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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1860 | 3 |
| 1861 | 3 |
| 1862 | 6 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 9 |
| 1876 | 47 |
| 1877 | 40 |
| 1878 | 28 |
| 1880 | 4 |
| 1882 | 9 |
| 1883 | 38 |
| 1884 | 20 |
| 1885 | 48 |
| 1886 | 22 |
| 1887 | 26 |
| 1888 | 31 |
| 1889 | 65 |
| 1890 | 8 |
| 1891 | 66 |
| 1892 | 149 |
| 1893 | 157 |
| 1894 | 172 |
| 1895 | 162 |
| 1898 | 7 |
| 1899 | 24 |
| 1900 | 8 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 74 |
| 1904 | 53 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 7 |
| 1909 | 44 |
| 1910 | 11 |
| 1911 | 4 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 10 |
| 1915 | 2 |
| 1916 | 11 |
| 1917 | 3 |
| 1923 | 3 |
| 1924 | 4 |
| 1925 | 1 |
| 1928 | 1 |
| 1929 | 1 |
1,391 stories matching wit
- The Murder of the Syrian Peddler
A Skokomish man faces trial for the killing of an itinerant merchant, exposing tensions and fear in the local court system.
- The Steamboat Inspector's Reckoning
Capt. Bryant admits free rides, denies bribery, and trades accusations with the pilots and captains who want him removed from the Seattle inspection office.
- Judge Intervenes to Save Boys from Reform School
A Seattle judge issued a last-minute stay to keep two boys from being sent to the state reformatory, instead using them as witnesses against the man accused of training them in crime.
- Murder Suspect Taken in Open Court
A witness is arrested for murder while sitting in a Seattle courtroom during a separate trial.
- The Demand for Life-Saving Guard Rails
A witness to a horrific accident involving a child and a cable car calls for mandatory safety equipment on Seattle transit.
- The Struggle Over a Mother’s Custody
A local children's bureau official defends the controversial intervention into a family's life in the face of public criticism.
- The Tragedy of South 11th Street
A grand jury reopens the investigation into a 1908 collision that killed an eleven-year-old boy.
- The Trial of Little Willie Holmes
A young miner stands accused of killing a coworker in Franklin, revealing a community torn between justice and sympathy for the accused.
- Officer Reprimanded for Abusive Conduct
A Seattle officer faces the police board after breaking down a door and using profanity during a raid on a lodging house.
- 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.
- A Call for Animal Welfare Laws
A witness decries the brutal methods used to put down an injured horse on Seattle's Third Street.
- The Heirs of a Ghost: A Legal Battle for Seattle’s Empty Land
In the early days of Washington Territory, three women stepped forward to claim an inheritance in a town that barely existed, warning off any buyers from purchasing land they believed was theirs.
- A Tramp's Alibi: Thirty Tumwater Witnesses and a Murder Conviction Undone
A poor itinerant tinker was jailed for a Tacoma murder until residents of a small Thurston County hotel town swore he was miles away. The state Supreme Court ordered a new trial.
- Charges Dropped After Transport Ship Departs
A sailor’s violent dispute over missing money on an Army transport ends without a trial as witnesses set sail.
- The Unceremonious Ousting of Seattle's Police Chief
After refusing to answer for rampant gambling and open corruption, Chief J.C. Mitchell is fired by the city council as the city pivots toward long-overdue municipal reform.
- Military Spectacle at Lakeview
Thousands gathered at the plain near Lakeview to witness a massive review of state troops, marking the end of recent military maneuvers.
- The Man Who Bought a Pile-Driven Mind
A Seattle laborer’s sudden descent into delusion—claiming he lost $5,000 to a ghost and that neighbors were plotting his murder—leaves the court baffled and his family terrified.
- The Tyrant of the High Seas: A Sailor’s Knife vs. a Mate’s Revolver
In a dramatic trial before U.S. Commissioner D.S. Smith, witnesses describe how the first mate of the brig *Sampson* beat a sailor into paralysis with an iron bar and revolver, sparking outrage over maritime abuse.
- The Peeping Captain and the Landlady
A Seattle municipal court case reveals a bizarre dispute over a rental property, featuring an spying tenant and allegations of a framed morality crime.
- The Strange 'Chicken Oath' in a Seattle Courtroom
A local robbery trial takes a surreal turn as witnesses perform a traditional ritual before testifying.
- The Strange Case of 'Danger' the Dog at Justice Coomb's Court
A local street joke involving a dog, a dry goods box, and the Chief of Police highlights the whimsical side of early Seattle's judicial system.
- Smelter Worker Crushed in Workplace Accident
A man working at the Tacoma smelter was killed while moving freight cars; a tragic reminder of the dangers of industrial labor at the turn of the century.
- The Shadow Over the Maxwell Trial
A grizzly discovery in a Seattle warehouse forces a local businessman to defend himself against a charge of murder.
- The Plot to Lock Up a Witness: How Greed Tried to Silence a Pioneer
William De Shaw, a respected Seattle merchant and witness to a will worth millions in British Columbia, was nearly committed to an insane asylum by land speculators who wanted his testimony silenced.
- The Cook Who Robbed the Till—and Then Fled to Canada
Newport restaurant man James Warren spent eight months in jail before a plea deal, because the only witness had vanished into British Columbia.