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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 8 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
17 stories matching interior
- The Miracle of the Scalped Man
A brush with death on the frontier: a survivor recounts the chilling moment he was scalped by Indians and miraculously saved by his traveling party.
- 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 Steilacoom Bubble That Burst
A grand, failed railway scheme proves that even the most ambitious 'railroad kings' can't build an empire without a single cent in the bank.
- The Iron Road vs. The River: A 19th Century Fight for Seattle's Future
An editorial from 1877 argues that the future of the Northwest lies in narrow-gauge railroads rather than the unruly Columbia River.
- Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad Takes Land-Grant Case to Congress
A legislative battle brews in Congress over land-grant endowments that could finally connect Seattle to the interior.
- The Forgotten Dream of a Seattle County Fair
In 1876, local boosters argued that Seattle needed a central fair to bring together the disparate agricultural valleys of King County—a dream of connection in a fragmented frontier.
- The Murderer in the Parlor
A frontier tavern killing, a suspicious trial, and a woman who rose from obscurity to the height of Washington society—only to be haunted by a past she thought she’d buried.
- The Rising Tides of Industry
An 1873 editorial reflects on the fragility of Pacific Coast harbors, warning that unchecked mining waste and silt are creating an uncertain future for maritime commerce.
- The Iron Vein: Seattle’s Gamble on the Railroad
In 1876, local leaders rallied behind a desperate bid to connect the young city of Seattle to the interior coal mines and grain lands, arguing that the railroad was the only path from frontier outpost to global port.
- 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 Seattle Land Grab of 1880
A former Delegate to Congress accuses a prominent Seattle attorney of sabotaging a deal to save King County land, sparking a bitter political feud.
- The Unfinished Ditch That Could Have Remade Seattle
An 1877 proposal to carve a channel between Lake Washington and the Sound highlights the ambitious—and forgotten—infrastructure dreams that once defined the city’s early development.
- The Great Tent That Flopped: Seattle’s First Major Spectacle Washed Out
In October 1876, the famous Montgomery Queen's Circus arrived in Seattle with a massive tent and twenty trained horses, only for torrential rain to collapse their grand opening. A rare look at early Seattle entertainment and civic life.
- 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 Road Less Traveled: Seattle’s Shameful Contrast with Victoria’s Fine Highways
In 1876, the local press lambasted King County’s broken road system, praising British Columbia’s turnpikes as a model for Seattle’s own stagnant development.
- The Road to Nowhere: Seattle’s Neglected Gateway to the Interior
As travelers from Yakima and Walla Walla flock to the Snoqualmie Pass route, they find it worse than ever. The *Intelligencer* demands immediate action to save Seattle’s economic future.
- The Land Grab That Built Tacoma: How the Northern Pacific Railroad Stole Millions of Acres
A furious editorial in the Seattle Star exposes the Northern Pacific Railroad’s scheme to misappropriate public lands for a private coal line, arguing that the company is using legal loopholes to steal from settlers in King and Snohomish counties.