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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1916 | 2 |
| 1928 | 1 |
24 stories matching biennial
- The Brutal Logic of Dispossession
Governor Newell’s biennial message advocates for the total dismantling of reservations in Washington Territory to prioritize white settlers' agricultural ambitions.
- Inside the Western Washington Asylum
A biennial report reveals the harsh realities and overcrowding at the state facility for the insane in Steilacoom.
- The State's Mounting Red Ink
State Auditor T.M. Reed delivers a scathing biennial report to the legislature, blaming erratic spending and poor revenue laws for a ballooning state debt.
- McGraw to Olympia: Cut Spending, Fix the Courts
With Washington $1.5 million in debt and revenues falling, the governor calls for retrenchment and warns that court costs shut the poor out of justice.
- Inside the Eastern Washington Hospital for the Insane
A biennial report highlights the Medical Lake institution's agricultural successes and its surprisingly high recovery rates.
- A State Veterinarian's 1899 Warning: Fund Animal Disease Control or Pay for It Later
Washington's biennial animal-health report counted diseased horses and cattle, traced a horse meningitis outbreak to mouldy straw in Waterville, and warned lawmakers that tuberculosis could jump between cattle and people.
- The Political Smoke of 1891: Backroom Deals and Populist Uprisings
While Washington’s early legislature debated the direct election of senators and railroad regulation, backroom meetings at the Olympia Hotel signaled the enduring influence of corporate power.
- ‘Bought for Hard Gold Coin’: The Railroad Bill Dies in Olympia
The Helm railroad bill, passed by the House, was killed in the Senate. Newspapers across Washington condemned the railroad lobby and the senators who voted against lower freight rates.
- The Great School Land Scandal
A scathing state report reveals that county commissioners are exploiting their power to fix land prices, effectively buying state-owned school lands for themselves.
- When Seattle First Flew the Philippine Flag
A six-day Filipino fraternal convention fills Washington Hall, the Eagles Auditorium and the Olympic Hotel—and puts the Philippine flag over Seventh Avenue for the first time in the city’s history.
- Political Patronage and the Janitor's Broom
The state legislature navigated a delicate political situation by dismissing a Tacoma man's manual-publishing contract, only to pacify him with a janitorial appointment for his brother.
- Washington Coal Miners Threaten Shutdown
District No. 10 of the United Mine Workers of America sets an October 1 deadline for a 5 percent wage increase.
- Miners Demand Wage Hike or Looming Strike
District No. 10 of the United Mine Workers of America sets an October 1 deadline for a five percent pay raise.
- The Last-Week Jam in Olympia: Liquor, Primaries and a Budget Nobody Counted
With the 60-day session expiring, Washington's lawmakers settle local option, rewrite the primary ballot, kill the initiative and abandon the joint budget committee — leaving taxpayers to foot a three-mill levy.
- The Battle for the Territory: Judson vs. Jacobs in the 1876 Election
As the nation grapples with the disputed presidential election of 1876, Washington Territory voters head to the polls to decide their own future, pitting Republican J.P. Judson against Democrat Judge Jacobs in a fierce contest for territorial supremacy.
- The Laws That Built the Frontier
A look back at the 1879 Territorial Assembly's agenda, from banning wandering hogs to regulating the earliest salmon canneries.
- Three Bickering Land Departments, Millions in Tide Lands, and a Demand for Answers
A state land commissioner admits the tide-land situation is 'chaotic in the extreme' and calls for a no-whitewash legislative probe — warning that divided authority is an open door to corruption.
- The State Is Broke: Why Olympia Needs an Emergency Legislature
A supreme court ruling on university lands has left Washington's brand-new state government without money to pay its own debts — and the Olympia Tribune argues the legislature must be hauled back to the capital before the state's credit collapses.
- The Governor Wants Every State Office in His Own Hands
Governor Hay will ask the legislature to make every statewide office but his and the lieutenant governor's appointive — a cabinet government for Washington — while a commission tries to untangle a legal code nobody can read.
- The Argument for Washington Statehood in 1883
An editorial from the Pacific Chronicle argues that the territory’s rapid growth and wealth entitle it to immediate admission to the Union.
- The Last Word from the Dispatch: A Veteran Editor’s Farewell and a New Era Begins
In October 1876, the *Puget Sound Dispatch* underwent a significant leadership change. The outgoing editor, Bebia Brown, penned a reflective valedictory on his five-year tenure, while incoming editor Thomas B. Merry outlined his vision for Seattle’s future, pledging support for statehood and local industry.
- The Supreme Court Rules on Local Terms
A legal dispute over when county officers begin their terms reaches a final decision in Olympia.
- Bricklayers Debate Global Union Death Benefit
International union local chapters weigh a new, graduated life insurance plan to ensure coverage for smaller organizations.
- The Territorial Election: Defining Seattle’s Future in 1878
As Washington Territory eyes statehood, local papers urge a massive voter turnout to secure political clout and prove the region's population worth.
Also about this, in other words
- The Great Unknown: Snohomish’s Centennial Celebration and the Rise of a Logging Empire
On July 4, 1893, the community gathered at the River Side Hotel for music, oratory, and history, marking a decade of growth in a county defined by its forests.
- The Centennial Vision for a Frontier Metropolis
On the 100th anniversary of American Independence, a local orator laid out a grand—and strikingly prescient—economic blueprint for the future of Seattle and Washington Territory.
- A Frontier Independence Day Warning
On the Fourth of July, 1891, Senator Claypool delivers a scathing critique of corporate power, political corruption, and the shifting identity of a growing nation.
- A Centennial Fight for Recognition
Local leaders urge the state to honor Captain Robert Gray’s discovery of Grays Harbor, fearing the legislature has sidelined local history in favor of the Chicago World's Fair.
- The Invisible Army Under the Microscope
A scientific lecture delivered in Snohomish contemplates the origins of life, the invisible world of bacteria, and the processes of decay.
- The Unseasonable Winter Flowers of 1877
A boastful look at Seattle's climate resilience in the face of mid-winter blooms.
- The Glass Master of Occidental Square
A traveling exhibition of delicate glass artistry offers a whimsical distraction to 1870s Seattleites.
- A Mid-Winter Success at Whitman
Student body cheers alumni leader after a successful circus fundraising effort despite bad weather.