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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 36 |
| 1877 | 26 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1880 | 13 |
80 stories matching line
- 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.
- The Great Land Grab: Tacoma Citizens Unite Against Northern Pacific’s ‘Squatter’ Tactics
In a packed hall at Reinig’s Hall, leading citizens condemn the railroad’s seizure of public lands and its attempt to claim hundreds of thousands of acres for a coal line that will never be built.
- The Cannery Boom: Salmon, Chinamen, and the Gold Rush of the Columbia
A detailed look at the massive industrial scale of the Pacific Northwest's salmon industry in 1877, revealing the harsh labor conditions and the central role of Chinese workers.
- 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 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.
- 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 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 City That Built Itself: Seattle’s 1876 Bet on Railroads and Real Estate
While Portland urges unity to secure a transcontinental line, Seattle’s council quietly reshapes the city’s physical landscape—lowering street grades and paving sidewalks—betting that infrastructure will drive the boom.
- The Night Watchman's Dilemma: A Call for Safety on Seattle’s Dark Wharves
In September 1876, the Seattle City Council was urged to intervene after late-night passengers were forced to navigate dangerous docks alone, highlighting the precarious nature of early urban infrastructure.
- The Great Dakota Exodus: 100 Settlers Arrive in Seattle
As the rest of the country heads west, a steady stream of homesteaders from the plains is turning north to the Puget Sound, bringing new life to the young city.
- The Great Railway Pipe Dream
A century and a half ago, speculators and dreamers were already busy mapping out the future of Seattle's rail lines and debating the superiority of Puget Sound over Canadian ports.
- 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.
- A Deadly Souvenir of the Battle of Seattle
Twenty-one years after the 1856 Battle of Seattle, a local man struck a hidden relic in a fir tree that could have turned lethal.
- The Struggle for the Panama Portage
A power struggle between railroad titans over a critical transit monopoly leaves the Pacific Mail Steamship Company reeling.
- The Great Meat Safe: How Seattle’s Fishermen Could Have Rivalled London’s Beef Trade
A July 1876 dispatch from the Agricultural Gazette reveals that fresh American beef was successfully shipped to London in refrigerated holds. The Daily Intelligencer editor sees a parallel opportunity for Puget Sound halibut, which currently spoils before reaching San Francisco markets.
- The New Spirit of Front Street
As Seattle's wholesale economy matures in the 1870s, a new firm moves into the Pontius Building to cut out the San Francisco middleman.
- The Territorial Standoff on the Clothesline
A suburban Seattle squabble over laundry, reputation, and the prying eyes of the neighborhood in 1878.
- 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 Coal Rush: How 1876 Industry Linked Seattle and Tacoma
A historic editorial argues that the expansion of Northern Pacific Railroad coal lines from Puyallup will drive mutual prosperity for Seattle and its southern neighbor.
- The Unseen Economic Power of Puget Sound Timber
A local editor argues that Seattle shouldn't rely on distant furniture imports when the region is literally throwing away the raw materials for a thriving local industry.
- The Mule-Handling Tactics of 1877
A dialect poem from the Seattle Daily Intelligencer offers a glimpse into the frontier humor and casual racism prevalent in the territorial era's agricultural life.
- The $100,000 Gamble: Yesler’s Great Lottery
To fund a mountain road, Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler turned to a massive, state-sanctioned lottery, putting his own saw mill and downtown lots on the line.
- The Great Mountain Road Debate of 1877
As Seattle dreamed of a transcontinental railroad, settlers in the Kittitas Valley argued that a simple wagon road was the true key to their economic survival.
- The City That Couldn't Keep Up: Seattle’s Housing Crisis of 1876
As immigrants flood in from Kansas and beyond, the city's building boom fails to match the demand for shelter, threatening a severe shortage before winter sets in.
- The Great Land Grab: Seattle's Board of Commissioners Condemns Northern Pacific’s 'Gross Swindle'
In a rare show of unified civic resistance, Thurston County officials denounce the railroad's seizure of public lands as an outrage against settlers.