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306 stories matching brief
- Seven Votes Decide an Office: The Ballots Are 'Indescribable'
A contested Seattle election heads to the state supreme court, where a recount has whittled a 78-vote plurality down to seven — and counsel warns that some ballots defy description.
- The Mail-Order Bride Who Chose Another Man
Katherine Glad traveled west to marry a Northport farmer, but a chance meeting with Gus Maki changed everything.
- The Great Land Grab: Tacoma Citizens Unite Against Northern Pacific’s ‘Squatter’ Tactics
In a packed hall at Reinig’s Hall, leading citizens condemn the railroad’s seizure of public lands and its attempt to claim hundreds of thousands of acres for a coal line that will never be built.
- A Stranger's Bullet Leaves Fraser Dying—and Page Asking Seattle for a Fair Shake
Shot and dying, Fraser made his will and gave a statement to prosecutors while the accused gunman, held in the county jail, denied being a gambler or a tough and pleaded for a square hearing.
- The Bribe, the Clerk, and the Police Chief
A Tacoma councilman and city clerk faced bribery charges as the police chief refused to name the gamblers behind the Haymarket.
- The Day the Cardinal Rode Through the Mud: A Historic Union of Northern and Southern Presbyterians
In a rare moment of post-Civil War reconciliation, thousands gathered in Seattle to witness the historic meeting of two Presbyterian Assemblies that had been divided by the Mason-Dixon line for decades.
- The Defendant as a Plaything of the State
A legal battle over repeated arrests for the same charge highlights the arbitrary power of local prosecutors in 1890s Seattle.
- Seattle Snubbed by Federal Committee
Local business leaders express frustration as a visiting Senatorial committee plans only a brief stopover in Seattle while favoring Portland.
- The Lonely Wealth of a Puget Mill Watchman
Thomas Greenlow lived a quiet, frugal life as a watchman at Port Gamble for over a decade, only for his death to reveal a secret fortune of $10,000.
- The Navy Wants a Freshwater Harbor in Seattle
A federal board backs the Lake Washington canal as a strategic refuge for steel ships—and a way to escape the teredo worms eating Puget Sound's timber wharves.
- The Governor Who Wasn't: How a Walla Walla Businessman Became Washington's First Territorial Governor
In March 1889, President Harrison appointed Miles Moore to steer the territory toward statehood, bypassing Eastern political machines in favor of local 'home rule.'
- The Brief, Chaotic Crime Spree of Elmer Gray
A Spokane man's attempt to flee town by stealing a motor launch ended in a bizarre river chase and a capture at a local farm.
- A One-Man Supreme Court: Olympia Weighs 500 Cases and 16-Hour Reading Days
A legislative investigation hears that Washington’s high court has misstated facts and been crushed by its workload — with one justice sometimes reading an entire case alone.
- Tragedy at the Roslyn Mines
A devastating explosion traps forty-four miners in the Roslyn slope, leaving families in despair.
- A Town Buries Its Miners
Funeral services for the Blue Canyon mine disaster dead fill Bay View cemetery as a coroner's jury begins asking whether enough air—and enough regulation—reached the men underground.
- The Industrial Army Marches Out of Seattle
Six hundred unemployed men, led by Commander Shephard, march through Seattle to join the regional Industrial Army, facing threats of federal intervention if they dare to seize a train.
- The Chief's Daughter in the Shadow of the City Named for Her Father
A San Francisco Chronicle correspondent visits Princess Angeline in her Seattle shack and finds the city proudly carving her father's face on a new business block while his daughter lives on charity.
- The Day Washington Was Born: A City Holds Its Breath
As the nation celebrates statehood, Seattle gathers in a packed hall to hear speeches on liberty, land fraud, and the future of the 'Queen City.'
- The High Stakes Battle for Seattle’s Waterfront
A landmark legal fight reaches the U.S. Supreme Court, threatening to upend state ownership of tide lands.
- The Old Man’s Last Stand: A Father’s Flight from Greedy Heirs Ends in a Sheriff’s Chase
P.V. Thorpe, an elderly pioneer fleeing false rape accusations and property theft by his son and son-in-law, was arrested for carrying a revolver in Seattle—only to be vindicated when the truth about his family’s blackmail scheme came to light.
- The Dug-Eaters of the Yukon: A Philadelphia Man’s Starvation Story
H.C. Reifsnyder arrives in Seattle with a harrowing tale of survival on the Edmonton Trail, where his party subsisted on dog meat and dugouts after losing their provisions to the brutal wilderness.
- The Centennial That Saved Seattle: How 8,000 Souls Turned a Territorial Mist into a City
On July 4, 1876, despite being late to statehood and lacking federal funding, Seattle’s pioneers pulled off a spectacle of flags, steamers, and speeches that proved the town was here to stay.
- The Beggar’s Plea: How an Old Man’s Tears Won a Judge’s Mercy
In a touching scene at the Snohomish County Courthouse, John Burner, a destitute laborer of 73 years, pleaded guilty to grand larceny not for greed, but because his starving family had no other way to eat.
- The Tragic End of a Seattle Elopement
After abandoning her husband for a volatile lover in a journey to St. Paul, a Seattle woman returns home only to take her own life in a hotel room.
- The Deadly Gilman Saloon Brawl
After a brief trial, a local man is found guilty in a fatal shooting sparked by a dispute at a Gilman establishment.
Also about this, in other words
- Legal Briefs and Bare Knuckles in Tacoma
Two prominent attorneys resolve a heated professional disagreement with a fight on the office floor.
- The Lawyer, the Boy, and the Five-Cent Lesson
A shrewd Seattle attorney tests a boy’s integrity with a lesson in promissory notes and the value of a promise.
- A Cable Car Derailment on Madison Street
A dangerously packed cable car hurtles off its tracks while heading toward the West Street turntable, leaving passengers scrambling for safety.
- The Clerk’s Odd Sales Pitch
A farmer learns a strange and aggressive new way to test if his wife is 'sound' while shopping in 1877 Seattle.
- The Solar Plexus Surprise
A local storekeeper's attempt to act tough with a schoolgirl ends in a swift, painful lesson.
- The Final Deadline
A foreman for the Times, devoted to his craft until his final breath, dies after a sudden illness.
- A Father’s Hardship and the Telegram That Changed Everything
An overworked, weary business man contemplates his supposed failures until a birthday message from his daughter provides a new perspective on success.
- A Printing Office Blunder
A romantic visit to a printing office turns disastrous for a typographer when his fiancée accidentally destroys his hours of labor.