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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 29 |
| 1877 | 31 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1880 | 10 |
74 stories matching act
- The Centennial Lottery Gamble
In 1876, the Washington Territorial Legislature authorized a public lottery to fund a wagon road across the Cascade Mountains, marking a desperate and creative approach to frontier infrastructure.
- Milling Corporations Snap up Washington Territory's Timber Lands
How corporate mills monopolized Washington's forest wealth while the government looked the other way.
- Walla Walla Man Attempts Suicide; Gamblers Cheat Visitors
A tragic attempt at suicide in Walla Walla sheds light on the toll of addiction and the harsh realities of frontier life.
- The Great Seattle Lottery: A $100,000 Sawmill and a Road to Nowhere
In 1876, the Washington Territory legislature authorized a massive public lottery to fund a road through Snoqualmie Pass. The grand prize? Yelver’s Steam Saw Mill. It was a bold gamble on infrastructure that reveals how early Seattle funded its growth.
- City Council Delays Naming a Health Officer
Seattle's City Council stalled on hiring a health officer, wrongly believing the county was responsible for contagion in a city being swept by regional fears.
- The Swan of the Cascades
A rare and haunting encounter near the mountain pass ends in an act of Victorian mercy.
- The 'Street Arabs' Terrorizing Pioneer Seattle
A wave of juvenile vandalism strikes Front Street, leaving local merchants and the South School House in ruins.
- The Unsung Heroes of the Fire Line
When the flames rose, a small team of steamboat captains rushed into the fray to save Seattle's firefighting equipment, a vital act of civic solidarity in the 1870s.
- The Midnight Death of Seattle’s Charter
When a judge declared the city’s incorporation invalid in 1877, the local newspaper editor went on the warpath to save the municipality from 'gratuitous anarchy.'
- Quarantine in the Pioneer City: A Smallpox Scare in 1880
When two cases of smallpox arrived by steamer from San Francisco, Seattle authorities acted with swift, hard-edged precision to contain the contagion.
- The Battle for Seattle's Soul: Who Owns the City?
As the Northern Pacific Railroad, wealthy speculators, and the City of Seattle clash in Olympia over a massive land claim, the future of Seattle’s streets and growth hangs in the balance.
- The Doctor’s Disappearing Act
A Sacramento physician abandons his wife, fakes his departure for Oregon, and is tracked to a Seattle hotel by the Chief of Police.
- The Strict Rules of Territorial Ballot Boxes
Before the secret ballot was standardized, Washington Territory enacted stern penalties to prevent election-day fraud, coercion, and liquor-fueled chaos.
- The Jailhouse Serenade: Seattle’s Most Popular Prisoner Refuses Bail
Val Wildman, proprietor of the 'Vanity Fair' lottery, sits in King County Jail refusing to pay his fine. When friends and influential citizens gather outside to raise the money for his release, he turns them away—insisting his imprisonment is a matter of principle.
- The Price of a 'Pest House' in Pioneer Seattle
As drought and economic chaos gripped 1877 San Francisco, Seattle citizens found themselves debating the ethics of turning a local residential property into an isolation facility for the smallpox-stricken.
- The Night Watchman's Duel: Officer Thorndike Wrestles Pistol from Drunkard in Seattle Jail
A violent struggle inside the local jail cell block leaves an officer battered but victorious after a prisoner attempts to shoot his way out.
- The Price of Compassion in Pioneer Seattle
Before social safety nets, King County sought the lowest bidder to provide medical care, board, and lodging for the 'indigent poor.'
- The Forbidden Courtship of Seattle’s Laboring Class
A satirical poem recounts the trials of a young couple forbidden by their employer from speaking while working on his land.
- Election Day in 1880 Seattle
A report from the polls captures a day of intense political fervor, quiet order, and the early counting of ballots in the frontier city.
- Who Cares for the Poor in King County?
A call for sealed bids to provide housing and medical care for the county's indigent population in 1877.
- The Price of Public Charity in 1877
King County seeks the lowest bidder to house and feed the poor, a stark reminder of the nineteenth-century approach to social safety nets.
- The Tragic Death of a Chinese Cook at Port Gamble
An accident in shallow water claims the life of a laborer, highlighting the precarious conditions for workers in the Puget Sound mill towns of 1877.
- Disaster at the Hardware Store
A shelf collapse at a prominent Seattle hardware firm results in injury and property loss, highlighting the hazards of downtown commercial growth.
- Bidding on the Destitute: Seattle’s 1877 Poverty Contracts
Before modern social safety nets, King County put the care of its 'indigent poor' up for competitive bid, seeking the lowest price for housing and medical services.
- The Price of Compassion: King County's 1877 Call for Bids
In an era before robust public social services, King County officials solicited private bids for the 'care, lodging and medical attendance' of the city's indigent poor.