Research the archive
Narrow 22,457 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 5 |
| 1889 | 7 |
| 1891 | 4 |
| 1892 | 32 |
| 1893 | 39 |
| 1894 | 24 |
| 1895 | 6 |
117 stories matching desert
- The Deadly Secret of the Giant Street Bridge
A cold-blooded 1887 murder finally finds its motive in a hidden past, revealing a plot involving stolen identities, deserted wives, and a double-dating betrayal.
- The Sea-Law Rebellion: How Seattle Sailors Won Their Freedom
Ten seamen who fled the ship Alex Gibson were ordered held by a commissioner, but a sharp legal maneuver centered on maritime labor law secured their release.
- The Capitalist, the Runaway Wife, and the Chicago Sport
A wealthy New Whatcom man won a Seattle divorce after his wife fled to Europe with another man—and his lawyer chose desertion over adultery to spare her.
- A Young Soldier's Regret
Valentine D. Little, a 21-year-old immigrant juggler, was arrested in Seattle for deserting the U.S. Army after being misled by recruiters about his enlistment age.
- The Tragedy of George E. Harrison
George E. Harrison, who deserted his wife and children, shot himself in Leeds, voiding his life insurance.
- Cheers, Hisses and a Canal: The Night Tacoma Cheered the Ditch It Was Told Would Ruin It
At a packed Republican mass-meeting in Germania Hall, speaker after speaker dared the crowd to believe the Lake Washington canal would destroy Tacoma — and the crowd roared back that it would not.
- Abandoned in a Ballard Shack
After her husband left her for another woman, Mrs. Belle Eagon and her three young children faced eviction and hunger until neighbors intervened.
- A Desperate Jump at the Spring Street Wharf
Deserted, drinking, and despondent, Kate Johnson tried to drown herself in Seattle harbor—then fought the men who pulled her out.
- The Divorce Mill: Three Women Escape Their Marriages in Seattle
A single day in Judge Humes’ court saw three women granted divorces on grounds of desertion, cruelty, and financial abandonment.
- Mutiny on the Parthenia
A Norwegian ship captain enlists the help of neighboring vessels to suppress a crew revolt at sea.
- The Ice-Cold Escape From the Myloemene
A sick sailor refused the ship's hospital, a Dane swam two miles ashore, and six crewmen forfeited their pay to desert the British bark in Port Angeles harbor.
- The Terminal City That Died on Grays Harbor
A St. Paul syndicate graded streets, cleared forest and built a mile-long wharf for a railroad boomtown that never got its railroad. Only two families are left, living on clams.
- The Double Life of 'John West'
A Seattle man is sued by a woman claiming to be his first wife, exposing a decade of assumed identities, hidden property, and mutual accusations of abandonment.
- The Theater Owner's Divorce
John Considine, proprietor of the People's Theater, admitted to adultery and desertion, but claimed bankruptcy to minimize alimony payments.
- The Rescue of Little Pearl
A lawman retrieves a young girl from a neglectful situation in Whatcom after her parents fall into a cycle of crime and separation.
- The High Price of Ten Cents
A local man sued for damages after he was arrested, fired, and deserted by his wife over a petty accusation of wood theft.
- The Pastor, the Missing Husband, and the Seattle Libel Trial
A church feud goes to court as Rev. M. H. Nichols is tried for circulating scandalous charges against Dr. T. B. Ford—whose testimony reveals a broken engagement, a vanished first husband, and a dramatic courtroom kiss.
- 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.
- The Mysterious Death of a 'Well-Known Character'
When Mary Todhunter was found dead in a locked room in New Westminster, her complicated past as an alleged heiress and runaway brought a dark local scandal to the surface.
- A Deserted Farmer and His Wayward Wife
A Klickitat County farmer appeals for information about his wife, who left their rural home for Portland, only to file for divorce citing cruelty.
- Vigilante Fury Follows Oakesdale Arson
After a suspicious fire destroys a row of businesses, Oakesdale residents threaten to lynch a Chinese resident previously evicted from the property.
- When the Great Railroad Strike Reached Seattle
In July 1894 the Pullman boycott finally tied up the Lake Shore road in Seattle — local switchmen walked out in sympathy, and the company answered with firings, Winchester-armed deputies and a federal judge.
- The Scotch Sailor Boy’s Harrowing Escape
A teenage apprentice tells the tale of his brutal treatment, false imprisonment, and survival following a shipwreck in Lower California.
- The Missing Will That Would Have Given Seattle a Library
Henry Yesler's widow and two doctors are arrested, accused of burning a will that left the pioneer's fortune—and his mansion—to the city.
- The Ghost of the Gatherer: A Captain’s Suicide Haunted by His Own Cruelty
Decades after a horrific voyage where officers maimed and murdered sailors to escape their 'demoniac' captain, the master of the ship dies by suicide in Puget Sound, fulfilling a prophecy of vengeance.