Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 5 |
| 1895 | 6 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1910 | 1 |
40 stories matching gallow
- The Futility of the Gallows
One month after Seattle's first judicial execution of a white man, the local press questions whether state-sanctioned violence actually deters crime or simply breeds contempt for the law.
- The Hanging Sentence of John Thompson
A condemned man stands in a crowded Seattle courtroom, maintaining his innocence while awaiting the gallows for a fatal brawl in Renton.
- The Hidden Dens of 1870s Seattle
A citizen appeal from 1872 exposes how unchecked public gambling was eroding the moral and financial fabric of the developing waterfront town.
- The Devil's Ledger: A Local Poet Exposes the Hypocrisy of Pullman’s Elite
In a rare moment of social commentary for Whitman County, an anonymous writer publishes a scathing series of rhetorical questions challenging the moral double standards of wealth, gender, and justice in 1889.
- The Shadow of the Gallows in Early Seattle
A crowded courtroom watches as a man is sentenced to hang for a murder on San Juan Island, marking a grim moment in the early administration of justice in Washington Territory.
- Murder at Mica: A Midnight Political Killing in Spokane County
Charles Gloystein was called from his home after the Oregon election. Local papers blamed the Farmers’ Protective Silver Federation—and said neighbors were too afraid to talk.
- The Last Breath in Walla Walla: A Mother’s Collapse as Her Son Faces the Gallows
In May 1888, John Ham was sentenced to death for murder in Washington Territory. His mother, Mrs. Pyle, broke down in court, while their co-conspirator fled the state, leaving the family to face the ultimate penalty.
- A Seattle Preacher Tells Society Women They Are Marching Their Children to the Gallows
Preaching to women only on "Dying Mothers and Starving Children," Rev. M. A. Matthews calls society "the emptiness of emptiness" — and blames card parties, prizes and maternal neglect for juvenile crime.
- The Churchgoer With a Murder Warrant Waiting
For three years, Sprague knew R. J. Howard as a trusted young man and Methodist probationer. Then a Lincoln County sheriff walked into Lewis' store and called him by another name.
- The Charcoal Burner Who Confessed to a Killing the Birds Made Him Do
Arrested for stealing chickens, Ah Wah turns out to be Ah Chung — the Port Townsend murderer who told police where to find his partner's body, and was saved from the gallows by two volunteer lawyers and a story about blue jays.
- The Alibi That Could Save a Condemned Man
A condemned man's fate hinges on a Tacoma Labor Day alibi, a jailhouse confession, and a tailor who may have been pressured to identify bloody clothes.
- The Outlaw Who Begged His Mother Never to Know
Thomas Planck confessed to five murders, broke jail and was shot after a last meal at a Kent farm. Then thousands of Seattleites filed past his body.
- The Feast of Lots: Seattle's Jewish Community Celebrates Purim with an Auction of Sacred Letters
At the Hinckley block, the Orthodox congregation dedicated a new Torah scroll and auctioned off its letters to fund education.
- The Vigilantes’ Bones: Seattle Dug Up Its Most Notorious Lynching
Thirteen years after a mob hanged three men on James Street, a county doctor exhumed their skeletons for anatomy students— ropes, necktie and all.
- The Wooden Revolver That Freed Ten Prisoners
Thomas Blanck held a jailer hostage with a carved fake gun, emptied the King County jail, and vanished into Seattle's streets.