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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 8 |
| 1887 | 5 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 12 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 18 |
| 1892 | 34 |
| 1893 | 15 |
| 1894 | 23 |
| 1895 | 13 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1903 | 3 |
| 1904 | 4 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1915 | 2 |
164 stories matching murphi
- The Great Snoqualmie Rail Race
How two rival railroad companies raced through the brush to stake a claim on the critical bottleneck at Snoqualmie Falls.
- The City Council’s Policing Scandal
Seattle’s city leadership sparked outrage in 1886 by refusing to support the Mayor's dismissal of a police officer accused of gross negligence.
- The Counterfeiter Caught in the Act
Dr. J. S. Methvin, an aspiring counterfeiter, is apprehended after escaping from federal marshals in South Park, claiming he was set up by a partner.
- A Surprise Guilty Verdict in a Waterfront Holdup
A jury convicts I. W. Tollman of highway robbery, while the trial of John Murphy for the same holdup of John Smith continues in Judge Bellinger's court.
- A Temperance Orator Rides Into Yakima, and the Churches Empty Their Pews for Him
Francis Murphy, who talked three thousand Tacomans into signing the pledge, opens a revival at Switzer's Hall under W.C.T.U. auspices — and the ministers cancel Sunday evening services so the whole town can hear him.
- The Paper War That Split Thurston County
A rival weekly, a political machine, and a defiant editor: Olympia’s Tribune accuses the Owings-Murphy ring of spending thousands to “down” it.
- The Cattle Thief Who Disappeared
A man accused of cattle theft in Seattle jumped bail and vanished, only to be tracked down in a Montana prison.
- The First Lacrosse Game Ever Played in Seattle
Five hundred spectators packed Madison Street Park as picked teams from Victoria introduced the city to lacrosse — and a stocky second-home nicknamed 'Billy' ran away with the show.
- The Police Chief Who Couldn't Keep Order
For two years, Seattle's police force has been mired in incompetence and apathy under a Chief who avoids the law.
- Bodies of Colman and Patten Recovered from Lake Washington
After weeks of searching, a homemade underwater viewing device helps recover the bodies of two men murdered on the water.
- A Wooden Pistol Emptied the King County Jail
Thomas Blanck, awaiting appeal for murder, locked the night jailer in a cell and walked out with eight other prisoners—armed with a black wooden fake.
- The Wooden Revolver That Freed Ten Prisoners
Thomas Blanck held a jailer hostage with a carved fake gun, emptied the King County jail, and vanished into Seattle's streets.
- Court Overturns Conviction in Saloon Killing
The Washington Supreme Court grants a new trial to James Murphy, who murdered a bartender for refusing to serve him liquor.
- The Political Hunger Games for the Deputy Collector Post
As federal appointments loom in Seattle, local candidates and their fixers engage in a desperate, high-stakes game of political patronage and moral maneuvering.
- A Courtroom Gunfire Mishap in Walla Walla
A sheriff's demonstration of a murder weapon goes awry, nearly striking a spectator in the courtroom.
- The Mayor and the Murderer
A scathing editorial questions the ethics of Mayor Ronald defending a local killer while in office.
- The Saloon Vote and the Clean-Up of 1887
A wave of reform hits Seattle’s city government as voters turn out the old guard, citing the corrupting influence of the 'saloon element' in local politics.
- The Wild Life and Vanishing Legacy of Betsy Jones
A century-old property dispute in Bellingham unearths the chaotic, cross-continental saga of a woman whose life defied Victorian conventions.
- A Deadly Christmas Eve Dispute in Willapa
A drunken argument over railroad work ended in a shooting at a gravel pit, leaving a respected foreman dead and his killer in jail.
- The Engineer Who Says Olympia Stiffed Him for Sewer Plans
A civil engineer hired to draft Olympia’s sewers says the city accepted his $700 bid, starved him of data, then canceled his contract and paid another man $1,500 for plans he calls a public nuisance.
- The Man Who Cut Off His Own Foot
Desperate and denied by surgeons, a young Washington man performs a self-amputation with a pocketknife to save his life.
- The council met in secret to dig itself out of the hole it dug
A closed-door caucus of Olympia's aldermen wrestles with the bond debt their own street work created — then adjourns for drinks, with the press locked out.
- The Sheriff Who Shot a Convict: A Wenatchee Neighbor’s Defense of Deadly Force
In July 1905, just days after a chaotic manhunt in Ellensburg, local residents weighed in on the ethics of Sheriff Thomas shooting an escaped convict. One guard called it 'right,' while others questioned the necessity—echoing modern debates over police accountability.
- The Unlucky Clerk of Ballard
A city clerk-elect struggles to secure his required $5,000 bond after his sureties back out, reportedly due to his stance on the location of a new railway hub.
- The Anti-Ring Republicans Meet—and One Calls Them 'Suckers'
A Fifth Ward reform club gathers at the Masonic Temple to denounce the city machine, but a member warns the 'ring' has a big sack and is well organized.