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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 4 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 7 |
| 1893 | 19 |
| 1894 | 17 |
| 1895 | 16 |
| 1904 | 2 |
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| 1909 | 5 |
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| 1918 | 1 |
98 stories matching lien
- A Saloon Debt, a Partnership, and a Judge’s Ruling on Fraud
A Tacoma liquor wholesaler tried to attach Olympia and Tenino saloons over $700; the court said the property shuffle wasn’t enough to prove fraudulent intent.
- Railroad Chief Blasts Seattle's Tide-Flat Terminal Plan as Too Costly
The Northern Pacific's chief engineer examines the tide-land plat and warns that filling costs and legal encumbrances could make the terminal scheme prohibitive, jeopardizing railroad centralization.
- The End of the Railroad Land Grab
A trio of government decisions finally ends the Northern Pacific's long-standing practice of seizing settler homes in Washington Territory.
- Three Barks, a Yesler Mortgage, and a Race to the Courthouse Door
A federal judge ordered the Tidal Wave, Northwest and Vidette sold to satisfy a mortgage from Henry Yesler's estate. Hours later, unpaid suppliers slapped liens on the hulls — raising a question in admiralty law no court here had faced.
- 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.
- Children Fight to Reclaim Property Sold by Their Father
After their mother died, the heirs of the Wist estate allege their father illegally sold their share of family lands to local investors.
- The Preacher, the Deed, and the Burning House
A small-town minister's affair with a married parishioner ends in arson, a whitewash trial, and an effigy swinging from an electric light pole in the heart of Oakesdale.
- A New City Charter Would Let Spokane Bill You for Water Whether You Use It or Not
Council Bill No. 77 would hand the city sweeping power over water works — including the right to tax any lot that merely fronts a water main, used or not, and to charge a tenant's bill to the landlord.
- Fifteen Property Owners Say the Yesler Avenue Assessment Is Illegal
Residents petition City Hall against a reassessment for grading Yesler Avenue—formerly Mill Street—arguing the work was already paid for, the statute of limitations has run, and the city has no authority to charge them twice.
- The Diamond Palace Jeweler Who Vanished With the Stock
Simon Rumpf’s 'Diamond Palace' is placed in receivership after creditors allege he conspired to transfer his stock and then disappeared.
- The Promised Land That Wasn't: A Settler's Warning from Assiniboia
An immigrant recently arrived in Spokane describes how colonization companies lured families to the Canadian Northwest with loans and free transportation, only to leave them in debt and misery.
- San Francisco Capitalists Plan a New Waterway at Smith's Cove
A newly incorporated dredging company asks the state for the right to dig out and fill Seattle's northern tide flats, promising wharves, railroad yards and mills.
- The Ship That Smuggled Opium: How a Legal Loophole Freed a Vessel and $13,000 in Penalties
Judge Hanford rules that the steamer *Walla Walla* is not liable for contraband found in its cargo because the master lacked knowledge of the smuggling, setting a precedent for common carriers.
- The Great Mill Auction: A Kingpin’s Empire Divided
In December 1876, the District Court in Seattle ordered the liquidation of a massive timber and land empire owned by A.M. Simpson, offering hundreds of acres and a high-capacity sawmill to the highest bidder.
- A Landlord, a Seized Trunk, and a Lady Left in Her Shift
After months on the run, a Populist orator is arrested at a poultry show for holding a tenant's only clothes hostage over unpaid rent.
- Three Banks, One Creamery, and a Race Against the Clock
Seattle and Tacoma banks claw over the last assets of an insolvent creamery, ending with a sheriff's sprint to the wharf before an injunction could land.
- A Revolver at Her Ear: Mary Steel's Third Fight for a Divorce
Mary Steel's third divorce suit against David H. Steel laid bare a bitter fight over $49,000 in Seattle and Montana property—and allegations of violence, control and intimidation.
- A Receivership Sale Rewires Seattle's Street Railway
Bondholders sign a deal to merge the troubled Rainier Power and Railway Co. into a new Third Street Suburban Railway Company, with the Denny family’s claims still shaping the terms.
- The $430,000 Question: King County's Treasurer Bond Fight
A taxpayers' committee demands commissioners reduce John Maple's bond and seat him as county treasurer, but the board says his sureties aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
- Guilty in Two Minutes: The Bunko Man With a Revolver in His Past
Knowlton, alias 'Robert George,' was convicted of swindling an Aberdeen banker with two copper bars sold as gold—then prosecutors unpacked a record that included a murdered minister and a courtroom shooting.
- The Letter That Asked: Is Olympia's Street-Tax Ordinance Even Legal?
A citizen signing himself 'Marius' argues that the city's method of charging property owners for street paving and grading violates due process — and warns that if the assessments collapse in court, every taxpayer in town will pay for it.
- Seattle's Fire Chief Accused as the Council Wrestles a Telephone Franchise and a Paving Bill
Both houses of the city council meet late into the night: charges that Chief Hunt holds office under false pretenses, a twenty-five-year franchise for the Seattle Home Telephone Company, and a fight over who pays for the sick and injured.
- Yakima Democrats Nominate Full Slate at 1892 County Convention
Party faithful gathered in North Yakima to pick candidates, adopt a platform, and vow to clean up state government.