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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1891 | 9 |
| 1892 | 16 |
25 stories matching enter
- A Court-Martial Ends in Smoke and a Handshake
A state militia tribunal in Olympia was suddenly closed by the governor, its findings kept secret. Then the colonel apologized, the officers shook hands, and the state got a $1,000 bill.
- The Lie That Shook Olympia Collegiate Institute
A whispered rumor, a boarding-house accusation, and a faculty insult ended with two students expelled and Professor Jones gone. Rev. Dr. T. B. Ford told the school why.
- The Groom’s Armed Ultimatum
A wedding ceremony in Olympia was interrupted when the groom drew a six-shooter to prevent the minister from claiming the traditional first kiss.
- The Midnight Murder Cry That Was Only a Baby
Union Street neighbors grabbed clubs and prepared to storm a house after screams of murder—only to learn the household had just grown by one.
- Olympia’s Paper Cheers a Harsher Chinese Exclusion Act — and Calls for Expulsion
The Olympia Tribune backs a federal bill barring Chinese merchants and artisans, then goes further: deport every Chinese resident to “give work to better people.”
- The Settler Who Watched Olympia Get Claimed
R. C. Smith, who crossed the plains in 1848, recalls the canoe landing where Edmund Sylvester took the claim that became Olympia.
- The Court-Martial That Laughed Up Its Sleeve
In closed sessions at Olympia, Col. J. C. Haines faces charges of foul and abusive language—but his supporters say the fix is already in.
- Rainier’s Shingle Boom and the Road Olympia Forgot
A Rainier correspondent reports new shingle mills and warns that Olympia merchants are losing rural trade to Tacoma by ignoring the roads that feed the city.
- Sheriff Seizes Olympia's 'Bob-Tail' Streetcars Over a $250 Note
A small debt owed by the North Olympia Land Company brought the Main Street line to a halt, while its manager blamed grading, weather, and stalled power negotiations for the delay.
- The Apple Trees That Sailed From England in a Sea Captain's Cabin
Seeds saved from a farewell dinner in 1833 were planted at Fort Nisqually and grew into the finest apple trees north of the Columbia. Now an editor wants Tacoma to move them to a park before the squirrels of Rosston are their only company.
- Spokane Taxpayers Revolt Before the Bonds Come Due
After selling $1.2 million in bonds, Spokane's council kept planning improvements. Property owners talked injunctions and credit, and the Ledger saw a lesson for every taxpayer.
- Two Miles Perched on the Lower Circle of a Rainbow
A Shelton legislator's private letter describing a steamer passage up Hammersley's Inlet becomes the best prose in the paper — a circle of prismatic color, starfish, glaciers and one awestruck captain.
- A Night of Dolls, Knives, and Highland Flings
Olympia’s 'Little Helpers' sewing society hosts a lively children's party at the Unitarian church, complete with fancy dancing and a contest for the oldest, ugliest, and most historic toys.
- The Preacher Who Saw Revolution Coming
In an 1892 lecture at the Unitarian church, Rev. W. E. Copeland warned that labor unrest and inequality were about to remake society—and maybe religion itself.
- Expelled for a Poem About Jonah: A Davenport Boy Takes On His School Board
Henry Selde recited a comic verse hinting the whale never swallowed Jonah. His teacher cut him off mid-recitation, the board backed her, and a secular union carried the case all the way to the state superintendent — who said he had no authority to act.
- A Schoolhouse Fight Over Who Builds Olympia
Local architects and mechanics cry foul after the school board quietly accepts a Tacoma-drawn plan for the new high school.
- The Lease a Husband Had No Right to Sign
A Tacoma mercantile firm stopped paying $500-a-month rent, arguing the leased property was community property and the wives had never signed. Washington’s Supreme Court said the lease was not absolutely void—but the tenants had rights too.
- Jailed for a Malicious Complaint, Freed by the State Supreme Court
A Pierce County jury found George Locke not guilty and decided his accuser, Leonard Permstick, had complained maliciously. The court ordered Permstick to pay $275.85 in costs or stay in jail—until the Washington Supreme Court ruled the commitment void.
- John L. Sullivan Comes to Olympia, and the City Council Adjourns for the Show
The heavyweight champion and the Pacific Coast’s great theatrical manager packed the Olympia Theater, traded jokes about brick opera houses, and drew the mayor and nearly every councilman into the audience.
- The Healing Lake That Hid a Walking Fish
On the Columbia plateau near Spokane lies a strange saline lake with no inlet and no outlet — credited with curing rheumatism, foaming like soap in the wind, and home to an axolotl that fooled the naturalists.
- Her Wages Bought the House at Fourth and Plum. The Sheriff’s Deed Was Canceled.
Elizabeth Burkett turned a $700 gift into a hotel and a home. When a Pierce County judgment against her husband threatened it, a Thurston County judge traced the property back to her own labor.
- The Chief's Daughter in the Shadow of the City Named for Her Father
A San Francisco Chronicle correspondent visits Princess Angeline in her Seattle shack and finds the city proudly carving her father's face on a new business block while his daughter lives on charity.
- The Town Where Horses Wore Wooden Shoes
La Conner grew slowly on a rocky knoll in the Skagit delta, diked its tidal flats, and shipped out hay by the ton—while its horses clumped through spring mud in wooden moccasins.
- The People’s Ticket: Olympia’s 1891 Caucus Revolt
A printed slate handed out at the door, a mayor booed as 'defeated,' and a second-ward protest meeting: the fight over who would control Olympia's city nominations.
- He Kept a Dead Man's Skull as a Souvenir — and the Paper Printed the Story
Writing from North Yakima in 1892, Milburn G. Wills recalls the 1855 volunteer campaign that broke the Yakama resistance — the forced marches, the starving commands, the men shot beside him, and the trophy he carried home.