior Court judge rejects the Northern Pacific Railway’s attempt to slash its tax bill on 160,000 acres of land, upholding the assessor's valuations.
- The Struggle for Kennewick's River Future
As the Celilo canal nears completion, local business leaders push for a Port district to tax outside corporations and secure the town's maritime edge.
- A Wife Says Her Husband Tried to Shoot Her—Then Altered the Deed
Rachel McDonald's divorce suit describes years of cruelty, a terrifying revolver threat, and a scheme to erase her name from their Ravenna property.
- The Argument for a Railroad Commission
Advocating for constitutional oversight of rail monopolies to curb corporate influence in Washington politics.
- The Decades-Long Battle Over Yesler’s Mill
A landmark legal struggle over the future of Seattle’s foundational sawmill reaches a tense standoff in the courts.
- Everett’s Sweetheart Printing Deal: The Supreme Court Said No
In 1894, Everett’s city council awarded its official printing contract to a bid nearly four times higher than a rival’s. The Washington Supreme Court reversed course, warning that public money was not the council’s to give away.
- The Railroad Lobby's Quiet Plan to Buy a Governor and Kill the Commission
A Walla Walla editor warns that railroad interests will avoid an open fight over regulation by nominating a friendly, colorless candidate—then using him to veto the commission bill.
- The Looming Battle for Puget Sound's Shoreline
As Washington prepares for statehood, a contentious legal struggle over the future of tide lands begins to take shape.
- The Taxpayers' League vs. The Railroads: A Battle for Fair Valuation in Columbia County
In May 1903, local citizens and tax experts challenged the massive capitalization of the Oregon Railway Navigation Company, arguing that its true value warranted a higher tax assessment to fund public services.
- Who Should Pay for the City's Infrastructure?
Facing a debt crisis following the Great Seattle Fire, city officials in 1891 debated whether to shift the mounting costs of sewer construction from the public treasury onto the backs of individual property owners.
- The High Cost of Shipping Produce to the Sound
Yakima farmers complain that exorbitant transport rates are leaving them with nothing to show for their labor.
- The Struggle for Relief Funds in Roslyn
Seattle and Tacoma citizens organize aid for the Roslyn mine explosion survivors, only to find the local committee prefers direct distribution.
- The Ferry Monopoly Squeezing Kitsap County
Fruit growers in Olalla organized to fight a steamboat syndicate charging double for their passage.
- The Price of a Marital Settlement
A wife files a scathing counter-complaint alleging coercion, threats, and a secret financial pact in a high-stakes divorce suit.
- The Tax Protest on Madison Street
A Seattle property owner challenges the city's assessment for Madison Street improvements, calling the fees illegal and a cloud on the title.
- The Fight for Fair Pay at the Grays Harbor Docks
Aberdeen’s civic leaders mobilize to demand a living wage for federal inspectors, arguing that local maritime workload has far outstripped their meager compensation.
- The Fight for Irrigation Control
A local editorial urges landowners to organize into a district to secure government water projects and neutralize land speculators.
- The Ghost Ships of Lake Union
After sitting idle since the Great War, a fleet of wooden hulls will be burned for salvage, with their deckhouses repurposed into makeshift homes.
- Judge Hanford Draws the Line: Sheep Can't Graze on Railroad Land Without Consent
A federal court ruling in Yakima County upholds the Northern Pacific Railway's right to protect its unenclosed lands from sheep, setting a precedent for property rights and land use in the West.
- The Sound's Freight Wars
Seattle merchants sound the alarm as steamboat companies hit the city with discriminatory freight rates that favor Tacoma and Tumwater.