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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 9 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1879 | 3 |
23 stories matching togeth
- The Piano That Bound a Community Together
How the ladies of Snohomish organized to bring culture and music to their town.
- The Riverfront Factory Boom
New manufacturing operations along the Snohomish River signal a growing industrial future for the region.
- The Marsh That Swallowed the Land: A Call to Drain Snohomish
Local farmers face ruin as winter rains turn fertile bottomlands into impassable swamps; experts propose a collective drainage project to save the region's agricultural future.
- The Iron Cage of Fort Adams
A rare glimpse into the brutal security measures at a Washington Territory jail in the late 19th century.
- The Presidential Impersonator of Snohomish
A local man causes a stir on Main Street, staging a political reception from the porch of the Snohomish Exchange before his performance is cut short by a mud puddle.
- The First White Family: A Pioneer’s Log-Cabin Legacy
An excerpt from the diary of a local historian recounts the arrival of Mr. Thompson in Snohomish in 1864, detailing the rugged journey up the river and the humble beginnings of what is now a thriving town.
- The Grand Hotel That Will Define a Territory
A new five-story hotel rising on Main Street promises to transform Snohomish from a frontier town into the 'best city' of Washington Territory.
- The Struggle for Steamship Service at Oak Harbor
When the captain refused to land because the water was too shallow, a determined community built their own way to the deep water.
- The Ghost of the Puyallup Valley
A traveling account reveals a local man's elaborate deception, as his supposedly dead family is found alive and well at the Puyallup station.
- A Night Out, A Forgotten Medical Crisis
A husband’s late-night obsession with the contentious 1876 presidential election nearly costs his wife her life.
- The Judge Who Lobbied for the Church
A scathing critique of Washington Territorial Judge Roger B. Greene, accused of using his office to force tax exemptions for church property through a back-door deal.
- The Brutal Truth of the 'Workaday' Struggle
An 1879 editorial reflects on the universal, grinding necessity of securing a livelihood, observing that even in a 'republic' built on individualistic grit, most people are only one misstep away from ruin.
- The Unending Mountain: The Promise of the Newcastle Coal Mines
A detailed 1878 report on the labor, engineering, and seemingly limitless coal wealth of the Newcastle mines, then the engine of Seattle’s industrial future.
- The Great Timber Sell-Off
Thousands of acres of Snohomish County wilderness go under the hammer as the estate of Arthur Phinney is liquidated.
- The Contract Prison of the Skookum Chuck
A look inside the privatized territorial penitentiary of 1879, where convict labor was auctioned off to pay for a sheriff's enterprise.
- The Day Fall City Danced: A July 4th Celebration in the Shadow of War
While General Howard debated tactics against Native tribes elsewhere in Washington Territory, residents of Fall City gathered in a cedar grove to celebrate the nation's birthday with speeches, picnics, and swings.
- The Log Jam That Held Back the Skagit
Settlers bet their savings on cutting a channel through a massive timber jam—and begged Sound steamboat captains to link the Skagit to Seattle.
- The Great Sheep War: Seattle’s Political Flocks and the Independent Goats
A satirical letter to the editor uses a bizarre allegory of sheep herds and wild goats to critique Seattle's political parties, corporate wolves, and the emerging independence of women in public life.
- The Mill That Never Was: A Snohomish Land Deal and a Promise from Washington
While local men scramble for housing and business lots in the booming town of Snohomish, a mysterious letter from D.C. hints at federal support for a post route to Pullman, just as a major timber contract is awarded locally.
- The Empire of the Sun: How a New Hotel in Seattle Will Define the Territory
A glimpse into the ambitious construction of the new British Hotel, signaling Seattle's rapid growth and confidence as a territorial capital.
- The Railroad That Stole Our Land: How Seattle’s Interests Blocked Snohomish’s Future
A furious letter to the editor exposes how political maneuvering in Washington D.C. and Seattle kept vital federal lands locked up, denying homesteaders their rightful homes while railroad tycoons played games with territory.
- The Foreclosure Auction: Snohomish’s Housing Crisis in 1876
As the Territory of Washington grapples with economic instability, three separate Sheriff's sales are scheduled for January 1877, putting local homes and land on the block for unpaid debts.
- The Great Skagit Jam: How Local Men Tried to Unplug the River
In 1876, a massive logjam blocked the Skagit River for miles. While officials debated expensive dredging projects, local loggers took matters into their own hands with picks and dynamite.