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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 23 |
| 1884 | 29 |
| 1885 | 38 |
| 1886 | 50 |
| 1887 | 38 |
181 stories matching declar
- The Resurrection of the Big Chief
A Mud Bay man wakes from a trance to declare himself a prophet, leading hundreds of Indigenous followers into town in a solemn, chanting procession.
- The Price of Poaching in the Bering Sea
A federal court cracks down on seal hunters as the United States asserts its authority over Alaskan waters.
- The Day Seattle Suffrage Died
A technical legal oversight by the Territorial Legislature has stripped women of their right to vote and serve on juries.
- The Final Voyage of the John Rosenfeld
The noble Maine-built ship is declared a total loss after running aground on a reef near Lummi Island.
- Committee Urges Forfeiting Northern Pacific Railroad Land Grant
A scathing House committee report accuses the Northern Pacific Railroad of failing its contractual obligations while hoarding millions of acres of public domain.
- The Struggle for Labor's Worth
As telegraphers across the country walk off the job, the local press debates the morality of corporate monopolies versus the rights of the individual laborer.
- Whitman County Farmers Declare 'War' on Northern Pacific Monopoly
Protesting settlers in Eastern Washington demand Congress seize 'unearned' lands from a 'soulless corporation' accused of land-grabbing and labor exploitation.
- The Mob That Stole Justice in Seattle
A federal judge delivers a blistering rebuke to the Seattle vigilantes who lynched three men in January 1882, declaring that the lawless 'Committee of Safety' is a threat greater than the criminals they executed.
- The Day Seattle Marched: Labor, Liberty, and the 1887 Fourth of July
A massive parade of unionized labor, from shipbuilders to coal miners, takes over Seattle’s streets for a patriotic Fourth of July that doubles as a fierce critique of land monopoly.
- The Seattle Legal Crisis of 1887
When an error in the law's title threatened to invalidate every court order in the territory, the Seattle Bar Association gathered to decide if the wheels of justice had ground to a halt.
- The Insanity Trial of Mrs. Meagher
A mother’s public accusation that her daughter was held in a house of prostitution results in a court hearing to determine her sanity.
- Chief Justice Waite Visits Chinatown
After a late-night tour of Seattle’s Chinatown, the U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice declares his support for Chinese exclusion.
- The Panic on Spring Street
When malicious rumors hit a Seattle bank, depositors rushed the doors, forcing the bank president to defend his institution's solvency.
- The Trial of Neil Sweeney: Sane or Mad?
A Seattle probate court spends an afternoon determining the mental state of a man accused of madness, highlighting the precarious nature of asylum discharges and personal liberty in 1887.
- When Seattle Tried to Break the Railroad's Grip
Before the city was a tech hub, it was a battleground for political autonomy against the suffocating influence of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
- The Day Seattle Women Lost the Vote
In a bombshell ruling that blindsided the territory, the Supreme Court struck down the 1883 law that first granted Washington women the right to cast a ballot.
- The Drive for Anti-Chinese Ordinances in 1885 Seattle
A local petition sought to bar Chinese laborers from laundry businesses and vegetable peddling, laying the groundwork for a wave of exclusionary legislation.
- The Right to Belong: A Seattle Immigrant’s Plea
Denied citizenship by a court, a Chinese resident explains his life, his work, and his refusal to cut his queue as he navigates exclusion in 1886 Seattle.
- The Saloon Question in Olympia
Olympia's City Council moves to curb the prevalence of saloons through steep fee hikes, a move that the P-I suggests Seattle should replicate.
- The Fight for Public Land
Seattle activists organize to challenge the Northern Pacific Railroad's control over vast swaths of Washington Territory.
- Seattle Teamsters Pick Their Own Candidate for Police Chief
At Yesler's Hall, licensed teamsters organized a labor ticket for the 1884 city election.
- The Struggle for an American Canal
A 1885 editorial dissecting the political tensions of the era and the push for an American-controlled interoceanic waterway.
- The Prohibition Party’s Bold 1884 Platform
Meeting in Seattle, a newly organized political faction demands temperance, women’s suffrage, and honest ballots, signaling a shift in the local political landscape.
- The Northern Pacific's Elusive Cascade Branch
A skeptical look at how the Northern Pacific Railroad tried to rebrand its lines to secure land grants in King County.
- The Speaker’s Gavel Clash
In the Territorial House, a subtle procedural error leads to a public confrontation over how legislation is truly passed.