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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 9 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 5 |
22 stories matching dig
- The Mystery of the Freezing Well
A farmer digging a well in Eastern Washington strikes a bizarre pocket of frozen earth that defies explanation.
- The Tragic Cost of Playing in the Seattle Clay
A makeshift fort at the edge of the city became a tomb when a riverbank collapsed, claiming the life of a young boy.
- A Secret Gold Strike in Snohomish County
Local citizens quietly form a company to divert a river and tap into a promising new gold discovery.
- The Mystery of the Buried Box
A construction crew in Lake City unearths a crate containing human remains, but by the time authorities arrive, the evidence has mysteriously vanished.
- A Warship’s Cannonball Uncovered on Spring Street
Street graders digging in the heart of Seattle unearthed a 35-pound reminder of the 1856 Indian War.
- A Civil War Veteran’s Quiet Exit
After scraping by in Oysterville, a former soldier finds a path to a dignified retirement at a veteran's home.
- The Deadly Slide at Coal Creek
Tragedy strikes a mining camp as a massive snow slide buries cabins and claims lives, leaving families in mourning and survivors in constant fear.
- 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.
- Digging the Portage Canal
A progress report on the ambitious project to connect Lake Washington and Lake Union by a man-made waterway.
- The Realities of Homesteading in the Washington Territory
A pragmatic farmer pushes back against the romanticization of agricultural life, detailing the hard labor required to tame the land near Seattle in 1888.
- The Desert Land Grabs of Yakima Valley
A group of fifteen Seattle investors files to transform 7,000 acres of arid Yakima land into a profitable agricultural engine.
- Seattle's Frontier Expansion
A report on the rapid growth, construction, and economic development of Seattle in 1883.
- The Well That Killed Twice
A promising new homestead a few miles east of Whatcom became a death trap when a pocket of gas swallowed John Kidwell and the neighbor who tried to save him.
- The Balloon-Powered Park Plan
A satirical interview with a Seattle developer reveals the absurd lengths civic boosters would go to inflate the value of local land.
- The Ghostly Discovery at Lake Union
A routine walk in the woods turns into a macabre mystery when a Seattle resident stumbles upon a shallow, suspicious grave.
- The Tragic Burial of a Mining Camp
A massive snow slide crashes through the Vallejo mining camp, claiming multiple lives and leaving a community to dig through the frozen rubble.
- The Horror at Slaughter
A man named Spafford is arrested for the gruesome killing of his wife in a small village near the White River after he attempted to perform an illegal abortion.
- The Persistent Jailbreaker of Seattle
Bob Matthews, imprisoned for stealing lard, proves to be a one-man wrecking crew for the local jail’s security.
- The great railway washout of 1883
Heavy spring snowmelt triggers dozens of washouts along the railway between Spokane and Ainsworth, leaving passengers stranded in the mud.
- The Vagrant and the 'Iron Jewelry'
A petty theft on the Duwamish River lands a drifter in a Seattle jail, where he must trade his freedom for hard labor.
- The Great Seattle Regrade
City infrastructure projects are reshaping the landscape, creating deep cuts and massive fills, while disrupting daily life for residents.
- Turning Stumps into a City: Seattle's Great Transformation
For a quarter-century, the residents of Seattle have been waging a slow, expensive war against the forest, clearing timber, leveling hills, and filling ravines to make way for a modern city.