Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 8 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 9 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 7 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 6 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1925 | 1 |
70 stories matching straw
- The Yellow Glove Standoff on San Juan Island
When American informality faced British stiff-upper-lip formality in a frontier courtroom, a pair of gaudy kid gloves settled the diplomatic score.
- The Stranger from Pike
An eccentric traveler’s awkward recovery of a lost hat becomes a temporary spectacle on Main Street in Walla Walla.
- A Kingdom Waiting for Rails
In 1878, Eastern Washington farmers were literally building homes out of willow poles because the cost of shipping lumber across the Cascades was ruinous.
- The Garbage Crisis: Seattle’s ‘Primitive’ Streets Demand a Permanent Solution
As the City Council debates the fate of the city's waste, officials warn that makeshift disposal methods are turning neighborhoods into health hazards and driving down property values.
- The Hay Thief, the Bathtub, and the Shotgun Out of Repair
A Westside barn alarm turns into a comic opera of nightshirts, a borrowed shotgun and one stolen bale of hay.
- A Reader Says Smiles and Bows Won't Save Port Townsend
A letter to the editor takes aim at the sentimental notion that a town prospers on politeness alone, insisting that Port Townsend needs capital, labor and trade — not suave manners and boosterism.
- The County’s Cold Shoulder: Seattle Bleeds for Indigent Sick
In April 1877, the City of Seattle faced a financial crisis as King County refused to pay medical bills for indigent patients, leaving local taxpayers to foot the bill for care that should have been shared.
- The Wharf That Ate Its Workers: Seattle’s First Major Infrastructure Failure
In September 1876, a newly built lumber wharf in Seattle collapsed under the weight of its own laborers, sending Chinese workers and timber plunging into the Duwamish River. The disaster exposed the rotting reality of territorial construction and the precarious lives of immigrant labor.
- The Great Sunday Exodus: Seattle’s Mass Migration to East Lake
In a display of weather defiance and civic pride, thousands of residents abandoned the city center for the shores of Lake Washington, turning Stern & Miller’s new development into an impromptu amusement park.
- The Judge Who Ejected His Own Lawyer: A Tacoma Courtroom Meltdown
In a bizarre turn of events at the Thurston County Courthouse, Presiding Judge Laurence silenced defense counsel Bronston and refused to hear the prisoner's testimony, leaving John Halson to face burglary charges in silence.
- The Effigy in the Pine Tree
Charles Gloystein crossed Spokane County's Populists and woke to find himself hanged in straw. Then he vanished.
- The Book-Keeper and the Plumber Who Milked Twenty-Six Cows Before Breakfast
Two Spokane office men built a dairy on the Spokane River without quitting their day jobs — and sent Hoard's Dairyman the receipts, down to the price of bran.
- The Inspector Who Rode Free: Seattle's Steamboat Watchdog on Trial
Local steamboat inspector W. J. Bryant stands accused of favoritism in granting licenses, of padding his travel accounts while riding free, and of owing his office to his sidelines selling life-preservers and marine insurance.
- The Elderberry Wine Defense: How a Contested Election Collapsed in Laughter
Populists dropped their challenge to Commissioner Nickerson, but testimony in the sheriff and coroner contests turned up sailors voting under protest and a lunch bag of elderberry wine at a Franklin polling place.
- The Newspaper Letter That Nearly Started a Fight in the Washington Senate
With the U.S. Senate election deadlocked in Olympia, a Pierce County senator read a rival’s letter aloud — and the chamber erupted over money, lobbyists, and borrowed favors.
- The Lumber Barons Are Starving Themselves: Why Puget Sound Should Be Feeding Its Own Cows
A local editorial argues that Washington’s reliance on imported dairy is an economic absurdity, urging farmers to switch from beef to Devon and Jersey cattle to capitalize on our unique climate.
- The Eastern Oregon Burned at Percival’s Wharf
A repair crew’s paint store caught fire aboard the steamship Eastern Oregon, forcing men to jump forty feet to the mudflats and killing one cook; the blaze threatened Percival’s Wharf before rain helped firefighters.
- The Man Who Wouldn't Die: The Last Survivor of the Alamo Walks Among Us
A heroic frontiersman named Jimmy Kennon has resurfaced in Washington Territory, proving false reports of his death. He claims to be the sole survivor of the Battle of the Alamo and a legendary scout who once rescued a captive from Sioux hands.
- The Gospel of the Cow: A Governor Tells Washington Dairymen How to Get Rich
At the state dairymen's convention, Wisconsin's Gov. W. D. Hoard preaches cleanliness, cold wells and the Chicago market — and spins the tale of Carl the German farmer who turned stinking butter into $50,000.
- A Newspaper Editor's Silence in Court: The Lugrin Libel Trial
C. H. Lugrin, managing editor of the Seattle Telegraph, rested his defense without calling witnesses in a libel trial brought by Police Chief Rogers. The case now goes to the jury.