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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 8 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 7 |
24 stories matching aboard
- Runaway Gravel Train Near Hood Canal
A dozen laborers on a Port Gamble railroad work train are forced to jump for their lives as their cars lose control on a steep grade.
- The Woman Who Chased Her Lover from Seattle to Semiahmoo
A fugitive, a jilted pursuer, and a steamer route through Puget Sound made for one of the summer’s strangest chases.
- Mutiny at Port Townsend
A newly arrived crew refuses duty and fights for their freedom aboard a bark in the harbor.
- The Commuter Who Missed His Boat
A classic Tacoma wharf blunder ends with a man watching his ride to Seattle sail away without him.
- The Ghost Ship of Port Madison
A mysterious, unmanned scow drifts into the bay, sparking speculation about the missing crew.
- Seattle Sailors Defy Shipowners in 1887 Union Standoff
When the Coast Seamen's Union descended on the barkentine George Perkins to pull sailors from their posts, it sparked a tense confrontation that threatened to shut down local shipping.
- The Fugitive in the Mattress
A desperate man attempting to flee Seattle justice is apprehended by a persistent sheriff after being discovered hiding inside a pile of bedding aboard a steamship.
- The Human Cargo in the Ash Pan
A steamship captain reveals the desperate lengths to which his crew went to smuggle Chinese laborers past authorities in the Puget Sound.
- The Dangerous Cargo on the Eliza Anderson
A wharfinger and a ship captain face a Grand Jury indictment after shipping fifty pounds of giant powder aboard a passenger steamer.
- The Sudden Passing of a Sound Pioneer
A prominent attorney and former Steilacoom citizen collapses and dies aboard a train en route to California.
- A Steamship Crashes Into the City Dock
Mechanical failure aboard the 'Umatilla' causes a messy collision with the warehouse at the city's waterfront.
- The Brutality Aboard the Challenger
A captain escapes conviction, but his mates are sentenced for systematic cruelty against seamen.
- The Mute Refugee of Tacoma
A Chinese man, caught in the crosshairs of local unrest, seeks refuge and dignity by claiming a past as a decorated American soldier.
- The Mass Departure of Chinese Laborers
After the completion of the Cedar River extension, the Oregon Improvement Company arranged for the mass transport of 1,700 Chinese workers out of Seattle.
- The Salvage Ship That Came to Raise Puget Sound’s Sunken Wrecks
A new wrecking schooner arrived in Seattle with a rubber-suited diver, hydraulic jacks and a plan to lift the sunken Mississippi and Warhawk from the Sound.
- The Strange Disappearance of the Wharf Thief
A witness recounts the mysterious final moments of a man who stole a boat and seemingly vanished into thin air, leaving behind only a trail of questions.
- The Siege of Seattle: A City Born in Fire
Recalling the 1856 Indian War attack on Seattle, when a handful of settlers held their ground behind a blockhouse against a barrage of fire and shell.
- Fatal Steamship Boiler Explosion Rocks Seattle Waterfront
A boiler aboard the steamer J. S. Kobinson exploded with 'frightful force' at the foot of Yesler Way, resulting in fatalities and massive property damage.
- The Clam-Bake Diplomacy of 1885
When a visiting excursion party arrived in Seattle, they were treated to a massive, industrial-scale clam bake at Port Blakely—and the spectacle of geoduck-sized clams that baffled the visitors.
- The Great Fourth of July Camp-Out Fiasco
When Seattle’s local militia attempted to prep for a military parade, their poor planning and lack of supplies resulted in a humiliating, mud-soaked retreat.
- 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 Fire That Starved a City: How a Burning Lime Ship Stalled Seattle’s Building Boom
When the steamer *Yquina* exploded in flames at Pacific Dock, it didn't just destroy $35,000 worth of cargo—it left 600 mechanics without work and halted the construction of a growing metropolis.
- A Steamboat Standoff on the Puget Sound
When a captain accused a passenger of skipping town on a fare, two witnesses stepped forward to detail a tense armed confrontation aboard the steamer 'Otter.'
- Steaming Through the Puget Sound Boom, Town by Town
A Seattle traveler’s 1883 voyage aboard the Idaho finds crowded wharves, railroad dreams, and real-estate prices high enough to check the very boom they fed.