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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 24 |
| 1877 | 26 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1880 | 5 |
59 stories matching start
- The Wild Foot Race on Commercial Street
Before the city grew, Seattle’s main thoroughfare hosted a high-stakes sprint that drew crowds to the rooftops and left bettors stunned.
- The Laundry Business Boom of 1870
A local editor observes the financial success of Chinese laundries in California and urges Seattle entrepreneurs to claim the market.
- Tragedy Across the River
A Snohomish family loses everything to a fire while attending a funeral.
- 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.
- A Hearty Welcome to the Newcomers
Fourteen New Brunswick immigrants arrived and built an 18-foot skiff to scout Puget Sound farmland.
- The Cattle Drive Through Seven Feet of Snow
Defying winter, a determined group of drovers successfully pushed fifty head of cattle through the Snoqualmie Pass, a feat never before recorded this early in the year.
- The Beast on the Bluff: Hunting a Panther in White River
A Seattle neighborhood turns out with dogs to track a predator that decimated a local farmer's livestock.
- The Dream of a Seattle Shipyard
In 1877, local merchants were urged to stop waiting for 'something to turn up' and collectively invest in a local shipbuilding industry to jumpstart the economy.
- 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 Man Who Shot at a Chinese Girl and Then Tried to Fight the Police
A drunken brawl on Washington Street ends with a drunkard in irons, revealing the volatile mix of frontier lawlessness and early civic order in Seattle.
- The Man Who Paid for Nothing
A witty anecdote from Seattle's early days captures the city's growing confidence and irreverence toward authority.
- The Lonely End of a Skagit Prospector
After wandering the rugged wilderness for nearly a month, an elderly miner perished in the mountains near the U.S.-British border.
- The High-Stakes Rivalry of the Seattle Racetrack
After a controversial 'dead heat' left spectators threatening violence, two local favorites prepare for a definitive $150 rematch.
- Stagecoach Chaos on Mill Street
A frightened team of horses sparks a wild ride through downtown Seattle, leaving a lone passenger clinging on for dear life.
- 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.
- A Perilous Game on the Harbor
Local children are testing their luck by building makeshift rafts and navigating the harbor near the depot, to the growing alarm of local observers.
- The Great Migration North: Why Settlers Chose Washington Over Drought-Stricken California
An 1877 report chronicles the shifting tides of American migration as thousands look to Puget Sound for a fresh start during a season of western uncertainty.
- The Vampire of Hard Times: Why Seattle's Banks Are Starving Its Growth
An editorial in the March 1877 *Seattle Intelligencer* blames the region’s economic stagnation not on a lack of enterprise, but on predatory lending rates that are strangling local industry.
- 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 Pioneer Dream: Settling Seattle as an Organized Colony
In 1877, Seattle newspapers championed the idea of 'colonizing' the Washington Territory to solve the isolation of homesteading, mirroring today's debates over density and regional growth.
- The Gambler Who Won by Losing His Mind
A Seattle street scene from 1876 reveals a bizarre twist on luck: a man wins $50 not by knowing the score, but by believing he did.
- The First Engine: How One Machinist Built Seattle’s Heart
In April 1877, a local machinist named Mr. Bullene constructed the first engine ever built in Seattle for Stetson & Post’s new lumber mill, marking a pivotal moment in the city's industrial infancy.
- 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.
- The Great Cow-Milking Debacle of the Seattle Suburbs
A rustic attempt at domestic economy goes hilariously wrong when a young couple faces off against a calf.
- The Transformation of the 'Lava Bed'
A historic Seattle neighborhood known for 'drunken revelry and hellish orgies' faces an impending industrial rebirth.