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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 13 |
| 1877 | 13 |
| 1878 | 15 |
41 stories matching hard
- The Unfinished House on the River
A rare glimpse into the local property market of territorial-era Snohomish, featuring a 'hard-finished' home and a mill site primed for industry.
- A Merchant's Plight: The Cost of Overstocking
A Snohomish businessman faces financial ruin after a bad season leaves his shelves full and his creditors at the door.
- The Industrial Heartbeat of Snohomish
Before the town was a bedroom community, it was a frontier hub of iron, wood, and hard labor.
- The Tall Tale of Germantown’s New Arrival
A young newcomer spins wildly imaginative yarns of buried gold and subterranean earthquakes, charming the neighborhood kids and confounding their parents.
- The Mother of Discontent: Abigail Scott Duniway’s Rally for Rights
In an impassioned 1878 address to the Territorial Convention, activist Abigail Scott Duniway demanded Washington women be granted the vote, framing the domestic 'insurrection' of disenfranchised wives as a parallel to the American Revolution.
- The Hard Luck of the Northern Mines
When the Snohomish River ran too shallow for navigation, hopeful miners found themselves stranded, forced to trade their picks for cobbler's benches.
- The Beggar’s Plea: How an Old Man’s Tears Won a Judge’s Mercy
In a touching scene at the Snohomish County Courthouse, John Burner, a destitute laborer of 73 years, pleaded guilty to grand larceny not for greed, but because his starving family had no other way to eat.
- The River Opens: First Steamboat Conquers the Skagit's North Fork
After settlers cleared the jam at La Conner, Captain Hill’s vessel became the first to navigate the treacherous waters of the North Fork, unlocking a new era for the region.
- The Hard-Won Coal of Wilkeson
A persistent mining operation in Wilkeson struggles with geological faults and shifting veins to keep the fuel moving toward the Puget Sound.
- The Industrial Rebirth of Mukilteo
Despite the regional economic downturn, one investor is transforming the waterfront into a bustling industrial center.
- The Mill That Could Have Been: A Snohomish Tragedy of Ambition and Illness
In June 1877, the Northern Star reported on the collapse of a massive new mill project at Port Ludlow, blaming the death of its owner, Arthur Phinney, for halting construction that promised to rival any in the territory.
- The Hustle of the Frontier: Training for the New Economic Order
An advertisement for the Puget Sound Business College paints a vision of a rapidly industrializing Snohomish, where young men and women were taught the cold, hard skills of accounting and commerce to survive in a burgeoning territory.
- The Centennial Call: Snohomish Citizens Urged to Claim Their History
As the nation prepares for the 1876 Independence Day celebration, local leaders in Snohomish argue that the county must stop waiting for Seattle or other larger towns to represent them. Instead, they propose a unified county-wide gathering to preserve the region's unique settlement history.
- The Pioneer’s Exit: A Snohomish Farmstead on the Market
A rare glimpse into the local land economy of 1880s Snohomish as a settler prepares to move on, offering a fully operational dairy ranch for sale.
- The Last Harvest: A Snohomish Dairy Ranch for Sale
A departing farmer puts his well-established dairy operation on the market, offering a glimpse into the agricultural life of 1880s Snohomish.
- A Frontier Life for Sale
A departing settler lists his massive Snohomish ranch and a Quico mill site, offering a snapshot of a region transitioning from raw wilderness to cultivated industry.
- The Moonlit Confession: A Romantic Friendship in Snohomish
A local resident’s poetic declaration of love to a companion named Fidencia, published in the 'Wonders' column, reveals the tender, coded language of queer intimacy in late-19th century Washington.
- A Frontier Estate on the Market
Royal Haskell offers his 147-acre Snohomish dairy ranch, mill site, and town house for sale as he prepares to depart for the East.
- A Frontier Exit Strategy
As one pioneer prepares to leave Snohomish for the East, his massive land divestment offers a snapshot of the region's early agricultural and industrial aspirations.
- Anything to Beat Stretch: The Whole County Ticket, Man by Man
The Sun walks Snohomish County's 1876 ballot from sheriff to coroner, and finds a whaling skipper turned pile-driver, a college-trained logger, and a sheriff whose enemies have a slogan of their own.
- The Pioneer's Exit: Selling a Life in Snohomish
Royal Bashum, a fixture of the Snohomish landscape, puts his substantial ranch, mill site, and home on the market in 1878 to return East.
- The Great Snohomish Land Sell-Off of 1860
Royal Haskell, a pioneer settler, prepares to abandon his Snohomish homestead and riverfront mill site, offering a window into the rapid transition of the early frontier economy.
- Life at the Edge of the Wilderness: The Nooksack Settlement of 1873
A rare window into the early days of agricultural pioneers, steam-powered dreams, and the quiet resilience of a solitary woman living on the edge of the Nooksack River.
- He Sailed Around the Horn in '49. Thirty-One Years Later, He Went Home.
S. S. Bassett, who farms at the mouth of the Snohomish, has come back from six months east — a boyhood village he could no longer read, a Centennial he will not stop describing, and a hard-times East that sent him home more convinced than ever about Washington Territory.
- Descent into the Newcastle Mines
A journalist’s 1877 journey into the deep coal veins of Newcastle reveals the grueling, subterranean life of the miners and the complex logistics of Washington's early industrial expansion.