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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 2 |
| 1872 | 4 |
| 1876 | 9 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 9 |
| 1880 | 11 |
41 stories matching fall
- A Tragic Warning in the Slate Creek Woods
A logger is killed by a falling tree, fulfilling a premonition voiced by his son just moments before.
- A Perilous Plunge Aboard the City of Panama
An elderly passenger’s fall through an unsecured hatchway exposes the dangerous negligence of a bustling Seattle steamship.
- The Dog Who Fought the Thief: Seattle’s Mastiff vs. The Ring
A loyal mastiff in Seattle discovered a burglar's bloody trail but refused to name names, leaving locals to wonder if the 'ring' would silence him before fall.
- A Heartrending Tragedy in Hereford Swamp
A father's desperate attempt to rescue his children from a falling tree results in a devastating loss of three lives.
- The Shipmate’s Miracle: A Story of Grit at Sea
A young sailor survives a hundred-foot fall and a double compound fracture, saved by the improvised surgery and steady care of his shipmates far from any port.
- The Political 'Guillotine' Comes to Seattle
A scathing look at the rapid-fire political turnover in Washington Territory, where federal appointments fall 'like the leaves of Autumn' under the winds of executive displeasure.
- 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.
- Thrown Into a Saw at Colman's Mill — and the Law Looked the Other Way
When Peter Feeney attacked a Chinese coworker in a Seattle sawmill, the man's foot was mangled beyond repair. The justice of the peace declined to hold Feeney, the prosecutor dismissed the case, and the town's paper argued the injury was just an accident.
- The Frontier Pulse: Seattle in 1871
A look back at the origins of the city, from the arrival of the first families and the Indian War to the rise of coal, sawmills, and the hope for a transcontinental terminus.
- Hanged on a Doubt: Washington Territory's First White Execution
When John Thompson was hanged in Seattle in 1877, many believed he was guilty of manslaughter, not murder. The Dispatch made the case that the law had taken a life it should have spared.
- The Captain in the Counting House
A legal firestorm over whether a retired U.S. Army officer can serve as King County Treasurer.
- The Great Freeze of 1872
When an arctic blast paralyzed Puget Sound, turning the Columbia River to ice and testing the grit of Seattle's early pioneers.
- The Neighborhood Siege on Commercial Street
A century and a half ago, a massive petition of Seattle residents demanded the city ‘cleanse’ a house of ‘contagious pollution,’ setting a precedent for civic moral panics.
- The Abandoned Crew of the Bark Northwest
Thirteen mariners petition the federal court in Seattle for their unpaid wages after a grueling voyage from San Francisco to Port Madison.
- The Retired Colonel and the County Treasurer
A judge instructs a Grand Jury on whether a retired U.S. Army officer is legally permitted to hold the civilian office of King County Treasurer.
- Tragedy on the Lake: Three Snohomish Boys Fall Through Ice
A winter afternoon skating excursion turns fatal for two young local boys.
- The Territory's Legislative Snake
A scathing critique from 1877 exposes the 'headless and tailless' chaos of newly minted Washington tax laws, exposing a system designed to strip residents of their property through administrative incompetence.
- The Great Thaw: Mountain Snows Turn Every River Into a Rampage
An unusually cool spring held a winter's worth of snow until a few hot days sent it all down at once, flooding the Skagit, Cowlitz and Columbia, drowning farmland and putting Portland under water.
- 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.
- The Dangerous Gap at Yesler’s Wharf
A gaping, unguarded hole in a major Seattle pier leaves two citizens injured and sparks a call for municipal accountability in the 1870s.
- The Deserted Crew of the Bark Northwest
Thirteen mariners sue for back wages and passage home after their vessel’s voyage abruptly ends at Port Madison.
- Abandoned at the Docks: The Crew of the Bark Northwest Sues for Wages
Thirteen mariners, stranded in Seattle after their voyage to Port Madison, take their employer to court to recover months of unpaid labor.
- The Tragedy of a Seattle Longshoreman
John Cousins, a laborer, collapsed and died in the arms of a friend in a sudden, grim reminder of the precarity of life on the Seattle waterfront in 1876.
- Racing the Iron Horse on the Trestle
A man’s late-night walk toward the city turns into a desperate sprint for life against an oncoming train.
- The Scandal of the City Fire Engine
A missing $300 in gold coin leads to a bitter political falling-out in 1878 Seattle, revealing the city's early struggles with public trust and municipal accounting.