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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 13 |
| 1877 | 10 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 4 |
29 stories matching mud
- The Mud-Hole of Commercial Street
An 1876 editorial campaign to transform Seattle's 'wretched' mud-caked thoroughfare into a paved road using convict labor and harbor ballast.
- The Mud-Sunk Streets of Pioneer Square
A local editor slams city officials for leaving commercial thoroughfares in such disrepair that industrial wagons are being swallowed whole by the earth.
- The Great Mud Puddle: Seattle’s Drainage Nightmare
A massive sinkhole at the corner of Main and Colfax streets has turned a vital thoroughfare into a swamp, threatening the city's infrastructure and hygiene.
- Rain Turns Early Seattle's Front Street to Mud
When heavy rains turned downtown thoroughfares into impassable quagmires, residents demanded better engineering than the temporary, 'penny-wise' patch jobs of the 1870s.
- The Aristocratic Goose of Seattle
A satirical fable from the 1880 Seattle Daily Intelligencer offers a sharp critique of status-seeking and the folly of high-society marriages.
- The Mud-Trap at the Old Seattle Gas Works
A young delivery driver narrowly escapes a watery grave after his team sinks into the treacherous quicksand of the tide flats.
- The Funeral Boat on the Black River
A funeral party's journey home from Renton to Seattle is upended when their steamer breaks down, forcing a mud-caked, cross-country trek by wagon.
- An Indigenous Woman Left to Die at Seattle’s Mechanic Wharf
When five Indigenous people were rescued from a capsized canoe in Seattle’s harbor, a local resident threw one woman into the mud and left her to die.
- The Unlikely Sweep of 1880
When King County became the 'banner county' for the GOP, local editors credited a clean campaign and a rejection of the 'mud-slinging' tactics of their rivals.
- The Strange Case of the County's Vanished Property
A legal battle over the former Collins claim reveals a messy history of county mismanagement, secret land deals, and invalid property sales.
- The Muddy Road to Greatness
As Seattle rapidly expanded in 1877, its editors lamented that the city’s commercial ambitions were literally stuck in the mud, demanding urgent infrastructure for a growing population.
- The Perils of the Snohomish Slough
A grain-laden schooner runs aground in the treacherous river mud, highlighting the risks of shipping in the early days of Washington Territory.
- 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 Unending Grading of Front Street
Seattle's downtown thoroughfare is locked in a cycle of costly miscalculations, mud, and construction delays.
- The River’s Toll on the Timber Trade
A sudden freshet on the White River washes away over 150,000 feet of logs, devastating local lumber operators and scattering timber as far as Smith’s Cove.
- The Iron Road Presses Through the Swamp
As Seattle expands its industrial footprint, laborers battle the elements to push a new railroad through a boggy frontier.
- 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 Muddy Road to Progress
In 1877, Seattle's city limits were defined not just by law, but by impassable, knee-deep mire that choked commerce and isolated local farmers.
- The Great Flood of 1876: Seattle’s River Runs Wild
A historic deluge swells the Duwamish River ten feet above normal, washing away timber and threatening the fledgling city.
- 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 Broken Promise of the Puyallup Coal Road
A political scandal erupts as Seattle accuses an attorney of pocketing fees while failing to stop the Northern Pacific Railway from seizing massive swathes of King County land.
- A Deadly Saloon Fight Ends in a Public Execution-Style Killing
An altercation over a game of cards in the mining settlement of Kent leads to a gruesome death and a cold-blooded confession on the tracks.
- The Shell That Survived the Fire: A Seattle Man’s Close Call with a Civil War Artifact
An eccentric local resident discovers a live cannonball in his firewood, leading to a terrifying explosion that sends him tumbling down a hillside.
- A Kingdom Waiting for Rails
In 1878, Eastern Washington farmers were literally building homes out of willow poles because the cost of shipping lumber across the Cascades was ruinous.
- The Midnight Screecher: A Hotel Guest's Plea for Quiet
A fed-up boarder at a leading Seattle hotel demands justice—and a good night’s sleep—after being serenaded for nearly two hours by a crying infant.