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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 7 |
| 1892 | 9 |
| 1893 | 7 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 6 |
36 stories matching impass
- The Mountain That Smoked: A Seattle Expedition Finds Fire Under Rainier
A Post-Intelligencer party climbs to 9,000 feet, is stopped by glaciers and icy chasms, and reports that Mount Rainier is volcanic.
- Beacon Hill Residents Revolt Over Grade Taxes
Property owners on South Twelfth and Fourteenth streets refuse to pay for grading they claim was never completed.
- The Unlucky Traveler of Snoqualmie Pass
A man’s attempt to cross the mountains turns into a desperate struggle against the elements.
- Snowbound in the Dosewalips
Isolated by record snowfall, pioneers in a rugged valley face the threat of starvation before a desperate trek to safety.
- Caught Between the Cars: A Laborer Sues the Great Northern
Maimed when a work train left him no escape from a slide, a laborer takes the railroad to court arguing it sacrificed its men's safety.
- Fire and Rent
A judge rules against tenants whose homes burned down, sparking an uproar in the jury box.
- The End of the Snoqualmie Toll
After years of litigation, King County settled a dispute with a private wagon road company, finally opening the Snoqualmie Pass route to the public for free.
- The Grading Debt That Never Was
A judge rules that Seattle property owners don't have to pay for street improvements that the city never actually finished.
- Tragedy at the Spring: A Mother’s Drowning in Cathlamet
A logger returns home after a week of work to find his wife dead in a two-foot deep spring and his three children alone in the snow.
- Democratic Convention Splits Over Ship Canal
A bitter political brawl at the state convention in Olympia ends in a stinging defeat for Seattle’s most ambitious infrastructure dream.
- Tacoma’s City Hall in Chaos
A standoff over missing treasury funds, salary cuts, and a power struggle at the Board of Public Works defines a week of municipal turmoil in Tacoma.
- The Populist Revolt in King County
King County Populists hold a fiery convention, demanding an end to the poll tax, attacking 'Pinkertonian' strikebreakers, and debating the merits of local newspapers.
- The County Treasury Lockdown
Whatcom County officials are at an impasse over a resolution to freeze outstanding warrants, sparking a legal and political battle.
- The Brewery Brawl
A local assault case reaches a strange legal impasse when a prosecutor is asked to define whether a beer keg constitutes a deadly weapon.
- The Mud That Stalled Seattle: Why Our Hills Are Unrideable
Four months of relentless rain have turned Seattle’s steep streets into impassable quagmires, halting commerce and terrifying travelers. As the city debates reform elsewhere, locals demand immediate graveling or paving before the mud claims another season.
- The Ballard Rail Wars
Ballard officials threatened to forcibly remove tracks from their city streets in a bitter dispute with railroad receivers.
- The Political Allegiance of the Black Voter in 1892
In an era of rising racial violence and disenfranchisement, H.R. Carroll makes an impassioned case for why the Republican Party remained the only viable choice for Black citizens.
- The Bottleneck of Yesler Way
A dangerous, debris-filled junction at Yesler, Front, and Commercial streets creates a daily traffic nightmare for Seattle's commerce.
- The Madison Street Blockade
A critical city thoroughfare is left in ruins after competing companies battle over franchise rights, leaving the public to pay the price.
- The Great Freeze of '92
Seattle and the surrounding region are paralyzed by record snowfall and freezing temperatures, leading to train delays, roof collapses, and a surge in labor prices.
- The Great Grain Rate War
Legislators in Olympia spar over a proposed reduction in railroad freight rates, setting Eastern Washington farmers against the powerful railroad corporations.
- The Struggle to Free the Snoqualmie Pass
King County files suit to condemn a privately owned toll road that had fallen into dangerous disrepair.
- The Paper Street Feud
A homeowner fights a developer over a phantom street that appeared on a map but vanished on the ground.
- The Panhandle's Longing: A Century-Old Border Dispute
Before Washington became a state, Northern Idahoans fought for annexation, citing mountain barriers and shared economic interests with the Columbia River basin.
- The Midnight Queue for a Piece of Skagit Land
When the government opened new timber claims, hopeful settlers staged a chaotic, near-violent all-night standoff to be the first in line.