Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 22 |
| 1884 | 15 |
| 1885 | 32 |
| 1886 | 15 |
| 1887 | 19 |
105 stories matching agent
- The Neah Bay Standoff: A Clash of Court and Cabinet
A territorial judge, a stubborn Indian Agent, and an injunction gone wrong sparked a tense, potentially violent jurisdictional battle at Neah Bay.
- The Neah Bay Sealing Conflict
A local captain alleges a corrupt scheme involving a government agent and a private trader to monopolize the sealing industry at the expense of Indigenous laborers.
- Sawmill Company's 2,700-Acre Timber Land Fraud Exposed
A government investigation exposes how powerful sawmill companies in Washington Territory used dummy entrymen to systematically steal thousands of acres of federal forest land.
- The Sheriff vs. The Reservation Agent: A Neah Bay Standoff
When a federal agent refused to obey a district court order, a deputy sheriff took a midnight steamer to enforce the law—only to be met with a threat of the guardhouse.
- Railroad Agent Hanged in Effigy
Public anger against the Northern Pacific Railroad boils over in Yakima County, leading to the symbolic execution of a company agent.
- The Great Timber Land Heist
Federal investigators uncover a widespread scheme where syndicates used ‘fictitious names’ and paid off desperate men to seize Washington’s valuable timber lands.
- The Price of a Day's Pay: Seattle’s 1887 Labor Brokers
A deep dive into the predatory practices of late 19th-century employment agencies that thrived on the desperation of transient laborers.
- The Mailroom Kerfuffle in New Tacoma
A secret telegram, a local feud, and a postmaster who chose 'higher law' over departmental secrecy.
- The Logging War on the Cascade Branch
A standoff between federal agents and the Northern Pacific Railroad reveals the brutal reality of timber 'development' in Washington Territory.
- Chief Moses and the Stolen Reservation
A Spokane Indian leader bypasses federal agents to protest a land grab in Washington Territory.
- The Missing Express Package
An express agent at Ainsworth finds himself in the middle of a $15,000 mystery after a package disappears under his watch.
- The 'Chisel' Game: How Seattle's Working Class Fought Labor Exploitation
A scathing report from 1887 reveals the corrupt 'ticket' system that allowed middlemen to siphon wages from laborers—a century-old echo of modern gig-economy wage theft.
- The Farmer Who Halted the Railroad
When a railway company tried to seize land for a branch line without fair payment, a Whitman County farmer fought back by having the construction crew arrested.
- The Book Agent's Quick Exit
A traveling book salesman avoids a long legal ordeal by pleading guilty and leaving town immediately.
- The Open Secret of Puget Sound Smuggling
A Treasury agent investigating the border dismisses reports of Chinese smuggling as 'exaggerated,' revealing the complicity of local lumbermen who view the law as a joke.
- Inside the Tulalip Indian School
A rare 1883 report on the daily operations, hardships, and boarding school labor practices at the Tulalip reservation.
- The $18,784 Express Package That Vanished—and the Sheriff Arrested for It
A grand jury charged a Northern Pacific agent, a Franklin County sheriff and another man in a January 1894 express theft. The sheriff’s Ainsworth neighbors posted his bond—and doubted the charge.
- The Wire War: Railroad vs. Telegraph
A legal standoff erupts between the Postal Telegraph Company and the Northern Pacific Railroad along the tracks between Tacoma and Kalama.
- The Deadly Trifle: A Pharmacy Scandal in 1887 Seattle
A high-stakes criminal investigation unfolds after a mysterious book agent is implicated in the poisoning death of Richard Lyons.
- The Unlucky Stable in the Middle of the Street
A railroad land agent inadvertently builds a brand-new, modern stable smack in the middle of a planned Tacoma thoroughfare.
- The Fight for Gig Harbor Timber
A local settler exposes a land-grabbing ring in Pierce County, accusing them of fraudulent timber claims.
- An Indian Agent Defends His Administration
Agent C.W. Young addresses allegations of monopoly and mistreatment of the Indigenous population at his reservation.
- The Price of a New Route
A shipping agent's proposal for a new trade route to Priest Rapids is rejected by Yakima business leaders as an economic burden.
- The Great Smuggled Salmon Caper
When federal agents boarded the steamer Idaho, they didn't just find barrels of fish—they found a desperate, high-stakes attempt to smuggle opium into the Pacific Northwest.
- The Struggle for Local Self-Government
The Post-Intelligencer defends Seattle’s municipal independence against territorial legislative overreach.