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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
8 stories matching bleak
- The Vigilantes' Ghost: Seattle's Dark Secret in Two Maple Trees
A poem published in the *Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer* reveals the city’s foundational myth: that its current 'peaceable' order was bought with the blood of six men hanged by a secret committee when the law failed to act.
- The Tragedy of the 'White Flag' Marriage
A Whatcom County murder trial reveals a disturbing domestic web of poison, jealousy, and child exploitation.
- Canoeing the Queets: Promise and Dispossession on the Olympic Peninsula
An 1892 travelogue celebrates homesteaders in the Queets River valley while arguing that Native hunters should be confined to the reservation.
- The Walla Walla Water Fiasco
A city committee braves a 'biting wind' to discover that their expensive new water development is just collecting surface runoff from irrigation ditches.
- The Modern Moloch
An editorial from the Tacoma Times examining the startling surge in child labor and the human cost of industrial 'progress.'
- The Price of Frontier Survival: A Seattle Sheriff's Sale
A 1878 legal notice reveals a bleak snapshot of life in early Seattle, where debt-ridden families faced the auction block under the gaze of a booming young city.
- The Pharmacy Trap
A late-night misadventure outside an Eagle Pharmacy store leads to an unexpected reunion.
- The Dream of Homeownership in 1891
An early real estate pitch captures the Victorian-era obsession with property as a moral imperative.
Also about this, in other words
- The Cynical Toll of Local Politics
A satirical diary of a man who wins a nomination for public office, only to be ruined by the exorbitant financial and social demands of his supporters.
- A Heartbreaking Winter in Cle Elum
A Northern Pacific railroad worker's family struggles with extreme poverty and illness in Cle Elum.
- A Family's Desperate Winter
A local family faces extreme poverty and illness, highlighting the precarious nature of life in the territory.
- A Nightmarish Journey on the Rails
A Seattle traveler describes the brutal conditions of the railway transit, where passengers were forced to endure freezing temperatures and indifference from company staff.
- A Local Grocer Succumbs to the Great Depression
After two years of economic stagnation, a prominent merchant is forced to assign his property to creditors, marking a somber milestone for Aberdeen's business district.
- The Deep Freeze Coal Famine
With record-breaking snow and railroad blockades, Kennewick faces a chilling shortage of fuel and the potential return of oil lamps.
- The Worst Storm on the Sound: A Train Wreck, a Drifting Ship, and Dead Wires
A landslide derails a Northern Pacific freight near Castle Rock, a British ship is blown across Tacoma bay, and the telegraph goes dead from Seattle south.
- The Northwest's Silver Lining in the California Drought
As farmers in California face a 'famine year' due to extreme dry weather, Puget Sound agriculture stands to gain from a surge in demand and profit.