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 |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 3 |
| 1876 | 21 |
| 1877 | 14 |
| 1878 | 13 |
| 1880 | 5 |
| 1882 | 4 |
| 1883 | 17 |
| 1884 | 10 |
| 1885 | 13 |
| 1886 | 10 |
| 1887 | 13 |
| 1888 | 8 |
| 1889 | 24 |
| 1890 | 6 |
| 1891 | 19 |
| 1892 | 58 |
| 1893 | 45 |
| 1894 | 47 |
| 1895 | 48 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 20 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 7 |
| 1904 | 11 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 3 |
| 1909 | 9 |
| 1910 | 6 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 4 |
| 1916 | 8 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 3 |
| 1928 | 1 |
| 1929 | 1 |
465 stories matching cri
- The Man Who Wouldn't Die: A Seattle Gallows Horror
In a gruesome spectacle that shook the young Territory of Washington, Francis Epps survived his own hanging by mere inches, crying for mercy as the crowd watched him dangle in agony before being cut down.
- The Engineer’s Ash-Box Ghost: A Tale of New Year’s Eve Peril
In a column dated October 1870, the Seattle Daily Intelligencer reprints a harrowing tale from an old engineer about surviving a wreck by hiding under his locomotive's ash pan during a blizzard.
- The Wooden Revolver That Freed Ten Prisoners
Thomas Blanck held a jailer hostage with a carved fake gun, emptied the King County jail, and vanished into Seattle's streets.
- The Mysterious Death of Abe Gross
A 28-year-old Tacoma dry-goods partner was found shot through the mouth in his bed. His brother's grief, a coroner's open verdict, and a city's disbelief turned a private tragedy into a public mystery.
- A Mountain of Coffins: Franklin Buries Its Miners
After a mine fire killed 37 men, the coal town of Franklin held a day of funerals—five graves at Black Diamond, three Italian miners on a hillside, and widows whose grief doctors feared would kill them.
- She Fought a Sailor in the Dark—and Helped Police Find Him by Morning
Mary Kriser, who ran a lodging house at South Second and Weller streets, was robbed and sexually assaulted in September 1894. A neighbor broke down a door, and police identified a suspect within ninety minutes.
- A Morphine Death at the Concord House
Allan McDonald, a Toronto-born piano player struggling with morphine, was found dead in a Seattle rooming house with a jealous letter beside him and 85 cents in his pocket.
- The Cry That Came Too Late on the Pend Oreille
A deck hand fell from the steamer Ione near Locke Landing while trying to catch a wind-blown parcel. His crew heard the cry but could not reach him in time.
- Tragedy at the Waterfront: A Drowning and a Desperate Rescue
A deckhand and a sailor attempted a harrowing, cold-water rescue of a drowning man near the construction site of the new Colman Building in Seattle, only to meet with heartbreak.
- A Cry for Help, Then Two Arms Above the Tide Flats
Fred Wyott borrowed his roommate's boat for an evening fishing trip near Commercial and Charles streets. Neighbors heard him cry out but could not reach him in time.
- He Heard His Friend Cry for Help in the Dark
Joseph Pfahl, a Lake Washington rancher, fell from a boat-house incline at the foot of Madison Street after a Druids meeting; his friend heard his cries but could not find him in time.
- Drowning at the Toboggan Slide
A young immigrant perishes in the waters of Lake Washington during a day of recreation.
- A Courageous Rescue from Assault
A young domestic worker was saved from a violent assault in the University grounds after a bystander intervened.
- An Indigenous Woman Left to Die at Seattle’s Mechanic Wharf
When five Indigenous people were rescued from a capsized canoe in Seattle’s harbor, a local resident threw one woman into the mud and left her to die.
- The Coal Creek Massacre: A Coroner’s Inquest into the Battle Between Knights of Labor and Mine Owners
In January 1890, Seattle Sheriff Cochrane deployed militia to Newcastle to suppress a miners' strike. When a riot erupted at Coal Creek, one man was killed and ten arrested. The subsequent coroner's inquest revealed a chaotic scene where union men claimed self-defense against armed mine owners, while the sheriff dismissed the Knights of Labor as 'too excitable.'
- The Octopus and the Seal: A Local Captain’s War Against a Washington Monopoly
In 1901, Port Townsend resident James G. Swan published affidavits from experienced hunters to debunk Professor Elliott’s claim that seal pups sink like stones, exposing the Alaska Commercial Company’s stranglehold on federal policy.
- The Scandal at St. Mary’s
A Seattle Episcopal rector faces a congregation-led revolt after rumors of 'immoral practices' turn an ordinary service into a chaotic public showdown.
- The Abandoned Infant on Third Street
An April Fool's Day prank turns somber when a prominent Seattle real estate developer finds a newborn left on his doorstep.
- The Treasurer They Refused to Seat
A thousand men packed Seattle's Armory to demand that John W. Maple take office as county treasurer, threatening a tax strike against King County commissioners — until a collection plate emptied the room.
- The Wooden Revolver That Sprung Tom Blanck
A murderer awaiting appeal in the King County jail used a hand-carved fake gun to force his way past the night jailer, then vanished into the Black River woods as a sheriff's posse rushed south by special train.
- Masked Vigilantes Hang a Convicted Murderer in Dayton Jail
James McPherson, convicted of murdering E. H. Cummins at New York Bar, was taken from the Dayton jail by masked men and hanged, despite a governor's reprieve and a new trial order.
- The Gall and Wormwood of Olympia: Tacoma’s Defeat in the Senate Race
As Washington's first U.S. Senator is chosen in a bitter legislative battle, defeated candidate Calkins' supporters cry foul, while Jefferson County delegates secure the victory for Watson Squire.
- The Engineer’s Heartbreak
An engineer rushing home to his dying daughter crashes his train, only to find solace in the delirium of his final moments.
- The Great Seattle Audit: When the Mayor Defended the Ledger
Facing down accusations of corruption and fiscal recklessness, Seattle’s outgoing mayor releases a meticulous—and defensive—account of his administration's massive infrastructure push.
- The Captain, the Dark Dock, and the Cry 'Man Overboard'
A Seattle jury weighs damages in the drowning of Capt. George Hill at Anacortes, where lanterns, liquor and a first officer's memory shape the case.
Also about this, in other words
- Judge Irwin Wipes Out $224,000 in County Road Bonds
Chehalis County's entire 1891 road-bond program is ruled illegal for blowing past the constitutional debt limit — and the taxpayers' paper calls it a deliverance.
- A Noisy Surprise for the Newlyweds
Local residents revive the old-fashioned 'charivari' tradition to celebrate a neighbor’s recent marriage with a cacophonous midnight parade.
- The Last of the Crib-Dwellers
A railroad company successfully clears the last remaining shack underneath the King Street trestle.