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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 4 |
| 1876 | 11 |
| 1877 | 11 |
| 1878 | 12 |
| 1879 | 3 |
| 1880 | 5 |
46 stories matching construct
- The audacious railroad land grab that made Seattle's delegate a target
Facing attacks from the Tacoma Herald, Judge Orange Jacobs is praised for blocking a Northern Pacific claim to 783,600 acres — land the railroad tried to take for building just 31 miles of a 'branch road' to a coal mine.
- The Northern Pacific Compromise: A Bitter Road Through the Cascades
After intense lobbying in Washington, D.C., a new railroad deal forces a high-stakes ultimatum for the Columbia River corridor.
- The Man Who Built a Road on His Own dime
While Seattle’s leaders debate and delay, a Walla Walla pioneer proves that private enterprise can conquer the wilderness where public funds fail.
- The Bridge Over Broken Trust
In 1878, a sharp dissent by a King County Commissioner reveals the classic political struggle over infrastructure spending and the limits of the public purse.
- The Iron-Spoke Innovation of 1876
A radical new design in carriage wheels promises a smoother, sturdier ride for Seattle’s muddy, nascent streets.
- The Great Northern Pacific Railroad Robbery
In 1878, Seattle citizens packed a town hall to condemn the Northern Pacific Railroad, alleging that corporate greed and land fraud were strangling the territory's economic future.
- The Battle for the Unsurveyed Frontier
A 19th-century court case in Steilacoom exposes the tension between local land speculators and the ideal of the 'actual settler' on the Washington frontier.
- The Black Pall Over Washington’s Future
A proposed decade-long extension for the Northern Pacific Railroad threatens to monopolize the territory's vast timber and mineral wealth while stifling independent settlement.
- The Railway Land Grab: Seattle's Growth Tied to Northern Pacific Expansion
A new congressional bill promises to extend the Northern Pacific Railroad's deadline by a decade, while stripping away land grants intended for the vital link to Puget Sound.
- The Jailbreak Problem: When Every County Was Its Own Penitentiary
In 1877, Washington Territory struggled with a chaotic, decentralized justice system where county jails were crumbling and prisoners were held for profit.
- Walla Walla Debates County Bonds for Railroad
An 1877 debate over public bond issues for the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad reveals a city hungry for connectivity and skeptical of the 'blood money' demands of big capital.
- The Railroad Gamble
In an 1878 editorial, the Seattle Weekly Dispatch argues that the economic survival of the region depends on using Chinese labor to build the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad, claiming that white capital refuses to invest unless labor costs are kept low.
- The Wooden Walls of Puget Sound
A survey of the booming fleet of vessels built in Washington Territory in 1877, and why the local economy was missing out on the profits of its own timber.
- The Great Railway Gamble of 1878
Territorial lawmakers drafted a sweeping plan to bind Washington’s counties together with a railroad, tasking local voters with footing the bill through massive debt.
- The Bankrupt Giant and the Tacoma Land Ring
A skeptical editor exposes the Northern Pacific Railroad's questionable finances and a suspicious telegraph campaign used to inflate land values in Tacoma.
- A Maritime Giant Hits the Water
The largest vessel ever constructed on Puget Sound, designed to carry 1.3 million feet of lumber, successfully launches in Seabeck.
- The Contractor Who Left a Trail of Debt
After securing $1,500 in contract payments, a local builder vanished in a rowboat, leaving his creditors behind in the dust.
- Minister Ties Columbia River Rapids to Costly Freight
A century and a half ago, Seattle boosters were already plotting to cut Portland out of the regional economy by building a railroad to the interior.
- The Rising Brick Skyline of Early Seattle
As Schwabacher Brothers prepares a massive new brick warehouse on Commercial Street, the city celebrates its shift from wooden frame town to a permanent commercial hub.
- The Great Seattle Construction Boom of 1878
Falling material costs spark a building frenzy in the frontier town, signaling a rapid expansion for early property owners.
- The Laws That Built the Frontier
A look back at the 1879 Territorial Assembly's agenda, from banning wandering hogs to regulating the earliest salmon canneries.
- The Price of Order: Seattle’s 1878 County Budget
A deep dive into the 1878 King County audit reveals a frontier government struggling to balance the books through liquor licenses, jail construction, and the high cost of local justice.
- The Gateway to the Skagit Gold Fields
Developers race to establish a supply town at the head of navigation as miners push into the remote wilderness of the Skagit River.
- The Disappearance at Skagit Pass
While railway surveyors pushed aggressively into the wilderness to map the Pacific Northwest, a young engineer vanished without a trace, leaving behind a cold case and a community's unease.
- The Shack They Called a Courthouse
A visiting traveler shames Seattle's leadership for holding federal court in a dilapidated building while tax dollars bled away.