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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 4 |
| 1883 | 8 |
| 1884 | 9 |
| 1885 | 12 |
| 1886 | 12 |
| 1887 | 7 |
52 stories matching float
- The Great Land Grab of 1886
A legal dispute over Northern Pacific Railroad land grants highlights the struggle between territorial settlers and the encroaching influence of transcontinental rail monopolies.
- The Waterfront 'Hotbed of Disorder'
In 1887, Seattle officials and citizens mobilized to purge the city's waterfront of the 'notorious' floating houses that provided a refuge for the city's poorest residents.
- Trapped by the Skagit River's Winter Fury
An eyewitness account from January 1885 describes the deadly isolation of the Skagit Valley as the river choked with ice, cutting off pioneer settlers from the outside world.
- The desperate engineering of a Snohomish log drive
With a drought halting logging operations, crews in Snohomish turned to a clever, labor-intensive dam-sluicing method to force logs to tide water.
- Ice-Cut Canoe Tragedy on the River
A dark night and floating ice claim two lives near Langley in a failed river crossing.
- The Struggle for a Seattle Shipyard
As railroad expansion swallows the waterfront, local mariners argue the city's future depends on building a floating dry dock to survive.
- The Tragic End of William Hill
The body of a Scottish laborer is discovered floating near the Seattle city front, leaving behind a simple will and a recommendation from a Victoria hotel.
- The Beer Hall Heist: A Busted Scheme on the Waterfront
A would-be thief’s plan to float stolen kegs to an Indian encampment ends in a cell.
- The Day the Newspaper Landed in the Bay
A minor dockside mishap leaves the Herald's front page floating in the water.
- The Rescue of the Bark Arabella
After running aground, a stranded vessel is saved by the quick work of local steamers.
- The Iron Horse Arrives in Ellensburg
A town celebrates the completion of the railroad track as the local mood turns jubilant.
- A Desperate Rescue in Elliott Bay
A local man spots an overturned canoe in the freezing waters of the bay, pulling two people from a near-death encounter with the winter tide.
- Laborer Charlie Bell Found Dead in Snohomish River
A body discovered near the log boom turns out to be a local worker, marking a grim start to the summer season.
- The Ghost of the Shannon
Seattle's waterfront welcomes a legendary British warship that fought in the War of 1812.
- The Coal Land Bust and the Stranded Laborers
Speculative collapse leaves workers in 'rookeries' as a corporate empire fractures.
- The Public Shut Out of the 'Floating Palace'
Residents gathered in the rain to welcome a massive new steamer, only to be denied entry by a locked-out policy.
- The Renegade's Return: A Confederate Exile's Seattle Confession
Decades after the Civil War, an expatriate recounts his painful realization of displacement while watching the American flag from across a border.
- Major Silver Strike in the Cascades
A new mining discovery near Snoqualmie Pass promises wealth and excitement for the region.
- The Tragic Disappearance of James Irving
A young sailor, days away from his wedding and the start of a new life in Tacoma, vanishes after a final boat trip across the bay.
- The Scandalous 'B. F. D.' and the Rights of Women
A political agitator’s checkered past is dragged into the light, raising questions about who has the moral standing to advise the territory's women voters.
- The Struggle to Count Seattle
Boosterism and bureaucracy collide as city leaders argue that the recent census failed to capture Seattle’s true, booming population.
- The Sinking of the Underwriter
A tragic maritime accident in Port Townsend harbor leaves a local captain’s schooner at the bottom of the channel.
- Grim Discoveries Along the Railway Construction Line
Workers find bodies of unidentified victims, likely victims of violence, near old tent cities along the railroad path.
- A Twelve-Ton Locomotive Rolled Down the Street to the Water
Seattle's Washington Iron Works spent months building a geared logging engine. When it was finished it drove itself through town on temporary track to the foot of Washington Street, to be lashed to a scow and floated north to the woods.
- The Great Seattle Sawmill Fire
A spark from a passing train ignites a massive blaze in the Seattle lumber district, consuming millions of feet of lumber and threatening to incinerate the city's waterfront.