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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 23 |
| 1893 | 21 |
| 1894 | 15 |
| 1895 | 8 |
77 stories matching bend
- The Three-Way Split: How Bitter Feuds Carved Eastern Washington
In January 1891, the state legislature dissolved Lincoln County into three new entities—Grant, Big Bend, and remaining Lincoln—to settle a decades-long battle over county seats that once involved armed men holding courthouse keys.
- Seven Hundred Miles on Horseback: Two Seattle Men Ride the Raw Edge of Eastern Washington
C. W. Loomis and E. D. Manning return from a month in the saddle — snow-choked passes, waterless deserts, blasting on the Great Northern grade, a mining camp on edge after a killing, and a Colville reservation not yet legally open to whites.
- When the Commuter Train Was Just a Freight Car
Riders on the Snoqualmie branch had to share the rails with coal cars and logging trucks — and one furious passenger had had enough.
- A South Bend Mill Assigned Itself to Creditors, Then Burned to the Ground That Night
The Willapa Cedar Lumber Company signed its assets over to creditors at 4:55 p.m. By 11 that nightthe shingle mill and dry house were in flames, five car loads of shingles lost and $12,000 gone up in smoke.
- The Promised Land of the Big Bend
A traveler in 1888 reports back from the rugged frontier of Douglas County, painting a picture of a burgeoning agricultural hub and a wild, pristine Lake Chelan waiting for its first hotels.
- The Sky Turned to Smoke: Forest Fires Choke Puget Sound
Fires across Whatcom, Skagit and the Olympic Mountains destroyed bridges, barns and a shingle mill, derailed a Great Northern train and left Puget Sound under a suffocating haze.
- The Iron Road Reaches the Snoqualmie River
As construction on the Snoqualmie branch of the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railroad nears its completion, a new frontier town emerges on the South Fork of the river.
- A County Seat Fight With More Petition Signers Than Voters
Pacific County commissioners agreed to put the county seat up to a vote — then discovered that South Bend and Sealand had turned in 2,373 signatures from a county with barely 1,500 voters.
- The Passing of South Bend’s Founder
Captain F.W. Swett, a pioneer of Pacific County and the visionary behind South Bend, dies in Portland after a struggle with heart failure.
- The North Bend Ducking Stool
When a man terrorized his family during a drunken rampage, his neighbors took justice into their own hands with an icy river dip.
- The Sleeping Judges of South Bend
A contest arises in Pacific County after election officials allegedly fell asleep during the vote count.
- Ballot Stuffing Allegations in South Bend
A heated challenge to the results of a Pacific County election alleges voter fraud and negligence after poll workers allegedly slept through the count.
- A Man Frozen to Death as the Big Bend Storm Strands Trains and Madness Follows
In Washington's Big Bend country, a blizzard stalls trains, drives a stage driver out of his mind and leaves a young rancher dead in the snow.
- A Mysterious Cyclone Tears Through the Cascade Mountains
An eye-witness report describes a straight, 40-rod-wide path of destruction cut through the forest near North Bend, leveling timber and blocking mountain roads.
- The Tragedy at the Snoqualmie Ford
A day of innocent fun turned to horror at North Bend when a wagon crossing the river was swallowed by the current, claiming a young boy's life.
- The Iron Road Through the Wilderness
By 1891, the rush for transcontinental rail connections was transforming the remote timberlands of Lewis and Pacific counties, promising to turn quiet river valleys into bustling industrial hubs.
- The Water Wars of South Bend
A dispute over local water infrastructure ends with the arrest of a city contractor.
- The Homegrown Railroad That Opened the Snoqualmie Country
Seattle citizens incorporated the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern in 1885 to reach Gilman, North Bend and Snoqualmie Falls. Northern Pacific took control, receivership followed, and the line kept loggers alive through the depression.
- Suspicious Blaze Consumes South Bend Building
A vacant commercial building in South Bend, Washington, burns to the ground under circumstances police suspect were intentional.
- Firestorms Ravage the Snoqualmie and Skykomish Valleys
A massive wildfire has destroyed timber, bridges, and the entire settlement of Wellington, forcing settlers to flee for their lives.
- The Deadly Vengeance of a Rancher’s Wife
A Big Bend rancher who murdered his wife dies in jail after she allegedly poisoned him before her death.
- South Bend’s Mill Burns While the Hose Company Stays Home
The Willapa Cedar Lumber Company’s mill and dry house burn to the ground; a kerosene-soaked fireball and a short hose supply leave the town reeling.
- The Tragedy on the Chehalis River
A work train plunges into a flooded ravine, claiming the life of an engineer as the waters of the Newaukum River rise to historic levels.
- A Deadly Plunge off the Grant Street Bridge
A reckless driver and his span of horses tumble into the tide flats, prompting a lawsuit against the city for its lack of safety infrastructure.
- Canoeing the Queets: Promise and Dispossession on the Olympic Peninsula
An 1892 travelogue celebrates homesteaders in the Queets River valley while arguing that Native hunters should be confined to the reservation.