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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 37 |
| 1884 | 22 |
| 1885 | 30 |
| 1886 | 16 |
| 1887 | 59 |
167 stories
- The Rivalry That Built the Sound
In 1887, C.B. Wright, a key figure in the development of Tacoma, reflects on the 'nip and go' panic that forced the Northern Pacific terminus to choose between Tacoma and Seattle.
- The Doctor’s Debt: A Patient’s Humiliating Public Seizure
A Tacoma woman's attempt to board a train to Chicago was halted in the cruelest fashion when a sheriff seized her luggage over an unpaid medical bill.
- A Miraculous Escape at the Old Town Mill
A worker's arm was caught in a drive belt, and his body was hurled through an eight-inch opening in the floor, yet he survived with only a broken ankle.
- 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.
- 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.
- A Captain’s High-Stakes Mutiny on the Sound
When the ship Richard III was libeled by creditors, the captain held a deputy marshal at gunpoint to make a daring escape.
- The Cheadle Point Shootings
A domestic dispute on a remote homestead near Tacoma turns into a violent, chaotic bloodbath involving a revolver and a desperate act of intervention.
- The Judge and the Brothel
A Tacoma magistrate’s attempt to move his court away from a neighboring brothel backfired when the City Council ordered him to clean up the street instead.
- The Iron Horse Comes to Tacoma
Thousands gather at the waterfront in 1887 to witness the arrival of the first direct Northern Pacific train from the East, marking a new era of connectivity for the Pacific Northwest.
- Puyallup People Wait on Delayed Land Patents
A century-old battle for property rights reveals how corporate interests and federal delays threatened to dispossess the Puyallup people of their ancestral home.
- The Chamber of Commerce Pleads for the Railroads
Tacoma’s business elite pen a desperate memorial to the Northern Pacific, crying 'perfidy' as the terminal war heats up.
- The Street Improvement Fiasco
Workers left penniless and street projects stalled as city contractors vanish without pay.
- A Fatal Fall for a Tacoma Fireman
A member of Native Hose Company No. 1 dies after falling from a wet, slick roof while responding to a call.
- The Smallpox Mayor of Old Tacoma
When an outbreak of smallpox threatened the young town of New Tacoma in 1881, its first mayor took drastic, solitary action to save the community.
- Northern Pacific Unearned Lands Spark Public Domain Push
Citizens launch a movement to reclaim Northern Pacific land grants for the people.
- Tacoma’s Merry Municipal Mayhem
While Seattle navigates its own growing pains, its 'younger sister' Tacoma finds itself in a state of total civic disorder, from impeached marshals to liquor license wars.
- The Deadly Rivalry at the Bargetown Lake
Two farmers, blinded by their competition for the hand of a local woman, met at daybreak for a fight that ended in blood and arrest.
- The 'Lingerer' and the Moral Purge of Tacoma
A fiery 1885 editorial spat reveals the tension between town boosters and a 'Law and Order' movement intent on policing the morality of the emerging city.
- A Father's Desperate Act in the Tacoma Streets
A Victoria man crossed the border to reclaim his daughter from a fractured home, sparking a public confrontation.
- The Great Tacoma Chicken Heist
A witness in the theft trial of a local gang describes how hundreds of chickens were lured and captured under the cover of darkness.
- The Jailer's Secret Cache
When nine prisoners attempted a daring escape from the Pierce County Jail, they left behind a strange assortment of contraband that revealed their desperate ingenuity.
- The Great Tacoma Smelter Scam
A smooth-talking promoter arrives in the dead of winter, promises a mining fortune, and leaves a town holding the bag.
- The Tragic Disappearance of James Irving
A young sailor, days away from his wedding and the start of a new life in Tacoma, vanishes after a final boat trip across the bay.
- The Broken Promises of the Tide Flats
Tacoma business leaders turn on the Northern Pacific Railroad after years of waiting for promised infrastructure.
- Locked Away for Being a Stranger
A Seattle man traveling to meet his brother in Tacoma finds himself swept up in a case of mistaken identity, thrown into a filthy, unventilated jail cell, and ignored by officials despite his pleas for evidence.