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66 stories matching alert
- The Octopus and the Seal: A Local Captain’s War Against a Washington Monopoly
In 1901, Port Townsend resident James G. Swan published affidavits from experienced hunters to debunk Professor Elliott’s claim that seal pups sink like stones, exposing the Alaska Commercial Company’s stranglehold on federal policy.
- The Great Seattle Fire: How a Painter’s Fall Saved the City
In the chaos of the 1889 inferno, a worker’s tragic accident at a construction site inadvertently alerted the city to the approaching flames, turning a moment of horror into a pivotal warning.
- A Violent Opium Sting Goes Wrong
An attempt by customs officers to pose as black-market buyers of 375 pounds of opium resulted in a brutal, bloody brawl that left three people hospitalized.
- The Shadowy Campaign for Seattle's Waterfront
Before the city was fully formed, a powerful railroad lobby attempted to secure the lucrative tide-lands of Elliott Bay through backroom deals.
- Half-Million Dollar Blaze Destroys Cincinnati Freight Depot
Seattle fire department rushed to the corner of Sixth and Main streets to battle a fire that decimated a major grain and freight warehouse.
- Vigilante Mob Targets Ballard Policeman
A vigilante mob descended on a Ballard home demanding that an acquitted police officer flee the county within 24 hours.
- A False Accusation and a Jump into the Sound
After being falsely accused of theft and facing a chaotic night at a Seattle dance hall, a woman driven to despair is saved by an unlikely guardian.
- Fatal Trap Set for Burglars Results in Arrests
Two men are in custody for murder after their booby-trapped cabin killed an intruder in Whatcom County.
- Abandoned and Starving in the Mountains
After the Wellington disaster, laborers recount being treated like 'cattle' by the Great Northern Railway while awaiting unpaid wages.
- Olympia’s Capitol Fight: Donate the Land or Lose the Statehouse
A late-night Senate debate over the new state capitol turned on eleven acres, a $150,000 land scheme and whether Olympia should pay to keep the building—before the bill passed to applause.
- The Shadowy Business of Land 'Jumpers'
A look at the corruption and speculation surrounding homestead land claims in Washington Territory, where the rules of pre-emption favored the well-connected over the actual settler.
- Smallpox Quarantine Shuts Down the Sound
Puget Sound cities scramble to seal their borders as a smallpox epidemic spreads from Victoria.
- Neighborhood Alert After Assault on Teen
A railroad worker was apprehended by police following an alleged assault on a girl in a shed near Jefferson Avenue.
- The Battle for the West Waterfront
Tacoma citizens are urged to confront railroad attorneys tonight to prevent the Northern Pacific from monopolizing the city’s waterfront access.
- The Rotting Schoolhouse
A local mechanic alerts the city to a school building construction so shoddy it was doomed to collapse.
- A Kenton Picnic Speech and the Justification of Native Displacement
At a Kenton picnic, Judge Orange Jacobs cast pioneer survival as historical necessity and used dehumanizing rhetoric to defend the displacement of Native Americans.
- Chief Butterfield's Night Raids on Two Gaming Houses
After weeks of public defiance, Seattle’s police chief launched a series of high-stakes raids on the city's most prominent gaming houses, leading to dramatic foot-booted entries and stacks of confiscated faro layouts.
- The Padlock Swindle on the Sidewalks of Seattle
A new arrival in Seattle was relieved of his life savings by a pair of confidence men using a trick lock and a fake partnership.
- The Desperate 'Stake' of a Fugitive
After shooting an employer in Seattle, a wounded man is discovered in a cabin near a brickyard, revealing a tale of poverty, gambling, and a botched robbery.
- The Child Who Danced for Pennies
A twelve-year-old runaway is arrested in a Seattle saloon while performing a wing dance to escape his father's abusive vaudeville routines.
- Late Night Assault at a Front Street Restaurant
A restaurant cook survives an assault after being struck with a revolver by a man who infiltrated the back of the establishment.
- A Rope of Rags, a Jar of Coal Oil, and a Tacoma Arson Plot
Fire Chief Bruemmer found a carefully laid fuse running through a mortgaged tenement—just before the owner left town for Neah Bay.
- The Day Seattle Rode the Rails to Lake Union
In 1872, the completion of the Seattle Coal Company’s railway from the waterfront to the lake offered a thrilling, soot-stained excursion for a city eager to join the industrial age.
- The Forger Who Fooled Seattle Banks
A clever check-raiser who cut his mustache and fled to Snohomish leaves behind a tangled web of litigation between an Aberdeen bank and Seattle’s financial elite.
- The Campaign for a 'Sane Fourth' of July
A growing national movement pushes to replace dangerous fireworks with organized pageants and parades to curb Independence Day carnage.