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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 3 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1880 | 4 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 10 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 5 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 7 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 16 |
| 1893 | 24 |
| 1894 | 26 |
| 1895 | 28 |
| 1896 | 1 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 5 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 9 |
| 1904 | 4 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 9 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1911 | 2 |
| 1914 | 7 |
| 1915 | 8 |
| 1916 | 3 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 2 |
| 1925 | 1 |
| 1928 | 1 |
218 stories matching dig
- The Skykomish Gold Rush
A reported discovery of river-bed gold near Snohomish sparks a local frenzy, leading prominent citizens to abandon their businesses to stake a claim.
- Digging into the Wall
A sermon at Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church warns against the hidden sins of 'walled-up rooms' in the human heart.
- Gold Rush in the Cellar
A Tacoma resident digging a simple basement strikes a rich vein of gold and silver quartz, setting off a quiet, desperate race to stake a claim beneath the city's streets.
- The Scandal of the Ghost Sewers
A newly appointed Board of Public Works uncovers evidence of rampant incompetence and political patronage in the city's sewer construction project.
- The Midnight Treasure Hunt on Coffin Island
A fever for gold and Captain Kidd’s fabled riches sends Seattle-area prospectors into a frenzy of night-time digging.
- The Mystery of the Freezing Well
A farmer digging a well in Eastern Washington strikes a bizarre pocket of frozen earth that defies explanation.
- The Battle for Madison Street
A dormant railway company suddenly awakens to block a new transit line, sparking a fierce clash at City Hall.
- The Great Canal Scheme Blocked
A judge strikes down a law that would have allowed private contractors to dig the Lake Washington canal and seize tide lands for profit.
- Seattle Cut Water Rates—Then Claimed the Lake
In one night at City Hall, the council trimmed water bills for every ratepayer and got legal cover to take Lake Washington water, even if it meant digging its own canal past a private company.
- Farmers Take Flood Control Into Their Own Hands
Facing constant inundation and corporate inaction, local valley farmers plan to bypass the existing canal system.
- The Grave Robbers of St. Mary’s: A Scandal in Portland
Rumors swirl that the body of a local widow was disturbed by 'outsiders' seeking a rumored cancer tumor, prompting doctors to deny the tale and friends to demand investigation.
- 7,000 Miners Head for the Skagit, But High Water Halts the Diggings
Spring freshets wash out the wingdams on Ruby Creek while hundreds of men wait at the Portage for a trail and pack animals — and California newspapers predict a stampede of thousands.
- The Well That Killed Twice
A promising new homestead a few miles east of Whatcom became a death trap when a pocket of gas swallowed John Kidwell and the neighbor who tried to save him.
- Seattle's $100,000 Night: The Armory Meeting That Sold the Ship Canal
Boosters packed the Armory in 1895 and pledged a fortune for locks and bridges on a Lake Washington canal—payable only after a ship made the passage from Elliott Bay.
- Seattle Bet Everything on a Ship Canal—and the Clock Was Running Out
For forty years Seattle had dreamed of linking Lake Washington to Puget Sound. By April 1895, with nearly $50,000 raised in two days and the state preparing to sell the tide lands, the city faced a make-or-break moment.
- The Tragedy of a Well-Digger
A local well-digger perishes in a collapse while working on an Arthur Heidemann tract near White Bluffs, sparking a desperate, days-long rescue attempt.
- San Francisco Capitalists Plan a New Waterway at Smith's Cove
A newly incorporated dredging company asks the state for the right to dig out and fill Seattle's northern tide flats, promising wharves, railroad yards and mills.
- The Great Seattle Canal Subscription Scandal
Prominent business leaders expose the local newspaper's fabricated list of wealthy donors to the Lake Washington ship canal project.
- The Fruit Orchard Purge of 1916
As fruit growers in the Yakima Valley panic and rip out their orchards to plant alfalfa, one local paper warns that the cycle of boom and bust is as predictable as the rising sun.
- Life in the Yakima Prospecting Camps
A vivid look at the daily grit, dashed hopes, and stubborn optimism of the men digging for fortunes in the upper Natchees.
- The $5.5 Million Bet That Would Reshape Seattle's Waterfront
St. Louis investors sign on to fill the tide flats and dig a canal linking Lake Washington to Puget Sound, betting Seattle will become the Pacific coast's leading city.
- Gold Fever Empties the Army Posts—and Leaves Steilacoom’s Mail in a Canoe
A steamer from the north brings word of rich surface diggings on the Fraser and Thompson rivers, soldiers deserting lower Puget Sound posts, and Steilacoom cut off from its mail.
- A Gold Rush Romance in the Shadow of the Mines
In the rugged camps of the 1859 gold rush, a pair of lovers find their devotion tested by the harsh realities of frontier life and the relentless pursuit of fortune.
- The Tragic Cost of Playing in the Seattle Clay
A makeshift fort at the edge of the city became a tomb when a riverbank collapsed, claiming the life of a young boy.
- The Bottomless Well of Christopher
A routine digging job on a Washington farm turned into a bizarre geological mystery when a well-digger hit a void that seemingly had no end.
Also about this, in other words
- The Desert Drill: A Quest for Water in North Yakima
A bold territorial experiment to strike water in the arid landscape of North Yakima hit a snag as machinery languished on the wrong side of the mountains.
- Lawmakers Mocked for 'Infra Dig' Stationery and Cutlery
Legislators receive low-quality office supplies, sparking protests, ridicule, and a formal proposal to donate the cheap jack-knives to a butcher's association.
- Prehistoric Tooth Found Near Clarkston
Work crews excavating a pipeline near Clarkston stumble upon a six-pound mammoth tooth buried in the earth.
- Digging the Big Ditch
A massive engineering project kicks off in Richland as the Wright Construction Company brings in heavy machinery and a crew to tackle the area's drainage needs.
- Blasting Beneath 14th and A
Contractor C.D. Elmore is drilling into cement gravel to carve out a new foundation for a downtown landmark.
- The Quest for Water at Temperance and Mercer
Developer D. T. Denny is drilling deep into the ground of North Seattle, hoping to tap an artesian aquifer to secure water for his property.
- Grim Discovery Near Republic
Prospectors on Mount Gibraltar uncover a human skeleton alongside a cougar’s remains, reviving cold case disappearances.
- A Child’s Fall into a City Excavation
A young girl’s tumble into a construction pit sparks a damages lawsuit against an investment firm.