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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 13 |
| 1876 | 10 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 16 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 6 |
53 stories matching refus
- A Deadly Campfire Dispute
A traveler is brutally murdered after refusing to share his fire with a group of transients, highlighting the volatility of the frontier trail.
- The Mud-Locked Road: Seattle’s 1878 Infrastructure Feud
A bitter war of words erupts in the press over the impassable Snoqualmie road and the 'cheek' of local politicians asking for funding they refused to spend.
- The Perennial Struggle of the Local Press
A century and a half ago, Seattle editors were already trading barbs about the 'eternal fitness' of readers who sponge news and merchants who refuse to advertise.
- The Nine Men Who Refused to Work: Seattle’s First Labor Standoff
In December 1876, nine coal miners at the Seattle bunkers defied orders on the ship *War Hawk*, leading Commissioner Smith to commit them to jail until the vessel sailed.
- The Unscripted Tragedy at Yesler's Hall
A young child’s refusal to follow the script during a dramatic performance forces the lead actor to lower the curtain on the show.
- Showdown at the Seattle Wharf
A hotel runner's refusal to retract words during a wharfside confrontation leads to a dramatic, failed assassination attempt in broad daylight.
- The Waterfront Fugitives of Milton
When two men were caught butchering stolen beef, a routine arrest at the water's edge turned into a desperate aquatic brawl.
- A Passenger Revolt Against Seattle’s 'Dirty' Steamers
A visiting general and his party refused to board a local vessel, sparking a public outcry over the state of regional maritime transit.
- The Governor and the Ghost Democrats
When Territorial Governor Elisha Ferry was accused of lying to win a seat at a convention, his refusal to name thirty phantom 'Democrats' sparked a fierce political scandal in Seattle.
- 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 Failed Poison Dinner of Seattle
A meticulously planned attempt at mass murder by a man named Perry Dunfield was thwarted when his intended victims missed their appointment—but the tragedy still unfolded at home.
- 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 Railroad Gamble
In an 1878 editorial, the Seattle Weekly Dispatch argues that the economic survival of the region depends on using Chinese labor to build the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad, claiming that white capital refuses to invest unless labor costs are kept low.
- 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 High Price of Speculation
Real estate owners in 1872 Olympia are holding vacant lots hostage, refusing to sell or lease, effectively strangling the city's economic growth.
- The Gold Hunters of Seattle's Backwoods
Three Indigenous men bring fine shot gold to the Puget Sound Banking Company, sparking a rush of speculation about rich deposits in the mountains east of town.
- The Partisan’s Price: How Civil Service Reform Cost a Delegate His Seat
In 1876, King County’s Republican establishment turned on Judge O. Jacobs for refusing to hand out federal jobs to party loyalists, revealing the brutal mechanics of the spoils system in early Washington Territory.
- 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 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 Skunk of the Press
A bitter 1877 public feud erupts in the Seattle Weekly Dispatch between an editor and a physician accused of editing a scandalous rival paper.
- The Unsung Pioneers of the Skagit River
When federal funds for regional infrastructure failed to materialize, a group of Seattle loggers took matters into their own hands to open the Skagit River to navigation.
- The Price of Secrecy in the Puyallup Coal Fields
When a contractor is jailed for contempt, the future of a key territorial infrastructure project hangs in the balance.
- The Great Jailbreak of 1878
Five inmates, including a man held for attempted murder, escaped a Seattle jail using a key hand-crafted over six weeks.
- The Captain Refuses to Stand Down
A political storm erupts as a county official defies a court ruling to vacate his office, claiming his popularity trumps the law.
- The Rotten Beef Scandal of 1872
When a local market was accused of selling diseased meat, the ensuing war of words revealed the thin line between journalism and extortion in early Seattle.