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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 23 |
| 1877 | 9 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1880 | 7 |
43 stories matching discover
- The Boys Who Stowed Away: A Seattle Harbor Adventure
Two young stowaways from the Yakima country were discovered hiding in the coal bunkers of a tugboat bound for Olympia. Rather than turning them away at sea, the captain and crew took pity on the frightened youths, feeding and clothing them until their relieved parents could send a telegram.
- The Pioneer Race Through the Snoqualmie Pass
Nineteen men embark on a daring expedition to map a route through the Cascade Mountains, seeking a passage where none had been found before.
- The Great 'Beer Hall' False Alarm
A late-night fire scare in 1877 Seattle sends the city into a panic, only to reveal how quickly a rumor could mobilize a crowd and expose the city's nerves.
- The Burglar Who Stole From Himself
A clever thief in Seattle pulls off a double deception: stealing from a store and then framing a Chinese employee for the crime.
- 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 Hidden River Beneath University Street
When Seattle’s early engineers paved over a local creek, nature fought back during the autumn rains.
- The Tragic End of a Young Woman in Love
A nineteen-year-old Seattle woman dies by suicide after a romantic disappointment, sparking local gossip about strychnine and heartbreak.
- The 'Bear of Third Street' Prank
A group of rowdy boys in 1880s Seattle found a cruel way to terrorize women walking home alone at night.
- Arson Attempt Targets Chinese Business District
A deliberate fire set in the basement of Wah Chong's store nearly triggers a catastrophe for the city's business sector.
- The Tramp Who Demanded Breakfast
A gentleman in a suburban cottage tried to shoo away a prowler from his back yard, only to discover the intruder was waiting for his morning meal at the front door.
- 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 Disappearance of James Goodwin
A cook vanishes from the steamer Yakima while en route from Snohomish to Seattle, leaving behind a mystery that leaves the local authorities puzzled.
- The Price of a Whitewash Job
A working man in Tacoma learns the hard way that 'at par' is a relative term when his employer tries to pass off devalued currency for honest labor.
- The Night the Burglar Met a Bullet: A Seattle Homeowner’s Close Call
In October 1876, Mr. Morehouse of First Street didn't just call the police—he fired back at a window-breaker, sending the thief fleeing with a bullet in his coat.
- The Political Cost of War
A wounded veteran discovers that his war stories are ironically costing him votes in his run for Congress.
- The Ball That Burned: A Seattle Saloon Mystery
In 1876, a patron at John Brendle’s beer saloon discovered that one of the billiard balls was made of highly flammable material, igniting instantly when pressed against his pipe.
- The Tragedy of a Lonely Life in Seattle
A man's desperate act of suicide on Commercial Street illuminates the harsh isolation and economic despair of Seattle’s early frontier days.
- 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 Smallpox Panic of 1876
Busy-bodies spread false rumors of a smallpox outbreak in Seattle, prompting a swift rebuttal from the local physician.
- The Charred Remains of a Pioneer: A Tragic Fire on Commercial Street
In the early days of Seattle, fire was the city's greatest enemy. On October 6, 1876, a blaze swept through the heart of the business district, claiming the life of a man named Hilder and destroying property near Jamison & Prescott.
- The Tragedy at Fourth Street: A Suicide in the Empire Mill Owner's Room
In a grim scene on October 2, 1876, Henry Bendel was found dead in his Seattle boarding house room, having taken his own life with a revolver. The incident highlights the precarious nature of business ownership in the young frontier town.
- The Giant of Wawawai
A crew grading a road near the Snake River unearths the remains of a man estimated to be thirty feet tall.
- The Ghost of Washington Street
A retired detective recalls a haunting murder investigation in 1870s Seattle, where a father’s vengeance and a daughter’s grief ended in the deep waters of the bay.
- The Vanity Trap: Seattle’s 1876 Warning on Materialism
While the city scrambled to build its future, one observer warned that an 'aristocracy of display' was hollowing out the pioneer soul.
- The Letter Lost in the Cracks
For twelve years, a village woman waited for a lover who never called, unaware that her promise to join him in China had been trapped behind a post office counter all along.