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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 2 |
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
19 stories matching creat
- The Struggle for Equitable Taxation in Early Washington
An open letter from 1878 explores the difficulties of managing state revenue and the inherent failures of centralized 'equalization' boards.
- The Man Who Fought the Law: Riley’s Brawl with Seattle Police
In July 1876, a drunken man named Riley didn't just resist arrest—he dismantled the entire police force. It took bystanders to finally pin him down.
- The Renters and the Landless: Seattle’s Early Conflict over Property
An 1876 editorial from the Pacific Tribune calls out wealthy landowners for reaping the benefits of city growth created by the labor of the landless.
- The Pioneer Struggle to Fund Washington's Common Schools
An 1877 legislative session in Olympia debates selling off University lands to fund the territory's school districts, highlighting the precarious nature of public education in the early days of the Washington Territory.
- The Man Who Ran Seattle: Thos. W. Prosch Appointed Postmaster
In October 1876, President Grant signs the commission for Thomas W. Prosch as the new Postmaster of Seattle, cementing his role in a town where he is already the undisputed king of commerce and politics.
- The Shadow Over San Juan Island
A Supreme Court justice warns that the legal limbo surrounding the San Juan islands threatens to turn the territory into a lawless refuge for criminals.
- 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.
- Sabotage on the Coal Line
A dangerous attempt to derail a coal train near Seattle highlights the intense tensions surrounding the city's burgeoning industrial infrastructure.
- The Newspaper Feud of 1876
A local editor’s blistering public breakdown of an auditor who dared to write letters to the editor.
- The Rules of the Game: How Seattle's First Lawyers Codified the Fight for Land
When the Washington Territorial legislature overhauled the rules of civil procedure, they essentially wrote the blueprint for how Seattle’s developers and land speculators would battle over the city’s footprint for decades to come.
- The Seattle Lottery Scandal of 1876
A local editor confesses his regret for backing a 'legal' lottery that turned the city into an open gambling hell.
- The Fight Against Washington’s Land Barons
An 1877 editorial warns that unchecked land speculation in the Washington Territory is turning away settlers and creating a class of 'land fiends' who gobble up public resources.
- The Newspaper War of 1878
Before the digital age, Seattle's editors fought their battles in court and print, trading accusations of corruption and forgery.
- The Bold Dream to Remake Seattle's Waterways
In 1880, a group of prominent citizens proposed a canal between Lake Union and Puget Sound to drain Lake Washington, reclaim farmland, and create an industrial powerhouse.
- The Unincorporated City of Seattle
In 1877, a legal crisis regarding Seattle's city charter left the municipal government in limbo, struggling to prove its own legitimacy while 'disaffected individuals' looked to take advantage of the chaos.
- The Dog in the Manger: How Seattle’s Landlords Are Killing Its Future
An editorial in the 1876 Puget Sound Dispatch warns that greedy real estate owners are pricing out workers with usurious rents, comparing their tactics to Shylock and urging them to lower prices before the city stagnates.
- The Mayor Who Bought His Seat with Lottery Money
In Seattle’s first hotly contested municipal election of 1876, the newspaper publisher who ran for mayor lost to Dr. Weed—not because he lacked support from mechanics and laborers, but because his opponent mobilized the city’s notorious lottery gamblers.
- The Shoe That Could Save Seattle: Why We Must Stop Exporting Our Hides to San Francisco
An editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch argues that Seattle’s economic survival depends on manufacturing its own boots and shoes locally, rather than shipping raw hides south for a 10% premium.
- The Logger’s Dilemma: Why Cheap Labor Is Killing Washington's Future
In a fierce editorial from January 1877, the Puget Sound Dispatch argues that low wages for loggers don't just hurt workers—they stunt the growth of the entire territory, creating a class of 'mental and physical wrecks' instead of future statesmen.