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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1872 | 3 |
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| 1887 | 1 |
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53 stories matching etting
- The Supreme Court Defies Its Own Constitution
A legal dispute over Walla Walla land reveals how Washington State wrestled with the transition from federal territory to sovereign statehood.
- The Hundred-Thousand-Dollar Ballard Land Grab
A decades-long legal battle over a prime section of Ballard real estate winds its way toward the U.S. Supreme Court.
- The Whidby Island Land Heist
A townsite development company claims a notary public fraudulently altered a contract to seize control of their Whidby Island property.
- King County's Missing $61,000: Treasurer Accused of Embezzlement
A committee's report reveals that former County Treasurer George D. Hill is indebted to King County for over $61,000; the board orders legal action against him and his bondsmen.
- The Final Verdict on the Yesler Fortune
The Supreme Court intervenes in the contentious battle over Sarah Yesler's estate.
- A City on the Brink: Olympia’s 1891 Debt Crisis and the Fight Over Jobs
Facing a constitutional debt limit, Olympia’s city council considers firing the deputy clerk, assistant city attorney, and city engineer—while a motion to revoke the street railway franchise fails by a tie.
- Who Owns the Shore? The Fight for Salmon Bay's Tide Flats
State land commissioners hear five contests over tide lands at Ballard, where railroads, mill companies and upland owners all claim the right to buy the waterfront.
- The Widow’s Claim: A Legal Battle Over Dower Rights
A historic Seattle property dispute reveals the complex and evolving landscape of women's property rights in 1872 Washington Territory.
- The First Teachers’ Institute: A Battle for Seattle’s Soul
In September 1872, the Territory’s top educators gathered in Seattle to debate everything from corporal punishment to the role of women in teaching, laying the groundwork for public education in Washington.
- The Midnight Watch Transfer That Split a Seattle Courtroom
A judge dissolved an injunction against J.K. Basye & Co. but kept a receiver in place after a night-time removal of goods from Simon Rumpf's watch store.
- The Battle for Moltke Street
A legal dispute over a public right-of-way reveals early tensions between private property development and public access to Lake Union.
- The Price of Water: A Test Case for Irrigation Liens
When a local landholder challenged a water maintenance fee as vague and unenforceable, the court case signaled a broader struggle for the irrigation districts of the Columbia Basin.
- The Parents Said Tacoma's Schools Were Failing. The Typesetter Who Set Their Letter Answered Back.
A frustrated parent writes in to say the city schools teach paper-folding instead of arithmetic; a linotype operator at the same paper — and a Tacoma graduate himself — replies that the trouble may lie closer to home.
- The High-License Gamble: Seattle’s 1886 Liquor War
Business owners threaten to shutter their doors in a high-stakes protest against the city’s new, aggressive liquor licensing ordinances.
- The Land War Over the Strickler Estate
A decades-long legal battle in federal court highlights the risks of ignoring probate when claiming ownership of Seattle's early land parcels.
- Seattle’s Post Office Was a Public Nuisance
Letters sat for a day, stamps ran short, and clerks were worked to exhaustion while the postmaster earned about $85 a month. In 1883, Seattle’s mail service was barely functioning.
- The Bitter Boyer Estate Feud
A sweeping court order freezes the assets and property of the late Sarah E. Boyer, dividing revenue among competing heirs and bringing a prominent family dispute into the light.
- The Ex-Governor and the Courtroom Grudge
A former Washington territorial governor is found in contempt of court over a tangled dispute regarding a fire clay mining company's records.
- The Daily Business of Building a County
Before the era of massive public works projects, the Board of County Commissioners shaped the local landscape one road, one bridge, and one 'poor' claim at a time.
- The Cattle Partnership That Could Not Be Settled in Court
A landmark Washington Supreme Court ruling in 1872 reminded settlers that you cannot simply sue your business partner; you must account for the ledger first.
- The Territorial Legislator and the Editor’s Ego
A fiery public feud erupts in 1861 between a Clark County representative and the editor of the Washington Standard, highlighting the volatile politics of the territorial legislature.
- The Box of Cherries That Made the Railroad Pay Up
Walla Walla shippers turned a single unstamped crate into a daily $50-fine threat—until Northern Pacific headquarters blinked.
- The City Could Still Take the Land
Judge Humes ruled that Seattle’s constitutional debt limit does not interfere with eminent domain, clearing the way for the Howell Street extension through the Ivey property.
- The Railroad Came for the Tenant Farmers
A Washington Supreme Court ruling in Seattle said a railroad owed a tenant for the leasehold, crops and buildings its tracks destroyed—not just the landlord for the dirt.
- The County Seat Was in the Courtroom
Defendants in a Snohomish debt suit tried to derail the case by arguing the county seat had moved to Everett—and that the court was therefore sitting in the wrong place.