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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 9 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1880 | 1 |
15 stories matching forward
- The Swarm That Stalled the Trains
A plague of army worms in a Washington swamp grew so thick they brought a locomotive to a grinding, slippery halt.
- The Unstoppable Rail Builder of 1877
How James M. Colman bet his personal fortune to push the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad through the mountains, defying skeptics and funding the project on his own terms.
- The Pioneer Farmer Who Wanted to Represent King County
In the lead-up to the 1870 election, the local press championed a practical farmer from the Black River valley to bring common sense to government.
- The Heirs of a Ghost: A Legal Battle for Seattle’s Empty Land
In the early days of Washington Territory, three women stepped forward to claim an inheritance in a town that barely existed, warning off any buyers from purchasing land they believed was theirs.
- The Unending Grading of Front Street
Seattle's downtown thoroughfare is locked in a cycle of costly miscalculations, mud, and construction delays.
- 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 Great Fill: Seattle’s First Major Land Reclamation and the Fight for White Labor
In October 1876, workers are frantically raising Front Street to save it from the Duwamish River. The local press frames this massive public works project not just as engineering, but as a moral victory for 'white labor' over cheap Chinese competition.
- The Price of Panic: 1876 Seattle Views on Labor and Economic Depression
An editorial from the Seattle Daily Intelligencer explores the deep-seated economic anxieties of the era, blaming trade disputes and 'idle' men for the systemic instability of the Pacific Northwest.
- Broken Bones at the Capstan
A dangerous industrial accident aboard the steamer Chehalis nearly claims a life in Lake Washington.
- The Midnight Escape from the War Hawk
A maritime labor dispute turns into a dramatic midnight jailbreak from a leaky ship at the Seattle waterfront.
- 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.
- 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 Price of a Pioneer Homestead in 1877
A modest real estate listing from a century-and-a-half ago highlights the stark contrast between early Seattle’s property market and today's vertical city.
- 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.
- The Con Artist’s Benevolent Hustle
A smooth-talking stranger visits a Seattle tobacco shop, spins a yarn about a tragedy at sea, and leaves with more than just a sympathy donation.