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69 stories matching insert
- The Pre-emptor’s Ledger: A Blueprint for Owning Olympia
In November 1860, the federal government issued a rigid, almost theatrical checklist of requirements for settlers hoping to claim land in Washington Territory. It wasn't enough to just show up; you had to prove your worthiness through a litany of domestic and agricultural details.
- The Great Land Squeeze of 1885
While the Northern Pacific Railroad publicly promised to 'build up the country,' settlers in King County found their land held hostage for mineral rights and future profits.
- The Tear-Off Ballot Stub and the $25 Fine for Not Voting
Two 1893 bills proposed a perforated anti-fraud ballot and compulsory voting with transient polling places, hoping to end vote buying in Washington.
- Four Shots at a Seattle Policeman—and a Potato in the Revolver
Harry C. Good, a popular young salesman, is held on $10,000 bail after wounding Officer J. W. Glasscock at Third and Marion, while old friends recall the time they replaced his pistol cylinder with a potato.
- The Mule-Mounted Howitzer Fiasco
An ambitious Army experiment at a Western fort goes hilariously and dangerously wrong when a cannon-strapped mule decides to take matters into his own hooves.
- A Stranger, a Pistol, and No Motive: The Unsolved Shooting of Harry Fraser
Seattle mourners fill a chapel for Harry J. Fraser as the man accused of killing him sits in the county jail—and no one can explain why the shot was fired.
- The Preacher Who Turned 170 Acres of Wilderness Into a Home
When Port Townsend could not pay its Methodist minister enough to live on, Rev. Laubach moved to Discovery Bay and built a farm — house, fences, orchard and skiff — with his own hands.
- The Unseen Labor of 1891 Seattle
A single classified advertisement captures the presence and aspiration of Japanese laborers in the Pacific Northwest at the end of the 19th century.
- A Streetcar Cathedral Rises at Chestnut and Fifth
Olympia Light and Power plans a three-story headquarters with repair pits, a supply store and dormitory rooms for single employees — if City Council approves the route it wants.
- The School Law That Existed Only in the Enrolled Bill
A $3,700 school-fund dispute in Spokane exposed a legislative clerk's error—and left Washington's superintendent asking whether the enrolled bill or the journals were law.
- The Resolution They Had to Strike: A Port Townsend Convention and the Warrant-Forgery Fight
Jefferson County Republicans convened in Port Townsend, then recoiled when a platform resolution praised the prosecutor who had refused to pursue forgery charges against county warrant endorsers.
- A State Board Told Dentists to Sign Away Their Ads — One Seattle Man Refused
At the 1903 licensing exams in Tacoma, Washington's dental examiners demanded applicants sign a code-of-ethics contract before they could sit down. Edwin J. Brown of Seattle said no — and the whole profession waited to see whether he'd be barred from practice.
- The Mugwump’s Ledger: How Seattle’s Territorial Secretary Gamed the Law Printing Contract
A fierce editorial exposes Secretary Owings for delaying the publication of territorial laws to favor a cronies’ printing bid, while padding the bill with 40 pages of his own party platform.
- How Everett Got Its Harbor Money—by Telegrams and Western Nerve
A seven-month lobbying campaign, a reluctant War Department and a $10,000 dredging appropriation: inside the fight to make Everett a deep-water port.
- The Canal That Would Reshape Seattle, Held Up by Mud and Paperwork
In 1895 the government's Lake Washington ship canal was still a paper route, and every submerged lot owner had to sign away damages before a dredge could move.
- General Booth Brings the Salvation Army’s Hallelujah Show to Seattle
A visiting evangelist fills the Armory, keeps a basement congregation on its knees, and explains why the Army is not a church.
- Judge Hanford Draws the Line: Sheep Can't Graze on Railroad Land Without Consent
A federal court ruling in Yakima County upholds the Northern Pacific Railway's right to protect its unenclosed lands from sheep, setting a precedent for property rights and land use in the West.
- The People’s Ticket: Olympia’s 1891 Caucus Revolt
A printed slate handed out at the door, a mayor booed as 'defeated,' and a second-ward protest meeting: the fight over who would control Olympia's city nominations.
- The Judge Who Warned Seattle Not to Sell Its Waterfront to a Canal Company
In 1894, Judge John J. McGilvra urged Congress to build the Lake Washington Ship Canal and warned that a private company's tideflat scheme would put tolls on the water and enrich speculators at public expense.