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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 9 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 3 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 6 |
| 1862 | 5 |
| 1863 | 4 |
| 1864 | 2 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 6 |
| 1876 | 38 |
| 1877 | 25 |
| 1878 | 26 |
| 1880 | 5 |
| 1882 | 7 |
| 1883 | 35 |
| 1884 | 21 |
| 1885 | 60 |
| 1886 | 28 |
| 1887 | 45 |
| 1888 | 25 |
| 1889 | 89 |
| 1890 | 8 |
| 1891 | 45 |
| 1892 | 147 |
| 1893 | 192 |
| 1894 | 191 |
| 1895 | 52 |
| 1897 | 3 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1899 | 41 |
| 1900 | 7 |
| 1902 | 4 |
| 1903 | 68 |
| 1904 | 67 |
| 1905 | 5 |
| 1908 | 3 |
| 1909 | 54 |
| 1910 | 6 |
| 1911 | 10 |
| 1912 | 3 |
| 1914 | 15 |
| 1915 | 15 |
| 1916 | 24 |
| 1917 | 17 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 2 |
| 1924 | 7 |
| 1925 | 2 |
1,437 stories matching allow
- The Judge Who Gambled Away His Office: Soderberg’s Dramatic Resignation
After the grand jury returned five indictments for extortion and malfeasance in office, District Attorney Joseph Soderberg walked into court, tendered his resignation, and declared he would repay every illegal fee to the county treasury.
- Fifteen Hundred Fans and One Silk Pennant: Port Gamble Takes the Sound Championship
A steamer of rooters, gold coin at the gate and a decisive game at Madison Street Park — Port Gamble beat Port Blakeley 15 to 5 for the Puget Sound pennant, and flew it from the steamer's jackstaff.
- The Mayor Fires Two Police Commissioners to Keep Blackchapel Shut
In a single day, Mayor Phelps removed two police commissioners, accused them of conspiring to protect a red-light district and oust Chief Rogers, and installed replacements before the House of Delegates could slow him down.
- King County Commissioners Billed Taxpayers for 25,943 Miles—More Than the Earth's Circumference
A letter to the editor by F. F. Ames accuses the King County board of padding mileage, charging for trips to Olympia, and paying an unauthorized colleague from county funds—violating state law.
- The Smuggler's Shield: How a Seattle Customs Chief Defended Himself in Tacoma
In the height of the 1888 opium smuggling scandal, Chief Inspector Gardner takes the stand in Tacoma, claiming he was set up by political rivals to cover his own failures.
- The Judge Who Was Both Defendant and Accused
In a stunning legal double-header, Judge Wickersham is convicted of seduction in one court, then immediately indicted for perjury by the federal grand jury in the very same day.
- The Mayor's War on 'Black Chapel'
Mayor J. T. Ronald vetoes a saloon license in a notorious district, decrying the density of vice in a three-hundred-foot square.
- The Seattle Land Grab of 1880
A former Delegate to Congress accuses a prominent Seattle attorney of sabotaging a deal to save King County land, sparking a bitter political feud.
- A 'Close Combination' at the Courthouse: Surveyor Accuses King County's Ring of Self-Dealing
King County's surveyor says commissioners paid the prosecuting attorney's rent to their own chairman's Union Block while refusing to cover his office — and he names the men he says run the courthouse for themselves.
- The Warden Fights Back: Prison Labor, Jute Sacks and a Seattle Newspaper Scandal
Accused of selling prison-made sacks to middlemen and brutalizing convicts, Walla Walla’s warden answers his critics with a detailed defense—and a challenge to inspect the prison.
- The Mayor Moves to Shut the Dives and Gambling Rooms
A sweeping message from the mayor demands that the council revoke the licenses of saloons and music halls where girls sell liquor and gamblers run their games—passed in full by the aldermen even as auditors report a $27,000 hole in the street-improvement funds.
- Guns at the Polls: Seattle’s First Ward Primary Erupts in a Street Brawl
Sheriff Woolery and saloon man John Considine tried to seize a Republican primary by arresting the election judges; Chief Rogers and his police fought back with warrants, clubs and drawn revolvers.
- The Capitol Riots: How a Bribery Scandal Shook Washington’s First Legislature
In the halls of Olympia, Republican lawmakers turned on each other with fists and threats over a U.S. Senate seat, exposing a brazen attempt to buy votes that disgraced the young state.
