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| 1876 | 1 |
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37 stories matching crude
- The Drunken Sea Lion of Olympia
An intoxicated 800-pound sea lion is captured after a bender on crude oil.
- The Gold in Swauk Creek — and the Railroad That Wanted the Ground Under It
Miners in Kittitas County had quietly pulled a fortune in placer gold from Swauk Creek for over a decade. When the Northern Pacific moved to patent the land, they finally went public with the numbers.
- 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.
- The Forest Empire That Built Washington
A sweeping 1900 survey of the state's lumber industry counted billions of feet of standing timber, 250 sawmills, and $7 million a year in wages—proof that the trees, not the cities, came first.
- The Asylum Ward’s Unseen Hunger
A patient describes the grueling conditions inside a Seattle insane asylum, where the sick are fed wormy prunes and bread meant for the refuse pile, while robust workers with influence dine on fresh milk.
- The Plague at the Doorstep: Seattle’s Battle Against Smallpox in 1877
As smallpox ravages Port Orchard and Salmon Bay, the city's Health Officer takes drastic quarantine measures against Indigenous communities, highlighting the fragile public health infrastructure of early Seattle.
- Railroad Boom Built Spokane's Brick-and-Stone Downtown
A pioneer revisits Eastern Washington's boomtown and marvels at its rapid transformation from a frontier hamlet to a bustling metropolis powered by the falls.
- The Sailors' Union Fights Back Against the Waterfront Crimps
Seattle's Sailors' Union answers charges from two boarding-house men, calling them crimps and accusing them of drugging and shanghaiing sailors onto ships.
- The Mayor’s Labor Pact: How Organized Labor Bought Spokane’s City Hall
Mayor Byrne opens up about the 'organized labor' machine that secured his election and warns of a looming anti-Republican coalition in Washington State.
- The Pony Express Rider of Grand Coulee
A young, nameless conductor pulls off a daring rescue mission to uncover why telegraph riders were vanishing, leading to a grim discovery in the rugged depths of the Washington interior.
- The Shoe That Could Save Seattle: Why We Must Stop Exporting Our Hides to San Francisco
An editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch argues that Seattle’s economic survival depends on manufacturing its own boots and shoes locally, rather than shipping raw hides south for a 10% premium.
- A Gavel, a Roar, and a Populist Ticket Born in Chaos
King County's People's Party convention at Turner Hall turned into a shouting, proxy-fighting, faction-splitting marathon—and buried Dr. J. Eugene Jordan and Jack McDonald on the way to nominating a ticket.
- Water Discovered in the Horse Heaven Hills
A successful well-drilling operation in the arid hills promises a new era for dry-land farmers in the Horse Heaven country.
- A Memory of the Battle of Seattle
An early settler and former U.S. Marshal reflects on the 'battle-scarred' house he occupied during the 1856 Indian attack on Seattle.
- Olympia’s Booster Year: Brick, Bridges and a 50,000-Person Promise
As 1891 closed, the capital city counted $3 million in new buildings, a record bridge, electric lights and new rail lines — and predicted 50,000 residents within a decade.
- The Oil That Could Burn the City: Seattle’s First Major Fire Safety Law
In a move to prevent catastrophic blazes, the Common Council passes strict new rules for storing gasoline and kerosene, forcing merchants to build brick vaults or face heavy fines.
- The Anthracite Rush in Naches Pass
A new coal discovery near the mountains promises to be the most extensive field on the Pacific Coast.
- The Counterfeit Gang of Port Townsend
A local variety theater manager and his associates operated a secret 'mint' to flood the Puget Sound region with fake gold, but their scheme was dismantled after laundering operations stretched to Seattle, Tacoma, and Utah.
- The Workingman's Mayor: A 1892 Look at Labor Relations
As Seattle geared up for its 1892 mayoral election, political operatives and newspapers sparred over whether candidate John Leary was a true friend to the labor movement or just a businessman courting votes.
- Convicts to Pave the Way?
Walla Walla's Commercial Club debates a new state law to employ penitentiary inmates in road construction.
- The Pioneer of Kennewick’s Grape Juice Empire
How M.H. Church turned a home kitchen experiment into a national award-winning industry for Washington.
- Formaldehyde in the Milk: Seattle's Pure Food Prosecutions
State Dairy and Pure Food Commissioner E. A. McDonald reports eight Seattle milk sellers fined for adulteration, including formaldehyde and low butterfat, as part of a statewide crackdown.
- They Planned to Pull Iron Out of Columbia River Sand
A Hanford inventor and the Great Western Iron Company claimed the Columbia Valley's sand held high-grade magnetite worth $90 a ton.
- Washington's Public Lands Were Run by a Patchwork. Reformers Wanted One Powerful Board.
A joint legislative committee concludes that county tide-land boards, roving land cruisers and district attorneys have wasted public money, and recommends a three-member state land board to manage school and tide lands.
- A Tired Opera Troupe Nearly Sinks, Then Saves Itself
The Pyke Opera Company reached Seattle after three days of hard travel, opened two comic operas under-rehearsed, and turned a rocky first night into a success.
Also about this, in other words
- Burning Oil, a Shattered Shanty, and a Logger Who Threw Two Men to Safety
Chester LaChapelle rescued his cousin and a roommate after a gasoline stove exploded near Kapowsin, sacrificing his own face and hands to the flames.
- The Promise of Horse Heaven Oil
After finding significant gas deposits, local boosters and out-of-state experts bet on striking it rich in the hills.
- A Cable Car Gripmans's Violent Run-In
A cable car operator faces legal trouble after a collision with a child results in a serious infection.
- A Gasser, a Picnic, and a Promise: Kennewick Bets on Oil and Gas
Drillers pause to case off 400 feet of water, 85 people picnic at the well, and a Yakima promoter promises a franchise — and maybe oil — by summer.
- The Great Butterine Debate
A Seattle agricultural journal takes a hard stance against the 'fraud' of oleomargarine, arguing that the industry's decline is a moral victory for farmers.
- The Octopus Comes to Seattle: Standard Oil Raises the Price of Light
Coal oil and benzine prices jumped in Seattle after Standard Oil was reported to have crushed its last Pacific Coast rival, W. P. Fuller & Co.
- The Price of a Fire: Stolen Lubricant
A Wilkerson man is jailed for pilfering railroad grease to heat his home.
- A Scantling Scuffle at the Boom
A simmering dispute over local timber booms erupts in violence at Chenoise Creek.