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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 9 |
| 1877 | 8 |
| 1880 | 2 |
19 stories matching feder
- The Great Fire of Seattle: A City in Ashes
As the dust settles on the inferno that consumed the heart of the young settlement, residents face the daunting task of rebuilding from nothing.
- The Postmaster’s Plight: A Decades-Long Betrayal in Skagit County
In the midst of a national economic depression, a respected elder and long-serving postmaster in Mount Vernon faces federal fraud charges, sparking a community debate over loyalty versus law.
- The Political Spoils System in 1876 Seattle
A satirical look at a local man's desperate, cascading web of nepotism surrounding the upcoming federal appointments.
- The Great Congressional Shutdown of 1876
A historic clash between the House and Senate left federal workers across the country—and the crew of a local Revenue Cutter—stranded without pay.
- The Great Reclamation: Opening the Interior
How a 1877 federal law sought to transform the 'Great American Desert' of the Yakima plains into a productive landscape.
- The Land Grab That Built Seattle: How Indian Reserves Held Back the City
In 1877, local editors railed against federal land policies that reserved vast tracts of fertile Washington Territory for Native American use, arguing these 'monopolies' stifled white settlement and speculation.
- Washington Territory Moves Toward a Constitutional Convention
Before Washington became a state, residents debated the necessity of a constitutional convention and the potential riches of federal land grants.
- The Tax War That Almost Killed Seattle's Economy
In 1877, a federal order threatened to strip Seattle of its tax base by forcing steamships to register their 'home port' in Port Townsend. The local press warned that without this revenue, the county would collapse.
- The Skagit Stand-off: A Survey Interrupted
When federal surveyors moved onto Skagit lands without a treaty, they were met by 150 armed warriors ready to defend their sovereignty.
- The Struggle for an Infrastructure of Our Own
An 1876 editorial reflects on the frustration of relying on federal aid to build the Pacific Northwest, urging locals to fund their own railroads and commercial infrastructure instead.
- The Great Seattle Land Battle of 1877
A federal decision sheds light on the messy early scramble for ownership of downtown Seattle, as speculators and the city vied for title to the waterfront.
- The Price of Loyalty in 1880 Seattle
As Seattle went to the polls in 1880, local editors warned that political fealty to the Republican party was the only way to secure the University and future federal favors.
- The Struggle for the Swinomish Slough
While Washington Territory languished without federal infrastructure support, local steamboat operators were left to navigate a dangerous, shifting channel entirely on their own dime.
- The Tax Trap: How a Federal Order Threatened Seattle’s Revenue
In 1876, a bureaucratic directive from Washington D.C. threatened to drain King County of its maritime tax base by forcing all vessels to 'hail' from Port Townsend, sparking fears of financial ruin for local developers.
- The Checkerboard Trap: How the Northern Pacific Railroad Hoarded Washington’s Land
An editorial in The Daily Intelligencer exposes how the railroad company used federal land grants to block settlers from claiming homesteads, leaving thousands of acres in legal limbo and stalling the growth of Seattle and Tacoma.
- The River vs. The Rails: Walla Walla’s Plea for a Seattle Link
In 1877, Eastern Washington leaders warned that relying on the Columbia River was a fatal mistake, urging the federal government to subsidize a railroad connecting their region directly to Seattle.
- The 'Lazy' Reservation: A White Settler's Rant Against Indian Farming
In May 1877, a Seattle correspondent published a vitriolic letter in the *Intelligencer* challenging claims of Native agricultural success on the Suckley Reservation, arguing that federal land policies encouraged 'idleness' and demanding the lands be opened to white settlers.
- The Bread and Butter Vote: How the Custom House Ring Rigged Port Townsend Politics
In a stunning display of patronage politics in September 1876, federal employees in Port Townsend marched in lockstep to defeat local opposition, proving that government jobs were still the ultimate political currency.
- The Race for the Rails: Seattle’s Fight to Keep the Northern Pacific Branch
As Oregon competitors maneuver to steal federal land grants, a local correspondent warns that losing the railroad connection could leave Washington Territory behind for decades.