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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1883 | 4 |
| 1884 | 4 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 8 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 13 |
| 1895 | 16 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 3 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1914 | 2 |
75 stories matching refrain
- A Young Hero of the Sound
While canoeing near Tacoma, a young boy risks his life to rescue his brother and a friend from drowning in the icy waters of the Sound.
- The House Rules of a Frontier Newspaper
An 1864 editor lays down the law for visitors to his office, covering everything from chewing tobacco to the frequent singing of 'John Brown.'
- The Ram's Horn: When Seattle Went to War With a Railroad Over Six Blocks of Public Street
Boxed in by an injunction, Corporation Counsel Donworth finds a lawyer's loophole: let the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad lay its rails, but serve notice that the city denies the right-of-way exists at all.
- The Right to the Ballot: A Territorial Call to Action
In 1886, as women in Washington Territory claimed the right to vote, editorialists argued that domestic life and civic participation were inseparable.
- A Judge Freezes Seattle's $118,000 School-Building Fund
Queen Anne Hill residents win a temporary injunction barring the school board from spending 1894 tax money on anything but that year's warrants and new school buildings.
- The Price of Civic Silence
An editorial on the danger of 'good citizens' ignoring municipal primaries and leaving the city to the mercy of ward bosses.
- Vigilante Justice in the Coal Mines
After his wife revealed a harrowing story of abuse, a coal company worker took the law into his own hands against a 'trusted' physician.
- The Price of a Victory Cup
A celebratory silver yachting trophy leads to a bureaucratic shakedown at a Port Townsend customs house.
- The Railroad’s Grip on Yakima
A political firestorm erupted in 1885 when the Northern Pacific Railroad allegedly pressured the White House to fire a land official for his loyalty to local settlers.
- A Lamp Against the Express
Mrs. A. McIlvain races down the Great Northern grade to warn an oncoming train of a fallen telegraph pole.
- The Wild West at the N.P. Hotel
A young man, fueled by a 'periodic drunk,' terrorizes a hotel proprietor with a revolver in downtown Spokane.
- The Privatization of Seattle's Waterfront
The Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad declares exclusive ownership over tide lands south of King Street, locking the public out of the harbor.
- Boss Bennett’s Moving Birthplace
A Tacoma political boss keeps relocating John H. McGraw’s birthplace—Bermuda one week, New Brunswick the next—as a Seattle paper cries foul in the 1892 governor’s race.
- A Drunk Man Mistakes a Stranger for a Burglar—and Lands in a Slander Suit
After his house was broken into, Capt. Peter Jensen drowned his sorrows, spotted Henry Wolfe on Front Street and accused him of the burglary. Wolfe knocked him down; now a jury weighs the wreckage.
- The Tyranny of the Rails
For years, Seattle merchants have endured the 'thralldom' of the Northern Pacific Railroad; now, local business leaders are looking to the Canadian Pacific to break the monopoly.
- The Railroad Draws a Line in the Mud: Seattle's Tidelands Declared Off-Limits
In a public notice, the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad Company claims every foot of Elliott Bay shore south of King Street — wet sand, deep water and all — and warns the public to keep off without written permission.
- Seattle Aldermen Kill Scurry's Confirmation in a Jiffy
A raucous 1895 council session turns into a fight over public works, unemployment relief, and a telephone monopoly.
- A False Alarm Reveals Spokane Has No Fire Department
A burst of flame over Howard and Main sends a crowd running — and the paper demands a fire department before a real blaze eats the business district.
- The Battle for the Homecoming: Tacoma vs. Seattle Over the First Washington
As Secretary of War Alger hints that troops may bypass Seattle to land in Tacoma, a civic war erupts over who gets to welcome the returning volunteers from Manila.
- The Girls Who Couldn't Be Moved
When two sisters refused to budge for a fishing trip, a bizarre and prolonged standoff ensued involving a heavy door and a very frustrated brother.
- A Lawyer Stood Up in Court and Accused the Jury of Being in the Company's Pocket
In a $25,000 Seattle injury suit, attorney James Hamilton Lewis turned his closing argument into a public warning about corporate influence—and left the courtroom seething.
- The Preacher Who Called Colville a Blind Sow
Rev. George A. Wells used a Sunday sermon to name-and-shame the town's liquor trade, its lax officials, and the 'pigs' who profited — without quite naming names.
- The Taxpayer Who Sued to Stop Ballard’s Water Deal
A $1,800 purchase of pipe and tools from a private water company sparked a court fight over public money and municipal ownership in Ballard.
- A Federal Judge Orders the Northern Pacific's Workers Not to Strike
With wages about to be cut, railroad receivers win an injunction forbidding engineers, firemen, trainmen and switchmen from combining or quitting—setting up a collision between the courts and organized labor.
- Seattle Canal Endorsement Sparks Political War Between Tacoma and King County
A Tacoma paper fumes that King County's push for a Seattle canal endorsement at the Republican state convention backfired on Pierce County, turning a side issue into a major fight—and King County won.