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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 30 |
| 1877 | 11 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 4 |
47 stories matching lie
- The Great Partition: Why Walla Walla Wants to Leave Washington
A fiery editorial warns that the eastern half of the territory is plotting to join Oregon, leaving Seattle and the Puget Sound region stranded in a 'provincial' limbo.
- The Man Who Wouldn't Die: The Last Survivor of the Alamo Walks Among Us
A heroic frontiersman named Jimmy Kennon has resurfaced in Washington Territory, proving false reports of his death. He claims to be the sole survivor of the Battle of the Alamo and a legendary scout who once rescued a captive from Sioux hands.
- The Land Grab That Stalled Seattle’s Growth
A local editorial warns that the Northern Pacific Railroad’s hoarding of millions of acres is strangling settlement and development in Washington Territory.
- The Struggle for Home Ownership in Early Seattle
An 1877 editorial argues that the city's growth is being stifled by speculative land hoarding, keeping affordable homes out of reach for the working class.
- The City That Refused to Drink: Seattle’s Water War of 1876
When the local water company demanded a quarter-century monopoly and the power to seize private springs, Seattle’s leaders said no. Now, with fire risks mounting and growth accelerating, the city faces a stark choice: build its own system or wait for disaster.
- Tragedy in Two Acts on the Cowlitz
A young man's accidental death in the woods is followed by the complete destruction of his family's home by fire, leaving the mourning parents with nothing.
- 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 Great Olympia Mill Fire: A City's Heart Stolen by Flame
In the early hours of October 16, 1876, a devastating fire consumed the steam sawmill and all its property in Olympia, Washington Territory, leaving the community to wonder how they will replace their primary source of timber processing.
- The Narrow Escape on Whidbey Island
A quiet Sunday trip to church turns to tragedy for the Kellogg family after a pair of startled horses wreck their wagon in a field of stumps.
- A Sharp Critique of Christian Patriarchy
A biting anonymous editorial lampoons the hypocrisy of Seattle’s clergy regarding women’s rights.
- The Road to Nowhere: How Seattle’s Leaders Left Lake Washington Residents Stranded in Mud
In March 1877, residents living between the city and Lake Washington found their commute impossible. The city council ignored petitions for a proper road, offering only fir boughs and gravel dust as solutions.
- The Perilous Plank at Front and Seneca
For months, Seattle residents braved a treacherous, unlit crossing near the waterfront, until a cook’s brutal fall finally forced a call for accountability.
- The Ghost Towns of the Skagit Gold Rush
A winter trek through the North Cascades reveals a landscape of stunning beauty marred by the desperate, thieving misery of the failing gold camps.
- A Daring Rescue at the Waterfront
A young boy pushed into the water from a wharf is saved by a quick-thinking mate from a nearby steamer.
- The Great Seattle Lie: How a Horse Spooked a Couple Became a Territorial Tragedy
In 1876, a minor riding accident on White River was exaggerated by word-of-mouth into a sensational disaster. The paper exposes the mechanics of rumor-mongering in the young territory.
- The Ghostly Search for a Lost Sailor
When a sailor drowned at the mouth of the Columbia River in 1876, his grieving colleagues turned to a grim folk remedy to recover his body.
- The Swamp That Was: How a Drainage Project Threatened to Reclaim King County’s Wetlands
In 1876, local farmers petitioned the county to drain the marshes between White and Black rivers, arguing that reclamation would boost public health and add millions to the region's wealth.
- Vandals Wreck Indian Canoe
Youths on the Seattle waterfront destroy an Indigenous person's boat for sport.
- 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 Unawakened Giant: Why Washington Territory Is the Next California
A sweeping editorial in the *Diligent Intelligencer* argues that railroads are about to unlock the 'inland basin' of Eastern Washington, transforming it from a feared desert into an agricultural empire rivaling the Golden State.
- The Boy Who Saw His Own Death: A Seattle Tragedy of Premonition and Fate
In October 1876, a young professor driving near Seattle experienced a chilling vision of his own demise just days before he was killed in a runaway carriage accident.
- The Unmasking of a Mason
A tense, public confrontation in a local Seattle establishment reveals the social friction surrounding the secret society's reputation in the 1870s.
- The 'Nile of the Occident' Demands a Road
A settler from Kittitas Valley writes a fiery open letter to Seattle, advocating for a direct mountain passage to boost the region’s agricultural potential.
- The Gossips of Old Seattle: A Dispute Over a Deathbed
A local man defends his reputation after neighbors spread rumors regarding his care for a sick houseguest.
- The Judge and the Minstrel Show
When a visiting Chief Justice toured a Seattle courtroom in 1878, he was shocked by the advertisements for a traveling minstrel show plastered on the courthouse walls.