Research the archive
Narrow 25,688 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1883 | 8 |
| 1885 | 10 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 5 |
| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 10 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 16 |
| 1892 | 33 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 15 |
| 1895 | 10 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1903 | 9 |
| 1904 | 6 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 10 |
| 1911 | 2 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1916 | 2 |
| 1917 | 1 |
167 stories matching boss
- The Boss and the Franklin Street Fix
Olympia’s public-works fight spills into council: a contractor says the job is done, Boss Sickles says otherwise, and the city engineer is caught in the middle.
- The 15-Cent Street Signs That Became a Graft Scandal
A councilman nicknamed 'Boss' hands out a street-sign contract on his own authority, and the town asks why it is buying throwaway tin markers instead of signs that last — at the people's expense.
- A Ring, a Resignation and a Democratic Landslide in Seattle
Mayor-elect Ronald insists the sweeping Democratic victory was no party triumph but a popular revolt against boss rule, a pliant police chief and corrupt registration.
- The Art of Getting Helped
A clever traveler tricks two impatient men into doing the labor he was too tired to finish.
- Seattle’s Patronage Machine
A political showdown in the City Council over the appointment of a Comptroller highlights the era’s grip of 'boss' politics and the lack of oversight in municipal government.
- Boss Bennett’s Moving Birthplace
A Tacoma political boss keeps relocating John H. McGraw’s birthplace—Bermuda one week, New Brunswick the next—as a Seattle paper cries foul in the 1892 governor’s race.
- The People’s Ticket: Olympia’s 1891 Caucus Revolt
A printed slate handed out at the door, a mayor booed as 'defeated,' and a second-ward protest meeting: the fight over who would control Olympia's city nominations.
- The Boss-Led Machine vs. The Citizen Movement
Ahead of a critical 1888 municipal election in Seattle, a local editorial exposes how machine politics and saloon back-rooms are attempting to subvert the democratic process.
- Miles Poindexter Takes On the Party Bosses
The Third District congressman launches a U.S. Senate campaign in Spokane, promising to break the grip of Cannon and Aldrich and return the Republican Party to its voters.
- The Shadow Boss of Washington Politics
A political operative creates a 'campaign committee' to mask his influence after intense public backlash from his own party.
- The Bosses’ Choice: Seattle’s Machine Politics in 1892
A scathing editorial account of a closed-door convention where the Democratic party leadership hand-picked a candidate for mayor who was widely viewed as a puppet.
- Republican Party Bosses Control Convention Outcomes
Local political machine uses pre-arranged nominations to maintain grip on power, sidelining country delegates.
- Olympia's New Council Hands 'Boss' Sickels the Purse Strings
The new city council takes office, gives Boss Sickels the powerful ways-and-means chair, and confronts a railroad-blocked sewer, a fire department asking for more hydrants and alarm boxes, and a thin city treasury.
- Seattle Voters Break the Boss's Grip
An Olympia editor tells Republican boss John H. McGraw that Seattle's election was a rebuke to machine politics, not a Democratic triumph.
- The Iron-Spoke Innovation of 1876
A radical new design in carriage wheels promises a smoother, sturdier ride for Seattle’s muddy, nascent streets.
- The Murder Foretold: Three Japanese Laborers Held Without Bail
A witness testifies that one suspect predicted the killing hours in advance, and a bloody butcher knife is found in a kitchen wall. Three Japanese men are ordered held without bail for the murder of a Japanese boss near Christopher.
- Twenty-Three Miners Died. An Old Miner Blamed the Air.
After an explosion at Blue Canyon in Whatcom County killed 23 men, a veteran miner wrote to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that the mines were not properly ventilated—and that inspectors and bosses ignored miners who knew better.
- Court Overturns Nonsuit in Ballard Mill Fatality
State Supreme Court rules that a yard boss is not a 'fellow servant,' reviving a lawsuit for a worker killed in a mill accident.
- A Customs House Boss and the Fight to Run Washington
A federal deputy collector resigns in Seattle and accuses the custom house crowd of building a machine for Senator Squire.
- The River's Secret: Eli Anderson's Last Celebration
Eli Anderson, a shift boss on the tunnel, disappeared after a night of celebration. Months later, his body surfaced near Blueslide—and the mystery only deepened.
- The Gambler’s Wrath: Seattle’s Tenderloin King Beats a Wealthy Merchant for Insulting His Wife
Johnny Clancy, known as the 'boss gambler' of Seattle, publicly assaults clothing merchant Jules Redelsheimer in his own store after alleging that Redelsheimer propositioned Clancy's wife on the street.
- The 'Two Percent' Mayoralty: How Tacoma's Populist Boss Won the Ticket
When Alexander Parker, a wealthy lender known for 'only' charging two percent interest, vied for the mayor's office, he didn't just run a campaign—he staged a spectacle of political maneuvering and local theater at Germania Hall.
- The Political Machine vs. Mr. Humes
A fiery struggle over county boundaries reveals a deep-seated battle between Seattle’s citizenry and the powerful railroad political machine.
- Vigilante Justice on the Monte Cristo Road
After a foreman was killed in a brutal dispute at a railroad camp, the workers took the law into their own hands and lynched four suspects.
- A Merchant's Defiance in Olympia
A Chinese merchant addresses accusations of smuggling, asserting his identity as a successful, law-abiding American pioneer.
Also about this, in other words
- The Boss Who Was Kicked Off His Own Train
A classic local anecdote about a prominent contractor getting a taste of his own medicine.
- The Boss Who Got Kicked Out of His Own Tunnel
When a railroad tycoon ignored his own safety rules at the Stampede Tunnel, a dump-car driver taught him a lesson in job authority.
- The Conductor Who Fought Back
A Great Northern conductor uses his fists to fend off two muggers he recognized from his days on the rail lines.
- The Boss is Out: Tacoma Republicans Dump the Street Railway Henchman
In a rapid-fire city convention at the Lyceum Theater, Mayor Lewis D. Campbell secured his renomination while voters signaled a break from the city's powerful streetcar monopoly.
- The Clerk Who Beat the Boss’s Carpets
A young worker’s humbling day of manual labor at his employer's home turned out to be a career-defining moment.
- The Shadow of a Workplace Grudge
A Public Works Commissioner pleads for police protection as he fears a discharged laborer may seek a violent revenge.
- The Boss Who Wouldn't Be King
When Tacoma Democrats tried to draft a reluctant Tom Carroll for mayor, the local political machine collided with the city’s complex web of 'boys,' saloons, and backroom deals.
- The Boss’s View on Coal, Labor, and Anti-Chinese Agitation
A rare 1885 look into the mind of the Oregon Improvement Company’s representative during a volatile era of Seattle’s labor history.