Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 5 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1880 | 4 |
18 stories matching provis
- The City Council's Yellow Flag Fiasco
When Seattle officials passed a health ordinance to curb contagion, they refused to apply it to a notorious local brothel, sparking a public outcry against political hypocrisy.
- The Unseen Hustle of the Seattle Waterfront
While critics dismissed the city as a sleepy backwater, the secret traffic of sloops and warehouses revealed a burgeoning trade hub.
- 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 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.
- The Deserted Family of Seattle
A husband is sued for divorce in 1872 on the grounds of cruel neglect and failure to provide for his family.
- The grueling, mountain-carving work of mapping the Puget Sound
A survey crew spends the summer hacking paths through the dense, uncharted forests of the Olympic Peninsula and Straits of Fuca to measure the rugged frontier.
- The Black Pall Over Washington’s Future
A proposed decade-long extension for the Northern Pacific Railroad threatens to monopolize the territory's vast timber and mineral wealth while stifling independent settlement.
- The Fight Against the 'Two-Percent Shylocks'
A fierce 1878 constitutional debate in Washington Territory pits anti-monopoly reformers against banking interests.
- 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 River Snag-Clearer's Defense
After volunteers broke their backs clearing river jams, a community organizer had to fight off accusations of embezzlement.
- The Captain in the Counting House
A legal firestorm over whether a retired U.S. Army officer can serve as King County Treasurer.
- The Business of Veterans' Benefits in 1880s Seattle
An advertisement for a local attorney reveals the complex bureaucracy of settling Civil War military land claims and homestead rights for pioneers in the Washington Territory.
- 7,000 Miners Head for the Skagit, But High Water Halts the Diggings
Spring freshets wash out the wingdams on Ruby Creek while hundreds of men wait at the Portage for a trail and pack animals — and California newspapers predict a stampede of thousands.
- The 10-Cent Alternative to the Saloon
A local leader proposes a 'reading room and coffee house' to offer Seattle's young men a moral, affordable sanctuary away from the city's liquor dens.
- The Battle for Block Eight: Two Men, One Lot, and the Law
In a dispute that highlights the chaotic land rush of early Seattle, two settlers find themselves locked in a legal battle over the same pre-emption claim, forcing a federal judge to intervene.
- The Day the Pigs Needed Life Jackets: Seattle’s Great Duwamish Flood of 1876
As the Duwamish River swells and farmers flee to their attics, local merchants rally to clear the Skagit River, betting on a waterway that could transform the territory's economy.
- The Great Timber Heist: Federal Law Cracks Down on Puget Sound Loggers
In 1872, the U.S. government enforced a strict new law protecting live-oak and red-cedar from unauthorized removal, threatening massive fines and ship seizures for anyone caught logging federal lands without Navy permission.
- The Ring of Corruption: How King County’s Auditor Hid the Books
A scathing editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch exposes Gardner Kellogg for refusing to explain thousands of dollars in missing county funds, accusing him of treating public office as private property.