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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 8 |
| 1858 | 3 |
| 1859 | 6 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 9 |
| 1862 | 4 |
| 1863 | 4 |
| 1864 | 2 |
| 1872 | 8 |
| 1876 | 88 |
| 1877 | 77 |
| 1878 | 44 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 16 |
| 1882 | 10 |
| 1883 | 71 |
| 1884 | 20 |
| 1885 | 53 |
| 1886 | 37 |
| 1887 | 43 |
| 1888 | 49 |
| 1889 | 114 |
| 1890 | 11 |
| 1891 | 88 |
| 1892 | 149 |
| 1893 | 128 |
| 1894 | 162 |
| 1895 | 210 |
| 1896 | 1 |
| 1897 | 4 |
| 1898 | 20 |
| 1899 | 40 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 77 |
| 1904 | 61 |
| 1905 | 7 |
| 1907 | 4 |
| 1908 | 25 |
| 1909 | 62 |
| 1910 | 28 |
| 1911 | 8 |
| 1912 | 8 |
| 1914 | 20 |
| 1915 | 13 |
| 1916 | 37 |
| 1917 | 20 |
| 1918 | 3 |
| 1923 | 7 |
| 1924 | 5 |
| 1925 | 3 |
| 1929 | 1 |
1,878 stories matching direct
- The Push for Direct Legislation in Washington
State Federation of Labor President Charles R. Case advocates for direct democratic processes to curb corporate control of the state legislature.
- Seattle’s Grand Welcome: The Battle for the First Washington Volunteers’ Homecoming
In May 1899, Seattle mobilized its entire civic infrastructure to welcome home the first regiment from the Spanish-American War. With Mayor Hume calling joint committees and the City Council lobbying the Navy for a battleship, the city prepared for a celebration that would define its post-war identity.
- The Road to Riches: Seattle’s $33,000 Gamble on the Snoqualmie Pass
In March 1877, local editors urged citizens to fund a toll road through the mountains, arguing that the vast grain fields east of the Cascades were Seattle's only true economic future.
- Seattle Merchants Push for Direct Steamship Line to the Orient
Local Chinese and Japanese business leaders argue that a direct shipping route to Asia would transform Seattle into the Pacific's premier port.
- The Keeley Cure Comes to Olympia
Olympia's Keeley Institute promises release from drink, and the Tribune opens a discreet charity fund for patients who cannot pay.
- The Streetcar Combine That Built North Seattle
D. T. Denny and his sons bought control of the Consolidated Street Railway, merged it with the Third Street electric line, and set their sights on every route north of downtown.
- The Coal Miner Who Took the Capitol: Labor's 1911 Push in Olympia
Four hundred union delegates descended on the legislature, and a soft-spoken miner made the case for workmen's compensation — while the federation set its sights on women's eight-hour work and direct legislation.
- A 28-Mile Dream Road Between Seattle and Tacoma
A landowner's 1895 letter urges the legislature to charter a direct highway from South Park through Des Moines to Tacoma, selling it as relief for the unemployed, a check on speculators and the making of the 'Twin Cities of Puget Sound.'
- The Political Funeral of Whitman County Populism
Local reformers attempt to bury the Populist party and replace it with a new, direct legislation movement.
- Thirty-Seven Miners Died 150 Feet From Safety
An 1894 coroner's jury in Franklin, Washington, heard how a small fire in the Oregon Improvement Company's coal mine became a wall of smoke — and why the men who could have escaped stayed to fight it.
- Pay for a Job That Wasn't There: Seattle's Employment-Agency Scam
A city council committee heard workers describe paying fees to G.W. Crane's employment office and arriving to find no jobs, with agents accused of splitting fees with contractors.
- Nineteen Buildings Gone Before Breakfast
With no fire department and only buckets, the Kitsap County seat of Sidney watched its entire business district burn to the ground in three hours — then promised to rebuild as Seattle had.
- The Judge Who Warned Seattle Not to Sell Its Waterfront to a Canal Company
In 1894, Judge John J. McGilvra urged Congress to build the Lake Washington Ship Canal and warned that a private company's tideflat scheme would put tolls on the water and enrich speculators at public expense.
