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 | 11 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 12 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 4 |
34 stories matching map
- The Railroad Map That Erased Seattle
A Northern Pacific map circulating in 1883 omitted Seattle entirely—while granting bold capital letters to towns of fewer than 100 people—and the city's paper took the insult personally.
- The 'Black Cloud' Over Washington Territory
Settlers use a radical map-based protest to highlight how Northern Pacific railroad land grants are freezing out public settlement.
- The Railroad Map That Erased Seattle
Northern Pacific's latest map omits two under-construction Puget Sound lines and reduces Seattle to a dot. The Post suspects a land-selling scheme behind the silence.
- The Blurred Map of Seattle's Early Real Estate Boom
A local property surveyor exposes a deceptive mapping practice meant to obscure the true boundaries of land parcels during a heated period of development.
- Railroad Land Grab Defeated
A Supreme Court ruling halts the Northern Pacific Railroad's attempt to claim homesteaded lands in King and Yakima counties.
- Railroads Drew Pencil Lines to Claim Millions of Acres
A scathing official report exposes how railroad corporations in Washington Territory and beyond used fraudulent land maps and 'pencil-line' routes to displace settlers and hoard public resources.
- Surveyors Map a Path for the Lake Washington Ship Canal
A mysterious but well-funded crew begins the long, arduous work of designing a canal to connect the Sound to Lake Washington.
- Northern Pacific Route Shifts Dispossessed Homesteaders
How the Northern Pacific Railroad manipulated government maps to seize millions of acres, crushing homesteaders in the process.
- The 1883 Classroom Reform
Before the public school system in Washington was fully established, teachers gathered in a Seattle church to debate the future of education, temperance, and the radical idea of 'character' over rote memorization.
- Northern Pacific's Land Claims Took Two-Thirds of Washington
A scathing critique of how the Northern Pacific Railroad manipulated maps and political influence to hoard millions in timber, coal, and agricultural lands.
- The Forgotten Map: When North Idaho Was Seattle’s Neighbor
For years, North Idaho residents pushed to break away from their own state and join Washington Territory, citing geographic reality and political isolation.
- The End of the Wild West Land Grab
A look at the federal crackdown on corrupt land speculators and railroad giants in Washington Territory during the mid-1880s.
- The Great Land Grab Ends: A Victory for Columbia Valley Settlers
A landmark decision by the Land Commissioner threatens to reclaim 4 million acres from the Northern Pacific Railroad, potentially opening up vast swaths of the Columbia River Valley to homesteaders.
- Mapping the Gateway to the Chehalis
An official 1883 engineering survey reveals the natural promise of Gray's Harbor.
- The Iron Road Approaches: Surveying the Seattle, Walla Walla and Baker City Railroad
While Seattle dreams of a rail terminus, crews map out the path through local gardens and hills to reach the bay.
- The Great Cascade Rail Land Gamble
A reader asks if the railroad owns the land it’s selling in the Cascades; the editor argues the company's title is as muddled as the mountain tracks.
- The End of the Railroad Land Grab
A trio of government decisions finally ends the Northern Pacific's long-standing practice of seizing settler homes in Washington Territory.
- The Northern Pacific Railroad's Sudden Respect for Seattle
For years the railroad ignored Seattle, but a shift in power has forced a grudging acknowledgment of the city's potential to rival San Francisco.
- A Gilded Vision of the Northwest Frontier
Celebrating the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad, a booster-style manifesto maps out a future for Washington’s 'infant cities.'
- The Forgotten Pioneer Missionary
Before Marcus Whitman, there was Samuel Parker, an elderly preacher who braved the frontier to map the way for the mission of 1836.
- The Fading Glory of Portland
Railroad expansion threatens to shift the center of Pacific Northwest shipping from the Columbia River to the Puget Sound.
- The Fight Against the Rail Barons
A fiery interview with a Washington Territory delegate exposes the 'gentlemanly footpad' tactics used by the Northern Pacific Railroad to seize public land from settlers.
- 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 New Yakima Depot: Planning a City from Scratch
Northern Pacific Railroad directors map out a new town with schools, churches, and canals in Eastern Washington, signaling a transformation for the frontier.
- The Mail Finally Comes to the Skagit
After months of persistent advocacy and cartographic lobbying by Edward McTaggart, the Skagit Valley secures its first semi-weekly mail route.