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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 10 |
| 1859 | 19 |
| 1860 | 5 |
| 1861 | 3 |
37 stories matching would
- The Farmer and the Unruly Ox
A cautionary tale of how cruelty toward livestock backfires on the master.
- The Constable Who Charged for Mileage on Every Duck
A local anecdote about a frontier constable’s creative approach to fee collection.
- A Plan to Move Indigenous People to San Juan Island Stirs a Border Dispute
A Victoria proposal to resettle Native people on disputed San Juan Island draws a sharp warning from Washington Territory.
- The Vultures on Steilacoom's Streets
A furious 1858 editorial accuses local authorities of letting California gamblers plunder the town in plain sight.
- The Surrender Demand That Came Before Peace
Father De Smet escorts Kamiakin, Skloom, and other chiefs to Vancouver to meet Gen. Harney—but the terms are blunt: the 'ringleaders' must be handed over first.
- A Dead Calm and a Disabled Engine: The Columbia Goes Ashore
The steamship Columbia struck the mouth of Puget Sound on a quiet night, her machinery useless. Passengers and mail were saved; $200,000 in cargo was not.
- A Territorial Power Struggle
A scathing critique of the Acting Governor's unilateral removal of a Capitol Commissioner.
- The Boiler Bursts at Five Twenty
A mill boiler at Port Madison exploded before the morning shift was fully at work, killing five men and scalding a sixth. A witness wrote that ten minutes later would have killed more.
- The Winter War Blueprint: An 1858 Campaign to Subdue the Tribes
A field letter from the Indian war in Oregon and Washington urges the Army to occupy the Colville Valley, cut off Indigenous trade, and expel missionaries and Hudson’s Bay Company employees.
- The Sewing Machine Tragedy
A neighborly loan of money for a sewing machine leads to a fatal confrontation on a Steilacoom road.
- The Democrats’ Loyalty Test in Olympia
A December 1859 caucus of Democratic territorial legislators spent the evening arguing over who was pure enough to hold House offices — and who had backed the party’s last congressional nominee.
- A Rumor of War on the Snake River
The Puget Sound Herald casts doubt on its own report of a battle between Col. Steptoe and Indigenous fighters, noting that no reliable account has arrived.
- The Widow’s Pig-Feeding Innovation
A resourceful widow in Steilacoom finds a way to feed her livestock using garden weeds and a boiler, turning a chore into a sustainable practice.
- The Wagon Road That Would Bind Puget Sound to the Columbia
Vancouver residents petition Congress for $50,000 to build a military road to Steilacoom, arguing it would open trade and settle the country between the Columbia River and Puget Sound.
- A Debt, an Axe, and Three Deaths on San Juan Island
A wage dispute turns into a triple killing in a remote island neighborhood, and the accused are committed for trial.
- The Mystery of the 'Sea-Monster' in Pierce County
A strange creature from the 'animal kingdom' is brought to Steilacoom, sparking local debate over its true nature.
- A Territorial Judge, a Killing, and a Governor's Bad Appointment
A grand jury has charged Judge E. C. Fitzhugh with murder in the death of Andrew Wilson, turning a territorial appointment into a test of Governor Stevens's judgment.
- Two Governors, One Island, and a War Called Off by Letter
Gen. W. S. Harney writes to Queen Victoria's man at Victoria to explain why United States infantry are dug in on San Juan; Gov. James Douglas writes back hoping no 'collision' follows. The boundary quarrel that became the Pig War, in the principals' own words.
- The Battle for the Capitol Grounds
A public dispute erupts between the Acting Governor and a Capitol Commissioner over the bidding process for clearing the grounds in Olympia.
- The Similkameen Gold Rush
A government expressman brings word of a new, lucrative gold strike in the Similkameen region, sparking excitement and fear of a dangerous, ill-prepared rush.
- The Fur Company’s Land Empire Is Declared Public Domain
A letter from Washington City reports that the Hudson’s Bay and Puget Sound Agricultural companies’ territorial claims have been ruled forfeit, opening their Nisqually and Fort Vancouver lands to American survey and settlement.
- Pioneering the Snoqualmie Pass Road
Citizens of King County organize to build a wagon road across the Cascades, raising over a thousand dollars to bridge the wilderness.
- The Priest Writes Back: A Territorial Feud Over 'Romanism'
A Methodist minister's warning in Olympia draws a sharp reply from the Catholic missionary he accused.
- A Miraculous Escape on Puget Sound: Two Steamers Collide Near Steilacoom
The steamer Northerner and a second vessel met suddenly on the water in October 1858, crushing the little steamer’s bow and nearly sending its captain into the Sound.
- The Mail That Stopped Coming to Puget Sound
For more than ten days no mail arrived from California or the Atlantic states. Steilacoom’s editor blamed a federal order in San Francisco and wondered how long the town could keep publishing.