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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 9 |
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1877 | 8 |
| 1878 | 10 |
| 1880 | 1 |
32 stories matching object
- The Great Cherry Street Escape
A band of savvy business owners nearly outfoxed their creditors by packing up shop in the middle of the night.
- A Heartbreaking Plea for a 'Stout' Boy
A desperate local advertisement seeks a home for an eight-year-old child in exchange for farm labor in the late 1870s.
- The Chicken Hustle of Old Seattle
An enterprising pair of thieves managed to con a local woman out of her own dinner in a brazen backyard heist.
- The Best Birds for the Seattle Barnyard
A local expert’s guide to the poultry breeds that promise the most eggs and the heartiest meals for the pioneer household.
- The Mystery of the Admiralty Bay Boatman
A lonely death in a remote bay leaves more questions than answers about a man whose final protest was written on a slip of paper.
- A New Sanctuary for Seattle's Waterfront
Civic leaders mobilize to establish a dedicated Seamen's Home and library, seeking to instill 'frugal, industrious, and temperate' habits among the men of the sea.
- Divorcing the 'Unsuitable': Seattle Legal Notices from 1872
Public legal notices reveal the stark reality of marital dissolution in early Seattle, where 'incompatibility' and 'neglect' served as grounds for separation in the King County District Court.
- 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.
- The Brutal Assault on a Young Chambermaid
A playful attempt to clean a hotel floor escalated into a vicious act of anti-Chinese violence in the heart of downtown Seattle.
- The Newspaper Feud of 1876
A local editor’s blistering public breakdown of an auditor who dared to write letters to the editor.
- The Lottery That Wasn't: A Commissioner's Moral Standoff in 1876 Seattle
While the county board approved a gambling license for Val Wildman to fund a road project, one commissioner filed a formal protest, declaring the legislature's authority void and refusing to legitimize vice.
- 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 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 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.
- Broken Promises at the Spokane Council
A failed federal attempt to force Spokane tribal members onto reservations leaves a legacy of distrust and looming conflict.
- The 'Disgusting Custom' of Victorian Child-Kissing
As diphtheria claimed lives along the Pacific Coast, public health experts in 1877 issued a stark warning against social rituals that helped the contagion spread.
- Seattle’s First Call for a Seamen’s Bethel
In 1877, a local captain campaigned in New York to build a refuge for the thousands of sailors arriving in the 'future storehouse of the Territory'—a young, booming port that lacked any formal shelter for the maritime labor force.
- 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 Price of Progress: Seattle’s 1878 Ultimatum
Facing a desperate need for a mountain-crossing railroad, Seattle civic leaders demanded total community compliance—and warned that those who refused to subsidize the line would face 'social ostracism.'
- The Rowdy Election of 1872: When Seattle Politics Was a Bare-Knuckle Brawl
A stormy Republican County Convention in 1872 exposes the messy, insider-heavy machinery behind early Seattle's local government.
- The 'Seattle Way' of Building a Railroad
By shunning outside capital and high-salaried officers, local boosters claim they are carving a path through the Cascades using nothing but 'Seattle money and pluck.'
- After the Bankruptcy, a Mill Town Bets on a Bonanza: Utsalady's 1877 Rebound
In a single March week, the Camano Island mill town of Utsalady snapped back from bankruptcy: a $30,000 mill sale, workmen arriving by steamer, plans for a new wharf — and a showman who decided to stay.
- The Unlikely Heroism of 'Old Yesler'
Derided as a 'hog' and a 'dog-in-the-manger' for years, Henry Yesler silences his critics with a massive financial commitment to Seattle’s future.
- The Claret Rebellion in 1870s Seattle
At a meeting of the King County Farmers Club, a local leader tried to replace the frontier staple of 'bald-face' whiskey with homegrown wine, igniting a fiery debate about culture and grit.
- 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.