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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 14 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 8 |
| 1860 | 7 |
| 1861 | 15 |
| 1862 | 20 |
| 1863 | 8 |
| 1864 | 3 |
| 1865 | 2 |
| 1871 | 2 |
| 1872 | 21 |
| 1876 | 56 |
| 1877 | 62 |
| 1878 | 40 |
| 1879 | 6 |
| 1880 | 15 |
| 1882 | 10 |
| 1883 | 78 |
| 1884 | 51 |
| 1885 | 87 |
| 1886 | 51 |
| 1887 | 52 |
| 1888 | 36 |
| 1889 | 116 |
| 1890 | 23 |
| 1891 | 107 |
| 1892 | 203 |
| 1893 | 257 |
| 1894 | 270 |
| 1895 | 250 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 10 |
| 1899 | 39 |
| 1900 | 10 |
| 1903 | 102 |
| 1904 | 63 |
| 1905 | 10 |
| 1907 | 5 |
| 1908 | 21 |
| 1909 | 93 |
| 1910 | 18 |
| 1911 | 17 |
| 1912 | 8 |
| 1914 | 18 |
| 1915 | 17 |
| 1916 | 35 |
| 1917 | 22 |
| 1918 | 2 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 11 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1925 | 4 |
| 1929 | 2 |
2,381 stories matching act
- The Test Case for Chinese Exclusion
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear the Chae Chan Ping case, the lives and property rights of Chinese laborers in Washington hang in the balance.
- A Burglar Caught in the Act
Howard Dodd, caught ransacking a home on North L Street, is sentenced to up to 14 years in the state penitentiary.
- The Ghost Town That Refused to Die
A legal war between Denver, Washington, and the city of Spokane ends in the state supreme court, effectively wiping a town off the map.
- "An Act of Providence": State Clears the Great Northern for the Wellington Dead
After a joint inquiry with the coroner's jury into the Wellington disaster, the state railroad commission finds the train crew did everything reasonable and calls the catastrophe an act of God — then quietly asks engineers to study the grade.
- Supreme Court Upholds Chinese Exclusion
The high court rules that Congress has the power to abrogate treaties, effectively ending the entry of Chinese laborers to the United States.
- The Herald’s Victory Over Libel
After year-long court battles, the newspaper celebrates the dismissal of civil and criminal libel suits brought by a school board member.
- Daring Hotel Burglar Bound Over for Trial
After being caught in the act at the Lansing Hotel, a young suspect who made a brazen escape from police is headed to court.
- The Eight-Hour Day: Who Gets It and Who Doesn't?
A definitive ruling clarifies that Washington’s landmark labor protections were intended for physical toil, not office work.
- The French Spy Storms the Seattle Stage
A grand military drama brings the fall of Algiers to the Seattle Theater, complete with smoke, grenades, and a Turkish bell dance.
- The Battle for the Capitol Grounds
A public dispute erupts between the Acting Governor and a Capitol Commissioner over the bidding process for clearing the grounds in Olympia.
- The Great Jury Debate: When Washington Women Fought for the Bench
A landmark 1888 legal dispute threatened to strip women of their newly won right to vote and serve as jurors in Washington Territory.
- The Ballard Council Standoff
A Ballard councilman refuses to vacate his chair, leading to a tense and absurd political showdown.
- The Day Seattle Women Lost the Vote
In a bombshell ruling that blindsided the territory, the Supreme Court struck down the 1883 law that first granted Washington women the right to cast a ballot.
- U.S. Commissioner Orders Expulsion of Eleven Chinese Residents
Following a trial in Port Townsend, eleven individuals were ordered removed from American soil for alleged violations of the Chinese Restriction Act.
- The Courthouse Contract Benton County Couldn't Swallow
Commissioners Clements and McNeill let a courthouse contract and issued a warrant without advertising for bids. A judge said they were within the law; the Courier-Reporter said the taxpayers would remember.
- The Governor’s Office Emptied
Acting Governor Laughton faces accusations of legal overreach and depletion of state funds, leading to a clash with Governor Ferry.
- Seattle Property Owners to Assess Front Street Widening
A mid-summer legal notice reveals the bureaucratic struggle to widen Front Street—modern-day First Avenue—as the city demanded property owners share the cost of modernization.
- A Kitchen Fire on the Hill — and a Town Saves the House
Capt. Willoughby's kitchen burned with $800 in utensils and stores, but quick-acting citizens kept the blaze from taking the main building.
- The Unlucky Burglar of the Indian Reservation
A habitual offender is caught in the act at the government Indian school.
- Federal Land Claims Struck Down in Seattle
Secretary Noble rejects a group of homestead applications in the Seattle district, potentially halting a syndicate's attempt to hoard thousands of acres.
- A Father’s Deadly Act at Riverside
On the same morning his daughter was born, a man took his own life and critically injured his toddler daughter in a shocking explosion.
- The Forgotten Quest for Washington Statehood
A rare 1878 proclamation reveals the high-stakes, multi-district election held to draft a constitution that would finally bring Washington into the Union.
- The Major’s Act of Personal Charity
When two families near Lake Washington faced absolute destitution, a city official chose to bypass bureaucratic red tape to offer help from his own pocket.
- The Delegate Who Stalled the State’s Legal Progress
How a stubborn stand on woman suffrage paralyzed Washington Territory’s legislative agenda in the halls of D.C.
- The 1863 Legislative Session Wraps Up
A look back at the territorial assembly's busy session, featuring a major overhaul of the legal code, debates over the Idaho statehood movement, and the struggles of members waiting on federal pay.