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93 stories matching copper
- The Gold Rush That Wasn't: Copper River’s Scurvy Epidemic and the Ghosts of the Valdez Glacier
As Seattleites debated housing and labor, a grim report arrived from the interior: men dying of scurvy in the Copper River country, and the recovered bodies of seven explorers who froze to death on the Valdez glacier.
- Newport Mining District Strikes a 22-Inch Copper Vein
The Boruite Mining and Co. reports a significant copper find, while assays from the Key and Last Chance properties show ore worth $44.44 a ton.
- The Gold Rush That Wasn't: Copper River’s ‘Sickness’ and the Lie of the Trail
A prospector returns from the Copper River country with a chilling warning: the gold is gone, the camps are sick, and the 'passage' to new fields is a myth.
- Copper, Silver, and a Close Call: Newport's Mining District Heats Up
Promising strikes at the Bornite and Last Chance mines draw new capital and extra shifts—but a hoist accident leaves one miner badly hurt.
- The Copper Bonanza on San Juan Island
Local entrepreneurs Morgan and O'Bryant strike it rich with a silver-laced copper vein, promising to transform the rugged island into a major mining hub.
- The Guggenheim-Morgan Industrial Play for Tacoma
A proposed $20 million expansion of the Tacoma smelter and a new fleet of ships aim to cement a copper monopoly on the Pacific coast.
- The Rat That Didn't Die: A Seattle Street Performer’s Electric Shock Gambit
In a desperate bid to steal customers from a rival vendor on Commercial Street, an electricity salesman rigged a dead rat to a copper plate—only for the rodent to remain stubbornly lifeless.
- Smelter Copper Thieves Sentenced
Two men face up to 14 years for the theft of $150 in copper from the Tacoma Smelter.
- Whispering Wires: The High-Tech Telephone Line
Engineers build a metallic copper circuit to link Seattle and Portland, hoping to eliminate 'induction' and allow for quiet conversation.
- The Forgotten Iron Gorge of the Cascades
A survey of the remote Denny mining claims near Snoqualmie Pass reveals a rugged, dangerous 'wonder land' of hidden mineral wealth.
- Copper Thieves Risk Electrocution for Profit
A wandering laborer is arrested in Pasco for allegedly stripping high-voltage lines, part of a spree of thefts terrorizing local utilities.
- Seattle’s Temple of Learning Rises Between Two Lakes
In 1895, contractors raced to finish a $200,000 campus between Union and Washington lakes—complete with copper finials, a gymnasium and a hillside observatory—before the September opening.
- The 'Gold Brick' King: How a Master Con Man Sold Copper to a Banker
A too-trusting Aberdeen banker, a man disguised as an Indian, and a forged letter from the San Francisco mint—the Seattle trial of the notorious swindler 'Rebel George' Knowlton.
- The Gray-Haired Con Man Who Left Newport's Saloons Holding Bad Paper
Posing as a copper-company man with money in local banks, William Andrew cashed worthless checks across Newport and Sandpoint—then vanished before anyone could collect.
- The Copper Wire Bandits
Two ex-linemen were arrested in Tacoma for stealing 5,000 pounds of copper wire from dead poles and selling it.
- Prospectors Strike Natural Gas Near Kahlotus
A deep-well driller finds natural gas, copper quartz, and mica nine miles southeast of Kahlotus, fueling hopes for an oil boom in Franklin County.
- Copper World Extension Puts Hopes on a Smelter Test
After years of inactivity and economic hardship, local miners attempt to prove the viability of a massive, long-neglected ore deposit.
- The Copper Wire Heist
Four laborers are taken into custody after allegedly stealing 50 pounds of copper wire from local transit facilities.
- An Engineer Bets Newport Could Rival Spokane
A Spokane mining engineer reports on the Bead Lake and Conquest claims, arguing that capital, a concentrator and a five-mile rail spur could turn a dormant district into Newport’s future.
- The Political Gossip That Almost Toppled a Judge
In an era of vicious party-line journalism, a Seattle editor defends his local officials against accusations of being 'copper-heads' and 'carpet-baggers,' echoing today’s heated partisan discourse.
- The Cold-Blooded Murder at the Copper Chief
A Seattle bartender is gunned down over a dispute about drink tabs, leading to a grim scene at the local undertaker's.
- Phil Dawe's Killing at Copper Chief Goes to Trial
A witness takes the stand to describe the fatal shooting of Phil Dawe on Washington Street.
- The 17,000-Horsepower Plan to Electrify Seattle
Engineers proposed an 800-foot steel pipe, a tunnel through basalt, and a 23-mile copper line to turn Snoqualmie Falls into the city’s power source.
- The Copper Chief Saloon Killing Goes to the Jury
After days of testimony, a Seattle jury weighed James Murphy’s fate as an eleventh-hour bootblack witness contradicted the state’s star in the 1894 saloon shooting of Phil J. Dawes.
- The Dredgers Were Coming: Seattle Builds Its Tide Flats
Engineers surveyed bulkheads, plotted fill, and prepared to bring two big dredgers to the Duwamish tide flats—while speculators rushed applications to buy the new land.
Also about this, in other words
- The Copper Bubble of 1899
A classic 'get rich quick' advertisement disguised as financial journalism, peddling stock in a speculative Seattle mining company.
- Golden Chariot Mine Prepares First Shipment
High-grade copper ore is being hauled to the Oroville station for a trial shipment to the smelter.
- Leavenworth's Nickel Boom: 'The Largest in the World'
A carload of ore from the Negro Creek district sets off visions of the greatest mining camp in the United States.
- An English Syndicate Bets $100,000 on Stevens County Lead and Silver
A Chicago mining journal tours the Metaline district, where companies are sinking shafts, building tramways and waiting on a railroad to turn lead and silver claims into a boom.
- A Costly Penny-Pinching Heist
Local burglars use high-grade explosives to crack an unlocked safe at a lumber company, netting exactly five cents in copper.
- The Hidden Metal Powering the Electric Age
A rare, inaccessible metal from the Ural Mountains has become as valuable as gold, and it is the only thing keeping the world's incandescent light bulbs from shattering.
- The Original Miners: How Native Americans Discovered the Metaline's Lead Riches
Long before white prospectors staked claims, Indigenous people mined lead in the Metaline region to make bullets and slugs—and their ancient workings still dot the landscape.
- Snoqualmie Pass: Seattle's Potential Iron Empire
A local developer scouts for iron and copper in the Snoqualmie Pass, hoping to launch a major mining and rail operation that would connect the mountain riches directly to Seattle.