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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 130 |
| 1883 | 799 |
| 1884 | 455 |
| 1885 | 838 |
| 1886 | 492 |
| 1887 | 484 |
3,198 stories
- The Wild West of Seattle Grading
In the late 1880s, Seattle’s haphazard street construction and 'dirt-moving' contractors left the city a muddy, confusing, and financially murky landscape for residents and letter carriers alike.
- 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.
- The Tragic Last Notes of L. R. Shaw
A desperate local resident details his financial ruin, drug dependence, and final instructions to his family in a series of haunting letters before taking his own life in Seattle.
- The Political Tightrope of Territorial Seattle
In a 1887 campaign speech, future Seattle Mayor T.J. Humes attempts to balance the demands of laborers, miners, and the controversial issue of women's suffrage.
- The Strange Legal Battle of Two Men Claiming One Wife
A quarrel between two men over a woman leads to a courtroom standoff in Seattle, revealing a messy web of bigamy, divorce, and personal vendettas.
- The Perils of the Seattle Tideflats
A mother survives a terrifying fall through a rotten wooden sidewalk into the mud-filled depths of the Seattle tideflats, exposing the dangerous state of the city's infrastructure.
- The Hidden Anarchist Dens of Old Seattle
A reporter goes undercover into the city's dimly lit saloons to find the radicals, the red-eyed agitators, and the illicit literature that supposedly threatened the order of the growing town.
- The Perilous Trek of Miss O'Leary
A young woman survives a harrowing, lonely walk from Portland to Seattle in the depths of winter.
- The Political Pilgrimage to Steilacoom
In 1887, Washington Territorial legislators took a collective trip to inspect the state's asylum, but the solemn mission quickly devolved into a social affair that kept the real results hidden from the public.
- The Desperate 'Stake' of a Fugitive
After shooting an employer in Seattle, a wounded man is discovered in a cabin near a brickyard, revealing a tale of poverty, gambling, and a botched robbery.
- The Unlikely Bond Between a Convict and His Keeper
A rare glimpse of humanity inside the grim walls of a frontier jail, where a long-term prisoner and the man paid to guard him found a surprising connection.
- The Rising Metropolis of the North
A traveler reflects on Seattle's explosive growth in 1883, from its coal-driven commerce to the 'Titanic' scale of its lumber mills.
- Smallpox Scare in Downtown Seattle
A man arriving from San Francisco by steamship causes a panic after seeking help for symptoms at a local physician's office.
- A Fatal Fall at the Construction Site
A young carpenter fell 20 feet from scaffolding while working on a new house, leaving him with critical injuries.
- The Brutal Voyage of the Challenger
A crew files an admiralty suit against their ship's officers, alleging systemic violence and abuse on the journey from Philadelphia.
- The Marriage and Landing of Chinese Merchants
A customs decision allows the wives of three Chinese merchants to enter Seattle, citing the legal status of marriage.
- Seattle's Frontier Expansion
A report on the rapid growth, construction, and economic development of Seattle in 1883.
- Surviving the Bitter Cold in Eastern Washington
Settlers in the Palouse country are forced to burn their fences for warmth as sub-zero temperatures threaten both livestock and families.
- The Cold Truth at City Hall
A winter coal shortage brings a parade of desperate applicants to a city official who doles out fuel with a mix of bureaucratic cruelty and casual dismissals.
- The Courthouse Mud Trap
A dangerous quagmire on Third Street leaves citizens stuck in the clay on their way to justice.
- Smallpox Hits the Upper Town
A young child’s illness sparks a strict quarantine as the city grapples with a frightening outbreak.
- The Bold Plan to Create an Island City
Prominent citizens incorporate the Washington Improvement Company to carve a canal linking Lake Washington to Lake Union, promising to reclaim marshland and shift the city's geography.
- Railroad War in the Cascades
A power struggle between a superintendent and his replacement at the Northern Pacific construction front leads to threats, unpaid fares, and shotgun standoffs.
- Henry Villard's High-Stakes Visit to Tacoma
The Northern Pacific Railroad president defends his company's delays and promises a new luxury hotel to soothe local frustration.
- Drunken Brawl in Walla Walla
When a rowdy group of cattle herders spent their gold with 'prodigal hand' at local saloons, they turned the street into a chaotic scene that tested the resolve of city officials.