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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 6 |
| 1885 | 5 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 7 |
21 stories matching ranch
- Vigilante Raids Target Chinese Vegetable Gardens
Armed men terrorize Chinese laborers in outskirts of Seattle, burning property and driving families from their homes.
- The Great Skagit Flood of 1887
Thousands of acres of farmland are submerged as the Skagit River hits record-breaking, catastrophic levels.
- The Mob Violence Trial That Shook 1885 Seattle
A jury acquits a man accused of murdering Chinese laborers in Squak Valley, sparking chaotic courtroom protests.
- The Massacre at Squak Valley
A coroner's jury investigates the brutal 1885 killing of three Chinese hop-pickers, uncovering a mob's systematic effort to ethnically cleanse the valley.
- Vigilante Justice in the Big Bend
After a rancher vanishes for two months, a local investigation uncovers a brutal murder and leads to a swift, extrajudicial execution.
- The Tragic End of Peter Legray
A quiet life on the Seattle waterfront ended in a lonely, tide-swept death, highlighting the stark invisibility of the city's vulnerable in 1887.
- The Cheadle Point Shootings
A domestic dispute on a remote homestead near Tacoma turns into a violent, chaotic bloodbath involving a revolver and a desperate act of intervention.
- The Tragedy at Oak Lake
A husband confronts his wife's attacker, ending in a violent act that leaves a family broken and a man facing a murder charge.
- Success and Agriculture in the White River Valley
An observer notes the thriving farms and new infrastructure transforming the landscape near Seattle, highlighting the agricultural potential of the region.
- The Orcas Island Poaching War
Island residents are taking a stand against commercial hunters who are stripping the local deer population bare without contributing to the community.
- The Unlikely Nihilist of Seattle
A Polish exile who survived the mines of Siberia and the horrors of Andersonville finds a new life in the Pacific Northwest.
- A Thanksgiving Feast for Interlake
A local farmer recounts a heartwarming community surprise visit that turned a quiet workday into a Philharmonic Society jubilee.
- Vigilante Arsonist Attacks Chinese Gardeners
A Spokane farmer’s livelihood was destroyed and his livestock slaughtered in a brutal, racially-motivated attack.
- Tragedy at Brush Prairie
After the long illness and death of his wife, a grieving man takes his own life in the room where she lay.
- The Solitary Tragedy of Maple Valley
A lonely squatter, once neighborly, ends his life in a wretched cabin while local settlers eye his unclaimed homestead.
- Cabin Raided by Boat Thieves in Kitsap County
A local veteran returns from his mail run to find his winter supplies, clothing, and bedding stolen, sparking a search for the thieves.
- The Trial of the 'Squak Valley' Vigilantes
In a tense courtroom session in 1885, a defendant stands trial for the murder of a Chinese laborer, exposing the brutal reality of anti-immigrant violence in Washington Territory.
- She Rode 2,000 Miles from Wisconsin to Seattle — Alone, in a Dress
Emma Larson, a 31-year-old Seattle woman, crossed the continent on horseback with only her mare Kitty for company, sleeping under the stars and going days at a stretch on nothing but water.
- The Mystery of the Vanished Prospectors
A trio of woodsmen, including a local favorite nicknamed 'Navy Jack,' set sail into the treacherous waters north of Seattle and have not been seen in eleven weeks.
- The Bachelor of South Lake and the One-Dollar Fine
A territorial dispute over a fence escalated into a shooting and a lake-dunking, leading to an unlikely legal entanglement for an elderly hermit.
- The Homestead Scam That Turned Public Land Into a Speculator’s Prize
An 1883 exposé from Walla Walla describes how doctors, lawyers and merchants faked frontier residency to grab government land—and why the law made perjury easy.