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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 19 |
| 1893 | 15 |
| 1894 | 26 |
| 1895 | 20 |
84 stories matching ditch
- The Tolt Ditch Dispute
A local landowner writes to the editor to clarify his role in filling a ditch, contradicting previous reports.
- Protests Against the White River Ditch
A contentious battle over land damages and irrigation pits the county commissioners against local landowners, headed for court.
- Draining the White River Valley
Engineers plan two new drainage ditches from Kent to the Black River to reclaim farmland from swamp.
- Farmers Take Flood Control Into Their Own Hands
Facing constant inundation and corporate inaction, local valley farmers plan to bypass the existing canal system.
- The Farmers' Plan to Drain Lake Washington
Valley farmers eye an inexpensive ditch as the only solution to the catastrophic flooding threatening their livelihood.
- A Midnight Ditch Plugging in the Snoqualmie Valley
A water dispute near Tolt (now Carnation) turned neighbor against neighbor, with accusations that O'Leary plugged a shared ditch under cover of darkness.
- The 'Irrigation Army' Scheme
Capitalists propose to end the unemployment crisis in Eastern Washington by putting members of the Industrial Army to work on massive irrigation projects.
- Transforming the Valley Floor
King County commissioners authorize a massive drainage project to reclaim 3,000 acres for agricultural use near Kent.
- Homeowner Battles City Over Street Ditch
W. H. Gleason sues the City of Seattle for $1,000, claiming a city-sanctioned ditch blocked access to his Washington Street rentals.
- Farmers Take Matters Into Their Own Hands to Escape Floods
Tired of waiting for the county to act, valley farmers organize a private committee to drain Lake Washington floodwaters.
- The White River Ditch Stalls
A landmark court decision strikes down the drainage assessment law, leaving farmers and property owners in limbo.
- Tragedy in a Tacoma Sewer Ditch
A team of horses and a wagon are discovered floundering in a construction trench, with fears for the driver's life.
- Bringing Water to the Okanogan
A new twenty-mile irrigation ditch promises to transform arid lands into fertile ground for hops and fruit.
- Fisticuffs at City Hall
A drainage ditch dispute erupts into a physical brawl between two men in the county commissioners' corridor.
- White River Farmers Resist City's Drainage Plan
Farmers in the White River Valley rejected a proposed drainage ditch, arguing the city should subsidize the cost for its own water benefit.
- Disgruntled Workers Dynamited Flume in Yakima
After failing to receive pay for their labor, a crew of ditch workers turned to dynamite to exact revenge on the Leadbetter Ditch Company.
- The Struggle to Tame the White River
An engineer’s radical proposal to prevent the flooding that threatened Seattle’s growing suburbs, blaming deforestation for a changing climate.
- Port Townsend Refused to Help Seattle Dig Its Canal—Washington Still Paid for It
A Port Townsend meeting cheered resolutions against the 'Seattle ditch,' even as Congress was appropriating $100,000 to begin work on the canal.
- The Commissioner Said There Was Work. The Unemployed Asked What It Paid.
Labor Commissioner Lamb reported no takers even for guaranteed hop work at Yakima—and conceded that pay for harvests, railroads and ditch digging was often low and uncertain.
- A Farmer Dams a Ditch, and Neighbors Build a Dike
In the town of Tolt, a landowner’s waterway blockade turns into a muddy standoff, with farmers throwing up dikes to keep their fields from flooding.
- Masterminding the Sammamish Valley
Property owners petitioned county commissioners to form a drainage district, hoping to transform miles of 'sluggish' swamp into productive farmland.
- The Final Appeals of a Condemned Man
Charles Nordstrom, facing execution for the Cedar Mountain murder, launches a last-ditch legal battle involving Swedish support and a high-stakes Supreme Court challenge.
- The Narrow Escape of Peter Oleson
A sewer trench collapse on Queen Anne leaves a laborer buried beneath two feet of earth while his coworkers frantically dig for his life.
- The Farmer Who Drowned a Valley
A drainage project meant to reclaim marshland turns a peaceful river into a recurring disaster zone for downstream farmers.
- A Senator’s Lake Washington Commute
Senator Watson C. Squire returns to Seattle to mediate a messy standoff with the Belt Line railroad, which carved a deep, uncrossable ditch right through his prized farmstead.
Also about this, in other words
- The Ditch That Would Cut Seattle in Two
Washington's engineers begin staking the route of the government's Lake Washington canal, and condemnation suits are expected to follow on their heels.
- The Legislators Who Came to See a Ditch—and Left Believers
A steamboat tour of Smith Cove and Lake Union turns Eastern Washington lawmakers into ship-canal converts.