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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1889 | 6 |
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| 1893 | 5 |
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34 stories matching bona
- The Night Federal Agents Made Chinatown Show Its Papers
A certificate sweep through Wa Chong’s rooms broke up card games and opium pipes and netted one man accused of lying in a deportation case.
- The Great Land Grab: 1886 Democracy vs. The Northern Pacific
At the 1886 Democratic Territorial Convention in Tacoma, delegates launched a blistering critique against the Northern Pacific Railroad for failing its promises and seizing public lands meant for settlers.
- Federal Crackdown on Chinese Merchants
The Treasury Department orders Pacific coast ports to tighten scrutiny of certificates allowing Chinese laborers to travel, labeling many merchant claims as fraudulent.
- The Great Northern Pacific Railroad Robbery
In 1878, Seattle citizens packed a town hall to condemn the Northern Pacific Railroad, alleging that corporate greed and land fraud were strangling the territory's economic future.
- The Street Hawker's Stand Against Discriminatory Laws
When a Chinese produce seller was arrested for violating city peddling ordinances, he challenged the legality of a law targeting his livelihood all the way to the Chief Justice's chambers.
- Tacoma’s Work Relief Experiment
Facing economic hardship, the city of Tacoma launches a public works program that prioritizes heads of households over others.
- The Supreme Court Defies Its Own Constitution
A legal dispute over Walla Walla land reveals how Washington State wrestled with the transition from federal territory to sovereign statehood.
- The Myth of the Great Land Scandal
A federal official dismisses widespread rumors of a $50 million land fraud, even as regional timber speculators continue to exploit loopholes in the law.
- The Battle for the Unsurveyed Frontier
A 19th-century court case in Steilacoom exposes the tension between local land speculators and the ideal of the 'actual settler' on the Washington frontier.
- The Fight for Gig Harbor Timber
A local settler exposes a land-grabbing ring in Pierce County, accusing them of fraudulent timber claims.
- The Renton Addition Land Grab
A 1889 real estate advertisement lists the city's power brokers as buyers in a new development, telegraphing a future windfall ahead of infrastructure expansion.
- The Fight for Seattle’s Soil
A 19th-century editorial warns that land monopolies and timber speculation threaten to turn Washington into a land of feudal tenants, sparking a civic debate on who truly owns the future of the Northwest.
- Timber Thieves and Stolen Homesteads
A federal land agent details how wealthy mill corporations are systematically dispossessing homesteaders and stealing public timber.
- The Midnight Watch Transfer That Split a Seattle Courtroom
A judge dissolved an injunction against J.K. Basye & Co. but kept a receiver in place after a night-time removal of goods from Simon Rumpf's watch store.
- The Boomtown Rhythms of Olympia
A report on the rapid industrial growth, real estate speculation, and social life transforming the capital city.
- A Railroad Beats a Homesteader Over a Tacoma Land Claim
Judge Gilbert rules James De Lacey abandoned his claim before the Northern Pacific land grant, but De Lacey will appeal.
- The Milk Shed Built Over the Sewage
A Seattle weekly prints a photograph of the city's largest dairy depot — a ramshackle shed on pilings over the tide flats — and dares the health inspectors to explain why nothing is being done.
- The Real Estate Gentrifiers of 1889
A bold advertisement from the Post-Intelligencer lists the city’s power brokers as the first investors in a new development, explicitly using their status to sell land to the aspiring middle class.
- The Homestead Scam That Turned Public Land Into a Speculator’s Prize
An 1883 exposé from Walla Walla describes how doctors, lawyers and merchants faked frontier residency to grab government land—and why the law made perjury easy.
- The Paperwork of Exclusion: Chinese Residents Ordered to Register
New federal rules land in Seattle requiring every Chinese resident to carry a photographic certificate of residence, sworn affidavits and a detailed physical description — the machinery of the Geary Act takes shape.
- Spokane’s Thunder: Four Thousand Voters Demand John L. Wilson Be Retired
A petition drive in Spokane turns the U.S. Senate fight into a referendum on silver and railroad pooling—and boosts George Turner as the people’s choice.
- The Great 'Sour Grapes' Feud of 1892
When a Tacoma newspaper attempted to trash the San Juan Islands as a speculative wasteland, the locals hit back in print—blaming the insult on petty jealousy over their loyalty to Seattle.
- The Baseball Game the Gamblers Paid Stanford to Lose
A Tacoma betting ring recruited Stanford’s manager, pitcher, catcher and fielder to throw a game for $500. Captain Sheehan refused $100 — and then played like a demon to win it anyway.
- A Seattle League Wants Workers to Share the Profits—and the Losses
In the wake of labor unrest, a new Seattle group of employers and union men proposes profit-sharing as a cure for strikes, pointing to a company town in Illinois as proof it can work.
- "My Office Cannot Be Used by Gamblers": Tacoma's Prosecutor Explains Why He Won't Touch the Slot Machines
County Attorney Campbell says he is ready to prosecute slot-machine men any day of the week — but not on a complaint carried in by a rival operator who wants the law enforced only against his competition.