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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 10 |
| 1877 | 9 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1880 | 3 |
26 stories matching chief
- The Forgery That Saved a Corrupt Judge
In May 1877, Washington Territory’s Chief Justice J.B. Lewis was nearly ousted by a fake resignation letter—only for the President to reverse course after Lewis himself exposed the fraud.
- The Judge and the Minstrel Show
When a visiting Chief Justice toured a Seattle courtroom in 1878, he was shocked by the advertisements for a traveling minstrel show plastered on the courthouse walls.
- The Unwelcome Swarm
As Seattle prepares for a railroad boom in 1880, the Chief of Police struggles to contain a surge in vagrancy and arson.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- Primary Meeting Erupts in Laughter
A political primary meeting takes a humorous turn when a physician makes a pointed jab at the judiciary.
- The Alpine Music of South Seattle
South Seattle residents protest the discordant 'Alpine music' of roaming livestock that kept the neighborhood awake.
- The Street Brawl Over a Chinese Opium Den
A morning disturbance on Washington Street reveals the city's hidden world of opium dens and the swift, often brutal, efforts to police them.
- The Crackdown on 'Fast Riding' in Old Seattle
When rowdy horsemen turned Front Street into a racetrack, the city police decided the era of reckless riding in the city center had to end.
- Waddell & Miles Stocked 50 Stove Styles in 1877
A look at the bustling specialized trades and supply chains that built a growing Washington Territory city in 1876.
- The River’s Toll on the Timber Trade
A sudden freshet on the White River washes away over 150,000 feet of logs, devastating local lumber operators and scattering timber as far as Smith’s Cove.
- The Coal Rush: How 1876 Industry Linked Seattle and Tacoma
A historic editorial argues that the expansion of Northern Pacific Railroad coal lines from Puyallup will drive mutual prosperity for Seattle and its southern neighbor.
- The Iron Backbone of the Puget Sound Frontier
Before skyscrapers and tech, Seattle was built on pipes, brick-ovens, and the ambition of merchants like Waddell & Miles who powered the city’s rapid expansion.
- The Iron Heart of Industrial Seattle
A look at the expansive storefront of Waddell & Miles in 1876, a one-stop shop for the pipes, stoves, and industrial machinery that built the frontier.
- The Territorial Election: Defining Seattle’s Future in 1878
As Washington Territory eyes statehood, local papers urge a massive voter turnout to secure political clout and prove the region's population worth.
- The Siege of the Waterfront Hoodlums
A wave of unprovoked violence by organized gangs of youths in Seattle reaches a breaking point when a young girl is struck by a thrown stone.
- A Near-Miss Conflagration in Old Seattle
A pre-dawn fire in a Commercial Street smokehouse nearly levels a city block, sparking a call for urban reform.
- The General Who Couldn't Say 'No' to a Bigot
Lt. Col. George Newton’s stinging reply to a letter writer reveals the ugly underbelly of Seattle’s civic elite in 1897.
- The Frontier Scares of 1878
A report from Kittitas detailing a violent encounter on Poll Creek sparks fears of conflict between settlers and Wilbur’s band of Indians in the Yakima territory.
- The Science of Life Comes to the Coal Mines
When a traveling medical lecturer visited the coal town of Newcastle in 1877, the entire community turned out to witness a performance that mixed professional medical advice with public heckling of the town's elite.
- Rain Turns Early Seattle's Front Street to Mud
When heavy rains turned downtown thoroughfares into impassable quagmires, residents demanded better engineering than the temporary, 'penny-wise' patch jobs of the 1870s.
- The Midnight Screecher: A Hotel Guest's Plea for Quiet
A fed-up boarder at a leading Seattle hotel demands justice—and a good night’s sleep—after being serenaded for nearly two hours by a crying infant.
- The Shocking Case of the Napping Keeper
A Seattle hospital patient, presumed to be suffering from narcotic poisoning, is jolted back to 'life' by a doctor’s electric battery—only for the doctors to realize they had the wrong man.
- The Ice Water Gambit: How a Seattle Drifter Was Framed for Theft
A local vagrant was doused in freezing water and coerced into a false confession by a cunning runner, only to be caught red-handed on Third Street.