- The Mayor Fires Two Police Commissioners to Keep Blackchapel Shut
In a single day, Mayor Phelps removed two police commissioners, accused them of conspiring to protect a red-light district and oust Chief Rogers, and installed replacements before the House of Delegates could slow him down.
- A Miraculous Escape for Seattle
A waterfront fire threatens to consume the business district, but the volunteer fire department saves the day.
- The Governor’s War: Seattle’s Militia Mutiny and the Coal Creek Massacre
In the wake of a deadly strike at Newcastle coal mines, Governor Elisha Peery clashes with local sheriff over military command, exposing the fragility of civil authority in Washington Territory.
- The Fight for Puyallup: A Last-Minute Land Grab
Before leaving office, Interior Secretary Teller attempted to block land titles for the Puyallup people, favoring the expansion of a local corporation.
- Fairhaven Fights for Its Own Steamship Line
Local merchants move to break the shipping monopoly of Seattle and Tacoma by courting a direct San Francisco steamship connection.
- A Father's Vengeance: The Killing of the Muckleshoot Medicine Man
When three of Jerry Domnick's children died under Jim Bouchitt's care, the grieving father took a rifle into the woods — and the healer was found buried under a log near Soos Creek.
- They Ran Him to Earth at Kent
After a jailbreak and a three-day manhunt, the Northwest's most wanted outlaw died in a roadside gunfight — but not before wounding one of the deputies who cornered him.
- The Open River Was Supposed to Pay Dividends. Was Anyone Counting?
A year after the Celilo Canal opened, the Courier-Reporter asked whether the Inland Empire would actually use the river—and bragged that Kennewick was already the Columbia’s busiest freight town this side of Celilo.
- Newport’s Railroad Future Takes Shape in a $150,000 Yard
The Idaho & Washington Northern Railroad unveils plans for terminal yards, depots, switches and a loop through old and new Newport—and west-side farmers lobby for the line down the Calispel valley.
- The Ghostly Exhumation on the Hill
A grieving widow and a procession of mourners perform a mysterious, haunting ritual to rebury a man murdered in the streets of Seattle.
- A Church Scandal Erupts in a Seattle Libel Trial
M. H. Nichols stood accused of criminally libeling Presiding Elder T. B. Ford. The defense spent the day trading rumors, old grudges, and one complaint about the prosecutor's booming voice.
- Governor Hay Wants to Appoint, Not Elect, Washington's Officers—This Labor Editor Says No
A proposal to make state offices appointive sparks a fierce defense of the direct primary and the people's right to choose their own officials.
Also about this, in other words
- The Fight for Direct Democracy
Labor journals lobby for the Initiative and Referendum to bypass legislative corruption and ensure the people have the final say on state law.
- Direct Trade with Hawaii Arrives
A Hawaiian brig arrives in Olympia, signaling a potential shift from territorial isolation to a direct exchange of island goods for Puget Sound timber.
- The Day the Cardinal Rode Through the Mud: A Historic Union of Northern and Southern Presbyterians
In a rare moment of post-Civil War reconciliation, thousands gathered in Seattle to witness the historic meeting of two Presbyterian Assemblies that had been divided by the Mason-Dixon line for decades.
- The Persistent Promise of Easy Money
A classic 19th-century 'work from home' pitch promises Snohomish laborers a fortune for minimal effort.
- The New Rail Line Toward Portland
A railroad builder reveals that contracts are let for a direct line through the Kennewick valley, signaling major expansion.
- The Pythian Revels: A Dry Town's Mock Rebellion
While Washington navigates its new prohibition laws, a local fraternal order plans a satirical 'Red Letter' parade to mock the state's dry mandate.
- The Political Battle Over Washington's Direct Democracy
Employers and labor unions clash over initiative measures aimed at worker protections and corporate regulation.
- Democrats Battle Tides to Reach Aberdeen Rally
A political campaign team's water-logged journey across the bay highlights the rough reality of travel in the harbor era.