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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 7 |
| 1893 | 4 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1914 | 1 |
41 stories matching barrier
- 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.
- Trapped on the Columbia River Ice
A bank cashier and his stage coach driver find themselves stranded on shifting ice flows until an Indigenous horseman orchestrates a daring rescue.
- The Railroad’s Big Heist: Northern Pacific Claims Indian Land It Doesn’t Own
As the Puyallup Reservation faces a legal siege from the Northern Pacific Railway, federal officials warn that a treaty-protected land grab could strip thousands of acres from Native families for pennies on the dollar.
- The Deadly Secret of the Giant Street Bridge
A cold-blooded 1887 murder finally finds its motive in a hidden past, revealing a plot involving stolen identities, deserted wives, and a double-dating betrayal.
- The Struggle for Industry in Fairhaven
A local Chamber of Commerce defends its record against editorial attacks, citing structural economic barriers and the legacy of broken 'boom' promises.
- The Broken Promises of the Northern Pacific
A scathing editorial accuses the railroad giant of land-grab schemes and consistent bad faith toward the people of Washington Territory.
- The Converted Burglar Who Asked Kansas to Come and Get Him
After a Salvation Army altar call in Seattle, an escaped Leavenworth prisoner walked into the Post-Intelligencer and confessed—then notified the governor he was ready to serve the eight years he owed.
- The Great Northern's Monopoly on the Waterfront
Railroad superintendent McCabe warns that the city's waterfront is being handed over to James J. Hill, effectively cutting off public access.
- The Looming Rivalry Between Seattle and Portland
A visiting correspondent examines the high-stakes battle for Pacific Northwest dominance as the Northern Pacific Railroad nears completion.
- Mill Owners Dismiss Japanese Workers for 'Language Barrier'
A local mill owner says he will stick to white labor exclusively after deciding that hiring non-English speaking workers was bad for business.
- The Push for Idaho Territory
Residents in the eastern reaches of Washington Territory call for a split from Olympia, citing a government that is 'a supreme farce.'
- The Waterfront Right-of-Way Battle
The Supreme Court rules in favor of the railroads, allowing them to rebuild the controversial 'Ram's Horn' track along the waterfront.
- The Empty City: How a Housing Shortage Stalled Pullman’s Growth
In November 1888, the newspaper admits that 'there is not a vacant house, store, or room in town,' forcing potential residents to look elsewhere—a crisis of affordability and infrastructure that mirrors modern debates.
- The First Socialist Manifesto in the Washington Territory
A bold reader writes to the Post-Intelligencer to challenge a local minister’s sermon, demanding justice for the working class and defending socialist principles as the only path to economic dignity.
- The Fight for a Son’s Birthright in Pioneer Seattle
A prominent Chinese merchant takes the extraordinary step of filing court petitions to prove his son is an American citizen and thus eligible to own property.
- The Dam That Shut Down Ballard
Fremont millers raised a timber barrier at Lake Union’s outlet. When Ballard’s mills lost their water, the fight went to court—after some talked of tearing it out by hand.
- The Wireless Miracle at City Hall
Curious citizens gather to witness a demonstration of the mysterious 'wireless telephone' inside police headquarters.
- The Fight to Bypass the Railroads
Civic leaders across three states unite to promote Columbia River shipping as a 'shackle-breaker' for isolated interior towns.
- The Color Line in Trade Unions
A letter to the editor challenges the claim that Seattle trade unions exclude Black members, arguing that class solidarity transcends racial barriers.
- The Rival Engineers Who Carved the Pacific Northwest
A look back at the lives of General Anderson and Major Rogers, the architectural titans whose competition through the Cascades and Selkirk mountains built the backbone of the region's railroad legacy.
- The Great Partition: Why Walla Walla Wants to Leave Washington
A fiery editorial warns that the eastern half of the territory is plotting to join Oregon, leaving Seattle and the Puget Sound region stranded in a 'provincial' limbo.
- The Price of Progress: Seattle’s 1878 Ultimatum
Facing a desperate need for a mountain-crossing railroad, Seattle civic leaders demanded total community compliance—and warned that those who refused to subsidize the line would face 'social ostracism.'
- The General Who Conquered Rainier First
A century after his perilous climb, Gen. A.V. Kautz recounts the first recorded ascent of Mount Rainier to a Seattle reporter, correcting the historical record on glaciers and glory.
- The Brewery Barricade: A Pioneer Land Grab
A young saloon keeper attempts to fence off a public path to build a beer garden, igniting a neighborhood revolt in 1887 Seattle.
- The Cattle of Port Crescent
A month after a historic windstorm, four cows were found miraculously alive, fenced in by the very trees that had fallen upon their pasture.
Also about this, in other words
- Defending the Bridge Against the Similkameen
As the spring flood swells the Similkameen River, residents fear the 'multitudinous battering ram' of drift wood will destroy the town's primary crossing.
- The Automatic Suitor-Smacker
A fed-up father builds a booby-trapped gate to drive away his daughters' persistent suitors, turning a domestic headache into a mechanical triumph.
- The 1885 Fight to Protect the Workingman’s Tools and Bedding
A proposed territorial law sought to expand property exemptions from debt, shielding everything from a mechanic's tools to a family's bedding from creditors.
- The High-Fence Strategy Against 'Vagabonds'
In an attempt to deter 'traveling vagabonds' from loitering in Seattle's waterfront district, the city's rail companies have erected a 16-foot-high barricade.
- The Looming Treaty Conflict
Washington state leaders fear that a new proposed treaty between the U.S. and China might undermine local exclusion laws.
- The Senator and the Exclusion Act
In 1892, Senator Watson Squire argued before the U.S. Senate for the formal registration and continued exclusion of Chinese laborers, framing the policy as a defense of 'American manhood' and societal stability.
- The Looming Gate: Labor and the Fear of the Canal
As the opening of the Panama Canal approached, the Everett Trades Council lobbied for strict immigration restrictions, fearing a flood of 'undesirables' into Pacific ports.
- Building a Seawall to Save the Waterfront
A proposal to use excavated earth from new construction to extend the city's harbor, protecting the waterfront while expanding valuable land.