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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 5 |
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 2 |
14 stories matching understand
- Broken Promises at the Spokane Council
A failed federal attempt to force Spokane tribal members onto reservations leaves a legacy of distrust and looming conflict.
- An Indecent Display at the Coal Bunkers
Seattle residents take offense as sailors from the barkentine Modoc turn the public waterfront into an impromptu swimming hole.
- The Vanishing Manager: A Theater Troupe Left High and Dry in Victoria
George Rogers, manager of Seattle’s Vanity Troupe, absconded to San Francisco after promising to meet his actors in Port Townsend, leaving creditors to seize the company's furniture.
- The Skagit River Navigation Feud
Seattle editors slam federal engineers and local delegates for failing to properly fund or understand the realities of river navigation.
- The Great Poker Heist: A Man Steals Glass to Escape His Debts
In a bizarre twist of justice in 1872 Seattle, a gambler fleeing a poker loss was caught stealing window panes from a saloon instead of cash.
- An 1872 Manifesto for the 'Working Girl'
In an era of stifling expectations, a Seattle newspaper columnist argues that women should prioritize professional autonomy over the 'inferno' of a loveless marriage.
- The Price of Patronage: Political Graft in Washington Territory
A scathing editorial exposes how federal appointments in the Washington Territory were treated as commodities, with government officials accused of padding their estates through systemic corruption.
- The Bankrupt Giant and the Tacoma Land Ring
A skeptical editor exposes the Northern Pacific Railroad's questionable finances and a suspicious telegraph campaign used to inflate land values in Tacoma.
- The Ghost of Whidby Island
A prominent Seattleite vanishes into the rural wilds, triggering a frantic search and a small-town communication breakdown.
- The Grammar Grudge of 1876
An editor and a local developer get into a petty, hilarious feud over building codes, split infinitives, and civic competence.
- Steamboats and Gold Dreams on the Skagit
A traveler recounts the frantic race of riverboats up the Skagit and the sudden discovery of gold nuggets high above the river, fueling hopes for a new frontier.
- The Mule-Mounted Howitzer Fiasco
An ambitious Army experiment at a Western fort goes hilariously and dangerously wrong when a cannon-strapped mule decides to take matters into his own hooves.
- The Dog in the Manger: How Seattle’s Landlords Are Killing Its Future
An editorial in the 1876 Puget Sound Dispatch warns that greedy real estate owners are pricing out workers with usurious rents, comparing their tactics to Shylock and urging them to lower prices before the city stagnates.
- 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.