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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 9 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 7 |
29 stories matching rang
- The Delinquent Tax Rolls of Territorial Seattle
A haunting, granular list of property owners from 1875 and 1876 whose land was seized by the county, documenting the precarious nature of early Seattle ownership.
- The Great Mill Auction: A Kingpin’s Empire Divided
In December 1876, the District Court in Seattle ordered the liquidation of a massive timber and land empire owned by A.M. Simpson, offering hundreds of acres and a high-capacity sawmill to the highest bidder.
- The 1878 Great Seattle Tax Auction
Before the skyline, there was the spreadsheet: A massive public auction of delinquent Seattle properties reveals the names, debts, and land-holdings of the city's pioneer founders.
- The Sheriff’s Gavel: A King County Land Auction in the Shadow of the Gold Rush
In August 1876, Seattle’s legal system was already grinding out foreclosures on massive land claims, signaling that the territory’s boom would be built on debt and dispossession.
- The Copper Bonanza on San Juan Island
Local entrepreneurs Morgan and O'Bryant strike it rich with a silver-laced copper vein, promising to transform the rugged island into a major mining hub.
- The Laws That Built the Frontier
A look back at the 1879 Territorial Assembly's agenda, from banning wandering hogs to regulating the earliest salmon canneries.
- The Day a Cannon Changed History at the Cascades
Before he was a Civil War legend, Philip Sheridan fended off a regional uprising with a single, deafening shot.
- 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 Absurd Scheme to Build a Railway to the Top of Mount Rainier
When a coal mine failed, desperate land speculators proposed a preposterous tourist railroad to the summit of the mountain to boost property values.
- 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 Price of Industrial Expansion
A sheriff’s auction reveals the crushing debt behind the rise of Seattle’s coal industry in the 1870s.
- The Stranded Crew of the 'Tidal Wave'
Fourteen mariners take the US Marshals to court in Seattle to claim unpaid wages after being abandoned in Port Madison.
- The Panic Over 'Free Love' and Women's Rights in Early Seattle
An editorial from the Puget Sound Dispatch decries the growing suffrage movement, labeling advocates as threats to the 'sanctity of the marriage relation.'
- 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 Crew of the 'Tidal Wave' Demands Their Due
After being discharged in Port Madison without full pay, fourteen mariners have filed a legal claim against the American bark 'Tidal Wave' in Seattle.
- A Frontier Homestead Lost to Debt
When a small-scale farm on the outskirts of 1880 Seattle becomes a casualty of high-interest credit, the Sheriff moves in to settle the accounts.
- The New Frontier on the Shores of Lake Washington
While the city worried over mysterious prowlers, settlers were carving out orchards and gardens from the old-growth forests near Lake Washington, marveling at the land's hidden potential.
- The Price of Early Seattle Expansion: A Sheriff’s Sale of the Talbot Coal Company
In 1878, as Seattle struggled to build its industrial backbone, the courts were already dismantling the assets of struggling developers, illustrating the precariousness of the city’s early capital-intensive boom.
- The Forgotten Trail to Eastern Washington
A pioneer’s 1862 route across the Cascades is touted as the next great gateway to mining wealth.
- The 'Pitiful Hedizzened Hurlots': Seattle's Moral Panic Over the Steamship Brothels
In September 1872, a furious editorial in the *Seattle Daily Intelligencer* condemned the floating red-light districts on Puget Sound, accusing steamship lines of carrying 'pollution and death' to every port while politicians looked away.
- The Price of Industrial Expansion: A Sheriff's Sale on the Duwamish
In 1878, a court-ordered auction of land near the Duwamish River revealed the high-stakes debt and legal entanglements defining early Seattle development.
- 1878 Sheriff’s Sale Lists King County Land
A 1878 legal notice reveals a forced property sale near the Duwamish River, capturing the raw reality of early Seattle’s land-based economy.
- Sheriff's Auction: King County Land Sold to Settle a Debt
A 1878 legal notice reveals a grim snapshot of early King County land struggles, as a riverside homestead goes to auction to satisfy a debt.
- The Price of Frontier Survival: A Seattle Sheriff's Sale
A 1878 legal notice reveals a bleak snapshot of life in early Seattle, where debt-ridden families faced the auction block under the gaze of a booming young city.
- The Price of Panic: Losing the Farm to the Sheriff
After a grueling economic downturn, a King County family faces the auction block as court-ordered sales sweep Seattle.