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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 14 |
| 1877 | 13 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 3 |
31 stories matching declar
- 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.
- 1876 Notice Cuts Off Wife's Credit After She Leaves
A husband in 1876 takes to the local press to declare his financial independence from his runaway wife.
- The Unilateral Disclaimer of a 19th-Century Marriage
Publicly declaring he would no longer be responsible for his wife's debts, Thomas Lilly placed this notice in the newspaper to formally signal a separation in pioneer Seattle.
- Seattle Husband's Notice Denies Responsibility for Wife's Debts
A curt, Victorian-era public notice posted in a Seattle newspaper marks the formal end of a marriage through a declaration of non-responsibility.
- General Howard’s Seattle Revival
The Civil War general takes the pulpit to debate the 'infidelity' of the American West.
- The Man Who Shot at a Chinese Girl and Then Tried to Fight the Police
A drunken brawl on Washington Street ends with a drunkard in irons, revealing the volatile mix of frontier lawlessness and early civic order in Seattle.
- The Monopoly of Water: A Seattleite’s Outrage Over Yesler’s Wharf
In 1877, a local citizen confronted the city's most powerful industrialist over his claim to the waterfront, sparking a debate about public access and private power that echoes in Seattle today.
- The Tragic End of a Traveling Grifter
A notorious card shark is declared insane by the courts after a life spent deceiving folks from British Columbia to Virginia City.
- Seattle Declares Victory Over Smallpox Outbreak
After twenty days of tension, health officials confirm the city is safe, though the bill for containment—and a sharp rebuke for those who brought the sickness to town—remains.
- 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.
- The Gambler Who Won by Losing His Mind
A Seattle street scene from 1876 reveals a bizarre twist on luck: a man wins $50 not by knowing the score, but by believing he did.
- The Social Climber and the Boarding-House Landlady
When an imposter claiming aristocratic ties tried to swindle a respectable family at a Seattle party, an uninvited cousin from Albany arrived to set the record straight.
- Midnight Intrusion at the County Jail
A night watchman thwarts a brazen break-in attempt at the Seattle jailhouse after a tense standoff.
- The Looming Financial Chasm of 1877
As Seattle navigates a national economic crisis, editors reflect on the precarious transition from paper 'greenbacks' to gold, revealing the anxieties of a frontier town tethered to a shifting national currency.
- 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.'
- The Madman with the Million-Dollar Conspiracy
A wandering stranger’s frantic claims of a plot to rob him in Seattle lead to his arrest and a stark reminder: the city is growing too fast for its own good.
- The Judge Who Scratched Out His Own Eyes
A Seattle judge’s legal flip-flop on municipal taxation sparks a fiery editorial showdown and accusations of corrupt land speculation.
- The Wild Fertility of the Sammamish Valley
A local settler reports on the rapid agricultural development and the urgent need for river navigation to bring produce to market.
- The Sailor Who Mapped the Sound
Rear-Admiral Charles Wilkes, whose 1841 expedition gave Elliott Bay its name and helped secure the Oregon Territory for the United States, has passed away at 76.
- The Ill-Fated Voyage of the Amateur Fishermen
A grand, masculine outing on the waters of the sound takes a disastrous, soggy turn when one boisterous ‘Apollo’ puts his foot through the boat.
- The Broken Promise of the Puyallup Coal Road
A political scandal erupts as Seattle accuses an attorney of pocketing fees while failing to stop the Northern Pacific Railway from seizing massive swathes of King County land.
- The Muddy Arteries of Early Seattle
Decades before modern paving, Seattle’s civic leaders struggled to build a passable road to the Renton coal mines, leaving thousands of settlers and farmers stranded in the mire.
- The Midnight Treasure Hunt on Coffin Island
A fever for gold and Captain Kidd’s fabled riches sends Seattle-area prospectors into a frenzy of night-time digging.
- The Man Who Wanted to Steal a Horse by Playing 'Bravo'
A young man’s attempt to intimidate a driver into surrendering his horse ends in a standoff with a revolver, revealing the raw, unpolished nature of justice in 1876 Seattle.
- The Angel of Pestilence: Seattle’s War on Rot and Ruin
In May 1877, a local merchant’s complaint about piles of carrion near the sawmills sparked an editorial outcry against civic negligence, declaring that 'malarial vapors' were generating poison and death in the growing town.