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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
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| 1883 | 3 |
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139 stories matching dictat
- A 'Close Combination' at the Courthouse: Surveyor Accuses King County's Ring of Self-Dealing
King County's surveyor says commissioners paid the prosecuting attorney's rent to their own chairman's Union Block while refusing to cover his office — and he names the men he says run the courthouse for themselves.
- City Hall's Bacteriological Battle
Tacoma doctors confront the mayor over the firing of the city bacteriologist, sparking a debate on political interference in health services.
- A Monster Rally Against Rome: Nativists Pack the Seattle Armory
Anti-Catholic secret societies and the American Protective Association fill the Armory to protest 'papal interference' in American politics and to promise a fight at the ballot box.
- Spokane’s Mayor Dictates Red Light Rents
In a sweeping police regulation, the Spokane municipal government sets price caps on rents in the 'whitechapel' district and mandates fines for landladies and their residents.
- The $37,500 Handshake: How Benton County's Tax Crusaders Blessed a Courthouse Deal
Prosser's anti-tax league swore it would guard the public purse to the last janitor's salary. Then its own man changed his mind on Monday, and the Kennewick editor noticed where the $37,500 went.
- Sailors' Union Wins a Crew—and the Shipowners Promise a Fight
A schooner captain signed a union crew at $35 a month, infuriating owners who say they'll tie up their ships before paying more.
- The Great Firemen's Brawl of 1889
A regional firefighting tournament in Tacoma dissolved into a chaotic dispute over prize money, accused dictators, and local pride, forcing Seattle firemen to offer a do-over on home turf.
- A Seattle Editor Convicted of Libeling the Police Chief
Charles H. Lugrin of the Seattle Daily Telegraph was found guilty after a four-day municipal court trial for an article about Chief of Police Bolton Rogers.
- The Mayor Moves Against the Fire Commissioner
Mayor Phelps suspends Fire Commissioner George T. Masel, files five counts of incompetence and meddling with the chief, and calls a special session to hear them.
- City Council Uncovers the Seamy Side of Seattle
After a wave of burglaries, council members go on a late-night tour to witness the reality of city vice for themselves.
- A Seattle Utopia Sold in One-Cent Shares
A society of unemployed men pools its wages and plots a Bellamy-style commonwealth of railroads, coal mines and common tables — starting from $5 of capital and 500 one-cent shares.
- The Tacoma Method: How the Anti-Chinese Movement Turned to Violence
A brutal manifesto circulates in Tacoma, signaling the escalation of the anti-Chinese exclusion campaign.
- New Federal Law Targets Chinese Residents
A harsh new congressional act forces Chinese laborers to prove their identity and secure certificates of residency or face deportation and hard labor.
- The City Council vs. The Tycoon: Remaking Seattle's Streets
A standoff between the municipal government and powerful land interests, including the influential Henry Yesler, ends in a landmark victory for city planning.
- The Plot to Lock Up a Witness: How Greed Tried to Silence a Pioneer
William De Shaw, a respected Seattle merchant and witness to a will worth millions in British Columbia, was nearly committed to an insane asylum by land speculators who wanted his testimony silenced.
- The Sunday Saloon War: When Seattle’s Business Elite Fought for the Right to Rest
In January 1885, a heated civic battle erupted over the enforcement of Sunday closing laws, pitting the city’s liquor trade against a coalition of reformers and weary laborers.
- The Seattle Election Telegrams: When Political Operatives Ran the Show
Leaked ciphers from 1892 reveal a scheme where out-of-town 'detectives' and thugs were imported to manipulate local elections and manufacture scandals.
- The Battle for the Mud Flats
City Engineer R.H. Thomson warns that the Seattle & Montana Railway’s proposed terminal layout would block the city's future industrial access and sabotage the drainage of the tide flats.
- The Strange Devotion of Mrs. Boyd
Fresh from an acquittal on criminal charges, Mrs. Boyd navigates her complicated reputation, legal letters, and a future dictated by newfound public scrutiny.
- The Party Says Not Guilty—and Cheers the Man It Removed
Seattle Democrats put their scandal-scarred administration on trial at Haake's Hall, buried a First Ward delegate fight, and sent David E. Durie into the mayor's race while J.M. Wolfe got the ovation.
- Mukilteo Workers Refuse Japanese Labor
A town committee clashes with the Crown Mill company over the employment of Japanese workers, signaling rising anti-immigrant tensions in the region.
- The tugboat blockade at Grays Harbor
A local editor exposes a corrupt tugboat manager for sabotaging a critical federal survey of the harbor bar.
- The Dream That Found Two Bodies in Lake Washington
A double murder near Mercer Island, a suspect tried four times and never convicted, and a daughter's suicide—the lake tragedy that haunted the Colman-Patten case for years.
- The Indian Agent Who Let Settlers Stay: A Lake Chelan Land Fight
A federal Indian agent delayed an order to restore land near Lake Chelan to Indigenous owners, then waded into the estate of 'Okanogan' Smith, prompting charges of military overreach into civil affairs.
- The Editor Who Sold His Paper to a Brothel Keeper
A scathing letter in the Puget Sound Dispatch exposes the corrupt alliance between Seattle’s Republican party and its most notorious vice kingpins, asking: 'What of that newspaper publisher... who for a palm share in the wages of prostitution gives his aid and influence?'
Also about this, in other words
- A New Boat Hits the Sound
The steamer Dix is successfully launched from the Crawford Reid shipyards in Old Town, marking another milestone for local boat construction.