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1. The Mayor's Power to Fire: Seattle's Removed Police Commissioners Fight for Their Jobs

   J. G. Niggle and E. G. Cheasty argue that Mayor Byron Phelps removed them without notice or hearing—and that the city charter requires cause, not whim.

   Sep 15, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSuperior Court of Washington for King County, SeattleCity Hall

2. The Great Tree Planting Contest: Who Knows How to Grow a Forest in Seattle?

   A local committee has rejected the first round of submissions for a $150 prize on orchard design, declaring them insufficient. Now, they are asking the public to try again with a more rigorous plan for planting 30 acres of fruit trees.

   Feb 8, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King County

3. The Skagit Farm Courtroom Battle

   A landmark inheritance case hinged on the validity of an 1880s marriage between a white settler and a Swinomish woman.

   Mar 20, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSkagit City, Skagit CountyFollow the Money

4. The Battle for Kenney Street

   A dispute over a blocked street in the Williams addition marks the first legal test of new laws allowing the city to condemn land for public use.

   May 12, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

5. The Suffragist in the Hall: How One Woman’s Plea Shook Washington’s Constitutional Convention

   In the sweltering heat of 1878, a delegation from Seattle petitioned the territorial convention for women's voting rights. Mrs. Dunaway was invited to speak, delivering an eloquent appeal that momentarily softened the hearts of the 'sage' delegates before the vote closed.

   Mar 1, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyCity Hall

6. The People vs. The Senators: Washington’s Bold Demand for Direct Democracy

   In a rare moment of unity, the state legislature sends a powerful message to Congress: stop letting politicians pick your senators. It’s time for the people to vote.

   Jan 29, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

7. The Safety of City Lights

   A San Francisco electrician tours Seattle's growing network of lights and warns that competition among workers leads to dangerous, sloppy wiring.

   Jul 1, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay

8. The Pastor, the Circular, and the Hung Jury

   For three days a Seattle courtroom heard accusations of adultery, an illegitimate son, and a pastor’s libelous circular. At 12:35 a.m., the jury was still deadlocked.

   Feb 2, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyScandal

9. The City Council's Expensive Do-Over

   After the Supreme Court tossed out a faulty assessment, the City of Seattle passes an emergency ordinance to squeeze residents for a new payment on a completed sewer project.

   Aug 4, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSouth 14th Street, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

10. When Seattle's Mayor Took on Poverty: The 1895 Charity Bureau Meeting

    At the Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Byron Phelps and local leaders discussed unemployment, aid to families, and the growing demand for relief during a depression year.

    Feb 6, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerChamber of Commerce, Seattle, King CountyHousing & Rent · Work & Pay · City Hall

11. In the County Jail, a Prisoner Fashions His Own Rope From a Sash

    Awaiting a trip to Auburn to face a murder charge, a Japanese prisoner tries to end his life with the only materials his cell allows — and is found in time.

    Aug 21, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerKing County jail, SeattleStrange But True

12. The Chicken-Head Oath Was Not Used in This Seattle Courtroom

    Chin Chew was acquitted of beating and robbing a fellow Chinese laborer, but the case is remembered for a judge's refusal to repeat a rival jurist's 'chicken oath' experiment.

    Sep 14, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyTrue Crime

13. A Sinking Buggy, a Borrowed Team, and a Reservation About to Open

    In 1892 a newspaperman packed his wife and infant into a rickety buggy to cross the soon-to-open Colville Reservation, fording the Kettle River and leaning on Native families along the way.

    Aug 22, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOsoyoos Lake, Oroville, Okanogan CountyExclusion & Resistance · Strange But True

14. The City Wants Its Fair Share: Republican Wards Revolt Over Delegate Math

    Three ward clubs storm the county Republican committee to protest an apportionment that hands the countryside outsized power — and the committee adjourns without budging an inch.

    Aug 15, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

15. A 28-Mile Dream Road Between Seattle and Tacoma

    A landowner's 1895 letter urges the legislature to charter a direct highway from South Park through Des Moines to Tacoma, selling it as relief for the unemployed, a check on speculators and the making of the 'Twin Cities of Puget Sound.'

    Jan 20, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSouth Park, Seattle, King CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust · City Hall

16. The Single Tax: A Seattle Paper Takes On Henry George

    In 1894 the Post-Intelligencer mounts a full-throated attack on Henry George's land-value tax, warning it would 'rob labor' and hand the ground itself to the rich.

    Sep 11, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

17. The 'Charitable' Boycott of Seattle's Chinese Laundries

    A Seattle letter writer wants customers to register with charity officials so their washing can be steered to white women—an economic boycott wrapped in the language of neighborly aid.

    Jan 31, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay · Exclusion & Resistance

18. White Husbands in Indigenous Communities on the Frontier

    General O.O. Howard describes the precarious lives of white men who married Indigenous women in the Pacific Northwest.

    Jan 4, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King County

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