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139 stories matching bargain
- Hop Growers Pledge Their 'Word and Honor' to Pay Pickers Less
With the hop market collapsing in the summer of 1894, growers from ten Puget Sound counties met at Puyallup and fixed a single price for picking — 65 to 75 cents a box, down from the dollar they had promised. Ezra Meeker, the valley's biggest grower, said out loud what the resolution implied: the pickers had no seat at the table.
- The Widow’s Bargain
An elderly woman signs away her property in exchange for the county's promise to provide her care for the remainder of her life.
- The Hop Pickers' Bargain: Growers Cut Wages as Harvest Opens
In the Puyallup Valley, growers try to hold the line at two cents a pound. Crews register, balk and bargain — while Native pickers from British Columbia are turned away in favor of white workers.
- Everett Electrical Workers Walk Out
After months of failed negotiations with Stone & Webster management, union electricians strike for higher wages and a recognized collective bargaining agreement.
- The School of Unionism
A young worker discovers the power of collective bargaining when he moves from a non-union shop to a city factory.
- The Public Elopement of Elma
A husband in Elma negotiates a bizarre separation settlement that includes the contents of the house.
- A Supreme Court Justice Denies He Bargained Away His Seat
Judge T. L. Stiles goes public to deny that he ever promised to step down so his friend Judge Pritchard could take the bench — and accuses a party operative of forcing him out of a race he had every right to enter.
- Olympia's Republican Bargain: Bring the State Convention Home—and Send a Delegate to Minneapolis
A local editorial pushes Thurston County Republicans to raise $1,500, host the state convention in the capital, and still claim a seat at the national convention—instead of trading one prize for the other.
- The Price of a Title: A Satirical Pitch for Yakima Bachelors
After a socialite’s marriage bargain with a French nobleman falls through, a local editor makes a cheeky, patriotic offer to find her a better—and cheaper—husband in North Yakima.
- The Great Seattle Land Rush: West Seattle and Lake Union Lots Vanish in Days
As the city expands beyond its original hills, developers are selling off prime waterfront real estate at bargain prices before the next boom hits.
- The Price of a Pioneer Wardrobe
A look at the retail landscape in 1886 Seattle, where department stores were the primary civic meeting grounds and symbols of progress.
- The Bankruptcy Sale That Defined a Boomtown
As Seattle transitioned from a frontier outpost to a growing city, the closure of merchant Simon Brownstone's stock offered residents a rare, high-stakes opportunity for 'genuine bargains' amid the rough-and-tumble of 1884 commerce.
- The Spokane Tribe's Bargain: Timber Revenue for a Forest Reserve
At the agency in Miles, tribal members agreed to set aside unallotted mountain land as a forest reserve and to open Walker's Prairie to homesteaders—if the government paid $5 an acre.
- The Missing Will That Would Have Given Seattle a Library
Henry Yesler's widow and two doctors are arrested, accused of burning a will that left the pioneer's fortune—and his mansion—to the city.
- Pay for a Job That Wasn't There: Seattle's Employment-Agency Scam
A city council committee heard workers describe paying fees to G.W. Crane's employment office and arriving to find no jobs, with agents accused of splitting fees with contractors.
- The Old Man’s Last Stand: A Father’s Flight from Greedy Heirs Ends in a Sheriff’s Chase
P.V. Thorpe, an elderly pioneer fleeing false rape accusations and property theft by his son and son-in-law, was arrested for carrying a revolver in Seattle—only to be vindicated when the truth about his family’s blackmail scheme came to light.
- The Northern Pacific Stakes its Claim
Railroad giants bond the Dr. H. A. Smith farm for a new Seattle terminus.
- The Broken Promises of Washington Territory
James G. Swan argues that federal mismanagement and bureaucratic neglect are the true causes of unrest, urging the government to honor its treaty obligations to Indigenous nations.
- The Price of a Transit Franchise
Tacoma’s City Council strikes a bargain for new railway depots in Old Town and the Narrows, bartering city streets for future development.
- The Tax Collector’s Secret: How Seattle Officials Hid Debts to Profit from Advertising
A local newspaper exposes a scheme where the School District collector withheld tax information, forcing taxpayers to pay exorbitant advertising fees to clear liens they didn't know existed.
- The Swindler in the Customs House
A former customs official turned smuggling mastermind uses a fake 'special detective' scheme to trick colleagues and line his own pockets with molasses-filled trunks.
- The Terminus Bait: How the Northern Pacific Played Seattle
In 1878, Washington residents saw through the railroad's broken promises and the cynical 'town lot' real estate schemes that kept the city waiting for a line.
- Seattle Longshoremen Fight to Save Their Union
Workers speak out against a Pacific Coast Steamship Company lockout intended to dismantle their collective bargaining power.
- The Looming Northern Pacific Strike
Tensions boil over as Northern Pacific railroad employees weigh a general strike against wage cuts and the company's attempt to dissolve organized labor.
- The Safe Combination Swindle
A merchant is arrested for grand larceny after allegedly tricking a sick man's wife into opening their safe to steal a promissory note.
Also about this, in other words
- The Price of a Loose Tongue
A logger learned the hard way that when you negotiate a premium price in secret, you better keep it a secret.
- The Court Upholds Property Speculation
A landmark superior court ruling confirms that land contracts are strictly enforceable, forcing buyers to pay even if the market shifts.
- A Judge Draws the Line: Unions May Bargain, Not Bully
In a Tacoma courtroom, Judge Pritchard rules that workingmen may set their own terms — but cannot force an employer's hand through threats.
- The Lawyer, the Boy, and the Five-Cent Lesson
A shrewd Seattle attorney tests a boy’s integrity with a lesson in promissory notes and the value of a promise.
- The True Cost of Middlemen
How the Kennewick-Richland Marketing Union learned a hard lesson about shipping produce on consignment versus securing fair prices through cooperation.
- The Blacksmith’s Inflation Correction
A local farmer brags about his record-breaking pork sales, only to find the village blacksmith has adjusted his own prices accordingly.
- The Price of a Settlement Gone Wrong
A contract to manufacture shake posts turns into a criminal trial after a partner is accused of embezzling funds.
- The Price-Fixing Meat Trust
Seattle's wholesale meat dealers move in lockstep to drive up prices on beef, pork, and mutton.