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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 4 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1862 | 7 |
| 1863 | 4 |
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 19 |
| 1877 | 12 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1879 | 3 |
| 1880 | 5 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 17 |
| 1884 | 8 |
| 1885 | 24 |
| 1886 | 8 |
| 1887 | 14 |
| 1888 | 15 |
| 1889 | 33 |
| 1890 | 4 |
| 1891 | 24 |
| 1892 | 56 |
| 1893 | 81 |
| 1894 | 65 |
| 1895 | 52 |
| 1897 | 3 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1899 | 14 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 13 |
| 1904 | 22 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 5 |
| 1909 | 9 |
| 1910 | 3 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1915 | 2 |
| 1916 | 2 |
| 1917 | 4 |
| 1923 | 4 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1929 | 1 |
568 stories matching custom
- The Captain’s Defense: Fighting the Customs House
When his ship was detained in Seattle on a false rumor of smuggling, a captain fought back against a web of local informants and federal overreach.
- A Saloon Fight, a Fine, and a Wage Suit in Old Town
A former musical director at Conquest Saloon sues Jack Furness for back pay, but Furness says he deducted the amount of a fine he paid after the musician's altercation with a customer.
- Ambitious Plan to Revive Columbia River Transit
Eastern investors propose a fleet of modern steel boats to compete directly with railroads for freight and passenger traffic.
- The Legal Battle Over a Pioneer’s Legacy
A Skagit County estate dispute pits an Indigenous widow against a white wife, forcing the courts to reckon with territorial-era marriage customs.
- The War on Waste Comes to Kennewick
Local merchants restrict deliveries and introduce a five-cent surcharge to boost efficiency for the war effort.
- The Grocers' Blacklist
Walla Walla retail grocers seek a regional credit-rating system to share customer data and penalize unpaid debts.
- The Mysterious Collapse of a Port Townsend Official
A former Customs official, clutching a frantic stack of papers detailing a feud with his superior, is found delirious and dying in a Chicago train station.
- The Collector’s Trap: A Seattle Customs Scandal
A clever merchant’s attempt to recoup a fine through a legislative loophole backfires, leaving him out $500 in an era of federal bureaucracy.
- The Opium Cipher That Cost a Customs Inspector His Job
Port Townsend's S. G. Glen Todd denies he was fired for sleeping on duty—or for ignoring opium and Chinese smuggling—and produces a cipher telegram to prove he reported both.
- A Daring Climb Above Second and Cherry
A Home Messenger Company lineman risks a terrifying ascent to repair a flagpole atop the New York building.
- The Ghost Ship of Puget Sound
While a steamer crew vanished into the waves, Port Townsend customs officials sat in their offices waiting for 'official notification' before launching a rescue, fueling public outrage.
- Labor Unions Demand Action on Border Enforcement in 1886
An exchange of letters between the Seattle Knights of Labor and the Collector of Customs highlights early local anxieties over immigration policy.
- The Midnight Smuggling Ring at Oyster Bay
Customs officials track a clandestine operation smuggling Chinese laborers into Washington via the mudflats near Olympia.
- The Missing Certificates of Port Townsend
A federal judge probes a mysterious 1,000-certificate shortfall that allowed Chinese immigrants to bypass strict exclusionary laws.
- The Hotel Opium Haul
A mysterious guest leaves behind two massive trunks at a Tacoma hotel, only for customs officials to raid the room and uncover hundreds of pounds of contraband.
- The Presbyterian Ball Controversy
A proposed tournament and dance in Seattle triggers anxiety and confusion within the First Presbyterian Church congregation.
- Condemned at Home, Detained in Port Townsend: Three Men Offer to Buy Their Way Out of the Axe
Three Chinese men held by the collector of customs for being in the United States illegally were to be shipped home, where desertion from the imperial army is punished by beheading. Local Chinese merchants said a substitute could be hired to die in a man's place.
- The Geary Act in Port Angeles
A customs inspector initiates a crackdown under the Chinese Exclusion-era registration laws.
- The Oyster House Bootlegger
A local oyster house proprietor avoids conviction for selling liquor without a license by claiming he sold it at cost to his patrons.
- The Washington Product Train
An ambitious promotional scheme aims to take a custom-outfitted railroad car across the nation to boost local investment.
- The Opium Trunk With Everything but the Opium
A federal tip sent customs officers to a Seattle justice's office hunting forty pounds of opium. They found the trunk, but not the drug—then seized 23 cans aboard the City of Kingston.
- The Great Border Horse Smuggling Escape
A persistent carpenter tries to outrun the law through a blind canyon to avoid customs duties on his prize stallion.
- The Unsinkable 'Old Settler' of the Olympia Tide-Flats
An enterprising Olympia pioneer launches a custom-built, shallow-draft vessel to dominate the local oyster trade.
- End of the Road for Taxpayer Labor
Walla Walla County replaces the custom of 'working off' road taxes with a new cash-only payment system.
- Underground Railroad on Whidbey Island
Customs inspectors arrest nine men at a secret 'station' near Coupeville as the federal government ramps up enforcement of exclusion laws.