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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 6 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 7 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 9 |
30 stories matching axe
- The Fireboat Battle of Elliott Bay
A power struggle between a fire captain and a marine pilot boils over into a violent, axe-wielding confrontation on the deck of a city fireboat.
- The Last-Second Injunction That Saved a Seattle Building From the Railroad
Judge Langley cleared the way for demolition, then a federal mortgage-holder's suit stopped the axes at the Colman block.
- The $10,000 Bet That Built Seattle’s Front Street
Superintendent Thompson risks a fortune to beat the calendar, while a separate land dispute erupts over tide flats near Grant Street.
- The War of the Everett Editors
An arrest for criminal libel turns into a public spectacle as two rival newspaper editors battle over a municipal bridge contract.
- The Goat Meat Grift
A Seattle housewife takes matters into her own hands after a local butcher tries to swindle her.
- A Mental Health Crisis on the Waterfront
Judge Humes committed Charles W. Burton to the state insane asylum after he brandished an axe on the waterfront.
- The Bloody Battle of Washington Street
A federal opium sting operation devolved into a chaotic, axe-wielding melee in a dark room in Pioneer Square.
- The Day Washington Was Born: A City Holds Its Breath
As the nation celebrates statehood, Seattle gathers in a packed hall to hear speeches on liberty, land fraud, and the future of the 'Queen City.'
- The Trial of 'Old Man' Robinson
A jury acquits a man accused of orchestrating a brutal ambush murder, leaving a partner to face the gallows alone.
- The Opium Smuggling Trap
A Seattle man accused of opium trafficking convinces a jury he was actually working as a government informant to expose a crooked customs inspector.
- The Brutal Ambush Near Dubuque
A multi-year saga of land-use violence concludes as the mastermind behind a bloody road-access dispute is convicted.
- The Ghost of Sunnydale
A man arrives looking for work, strips off his clothes, and vanishes into the brush—leaving behind only a purse, a poll tax receipt, and a trail of mystery.
- Railroad War on the Waterfront
A bitter legal battle over a disputed right-of-way erupts into accusations of perjury in court as railroad crews prepare to tear down a local businessman’s building.
- Heroic Bucket Brigade Battles Stanwood Inferno
A devastating fire ravages the business district of Stanwood, leaving the community to fight flames with nothing but ladders and willpower.
- Logger Leon Richards Found Slain on Mercer Island
A logger missing for a month is found dead in Lake Washington, revealing a brutal struggle and a connection to a local counterfeiting ring.
- The Cabin Murder and the Fear of a Mob
An Italian stonecutter on trial for his life recounts a desperate struggle on Mercer Island that left his employer dead.
- City Engineer Axes Staff Amidst Financial Crisis
A local corruption scandal involving a 'defalcation' leaves the city unable to pay for essential infrastructure, forcing layoffs in the engineer's office.
- The Hard Lives of Seattle's Working Class
Hospital records from 1892 reveal the brutal physical toll of industrial labor in Seattle’s growing logging and rail sectors.
- The Night Clerk Is Axed
Police commissioners fire the night registering clerk to save money, prompting a protest from the Police Chief.
- The Jailbreak That Almost Was: A Struggle for Freedom in Port Townsend
In a dramatic afternoon at the Clallam County jail, five prisoners attempted to overpower the keeper with an axe and a garrote-style choke. Jailer Furlong’s quick draw saved the day.
- The Neighborhood Terror of Kitsap County
A man’s year-long campaign of property destruction and violent threats against his own family members lands him in a King County jail cell.
- The Night They Slept in Rainier's Ice Caves
A Seattle climbing party returns from Mount Rainier after a storm-bound night in the summit ice caves—and Tacoma greets them like a circus.
- Two Hundred Axes Clear the Woods for a 2,500-Soldier Colony
Port Angeles turned out an ax-and-saw brigade to fell forty blocks of townsite timber before a Michigan colony of veteran soldiers arrived — and the Secretary of the Interior steamed in to bless the work and the squatters' shaky claims.
- A Sinking Buggy, a Borrowed Team, and a Reservation About to Open
In 1892 a newspaperman packed his wife and infant into a rickety buggy to cross the soon-to-open Colville Reservation, fording the Kettle River and leaning on Native families along the way.
- The Mayor Fires His Police Commissioner in a Fight Over a Den
A vice dispute between Seattle's police chief and one of his commissioners ends with Mayor Phelps wielding the axe.