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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 13 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 4 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 30 |
| 1891 | 31 |
| 1892 | 12 |
| 1893 | 12 |
| 1894 | 8 |
| 1895 | 93 |
| 1904 | 7 |
| 1909 | 15 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1915 | 3 |
| 1924 | 1 |
250 stories matching jan
- The Railroad’s Big Heist: Northern Pacific Claims Indian Land It Doesn’t Own
As the Puyallup Reservation faces a legal siege from the Northern Pacific Railway, federal officials warn that a treaty-protected land grab could strip thousands of acres from Native families for pennies on the dollar.
- The Six Who Vanished: Tacoma’s Senatorial Scandal and the Art of Political Silence
In the wake of a bitter Washington State Senate race, the six key allies of defeated candidate Judge Calkins have disappeared from public view, leaving behind a trail of bribery allegations and a furious debate over whether the election was stolen or won by superior strategy.
- The Plot to Lock Up a Witness: How Greed Tried to Silence a Pioneer
William De Shaw, a respected Seattle merchant and witness to a will worth millions in British Columbia, was nearly committed to an insane asylum by land speculators who wanted his testimony silenced.
- The Judge Who Played Faro: Port Townsend’s Bar Association Moves to Impeach Morris Sachs
In a stunning display of civic outrage, local attorneys and property owners present sworn affidavits to the state legislature alleging that Superior Court Judge Morris B. Sachs regularly gambled on illegal faro games and prejudged cases before hearing them.
- The Octopus and the Seal: A Local Captain’s War Against a Washington Monopoly
In 1901, Port Townsend resident James G. Swan published affidavits from experienced hunters to debunk Professor Elliott’s claim that seal pups sink like stones, exposing the Alaska Commercial Company’s stranglehold on federal policy.
- The Shingle Trust Flexes Its Muscles in Tacoma
Ninety percent of the Pacific Northwest shingle industry convenes to fix prices and freeze out jobbers, signaling a new era of regional corporate dominance.
- Lobbyist Admits to Bribing Lawmakers
A longtime lobbyist testifies that he received thousands of dollars from the Northern Pacific Railway to kill legislation in the Washington Territorial House.
- A Senate Seat, a Caucus, and a Yakima Ditch Deal
In Olympia, Republicans moved to settle the U.S. Senate contest between Ankeny and Wilson—while opponents circulated a story that Wilson had traded a Congressional favor for stock in a Yakima irrigation scheme.
- The Fishhook Baited With Human Flesh
In a Port Townsend hotel, a sailor displays the improvised wire hook that kept survivors of the wrecked whaler James Allen alive after the disaster in Bering Sea.
- The Great Rabbit Drive: Blood, Snow, and the Hunt for Sport in Yakima
Hundreds of men, boys, and ladies converged on a four-mile line to corral hundreds of jackrabbits into a killing field, resulting in more broken bones than dead rabbits.
- A Desperate Tailor's Public Plea at the Postmaster's Door
After his wife fled to Tacoma to work in the post office, a destitute man attempted to take his own life on the doorstep of her employer.
- The Great Seattle Land Battle of 1877
A federal decision sheds light on the messy early scramble for ownership of downtown Seattle, as speculators and the city vied for title to the waterfront.
- The 'Other' America: How Seattle's Elite Feared the 'Unassimilable' Masses
A January 1889 federal report on immigration warns that new arrivals are too different to become citizens, fueling calls for exclusion just as Seattle prepares for its own explosive growth.
- The Fatal Lock: A Mother’s Visit, a Father’s Work, and Two Children Burned Alive
In January 1893, a house fire at the Kinyon mills in Tacoma claimed the lives of two young children left alone inside. The tragedy highlights a grim era where child safety was often secondary to labor demands.
- The Deserted Wife Who Saved Her Homestead
When a man abandoned his land and his spouse in Olympia, the government tried to invalidate her claim—until a steely legal battle proved her right to stay.
- The Hero of the Ferndale Disaster
When the British bark Ferndale went down in a freezing storm off the Washington coast, one local woman braved the surf to save the lives of three sailors.
- The Struggle for the Speaker’s Gavel
Legislative chaos in Olympia as Republicans deadlock over the speakership, threatening to delay the inauguration of the new state government.
- A Deadlock at the Capitol
As Washington's state legislature struggles to elect a U.S. Senator, tales of bribery and party pressure dominate the halls in Olympia.
- Two Steamers Saluted Off Cape Flattery—Then Vanished Into the Storm
A schooner captain’s account places the missing Keweenaw and Montserrat together off Washington’s coast on a night of monstrous seas, just before both were lost.
- They Refused the Money and the Land
In 1895, the Wenatchee Indians turned down a $36,000 payment and allotments, fearing it would erase their claim to a promised Mission Creek reservation.
- The Ax in the Brick Yard
A convict who had waited years for the man who testified against him finally gets his chance at Walla Walla — and takes it with an ax.
- The Newspaper Letter That Nearly Started a Fight in the Washington Senate
With the U.S. Senate election deadlocked in Olympia, a Pierce County senator read a rival’s letter aloud — and the chamber erupted over money, lobbyists, and borrowed favors.
- Black Diners Challenged Seattle Café’s Dual Menu Prices
A local cafe owner faces legal action for enforcing a discriminatory pricing policy against Black patrons.
- The Senatorial Bomb Threat at the State House
A local man causes a panic in the Olympia senate gallery while screaming threats of violence over a U.S. Senate election.
- Mount Vernon's Dikes Held—Barely—as the Skagit Rose
The Skagit River broke a dike near Fir, covered bottomlands, cut trains and mail, and left Mount Vernon watching its new levee seep.