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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 63 |
| 1877 | 65 |
| 1878 | 14 |
| 1880 | 15 |
157 stories matching put
- The Snake in the Parlor: How Two Con Artists Drained an Elderly Man Dry
In May 1877, John Dowd and his accomplice targeted a respected Seattle citizen with a fake land deal, winning his trust before stealing his watch, cash, and dignity at a local saloon.
- The Satchel Swindle: How a Miner Outsmarted a Seattle Landlord
A crafty miner used a bag of lead pipe to play on his landlord’s greed and secure two months of free room and board.
- The Mid-Straits Fare Dodge of 'Kaintuck'
A would-be passenger who slipped aboard at Seattle without a ticket tries to bargain his way across Puget Sound—until the captain marches him to the gangway.
- 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 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 Farmers’ Fight to Clear the Skagit River
When the government refused to fund the removal of dangerous log jams, local settlers and merchants took the job into their own hands, relying on community donations rather than official aid.
- The Boom Town on the Sound: Labor and Industry in 1877 Tacoma
A traveler’s dispatch from New Tacoma reports on the frenetic pace of local timber mills, the arrival of new industrial machinery, and the rapid expansion of the labor force as the city builds its future.
- 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 Day Newcastle Went Mad: A Woman’s War on Clerks and Clubs
In April 1877, a frustrated businesswoman in Newcastle, Washington Territory, escalated a shipping dispute into a violent rampage involving a club and a six-shooter, forcing local men to intervene.
- 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.
- A Near-Fatal Industrial Error at the Mill
A dangerous malfunction at a Seattle sawmill nearly crushes a worker, serving as a reminder of the perils of unregulated labor in the territory.
- The Paper War: Port Townsend vs. Seattle
In 1876, a small rival town accused Seattle of economic sabotage over who printed their business cards.
- Vandals Wreck Indian Canoe
Youths on the Seattle waterfront destroy an Indigenous person's boat for sport.
- The Great Bill-Posting Scandal: Seattle’s First War on Urban Clutter
As the city grows, merchants are plastering every available surface with advertisements. Now, frustrated business owners are demanding the City Council step in to stop the visual chaos.
- The Ill-Fated Voyage of the Amateur Fishermen
A grand, masculine outing on the waters of the sound takes a disastrous, soggy turn when one boisterous ‘Apollo’ puts his foot through the boat.
- The Engineer’s Ash-Box Ghost: A Tale of New Year’s Eve Peril
In a column dated October 1870, the Seattle Daily Intelligencer reprints a harrowing tale from an old engineer about surviving a wreck by hiding under his locomotive's ash pan during a blizzard.
- The Schoolhouse That Wasn't: Seattle’s Bureaucratic Battle Over Public Education
In 1877, a local dispute over the construction of a new school in Helltown reveals the early struggles of civic infrastructure and the tension between taxpayer demands and administrative delay.
- The Steamboat Duel: Annie Stewart vs. The Messenger
In a race for passengers and profit on Puget Sound, two steamers engaged in a high-speed chase that ended with the Annie Stewart arriving five minutes ahead of her rival.
- 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 Lawyer Who Couldn't Help: A Woman’s Disillusionment with Seattle’s Legal System
In April 1877, a desperate woman seeking financial support from her absent husband walked into a Griswold Street lawyer's office, only to leave more skeptical of the legal profession than when she arrived.
- The 'Skin Rangers' Take on the Centennial
In 1876, a local club offered a raucous, satirical history of the Pilgrims to counter the solemnity of America’s 100th anniversary.
- The Divorce Consultation That Did Not Go As Planned
A determined woman visits a Seattle attorney seeking help to evict her husband, only to be told that the law does not work quite the way she imagined.
- The Perils of 'Red Shirt' Advice in Mason County
A local farmer put his faith in newspaper advice regarding an aggressive bull, only to find that some solutions are more dangerous than the problem.
- The Railroad Reach: Seattle Pushes Its Trestle and Track Toward the Coal Mines
Crews close the last gap in the Seattle & Walla Walla trestle, let another three-quarters of a mile to Yesler, and wait for rails to lay two more miles of track.
- The Dangerous Plank Walk of Old Seattle
While the city dragged its feet on street improvements in 1878, residents were forced to navigate treacherous, makeshift wooden planks, causing frustration and daily peril.