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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1876 | 13 |
| 1877 | 10 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1879 | 1 |
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| 1883 | 10 |
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213 stories matching distant
- The City That Forgot Its Own Port: Seattle’s Fight for Military Logistics
In 1903, local officials and business leaders railed against the War Department’s decision to route troops bound for the Philippines through San Francisco instead of Puget Sound, arguing that geography and economic destiny were being ignored by distant bureaucrats.
- The Salmon Shortage: A Territorial Plea for Survival
In May 1877, a local nurseryman and fishery advocate wrote to the *Northern Star* urging the U.S. Fish Commission to intervene, arguing that Puget Sound’s inferior salmon could not compete with Columbia River catches without urgent government aid.
- The Steam Engine Enters the Timberlands
Logging railroads are rapidly replacing ox teams as the industry moves from the shoreline into the deep forests of the Snohomish River valley.
- An Aerial Bust at the Snohomish Ball Game
A much-anticipated airplane exhibition turns into a mud-caked failure, but the local baseball game saves the day for the fans.
- Connecting the Lakes: Seattle's 1886 Tunnel Project
A new industrial contract promises to link Lake Union and Lake Washington, forever altering the local landscape to facilitate the region's burgeoning timber industry.
- The Clue in the Rubber Boots
A fire in a barn on White River leads to an arrest after a trail of distinct boot prints is discovered.
- The Government Comes to Divide the Valley
A petition to remove the Pend Oreille Valley's Indian families instead ends in 160-acre allotments at Cusick — and a scramble for the best ground in the valley.
- The Night the Hue Jacket Struck the Tacoma
A federal admiralty complaint lays out a Strait of Juan de Fuca collision, a missing lookout, and a $15,000 claim against a square-rigged ship.
- The Iron Horse Comes to Tacoma
Thousands gather at the waterfront in 1887 to witness the arrival of the first direct Northern Pacific train from the East, marking a new era of connectivity for the Pacific Northwest.
- The Tragedy of the False Gold Rush
An editorial on the human cost of feverish speculation and the empty promises of distant mining 'Eldorados.'
- One Hundred Arrests, Three Hundred Dollars: Newport's Year in the Police Court
The city marshal's 1907 tally — drunks, burglars and a jailbreak by a notorious horse thief nabbed on a Washington Avenue street corner.
- The Waterfront Showdown of 1877
A mob attempts to forcibly eject Chinese laborers from a coal ship, but is repelled by a quick-thinking mate and his revolver.
- The Dream of a Seattle Shipyard
In 1877, local merchants were urged to stop waiting for 'something to turn up' and collectively invest in a local shipbuilding industry to jumpstart the economy.
- The Bridge at the Commissioner's Back Door
A group of settlers in the White River Valley accuses a King County commissioner of misusing taxpayer money to build a bridge near his own property, ignoring the needs of the actual traveling public.
- The Fruit Orchard Purge of 1916
As fruit growers in the Yakima Valley panic and rip out their orchards to plant alfalfa, one local paper warns that the cycle of boom and bust is as predictable as the rising sun.
- Who Pays for the Streets That Boost Land Values?
A taxpayer objects as Olympia considers borrowing from the general fund to cover private street-grading debts in distant additions.
- Forging the Frontier: The Perilous Push for a Stillaguamish Road
A survey team traverses the wilderness from the Snohomish valley to Kent’s Prairie, scouting a path for a wagon road that promised to open the interior to settlement and trade.
- The Hidden Hoard of Seattle's Recluse
When two elderly men were found dead in a filthy, squalid room, a subsequent search revealed a small fortune stashed in bedposts and rags.
- The Sage of Aberdeen Returns from the Islands
After an excursion to Hawaii, the local political commentator reflects on the confusion of switching party allegiances.
- The Struggle for the Rails: Seattle’s Economic Isolation in 1880
As the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad is sold to Henry Villard's powerful combine, local editors fear the city's economic future will be shackled to Portland's river monopoly.
- A Grand Welcome for Seattle's Visitors
When an excursion party arrived in Seattle in 1885, they were treated to a citywide illumination and a clam bake at Port Blakely, sparking a fierce local rivalry over the naming of Mount Rainier.
- The Deadly Ambush at Council Prairie
An eye-witness account of a harrowing escape during the Puget Sound Indian War, describing a fatal skirmish, a desperate trek through winter swamps, and the loss of Colonel A. Benton Moses.
- The Miners at Newcastle Demand Fair Time
Workers at the Newcastle coal mine initiate a strike over wage-deduction schemes and travel time between the town and the pit.
- The 'White River Assembly' Takes on the State Senate
A scathing labor petition read aloud in the Washington State Senate sparks both laughter and warnings of political reckoning for those who ignored the working class.
- The Trial of Judge Hoyt
Facing a barrage of 'partisan slander' in the race for state office, Judge John P. Hoyt fights back against claims he acted as a railroad puppet and denied due process to labor protesters.