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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 9 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1878 | 9 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1880 | 4 |
31 stories matching control
- The Political Rings of Olympia
An editorial from 1872 exposes a 'carpet-bagger' political machine using public funds to bankroll a partisan newspaper and manipulate Territorial elections.
- The 1878 Fight to Ban Corporate Land Hoarding
As Washington prepares for statehood, delegates debate a radical proposal to break up concentrated land ownership and prevent corporate monopolies.
- The Labor Vulture: A Radical Manifesto in a Seattle Pawn Shop
An anonymous editorial titled 'Capital vs. Lamb' appeared in the Seattle press in 1876, arguing that laborers are currently enslaved by capitalists and must unite to seize all profits of their work.
- The Wife Who Took Control of Her Husband’s Sobriety
A hardworking Seattle woman uses the law to force her dissipated husband into recovery, declaring she will build a better home while he is locked away.
- The Captain Refuses to Stand Down
A political storm erupts as a county official defies a court ruling to vacate his office, claiming his popularity trumps the law.
- 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 Citizens' Revolt Against the 'Official Ring'
When an informal mass meeting in 1872 Seattle bypassed party conventions to nominate their own candidates, the local press didn't just report it—they waged a war against the city's political machine.
- The Bitter Newspaper Feud of 1876
A public, vitriolic war of words between two Seattle editors reveals the cutthroat nature of early Pacific Northwest journalism.
- The Great Land Sell-Off
The Northern Pacific Railroad begins dumping vast swaths of Washington Territory land onto actual settlers for $2.60 an acre.
- The Mail System is Broken
In 1880, Seattle residents faced endless delays and 'willful neglect' from the postal service—an early grievance about failing public infrastructure.
- The Great Seattle Railroad Swindle
How corporate speculators and land rings bypassed honest stockholders and plundered the future of the city's waterfront.
- The Radical Visionary of Seattle's Early Politics
Before statehood, Edward Eldridge faced local scrutiny for his 'superficial' philosophy and his radical, communal vision for Washington's future.
- The Politics of Poverty: Seattle’s 1878 Voter Suppression Fight
A century and a half ago, local officials tried to implement a 'poll tax' to restrict voting rights, sparking a fierce debate over whether a citizen’s right to participate in democracy could be tied to their financial status.
- The Olympia Safe Heist and the Culture of Corruption
A government agent discovered a $39,000 deficit in the Olympia sub-treasury, only for the missing funds to vanish entirely after the agent allegedly returned control to the defaulting official.
- The Hustlers of the Waterfront: Regulating Seattle's Hotel Runners
In 1878, the Seattle City Council cracked down on the aggressive solicitors who haunted the docks, requiring them to wear badges and pay a quarterly tax for the right to hawk boarding houses.
- The Politics of Personal Attack in 1872
A century and a half ago, a Seattle newspaper reflected on the toxic state of political discourse and the dangerous habit of substituting insults for policy debate.
- The Price of Patronage: Political Graft in Washington Territory
A scathing editorial exposes how federal appointments in the Washington Territory were treated as commodities, with government officials accused of padding their estates through systemic corruption.
- The Mill Town Schoolhouse Scandal
When the town’s dominant lumber company controlled the land, the children and the schoolhouse were left to fend for themselves.
- The Chief Who Just Wanted to Be Left Alone
While Washington settlers braced for potential conflict with Chief Moses in 1878, a local merchant argued the indigenous leader was being provoked by a political usurper, not a desire for war.
- 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 Neah Bay Land Grab
A historic Seattle-area editorial exposes how federal officials and a powerful monopoly manipulated reservation boundaries to seize a lucrative trading post from a local merchant.
- The Unfair Tax on Being Alive
An 1878 Seattle citizen challenges the 'double and treble taxation' of poll taxes, arguing that labor should not be penalized while property owners receive preferential treatment.
- The Pied Piper of Seattle: The Policeman Who Controlled Animals
Before Seattle became a sprawling metropolis, a local officer reportedly possessed a magnetic, inexplicable influence over stray dogs and wild creatures.
- The Lawyer Who Sold Out the Settlers
A local editorial exposes future President James Garfield’s role as a corporate attorney for the Northern Pacific Railroad, accusing him of betraying Washington Territory homesteaders to protect railroad land holdings.
- Seattle's 1877 Plea: Build a Wagon Road Over the Cascades Before Portland Steals the Inland Empire
With no railroad yet across the mountains, a Seattle newspaper argued the city's future depended on a wagon road to Yakima—before Portland grabbed the inland trade forever.