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355 stories matching easi
- The Judge Who Gambled Away His Office: Soderberg’s Dramatic Resignation
After the grand jury returned five indictments for extortion and malfeasance in office, District Attorney Joseph Soderberg walked into court, tendered his resignation, and declared he would repay every illegal fee to the county treasury.
- The Case for a Wagon Road Over Stevens Pass
A Skykomish correspondent pitches a $40,000 public road from Seattle to Tolt and over the old Great Northern tote road, so farmers needn't pay the railroad to cross one hill.
- The Promised Land on the La Grande Marsh
Developers in the late 19th century marketed Snohomish's tide lands and marshy acreage as prime agricultural real estate, promising fertile soil and easy access to market.
- Kennewick’s First Rules of the Road
The city council implements a new traffic ordinance to curb reckless driving and prevent accidents on business streets.
- The Real Estate Gold Rush: How West Seattle’s ‘Cream of the Cream’ Was Sold to the Highest Bidders
In February 1889, developers Fargre and Sander were selling off lots in West Seattle for as little as $25 down, promising fortunes from a plateau that was then little more than mud and ambition.
- The Tide Land Grab: How Seattle's Future Was Sold Before It Was Even a State
As Washington Territory inches toward statehood in early 1889, speculators are already circling the waterfront, buying up oyster beds and timber rights in a desperate rush to claim the city's most valuable real estate.
- Seven Votes Decide the Sheriff: Judge Langley Tosses Out Fraud Charges and Seats Van de Vanter
After a six-week ballot-by-ballot recount, a Seattle judge ruled that clumsy election officers could not disfranchise King County voters—and confirmed the Republican sheriff by a seven-vote margin.
- Who Pays for the Streets That Boost Land Values?
A taxpayer objects as Olympia considers borrowing from the general fund to cover private street-grading debts in distant additions.
- The Art of the Con: How a Swindler Sold 'Rare' Books to Seattle’s Elite
A clever grifter conned prominent Seattle society women into buying ordinary books at exorbitant markups by selling them on a false promise of exclusivity and 'easy' monthly payments.
- The Morning Mine Cuts Into a 60-Foot Ledge of Galena
A company announcement claims the largest body of galena ore yet found in the Northwest, and the Metaline district suddenly has proof that its mineral wealth runs deep.
- The Dream of 'Palatine Hill': Selling the Industrial Suburb
Promotional copy from 1888 captures the rapid-fire development of Seattle’s outskirts, dangling the promise of affordable housing to laborers near the new railroad lines.
- Seattle's 1877 Plea: Build a Wagon Road Over the Cascades Before Portland Steals the Inland Empire
With no railroad yet across the mountains, a Seattle newspaper argued the city's future depended on a wagon road to Yakima—before Portland grabbed the inland trade forever.
- Police Vaccinate the 'Free-and-Easy' Saloon Crowd
Public health efforts to contain a smallpox outbreak lead to forced vaccinations in saloons south of Yesler Avenue, with arrests for those who resist.
- The Dream of Palatine: 1888 Real Estate Hype in Seattle
A sprawling advertisement for a 'suburban' development in the Salmon Bay area reveals how developers promised working-class families a foothold in the rapidly industrializing north Seattle.
- The Boom at Ross Station: Selling the Future of Seattle
Developers pitch affordable suburban lots near Salmon Bay to laborers, promising a new hub of industry just three miles from downtown.
- The Great Statehood Gamble: How Washington Territory Bet Its Future on a Coin Flip
In February 1889, Congress passed the 'Omnibus Bill' granting statehood to four territories simultaneously. For Seattle and Tacoma, this wasn't just political news—it was a high-stakes gamble that would determine their city limits, tax structures, and place in history.
- The Nervous Trunk: How an Inspector's Hunch Caught a Seattle Opium Smuggler
A traveler's strange devotion to his luggage tipped off a customs officer, leading to eighty tins of prepared opium and a suspect who begged to be 'let down easy.'
- The Fight Over the Road Through the Cascades
A state wagon-road bill sets Cascade Pass against Slate Creek, with mining claims, Lake Chelan freight and a $33,000 price tag hanging in the balance.
- Why Yakima Pastors Need a Break
Local clergymen are burning out from the strain of modern life, and community leaders argue they deserve the same restorative summers as their parishioners.
- Legislative 'Easy Money' Still Thriving at State Capitol
Lawmakers continue to collect generous travel mileage payments from the state, far exceeding their actual transit costs.
- Puget Sound's Fishing Future, Blocked by Ice and Freight
A federal fisheries report praises the region's deep harbors and salmon runs, but explains why deep-sea halibut and cod fishing has failed to pay—and what it will take to change that.
- A Prune Colony for Mason County
Frank Williamson sells 1,200 acres on Big Skookum Bay for $20,000, promising five-acre orchard tracts on easy payments.
- Whatcom Wakes Up, and Every Town Wants the Railroad
A Walla Walla correspondent surveys the 1883 Puget Sound boom: Whatcom's lots double, a wharf reaches deep water, and Seattle, Tacoma, Bellingham and Fairhaven all claim the coming terminus.
- The Dairy Commissioner’s War on Adulterated Food
A Washington dairy official warns that fake honey, poisoned candy, oleomargarine and brewers’ grain are cheating farmers — and demands stronger pure-food laws.
- The Promised Suburb: Sales Pitch for Palatine Hill
A late 19th-century land developer lures Seattle workers to a ‘suburban’ frontier near Salmon Bay with promises of factories and affordable housing.
Also about this, in other words
- The Last Laugh of 'Old Si': A Black Veteran's Take on War and Wages in Pioneer Seattle
In a rare moment of candid journalism from 1877, the *Daily Intelligencer* sits down with 'Old Si,' a local African American man who served as a Union soldier. His unvarnished take on racial loyalty, wages, and the upcoming Centennial Exposition reveals the complex social fabric of early Seattle.