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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 2 |
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| 1889 | 6 |
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39 stories matching brisk
- The Day Ellensburg Burned to the Ground
A devastating blaze in 1889 consumed fourteen blocks of the young city's business district, leaving merchants and residents in ruins.
- Seattle Rebuilds After the 1889 Great Fire
A catastrophic blaze levels the city’s business district, triggering a massive relief effort and ushering in new urban planning.
- Two Men Asked to Test a Seattle Schooner. Then They Tried to Kill Its Captain.
A would-be buyer and his genteel companion lured Capt. Jud La Moure into Puget Sound, attacked him with a lead sounding weight, and demanded his gold watch—until he produced a hidden revolver.
- The Rockets Turned Around: Tacoma's Fourth of July Went Up in a Sheet of Flame
A spark touched off the entire $500 pyrotechnic stock at Wright Park, driving rockets and bombs into a crowd of thousands and leaving women and children burned, trampled and briefly lost in the smoke.
- A Revolver at the Polls: Seattle’s Republican Primary Erupts
Seattle’s Republican primaries collapsed into shouting, challenged voters, fake tickets and a police chief drawing his revolver to declare the polls open.
- The Great Fire That Turned Seattle’s Suburb into Ash
A fast-moving blaze in the early morning hours consumed nearly all of South Seattle's business district, leaving dozens of families destitute and causing over $100,000 in damage.
- The Loggers' Stand Against the Mill Cartel
Facing a coordinated effort to depress timber wages, loggers in the Snohomish valley chose to halt production, sparking a classic confrontation between labor and capital.
- The Water Wars of Ahtanum Creek
Forty-five farmers organize to protect their water rights against upstream diversion, signaling the beginning of a long-standing struggle for irrigation in the Yakima Valley.
- A Christmas Auction That Fell Short—and a Mother Sent Home
Donations expected to bring $600 fetch only $158.40, but the Bureau of Associated Charities still outfits 100 families and buys a destitute mother a ticket to Kansas City.
- The 'Ring' Was Busted: Inside Tacoma’s Fiercest Municipal Election
In 1892, Tacoma voters flocked to the polls in a high-stakes showdown that saw Republicans sweep the mayoralty, fueled by intense campaign betting and deep suspicion of local political machines.
- Firebug Terrorizes North Walla Walla
A series of mysterious barn fires and a woodshed blaze keep police on high alert.
- Fire Consumes Garden Tracts Home
A local family lost all their possessions in a sudden Sunday night blaze that threatened neighboring homes.
- The Great Egg Heist: A Drunken Chase Ends in Laughter on Pike Street
When James Quinn grabbed a case of eggs near First Avenue, Officer Cameron gave chase with drawn revolver—only for the 'thief' to surrender with a request for a cigarette.
- The $40 Forgery That Fooled Seattle’s Hardware Elite
A dashing stranger with a dark mustache and bare chest walks into W.P. Boyd & Co., flashes a forged check from the Seattle Hardware Company, and vanishes with $40 in cash—leaving behind only a single typo that saves the victim from total ruin.
- A Ghastly Industrial Hazard
A horse is destroyed after a horrific accident at a railroad switch.
- Drafting Washington's Future
As the 1889 Constitutional Convention drags on, legislators, lobbyists, and educators collide over taxes, schools, and the path to statehood.
- The $1,000 Bribe for Slot Machine Protection
Owners of 100 slot machines propose a monthly payment to the city for the privilege of operating under police protection.
- The Great Jam: Seattle’s Gamble on Clearing the Skagit River
As a massive log jam threatens to stall trade in the fertile Skagit Valley, enterprising locals are betting their fortunes on a dangerous engineering feat to open the river for commerce.
- The City Council's Tug-of-War Over Curb-Side Commerce
An attempt to ban street peddlers in Seattle sparks a fierce debate over monopoly, public markets, and the rights of local farmers.
- A Christmas on the Ice King: The Climb That Saw Rainier Smoking
In 1894, Major Ingraham led six men, seven homing pigeons, and a camera onto Mount Rainier’s glaciers. They came back with frostbite, a story of steam and smoke rising from the crater—and one pigeon missing.
- A Near-Fatal Robbery Attempt in Tacoma
Dr. F. C. Miller narrowly escapes a highwayman's bullet while riding near the slaughterhouse.
- The Confidence Man of Front Street
A colorful encounter with a local schemer illustrates the 'get-rich-quick' fever that defined the early days of Seattle's business district.
- The Asparagus Boom: How Kennewick’s Green Gold Conquered the Market
Local dealers are overwhelmed by demand for Kennewick asparagus, with prices surging and supply falling short. Farmers warn that while the crop is plentiful, the quality of local 'grass' is driving a frenzy among buyers across the West.
- The Gentleman Wood-Sawyer of Seattle
When a young man’s romantic and financial future hung in the balance, he traded his social standing for an axe to impress a boarding-house landlady’s daughter.
- The Real Estate Fever That Never Broke
As coal shipments swell and new wharves rise, Seattle’s property market remains feverish in May 1889—just months before the Great Fire reshaped the city.
Also about this, in other words
- The Great Meat Safe: How Seattle’s Fishermen Could Have Rivalled London’s Beef Trade
A July 1876 dispatch from the Agricultural Gazette reveals that fresh American beef was successfully shipped to London in refrigerated holds. The Daily Intelligencer editor sees a parallel opportunity for Puget Sound halibut, which currently spoils before reaching San Francisco markets.
- The Hustle Returns: Seattle’s Economic Pulse Picks Up
After weeks of talking 'hard times,' local merchants report a sudden shift toward optimism and consumer spending.
- Spokane Thug Receives Fifteen-Year Sentence
A brazen criminal shows little remorse after being convicted of holding up a Union Park meat market.
- The Barber, the Boarder, and the Bad Meat
A Rosalia boarding house proprietor sues for $6,000 after a poet lampoons his culinary standards in the local paper.
- The Logger Who Waited in Silence
A brutal ax wound and a stoic patience define the daily risks of Puyallup Valley labor in 1876.
- A Saloon Brawl and the Logic of 'Reddy' Long
After wrecking a lunch counter and brandishing brass knuckles, a man offers the court a grim critique of Seattle's drinking culture.
- Ezra Meeker’s Golden Rules for Hop Success
The legendary pioneer shares his controversial methods for baling hops hot to secure the crucial foreign market.
- A Scantling Scuffle at the Boom
A simmering dispute over local timber booms erupts in violence at Chenoise Creek.