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412 stories matching bitter
- The Three-Way Split: How Bitter Feuds Carved Eastern Washington
In January 1891, the state legislature dissolved Lincoln County into three new entities—Grant, Big Bend, and remaining Lincoln—to settle a decades-long battle over county seats that once involved armed men holding courthouse keys.
- The Governor’s Tightrope Walk During the Anti-Chinese Riots
How local officials navigated the tense atmosphere in Seattle before the arrival of federal troops in 1885.
- The Effigy in the Pine Tree
Charles Gloystein crossed Spokane County's Populists and woke to find himself hanged in straw. Then he vanished.
- Spokane Was Ready to Rotten-Egg Jim Hill
The Great Northern's freight rates left Spokane merchants bitter enough to organize, sue, and threaten the railroad baron with produce.
- The Roslyn Race War: How a Strike Turned Seattle into a Fortress
In February 1903, hundreds of armed Black miners from Montana arrived in Seattle bound for the coal mines of Roslyn. The city braced for violence as white workers threatened to close down the town's economy and seize its property.
- The Bakery War on Holly Street
A bitter rivalry between two Whatcom bakers escalated into a criminal attempt to poison customers with concentrated lye.
- Fire Sweeps Through St. Luke’s Hospital
105 patients are safely evacuated into the bitter cold as fire destroys the west wing of Spokane's premier hospital.
- The Bitter Fight for Workers' Compensation
How Washington's landmark industrial insurance law survived a $100,000 corporate sabotage campaign.
- The Newcastle Riot: When Labor Turned Mob
An editorial from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer condemns a violent clash in Newcastle, Washington Territory, where Knights of Labor members allegedly used intimidation to stop non-union miners from working.
- The Ghost of the Coal Wars
A murder trial in Franklin uncovers the bitter reality of 'dead lines' and armed guards during a violent labor dispute.
- The Great Machinist Strike of 1910
One year into a bitter, coast-wide industrial struggle for the eight-hour day, union machinists look toward inevitable victory.
- Governor Hay Forces Corruption Probe
A determined Acting Governor Hay forces the state legislature to investigate graft allegations against state officials.
- Fairhaven Celebrates Its Official Birth
After a long and bitter boundary fight with neighboring towns, the new city of Fairhaven secures its incorporation and throws a massive party.
- The Engineer Who Had the City by the Throat
In a bitter 1909 standoff over Seattle’s waterworks, engineer Benezet Williams accused city officials of squeezing him into submission after they canceled his contract. The advisory board’s final offer left him with little choice but to walk away.
- The Deadly Loaf of Bread
A betrayal between business partners takes a dark turn in Semiahmoo when a loaf of bread becomes a vessel for strychnine.
- Surviving the Bitter Cold in Eastern Washington
Settlers in the Palouse country are forced to burn their fences for warmth as sub-zero temperatures threaten both livestock and families.
- The Bitter Fight for Workers' Rights in the 1911 Legislature
A legislative post-mortem reveals how labor advocates clashed with corporate interests over the landmark Workmen's Compensation Act and the battle to end 'first aid' graft.
- A Paradise Prairie Tragedy
A young mother poisons her children and herself, leaving a farm family shattered.
- Political Fraud and the Russian Colony
A local politician faces federal perjury charges over citizenship papers for Russian immigrants in the wake of a bitter municipal election.
- The Clearwater Rail Wars Cease
After a fierce corporate struggle, the Northern Pacific gains control of the Clearwater territory, ending a bitter railroad rivalry.
- The 'Two Per Cent' Shylock of Tacoma
As Tacoma voters head to the polls, bitter memories of the 1885 anti-Chinese expulsion flare up, branding a mayoral candidate with a nickname that still stings.
- The Republican Factional War Declares a Truce
Walla Walla’s rival GOP camps—the 'Holy Rollers' and the 'Boxers'—met in a stormy midnight session at the sheriff's office to pause their bitter power struggle.
- Seattle’s Canal Demand Became a Political Trap
At the 1892 Democratic state convention in Olympia, King County’s push for a Lake Washington ship canal collided with a Pierce County-led alliance—and James Hamilton Lewis’s gubernatorial hopes hung in the balance.
- Seattle Democrats Bolt Their Own Party Over the Lake Washington Canal
Furious that the state convention caved to Pierce County and denounced the Lake Washington canal, King County Democrats vow to vote the Republican ticket — and to knife their own party from top to bottom.
- The Stock Rustler, the Murder, and the Vigilante Threat in Colfax
Ed Hill's preliminary hearing for killing Langford Summers turns on liquor and provocation—while a bitter town whispers that a light verdict will bring vigilante justice.
Also about this, in other words
- The Bitter Coal Mine Split at Newcastle
Striking miners clash over wage negotiations and internal divisions, leaving the community at a standstill.
- The Bitter Newspaper Feud of 1876
A public, vitriolic war of words between two Seattle editors reveals the cutthroat nature of early Pacific Northwest journalism.
- The Bitter Primary: A Local Election Contest
After losing a primary race for county commissioner, C.H. McCready files suit alleging bribery and misconduct by local election boards.
- The Bitter Pill of Primary Politics
Defeated congressional candidate S. J. Harrison pledges support to his Republican rival, while warning of an industrial downturn post-World War I.
- The Bitter Taste of Fruit Returns
White Bluffs growers are reeling after receiving final payouts from the Spokane Fruit Growers Company that fell far short of promised profits.
- The Bitter Grocery Store Feud
A partner’s dramatic claim of intimidation and forced stock surrender rocks the Haley Grocery Company.
- The Kentucky Saloon's Bitter Lesson
A local saloon keeper faces legal consequences after a 12-year-old boy is found in a state of delirium from consuming whiskey and beer.
- A Bitter Business Rivalry Ends in a Shooting
A Garfield real estate businessman remains in critical condition after being shot in the street by a rival.