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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1883 | 6 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 8 |
| 1893 | 4 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 6 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1904 | 5 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1916 | 2 |
52 stories matching foremost
- The 'Ring' and the Rot: A 1872 Call for Municipal Reform
A scathing letter to the editor of the Puget Sound Dispatch exposes a culture of county-level corruption and financial mismanagement that mirrors modern political frustrations.
- The Waterfront Showdown of 1877
A mob attempts to forcibly eject Chinese laborers from a coal ship, but is repelled by a quick-thinking mate and his revolver.
- Canal Jobs for Seattle Men Only, Outsiders Warned
As Eastern labor agents advertise for the coming canal work, the labor commissioner and the waterway company tell would-be migrants to stay home.
- James J. Hill's Gamble to Make Seattle the Cheapest Port on the Pacific
The Great Northern's president arrives in Seattle with the country's foremost elevator builder and a plan to carve a ship canal, fill it in, and plant a 500,000-bushel steel grain terminal beside it — before this year's harvest comes in.
- A Poisoned Wife and a Verdict at Last: The Pepoon Murder Case
A Stevens County jury convicts George L. Pepoon of first-degree murder for the strychnine death of his wife Edith — but the man who helped him remains at large, and the county only acted after private citizens forced its hand.
- 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 Battle for Ravenna Park: When Seattle’s Elite Tried to Buy Out the Public
In May 1899, a private park association posted trespassing warnings and threatened legal action against streetcar passengers, sparking a fierce public debate over whether Seattle’s green spaces belonged to the people or their wealthy owners.
- A Downtown Church Outgrows Its 1856 Home
Olympia's Methodists are quietly preparing to raise a new church at Fifth and Adams, honoring the pioneers who built the old one on Fourth — and the 375 souls who now fill the pews.
- A Ninety-Foot Fall Down an Icy Mountain—and He Walked Away
William Wade tumbled down a steep incline in the Cascades while hunting mountain goats, bounding off icy benches before disappearing under a snowbank. He survived with bruises and a sprained ankle.
- The Man from Mexico Comes to Town: Wenatchee’s New Theater Opens with Star-Studded Fanfare
As the city celebrates its new cultural landmark, the Watson Stock Company arrives to perform 'The Man from Mexico,' promising a week of high drama and comedy that rivals Seattle's biggest hits.
- Two Gas Explosions in the Franklin Mine Kill the Pit Foreman
A rescue attempt turns fatal as a second blast tears through the Franklin coal mine, killing foreman P. B. Robinson and burning nine men.
- A Gasser, a Picnic, and a Promise: Kennewick Bets on Oil and Gas
Drillers pause to case off 400 feet of water, 85 people picnic at the well, and a Yakima promoter promises a franchise — and maybe oil — by summer.
- The Man Behind Newport's Electric Lights
A Chicago utility magnate's company invests $100,000 to bring electric power to Newport, promising modern service at fair rates.
- 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.
- A Fortune in Strawberries: The Grower Who Says Thurston County Is Sleeping on Its Own Soil
Olympia closed the fruit season with its biggest shipments yet, but veteran orchardman George B. Hartman says the county's trees are thriving on forty years of neglect — and that proper cultivation could out-earn Oregon and California combined.
- The Engineer Who Says Olympia Stiffed Him for Sewer Plans
A civil engineer hired to draft Olympia’s sewers says the city accepted his $700 bid, starved him of data, then canceled his contract and paid another man $1,500 for plans he calls a public nuisance.
- The Iron Fist of Labor: Seattle’s Unions Unite to Control the City
A comprehensive look at the Western Central Labor Union and its affiliated trades—bricklayers, carpenters, and iron workers—who have effectively monopolized construction in Seattle.
- Two Weeks In, Still No Senator: Olympia's Republicans Tire of the Ankeny Fight
The legislature has been in session a fortnight and Washington still has no United States senator. A colleague's insulting letter blows up, the Wilson and Allen camps fold, and a caucus is called to force the thing to an end.
- The Cave at the End of the Boundary Trail
A 1908 Newport writer follows a blazed trail north of Metaline into a limestone cavern of bath-like basins, a 'Guardian of the Baths' and a music room already being vandalized.
- 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 Case for Naming an Olympia Street After Judge Hewitt
A memorial sermon for a territorial judge becomes a plea to carve his name into Olympia's street map—and a meditation on what makes a public life worth remembering.
- Samuel Hill Warns Seattle Would 'Die Like Rats in a Trap' Without Highways
As Congress weighs the Latimer and Brownlow road-funding bills, the Seattle utility magnate and son-in-law of James J. Hill makes the case that paved highways out of the city are a matter of survival, not comfort.
- The Banker Who Steered Newport Through the Panic of 1907
G. S. Thomas founded Newport's first bank, helped bring the city its water system, and died after guiding the institution through the financial stringency of November 1907.
- The Case for Washington Statehood
A San Francisco paper argues Washington Territory has the population, wealth and schools to join the Union — and urges Congress to admit it.
- The Rise and Lonely Fall of Spokane's Richest Man
Banker Anthony M. Cannon, who helped build Spokane from a cabin by the falls, dies broke and bereaved in a New York hotel — days after a secret second marriage made him tabloid prey.