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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1889 | 4 |
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61 stories matching habitu
- The City’s Panic Over a Smallpox Outbreak
When an infectious disease arrived on the Seattle waterfront in 1876, the City Council and local editors turned to extreme rhetoric, calling for the forced removal of the city's vulnerable populations.
- A History of a Sad Honeymoon
A Seattle woman sues for divorce, alleging a brutal pattern of domestic abuse and betrayal mere months into her marriage.
- Sensationalism Pursues a Former New York Educator
A cruel smear campaign against a Seattle man proves the devastating power of yellow journalism in the young state of Washington.
- The Tragedy at the Eagle Annex
A woman is found dead in a tent and her companion lies near death, leaving police with a grisly mystery and no murder weapon.
- The Avarice of the Soil
An 1871 lecture on why farmers must stop starving themselves to save a few pennies.
- The Ten-Hour Day comes to Port Gamble
A major mill company unilaterally reduces labor hours without cutting pay, setting a new industry standard in the Puget Sound.
- The Theater vs. The Saloon
A surprising social trend sees Walla Walla residents choosing stage entertainment over the local drinking houses.
- The Terrier Who Took His Bedtime Seriously
When his mistress tried to teach a pet a lesson in discipline, the dog showed he was two steps ahead.
- Six Daughters, a Washing Tub, and a Drunkard’s Uncollectible Debt
A Ballard mother won a divorce and $1,000 in alimony after years of violence and drinking — but the judgment was worth little unless her husband actually paid.
- The Street Preacher's Final Sermon
A 'monomaniac' street preacher who habitually harassed passersby is apprehended by police and committed to the territorial asylum.
- The Vicious Old Man of the Jail
After a history of petty crime and violence, a troubled elderly man is committed to the state asylum due to worsening mental illness caused by years of dissipation.
- The Bitter End of a College Place Marriage
A landmark local divorce case involving domestic violence, a butcher knife, and an $8,000 settlement concludes in Walla Walla.
- A Marriage Held at Gunpoint
A Seattle woman files for divorce, revealing a harrowing home life where her husband enforced isolation with a revolver and staged nightly terrors.
- Tacoma’s Fire Chief Lost His Job After a Drunken Ride in the Fire Wagon
A periodic bender, a joyride down Pacific Avenue in a fire wagon, and a mayor’s ultimatum ended Chief Lillis’s career—though supporters blamed the A.P.A.
- A Temperance Orator Rides Into Yakima, and the Churches Empty Their Pews for Him
Francis Murphy, who talked three thousand Tacomans into signing the pledge, opens a revival at Switzer's Hall under W.C.T.U. auspices — and the ministers cancel Sunday evening services so the whole town can hear him.
- The Judge Who Was Too High to Rule
Washington state legislators launch an impeachment investigation into a Spokane judge accused of being a 'morphine fiend' who presided over court while intoxicated.
- Vice and the Waterfront: A Business Scandal on A Street
Promoters of the new city dock claim that illicit resorts and gambling dens are scaring away legitimate shippers and passengers.
- The Magic City of Puget Sound
A booster’s portrait of 1890 Fairhaven, capturing a boom town fueled by speculation, deep-water access, and massive infrastructure projects.
- The Professional Vagrant Who Could Not Stay Away
A habitual traveler of the rails, George P. Small, is caught once again in Oregon, highlighting the desperate, recurring struggle of the era's displaced poor.
- The Scissors That Broke the Jail: A Spokane Prisoner’s Audacious Escape Attempt
Convicted hold-up man Harry Kelly nearly freed himself from the county dungeon using nothing but a rusty pair of scissors and sheer determination, leaving Sheriff Doust scrambling to find who supplied the tool.
- The Rogue Marshal of Tacoma
Citizens formally impeach the City Marshal for cozying up to brothel owners and ignoring the law.
- A Wife's Testimony Was Enough: Supreme Court Reverses Divorce Denial
The Washington Supreme Court ruled that a wife's own account of cruelty and habitual drunkenness could justify a divorce, reversing a lower court that had dismissed Nellie Lee's case.
- A Desperate Escape on the Duwamish River
A woman seeking work in Seattle narrowly avoids a violent attack after being lured into the wilderness by a false job offer.
- The 'Mercer Girl' Divorce Case
A seventy-two-year-old pioneer sues his wife of twenty-two years for divorce, complaining of her 'slipshod housekeeping' and a lack of clean bedding.
- Five Years Barred From Marrying Again: A Judge's Plan to Rewrite Divorce
Judge Frater's bill would fix the grounds, put every divorce on the record, let courts forbid remarriage for up to five years — and jail anyone who tries it anyway.