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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 8 |
18 stories matching emption
- A Land Office Says the Tide Flats Are Not for the Taking
George Louchs tried to pre-empt 123.8 acres of Seattle tide flats. A federal commissioner said the unsurveyed shore belonged to the public—for now.
- The Sham Colony of Whatcom County
Federal investigators expose a fraudulent scheme to seize timber lands using dummy 'pre-emption' entries.
- The Lawyer and the Imposter
Attorney James E. Morrison faces a hearing over allegations he orchestrated a fraudulent pre-emption claim using a double.
- The Battle for the Snohomish River Claim
A landmark interior department decision favors an ailing settler over a speculator who tried to exploit a technicality in federal land law.
- Land Fraud in a Booming Town: Two Everett Homestead Cases Go to Trial
A 170-acre tract valued at $1,000 an acre and a 40-acre parcel in the heart of Everett are at the center of separate land contests alleging fraudulent homestead and pre-emption claims.
- A Nooksack Valley Land Fight Ends With One Man Holding Everything
Frank Luke and Watt Birdwell claimed the same Nooksack Valley lots. The Interior Department finally ruled that Luke's earlier settlement gave him the land.
- A Railroad Beats a Homesteader Over a Tacoma Land Claim
Judge Gilbert rules James De Lacey abandoned his claim before the Northern Pacific land grant, but De Lacey will appeal.
- The Legal Battle Over Land Claims
Judge Hanford rules on a dispute between the Stimson Land Company and individual homesteaders, highlighting the complexities of federal land patent law.
- The Ground Under Rainier Addition: A Seven-Year Title Fight Ends—for Now
After three trials and repeated reversals, Henry S. Alger is declared owner of a tract already platted into lots and improved by buyers who trusted the Hill title.
- The Settlers' War Against the Land Office
How the administration of Grover Cleveland turned homesteaders into outlaws, sparking fear across Washington Territory.
- The Lake Washington Land Fight That Turned on a Cabin, a Railroad Claim, and 'Crazy' Miller
A decade-long homestead contest ends with William L. Miller keeping first claim—if he or his guardian can prove it within 90 days. His rival says the cabin was never really a home.
- The Decades-Long Battle for the McAleer Tract Ends in Court
After years of tangled legal claims, Judge Hanford rules against the McAleer heirs, clearing the way for new development on a large, vacant stretch of land once visible from the old Lake Washington cable cars.
- Whatcom County Vendetta: A Land Claim Reopens a Frontier Killing
A routine land-office inquiry near Ferndale revived the story of John Guildy, who shot two members of the Mayfield family and was then hunted down and killed by a nine-man posse.
- The Sausage Maker’s Long Walk for Justice
After his Skagit County homestead was ransacked, a local sausage vendor spent two weeks trudging through mud to find an officer who would actually serve a warrant, only to be met with a revolver in the woods.
- A Rabbi Died on the Road to Washington, Still Fighting for His Maury Island Homestead
M. Eisbert left Seattle to plead his land case to President Cleveland and the Interior Department. He died in Helena instead, leaving a family, a petition signed by 860 people, and a homestead the government had already taken from him.
- The Hatch Heirs' Victory: A Seattle Attorney Wins Half of a $400,000 Everett Tract
A federal appeals court upholds the rights of the children of Ezra Hatch—a Mexican War veteran who married an Indian woman—to 128 acres in the heart of Everett, and their lawyer, A.D. Warner, takes home half.
- The Man Who Thought He Owned Seattle Died Chasing a Ghost Fortune
Henry Zechow spent nine years and a small army of lawyers trying to claim an uncle's imaginary empire—including a block of downtown Seattle—before his body turned up in the Fraser River.
- State Supreme Court Upholds Lake Washington Canal Contract, Clearing the Way for Tide-Land Transformation
The Washington Supreme Court rules that the Lake Washington Waterway Company's contract to dig a canal and fill tide lands is constitutional, rejecting a landowner's challenge and affirming the state's power to remake the waterfront.