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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 5 |
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
21 stories matching form
- 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.
- 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.
- The Original Tech School of Seattle
A look back at the Puget Sound Business College, an institution that promised students practical training in the age of rapid telegraphy and trade expansion.
- 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.
- The Cattle Partnership That Could Not Be Settled in Court
A landmark Washington Supreme Court ruling in 1872 reminded settlers that you cannot simply sue your business partner; you must account for the ledger first.
- The New Era of Women in the Workplace
A glimpse into 1875 Liverpool shows women claiming their space in commerce, prompting a reflection on the future of labor in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Skagit Jam: A War Against Nature for the Sake of Steam
Seattle businessmen and territorial officials unite to clear a massive logjam on the Skagit River, betting that removing the obstruction will unlock fertile farmland and restore vital steamboat navigation to the region.
- The Fight for the Future of Washington's Soil
An 1877 editorial warns against the 'monster evil' of land monopoly, arguing that preventing a feudal system of landlord-tenant reliance is the only way to ensure the new state's future liberties.
- The Night the 'Mad House' Burned Down
A suspicious blaze destroys a landmark building in Seattle, forcing local citizens to scramble to save the nearby gas works from the encroaching flames.
- 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 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 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 Great Incorporation Panic of 1878
When a legal technicality threatened to render Seattle’s entire municipal government illegitimate, a frantic scramble to re-incorporate revealed the fragile foundations of early frontier law.
- The Skagit Gold Rush of 1880
A winter of record-breaking snow gives way to a spring of fevered anticipation as prospectors return to the Skagit River's golden banks.
- The 'Fanatical Old Ass': A Local Political Feud in 1876
A fiery editorial from the Seattle Daily Tribune attacks the federal appointment of General Robert H. Milroy to a territorial post, painting him as a moralizing carpetbagger who failed to earn the respect of his own neighbors.
- 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 Death of the American Shipyard
In an 1873 speech, Congressman Alexander Mitchell argued that excessive taxation and protectionist tariffs were systematically destroying the American shipping industry, forcing once-prosperous shipbuilders into obsolescence.
- The Fight for the Soil: Washington's Early Constitutional Crisis
An 1870s editorial argues that without strict land ownership caps, Washington Territory faces a future of feudalism and labor exploitation.
- Down the Dark Drift: A Tour of Seattle’s Coal Mines
In December 1876, a reporter takes readers on an arduous journey from Lake Union to Newcastle to witness the grueling labor and industrial scale of Puget Sound's most vital industry.
- The Centennial That Saved Seattle: How 8,000 Souls Turned a Territorial Mist into a City
On July 4, 1876, despite being late to statehood and lacking federal funding, Seattle’s pioneers pulled off a spectacle of flags, steamers, and speeches that proved the town was here to stay.
- 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.