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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 6 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1878 | 8 |
| 1880 | 1 |
20 stories matching simpli
- The Trunk in the Belltown Earth
Two prospectors looking for a brickyard site uncovered more than clay when they stumbled upon a hidden trunk containing a man’s remains.
- 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 Landlady’s Fourth of July Ultimatum
A boarding house owner demands that her tenant stop practicing his political speeches to keep the peace and the stair-rods intact.
- 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 Midnight Pork-Thieves of Belltown
A wave of petty food thefts from residential pantries has Seattle neighbors on edge, prompting warnings about the 'nocturnal nippers' prowling the city's outskirts.
- The Midnight Bells of Olympia
When two Northern Pacific agents arrived at midnight to announce the rail terminus, the town of Olympia erupted in a celebration that would define its future.
- The Paradox of Plenty: Seattle’s Lumber Boom Leaves No One to Live In
In August 1872, the city's primary industry is churning out lumber at a staggering rate, yet the town faces a bizarre crisis: there are simply no houses left to rent.
- The Skagit Harvest Strike of 1878
A radical field hand pens an open letter from the Skagit River flats, decrying a race to the bottom in wages and the 'swine-like' conditions imposed on labor.
- The Gold Rush at the Swinomish Flats
While miners chased gold in the mountains, early settlers on the Swinomish tide lands found that dyking and ditching the soil offered a far more reliable fortune.
- 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 Futility of the Gallows
One month after Seattle's first judicial execution of a white man, the local press questions whether state-sanctioned violence actually deters crime or simply breeds contempt for the law.
- The Hidden Dens of 1870s Seattle
A citizen appeal from 1872 exposes how unchecked public gambling was eroding the moral and financial fabric of the developing waterfront town.
- The Ethics of the Office: Fighting the 'Spoils' System in 1876 Seattle
A local official refuses to trade his political independence for employment, sparking a public debate over corruption, civil service reform, and the 'party hacks' of the Gilded Age.
- The Price of Reputation in Early Seattle
A local editor defends the city's power brokers against 'malicious' newspaper attacks, arguing that persistent personal vituperation drives away the capital needed for infrastructure.
- When Two Postmasters Abandoned Their Offices to Join the Legislature
In 1879, two Washington Territory postmasters resigned their federal jobs to become legislators — but their resignations were still in the mail, so they simply left.
- The Cattle Partnership That Could Not Be Settled in Court
A landmark Washington Supreme Court ruling in 1872 reminded settlers that you cannot simply sue your business partner; you must account for the ledger first.
- The Mayor’s War on the 'Ring': A Candidate’s Plea for Clean Government in 1879 Seattle
Bernard Cossen runs for mayor not for power, but to stop wealthy landowners from hoarding public funds and blocking civic progress.
- The Paper War: How Seattle’s ‘Public Thieves’ Exposed a Corrupt Ring
In 1872, the *Puguet Sound Dispatch* accused local officials and the rival *Intelligencer* of extorting taxpayers through inflated advertising rates for tax sales, framing it as a 'Tammany ring' stealing from the public.
- Seattle's 1877 Plea: Build a Wagon Road Over the Cascades Before Portland Steals the Inland Empire
With no railroad yet across the mountains, a Seattle newspaper argued the city's future depended on a wagon road to Yakima—before Portland grabbed the inland trade forever.
- The Primary Teacher’s Plea: Why Seattle’s Schools Are Failing Our Children
Miss C.I.T. Parsons delivers a scathing indictment of the King County Teachers' Institute, arguing that cheap buildings and unqualified instructors are robbing Seattle’s youth of their potential.