- The Bureaucratic Cruelty of City Hall
Seattle and King County's refusal to fund indigent care leaves a local hospital to carry the burden for destitute patients.
- Work for a Meal: The Salvation Army’s ‘Elevator’ Opens in Seattle
The Salvation Army opened a combined shelter, soup kitchen and workshop near Third and South Second, offering hundreds of meals and 130 beds—provided able-bodied men earned their keep.
- Walla Walla's Water War: Springs, a Bank, and a $250,000 Bond
In December 1903, an editorial backed Councilman Glasford's plan to use Thomas Springs rather than buy bank-owned ranch land or bond for Mill Creek water.
- The Police Chief Who Refused to Reopen Seattle's Red-Light District
A behind-the-scenes account of how a police commissioner tried to oust Chief Rogers because he wouldn't let the Blackchapel cribs rent again—and how the mayor stopped him.
- Monte Cristo’s Residents vs. the Placer Claim
A federal commissioner orders a new hearing in the fight over whether a mining claim swallowed a Snohomish County townsite.
- A Wife's Testimony Was Enough: Supreme Court Reverses Divorce Denial
The Washington Supreme Court ruled that a wife's own account of cruelty and habitual drunkenness could justify a divorce, reversing a lower court that had dismissed Nellie Lee's case.
- The Unseen Conflict at the House of the Good Shepherd
A desperate mother and a firm mother superior navigate the complex, often heartbreaking task of institutionalizing a 'headstrong' teenager in late 19th-century Seattle.
- The Executor Who Tore Down the House
When a court ordered an executor to account for an estate, he decided to simply remove the buildings from the land entirely to bypass the judge.
- The City's Monthly 'Tax' on Prostitution
A reader questions the 'reform' administration’s police policy of extracting monthly fines from sex workers as a form of state-sanctioned blackmail.
- Jim Hill’s Kanopolis Bluff: A Railway Empire in the Making
Great Northern President James J. Hill is quietly surveying a route through the Kanopolis Valley, sparking rumors that he intends to build up the area into a major hub rather than just passing through.
- The Man Who Asked to Be Arrested: A Tacoma Town’s Battle for Its Soul
In a bizarre legal maneuver to force a court ruling on city limits, a resident of the newly excluded district deliberately broke water pipes and allowed himself to be taken into custody.
- Seattle Shipwrights Refuse to Cross Picket Lines in Victoria
Local union men stand in solidarity with Victoria caulkers, refusing to take work from a contractor who bypassed labor standards.
Also about this, in other words
- A Radical Proposal for the Saloon Trade
A local lawyer proposes a city ordinance that would force saloon keepers to provide free drinks to those on the police blacklist.
- A Taxpayer Tries to Stop the City From Writing Checks It Can’t Cover
Francis Hoffman and the Olympia Hardware Company ask a judge to block further city warrants, arguing Olympia has blown past its debt limit.
- The Moral Gatekeeper: Snohomish’s New Battle Over Who Gets to Sell Liquor
A new state law requires liquor license applicants to prove 'good moral character,' turning county commissioners into judges of private virtue and sparking a fierce debate over who gets to define morality in the Territory.
- Faith vs. Regulation: The Methodist Church Debate
Bishop J.W. Hamilton discusses the possibility of amending strict church prohibitions against dancing, card playing, and theater attendance at the upcoming general conference.
- The License Law: Who Gets to Drink in Snohomish?
A new interpretation of the Territory's temperance laws gives local boards sweeping power to deny liquor licenses based on 'moral character,' effectively letting neighbors veto their neighbors' businesses.
- The Saloonkeeper’s Open Letter to Walla Walla Voters
An unapologetic endorsement of Mayor Hunt from a local saloon owner who argues that city officials should ignore 'blue laws' in favor of prosperity.
- Suspended Sentence for Liquor Sales
A local woman avoids prison for selling alcohol to Indians on the condition of future 'right behavior.'
- Washington Senate Tries to Ban Election Pledges—After Being 'Buncoed' by the Anti-Saloon League
Lawmakers voted 27 to 11 for a 'freak bill' disqualifying legislators who promise support for bills before election, then added a rider against corporation lawyers. Legal scholars called it unconstitutional.