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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 11 |
| 1877 | 8 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 4 |
24 stories matching captur
- The Waterfront Real Estate Gamble of 1876
A modest land offering on M Street captures the ambition of a growing frontier town.
- Holiday Revelry at Yesler's Hall
A festive advertisement for a Christmas night dance captured the spirit of a growing Seattle in 1876.
- A Frontier Home on Second Street
In the winter of 1876, a simple advertisement captures the rapid development and domestic churn of a burgeoning Seattle.
- The Swan of the Cascades
A rare and haunting encounter near the mountain pass ends in an act of Victorian mercy.
- The First Avenue Hill Real Estate Hunt
A straightforward 1876 listing for a 60x120 lot on Second Street captures a moment when the prestigious First Avenue Hill neighborhood was just beginning its transformation into Seattle's urban core.
- The Public Spat of Thomas and Salina Lilly
A 19th-century public notice captures the messy, personal side of early Seattle marriage law.
- The Opium Smuggler in the Beer Hall
A steamship engineer is arrested in a Seattle saloon, highlighting the city's early, tense relationship with the maritime opium trade.
- 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.
- A Heartbreaking Reunion Aboard the Dakota
The final journey of a dying man and his devoted wife captures the cruel reality of terminal illness in the pioneer era.
- Life and Sport at a Puget Sound Mill Town
Dispatch from Port Gamble captures the rhythm of mill life, local politics, and a crushing victory on the baseball diamond.
- The Man Who Paid for Nothing
A witty anecdote from Seattle's early days captures the city's growing confidence and irreverence toward authority.
- The Price of Saving the Country
In 1880 Seattle, a local paper captures a cynical, all-too-familiar conversation between two men on the street regarding the true value of political engagement.
- The Unsettled Nation: Seattle Watches the 1876 Election Crisis
While the nation held its breath over a deadlocked presidential contest, Seattle locals turned their eyes toward the local ballot, formalizing the region's nascent civic infrastructure.
- The Dog Tax That Barked Back: Seattle’s First Crackdown on Strays
In 1876, the City Council passed a law requiring every dog to wear a numbered collar and pay a tax—or face execution. The result? A chaotic hunt for unlicensed mutts and a grim new reality for the city's half-starved strays.
- The Human Canvas of 1876
A traveling marvel of the frontier, a man covered in 360 intricate tattoos, arrives in Seattle to tell his harrowing story of survival.
- The Rising Forests of Belltown
A 1875 dispatch captures a neighborhood in metamorphosis, as the deep woods of Belltown are rapidly cleared to make way for cozy cottages and the expansion of Seattle.
- The City Marshal’s War on Dogs
In October 1876, Seattle’s law enforcement launched a crackdown on stray animals, rounding up six dogs and giving owners a grim ultimatum: pay the fine or watch their pets executed.
- The Navy’s Useless Burden: A 1877 Critique of American Militarism
An editorial from the Seattle Intelligencer questions why the U.S. maintains a naval force, arguing that defense of the continent makes overseas armadas obsolete and economically damaging.
- The Indestructible Spring Chicken
A satirical look at local wildlife hunting and the legendary toughness of the American barnyard bird.
- The Transformation of Whidbey’s Bottomlands
A local correspondent dispatches a vivid account of agricultural modernization on Whidbey Island, capturing the shift from back-breaking scythe work to the era of mechanized farming.
- Seattle’s First Great Infrastructure Boom
An 1877 report captures a young Seattle at a crossroads, boasting of massive rail investments and its first-ever public spending on city grading, setting a precedent for a city that never stops building.
- The Canal That Could Freeze England: A Climate Warning from the Isthmus of Panama
In 1877, Seattle’s press warned that digging a canal through Central America might divert the Gulf Stream, plunging Europe into an ice age—a bizarre but prescient look at early environmental anxiety.
- The Slave Ship That Vanished: An Old Man’s Confession in Seattle
A weathered sailor walks into a Seattle saloon and recounts the night his crew mutinied against a slaver, only to watch the ship sink with 200 souls aboard.
- The Man Who Couldn't Sleep: A Murderer's Five-Year Nightmare Ends in Seattle
William Devitt, a fugitive from a Pennsylvania railroad murder, surrenders to Seattle police after five years of wandering the South, claiming his conscience has finally caught up with him.