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95 stories matching claimant
- The Battle for Metaline's Land
A complex legal dispute over the Metaline townsite ends in a victory for a scrip claimant, though the fight is far from over.
- The Shadowy Syndicate Gobbling Up State Timber
A state land commission investigation reveals a complex web of fraudulent claims and suspicious inactivity by the Saginaw Mill Company.
- The Oyster Bed Tug-of-War
Claimants in Shelton fight for their right to oyster beds, ignoring the warnings of 'boodle' newspapers.
- The City’s New Legal Nightmare: Lawsuits Filed Over the Pioneer Square Explosion
Attorneys Ronald and Rattle have been retained to represent relatives of the men killed in Tuesday’s boiler explosion, signaling a major battle for damages against Seattle.
- The Broadway Grade Grift
A contractor runs off without paying his workers, leaving the city in a bind over who gets the final payment.
- Forest Service Challenged Homesteaders in the LeClerc Creek Timberlands
Thirteen claimants faced a March 19 hearing over whether their Pend Oreille River homesteads were homes or timber grabs.
- The State Claims the Cedar River Timber
A last-minute state filing on timber lands near Cedar Lake leaves dozens of hopeful homesteaders empty-handed.
- The Battle Over Snohoish County Timber Land
A definitive government ruling reshapes the future of land rights in Washington Territory.
- The School Land That Was Salted With Gold
Washington's attorney general told the Interior Department that a claimant had planted jeweler's gold in gravel from a Pierce County school section to turn public land into a mine.
- A Cabinet Pick Sparks a Land War in Whitman County
Fifty-six farmers south of Colfax protested Hoke Smith’s appointment as interior secretary, saying the Northern Pacific was taking title to land they had settled and cultivated.
- The Speculative Homestead That Built Everett
A federal land office ruling exposes how a 'homestead' was actually a calculated land grab to secure the future site of a new industrial city.
- The Homestead Shortcut
A local legal notice illuminates the evolving, difficult process of securing land ownership in Washington Territory.
- Seattle Claimants Fight Waterfront Land Monopoly
A critique of monopolistic land control on the Seattle waterfront and its impact on trade and development.
- The Bureaucratic Frontier: Settling Homesteads in Snohomish
Before the age of easy travel, a local legal notice reveals the logistical hurdles of securing land rights in Snohomish County.
- Land Fraud in a Booming Town: Two Everett Homestead Cases Go to Trial
A 170-acre tract valued at $1,000 an acre and a 40-acre parcel in the heart of Everett are at the center of separate land contests alleging fraudulent homestead and pre-emption claims.
- Settling Claims on the Puyallup Reservation
Superintendent E. R. Getty visits Steilacoom to resolve land disputes involving settlers on the Puyallup Indian Reservation.
- The Shadowy Claim to a Pioneer's Fortune
A woman claiming to be the daughter of a prominent Seattle settler ignites a legal battle over a $40,000 estate, reopening old questions about the city's early days.
- After the Mill Burned, the Neighbors Got Their Day in Court
A Spokane judge orders White Pine Lumber to pay four homeowners for a 1905 fire, while the company's failed suit against Great Northern leaves perjury charges in its wake.
- Blood Over Hay in the Big Bend
A violent dispute over the ownership of a hay stack leads to a pitched battle with multiple casualties.
- The Shadow Over Section Five
A contested land parcel near the city has become the center of a legal standoff, as heirs of the late J. M. Hopkins complicate the Northern Pacific Railroad's claims.
- Monte Cristo’s Residents vs. the Placer Claim
A federal commissioner orders a new hearing in the fight over whether a mining claim swallowed a Snohomish County townsite.
- The Vandalism at the Snohomish Hotel
A real estate dispute in Snohomish turned violent as competing claimants fought over a new building, leading to arrests for property destruction and concealed weapons.
- The Ship That Smuggled Opium: How a Legal Loophole Freed a Vessel and $13,000 in Penalties
Judge Hanford rules that the steamer *Walla Walla* is not liable for contraband found in its cargo because the master lacked knowledge of the smuggling, setting a precedent for common carriers.
- The Mystery of the Drowned Man’s Missing Fortune
In July 1870, Seattle’s probate court launched a frantic investigation into whether $2,000 vanished from the pocket of John Filfe, who drowned in Puget Sound days earlier.
- 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.