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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 17 |
| 1876 | 16 |
| 1877 | 14 |
| 1878 | 18 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1880 | 2 |
70 stories matching dispatch
- The Unsparing Champion of Right
In 1878, the Weekly Puget Sound Dispatch positioned itself as the 'Fearless Champion' of the common citizen, promising to be the cheapest and most comprehensive source of news in the Washington Territory.
- The Great Seattle Printing Conspiracy
When the Dispatch editor exposed a 'plunder' scheme by rival newspapers to inflate public printing costs, he revealed the messy, graft-filled reality of 1878 municipal administration.
- The Battle for the Assessor’s Office
A Seattle taxpayer challenges the hiring of a deputy, sparking a tense public exchange in the press over bureaucratic authority and civic competence.
- The Collapse of a Partisan Press
The editor of 'The Dispatch' announces the closure of the publication after a series of financial betrayals and political infighting.
- The Auditor’s Open Revolt
A defiant Seattle county official squares off against the city’s tax-paying elite, sparking a public war of words in the local press.
- The Day Seattle’s Water Pipe Factory Saved Itself
While the rest of the country sweats through a historic heatwave, Tumwater’s industrial engine roars night and day to keep the city supplied.
- The Great Hops Hoax: Tacoma’s ‘Massive’ Landslide Turns Out to Be a Trifle
Panic swept the Sound when reports claimed a catastrophic slide at Tacoma had buried buildings and halted rail traffic. The Dispatch reveals the truth: only twenty acres of land moved, knocking over a few Chinese cabins, while the real drama was just steamers running late.
- The Skunk of the Press
A bitter 1877 public feud erupts in the Seattle Weekly Dispatch between an editor and a physician accused of editing a scandalous rival paper.
- The First Strike of Chinese Railroad Workers in Seattle
A brief dispatch from 1872 reports that Chinese laborers brought in by the California railroad contractors walked off the job to demand higher wages.
- The Last Word from the Dispatch: A Veteran Editor’s Farewell and a New Era Begins
In October 1876, the *Puget Sound Dispatch* underwent a significant leadership change. The outgoing editor, Bebia Brown, penned a reflective valedictory on his five-year tenure, while incoming editor Thomas B. Merry outlined his vision for Seattle’s future, pledging support for statehood and local industry.
- Seattle’s Short-Lived Ambition to Become a Whaling Hub
A newly formed San Francisco company eyes Seattle as the base for its North Pacific whaling operations.
- Homesteading on the Edge of the Forest
An 1878 dispatch from a settler near Lake Washington offers advice to 'respectable' newcomers looking to carve a life out of the untamed timberland.
- The Unsung Patron of Port Townsend
A local priest takes to the pages of the Dispatch to set the record straight on who actually paid for the town's new church, insisting on public accountability for his private donation.
- The Baker’s Strike: Twelve Hours for $12
In a bold move against grueling labor conditions, Seattle’s bakers are contemplating a strike to demand shorter hours and fair wages, challenging the era's standard of 18-hour workdays.
- The Last Great Salmon Run of 1876
While Seattle’s modern relationship with the Duwamish is defined by restoration, a century-old dispatch reveals the sheer industrial scale of the salmon harvest that once powered the region’s early economy.
- The Seattle Dream Home of 1872
A real estate listing offers a glimpse of modest, mid-19th-century frontier living near the original Seattle townsite.
- The Great Oyster Heist of 1876
Two hungry gentlemen vanish into thin air, leaving their tab and their fried oysters to a couple of unsuspecting strangers.
- The City That Wasn't: Seattle’s First Real Estate Scam
In April 1876, a man named Charles Smith claimed to own the entire town of Seattle and tried to sell it to investors. The local press exposed him as a fraud, but his audacity reveals how fragile the young city's land titles were.
- Schooner Captain Charged After Attacking His Mate
Captain Ingerson of the Clara Light was arrested in Port Townsend and held on $1,000 bond after his crew testified that he kicked his mate, William Cook, in the head and face.
- A Seattle Fish Firm Fires Its Chinese Workers — and the Paper Cheers
In 1877, Tull & Co. dismissed all of its Chinese employees and hired white men in their place, a move the Dispatch celebrated as patriotism.
- The Great Sound Mill Slowdown of 1879
A secret price-fixing agreement in San Francisco forces local mills to cut production, threatening the livelihoods of workers across the region.
- 1877 Editorial Urged Crackdown on Native Dance Houses
An 1877 Weekly Puget Sound Dispatch editorial called for a citizen-led campaign against dance houses it linked to liquor sales and disease in early Seattle.
- The Battle for the Territory: Judson vs. Jacobs in the 1876 Election
As the nation grapples with the disputed presidential election of 1876, Washington Territory voters head to the polls to decide their own future, pitting Republican J.P. Judson against Democrat Judge Jacobs in a fierce contest for territorial supremacy.
- The Lost Currency of a Civil War Tragedy
A $10 Confederate note, exchanged for a canteen of water amidst the chaos of the Battle of Cedar Creek, surfaced in Seattle sixteen years later.
- The Shadow Over Seattle: A Call to Stop the Exploitation of Indigenous Women
A 150-year-old dispatch documents the systemic abuse of Native families and the trafficking of young women, challenging the city’s early moral indifference.