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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 6 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 8 |
| 1895 | 8 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 4 |
| 1903 | 3 |
| 1909 | 5 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1917 | 6 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1925 | 2 |
74 stories matching ration
- The Convicts Who Walked the Streets: A Walla Walla Jailbreak
In March 1889, prisoners in a Walla Walla jail refused to work on city streets. Their defiance sparked a standoff that ended with the threat of starvation rations and the promise of armed guards.
- A Judge Calls the County-Seat Law ‘Nefarious’
Judge Ballinger dismisses Snohomish’s appeal over moving the county seat to Everett, blasting officials for defiance and the legislature for a law that leaves the court powerless.
- A Thousand Dogs for the Klondike
A Seattle syndicate imported stray dogs by the carload from Chicago, trained them to haul gold-rush supplies, and kenneled the pack in an abandoned brickyard.
- A Two-Dollar Chip, a Drawn Revolver, and a Death in the Hotel Barroom
A gambler named Page goes on trial for shooting Harry Fraser dead in the barroom of Seattle's Northern Hotel — a killing that began over the change from a $20 bill.
- The Jail Was Out of Level
Fred Neuffer was due in court for embezzlement. Instead, Olympia’s county jail became the scene of a strange one-man investigation into whether the floor itself was crooked.
- When the Taps Ran Dry: Seattle's 1894 Water Famine
City council rations water as Renton Heights residents go without during a dry summer, passing a joint resolution to restrict use and hire an extra inspector.
- Seattle’s Water Fight: Pumping Queen Anne or Building for the Future
As Seattle’s reservoirs strain, Superintendent Andrew Jackson argues that waste, not supply, is the problem—and that the city’s pumping system is only a stopgap until a Cedar River gravity plan can be built.
- The Daily Struggle of the Henderson’s Bay Ferry
A frustrated settler recounts three months of stranded strawberries and broken promises as the unreliable 'Clara Brown' service leaves local farmers in the lurch.
- A Counterfeiter's Conscience: How the Salvation Army Led a Seattle Man to Turn Himself In
Thomas Gorman, an iron moulder, confessed to making and passing $190 in counterfeit coin after a religious conversion, telling authorities he didn't care about jail as long as his conscience was clear.
- The 'Lazy' Reservation: A White Settler's Rant Against Indian Farming
In May 1877, a Seattle correspondent published a vitriolic letter in the *Intelligencer* challenging claims of Native agricultural success on the Suckley Reservation, arguing that federal land policies encouraged 'idleness' and demanding the lands be opened to white settlers.
- Who Should Judge? Washington’s New Jury Law Under Fire
A Seattle paper defends a legislative overhaul that ended the professional juror and required jurors to be householders, as critics charged it handed the courtroom to property owners.
- The 83-Ballot Deadlock: 'Either Allen or No One'
In Olympia, John B. Allen’s Republican caucus held the line while Judge Humes and Levi Ankeny saw their candidacies frostbitten—and the ballots kept piling up.
- The Bear That Wasn't: Seattle’s War Department Scandal
A federal court of inquiry clears the city of corruption but exposes a bizarre military blunder involving refrigerated beef and embalmed meat during the Spanish-American War.
- The Burglar Who Hid Behind a Show Case—and the Shoes That Gave Him Away
Richard Ford, a notorious clothing-house thief, got out of the King County Jail for four hours. A neighbor's sharp eyes and a pair of shoes ended the run.
- A Freethinker Takes On the Pulpit in Olympia
At Liberal Hall, P. D. Moore answers a minister’s sermon on law with a call for a religion of nature, reason, and good conduct rather than wrath and dogma.
- A Desperate Jump at the Spring Street Wharf
Deserted, drinking, and despondent, Kate Johnson tried to drown herself in Seattle harbor—then fought the men who pulled her out.
- The University’s War Debt: Professors Demand a Hero’s Welcome for Seattle’s Own
As the First Washington Volunteers prepare to return from the Philippines, faculty and civic leaders unite to plan a massive reception, highlighting the deep ties between the university and the regiment.
- The Wagon King Tells Seattle to Build Roads and Put Idle Men to Work
Clem Studebaker, visiting from South Bend, says Puget Sound is beautiful but backward: good roads, an army-built highway system, and the Nicaragua canal would cure unemployment.
- Fifteen Minutes to Confess: The Morphine Trial of Port Townsend's Captain De Lion
A former mayor, Chilean consul and dry-dock promoter worth half a million dollars sits in superior court while his emaciated wife describes a year of morphine, delusion and a pocket watch set on the table between them.
- Wenatchee, 1898: A Valley Sold on Irrigation and Fruit
A booster's tour of the Wenatchee Valley recounts the first settlers, the whisky traders who fled the law, and the orchards and ditches that promised to turn sagebrush into wealth.
- The Great Welcome: Seattle Plans a 'Rousing' Ovation for Returning War Heroes
Mayor Humes and city officials rally behind a public subscription to fund fireworks, banquets, and even a mock battle at Lake Washington to greet the Washington Volunteers returning from Manila.
- The Old Man’s Last Stand: A Father’s Flight from Greedy Heirs Ends in a Sheriff’s Chase
P.V. Thorpe, an elderly pioneer fleeing false rape accusations and property theft by his son and son-in-law, was arrested for carrying a revolver in Seattle—only to be vindicated when the truth about his family’s blackmail scheme came to light.
- A Christmas on the Ice King: The Climb That Saw Rainier Smoking
In 1894, Major Ingraham led six men, seven homing pigeons, and a camera onto Mount Rainier’s glaciers. They came back with frostbite, a story of steam and smoke rising from the crater—and one pigeon missing.
- He Kept a Dead Man's Skull as a Souvenir — and the Paper Printed the Story
Writing from North Yakima in 1892, Milburn G. Wills recalls the 1855 volunteer campaign that broke the Yakama resistance — the forced marches, the starving commands, the men shot beside him, and the trophy he carried home.