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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 15 |
| 1876 | 9 |
| 1877 | 13 |
| 1878 | 16 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 5 |
60 stories matching set
- The Housewife's Rebellion
In an era of performative domesticity, one young woman in Washington Territory insists that 'accomplishment' means knowing how to run a household from the kitchen up.
- The Shipmate’s Miracle: A Story of Grit at Sea
A young sailor survives a hundred-foot fall and a double compound fracture, saved by the improvised surgery and steady care of his shipmates far from any port.
- The Rowdiest Port in the Pacific Northwest
An 1872 report describes the brutal realities of the maritime labor market in Port Townsend, where sailors were coerced into service and returned to shore battered and bruised.
- The Great Log Boom Break: 800,000 Feet of Timber Set Adrift
A catastrophic failure at Colman’s mill sent a massive raft of logs floating into Elliott Bay, threatening the territory's primary industry.
- The Child Who Vanished: A Tragedy on the Columbia Bar
A two-year-old girl was swept overboard from a steam tug in the Pacific Northwest, becoming one of the many unnamed victims of the region's treacherous waters.
- The Battle for the Sunday Morning Calm
When Seattle’s businesses first debated the secular 'day of rest,' local editors questioned if the city’s newspapers should be forced to observe the Sabbath.
- The Ghost of the Sound: A Swindler’s Vanishing Act
A glib salesman charms his way into the good graces of a prominent Seattle firm, only to disappear with their funds and a trail of aliases.
- A Painful Step in Belltown
A late-night walk leads to a broken leg and a warning about the precarious state of city sidewalks in 1877.
- The Unstable Ground Beneath Tacoma
A historic landslide on the Tacoma waterfront serves as a stark reminder of the city's precarious geography.
- The Burning of the Bon Ton
After the proprietor of the notorious Bon Ton was jailed for running a 'bawdy house,' his building was razed by a suspicious fire.
- The Husband Who Had Enough: A Domestic Dispute of 1877
A rare 19th-century report of a King County man seeking divorce on the grounds of domestic abuse, citing his wife's 'cruel and inhuman treatment.'
- 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 Unfair Tax on Being Alive
An 1878 Seattle citizen challenges the 'double and treble taxation' of poll taxes, arguing that labor should not be penalized while property owners receive preferential treatment.
- A Seven-Ton Crushing on Mill Street
A laborer’s insistence on helping a heavy team leads to a gruesome injury in the heart of 1876 Seattle.
- The Zephyr’s Relief Mission to the Snohomish Valley
After the mountain snows melted and triggered a devastating flood, the steamer Zephyr served as a critical lifeline to the isolated settlers of the Snohomish River valley.
- The Day Seattle Stood Still: A Sunday of Sobriety and Silence
In November 1876, the city’s saloons closed their doors for a rare day of peace, while the newspaper editor noted with relief that there were no fights to report.
- The Pioneer Woman Who Kept the Palouse Dream Alive
A mother who crossed the continent alone with nine children and a wagon team became the unsung hero of a new homestead in the Palouse, proving she could 'make a lazy man succeed in this country.'
- The Midnight Attack on a Chinatown Cigar Stand
A deliberate arson attempt threatens to ignite the heart of downtown Seattle after rags soaked in coal oil are discovered burning against a Chinese-owned business.
- The Juror Who Ate Himself into Jail
A Seattle juror’s hunger at the Occidental Hotel led to an invalidated trial, a stern rebuke from the bench, and three months in the county jail.
- 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 Opium Steward of the Dakota
A routine baggage check on the steamship Dakota reveals a massive illicit cargo, sparking a criminal case that hints at a long-running smuggling operation on Puget Sound.
- The Widow’s Pension Legal Trap
A woman finds her pension rights threatened by the complex, shifting definitions of marriage under 19th-century law.
- The Grange's Predecessor: Organizing King County’s First Farmers
In 1872, the local agricultural community formalized their guild, setting strict rules for annual fairs, membership dues, and the communal defense of the profession.
- The Wedding-Journey Argument
A young couple's petty dispute over transportation during their honeymoon highlights the fragile nature of new love.
- 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.