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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1872 | 4 |
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 15 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1883 | 9 |
| 1884 | 7 |
| 1885 | 8 |
| 1886 | 6 |
| 1887 | 7 |
| 1888 | 8 |
| 1889 | 24 |
| 1890 | 5 |
| 1891 | 9 |
| 1892 | 18 |
| 1893 | 31 |
| 1894 | 23 |
| 1895 | 22 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 9 |
| 1904 | 6 |
| 1908 | 3 |
| 1909 | 7 |
| 1910 | 6 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1916 | 2 |
| 1923 | 2 |
| 1925 | 2 |
| 1929 | 2 |
260 stories matching entri
- The Great Land Office Fire at Olympia
A catastrophic fire destroys essential territorial land records and plats, forcing homesteaders and pre-emption claimants to restart their filings from scratch.
- The Deserted Wife Who Saved Her Homestead
When a man abandoned his land and his spouse in Olympia, the government tried to invalidate her claim—until a steely legal battle proved her right to stay.
- Federal Crackdown on Washington Territory Land Grabs
General Land Office Commissioner launches a sweeping investigation into corrupt land entries.
- The Price of a Homestead
A local teacher faces the loss of her land claim after government inspectors rule she prioritized her career in town over the requirements of the Homestead Act.
- The Legal Battle Over Land Claims
Judge Hanford rules on a dispute between the Stimson Land Company and individual homesteaders, highlighting the complexities of federal land patent law.
- The Sham Colony of Whatcom County
Federal investigators expose a fraudulent scheme to seize timber lands using dummy 'pre-emption' entries.
- The Speculative Homestead That Built Everett
A federal land office ruling exposes how a 'homestead' was actually a calculated land grab to secure the future site of a new industrial city.
- Federal Relief for Failed Homesteaders
A new act of Congress allows pioneers who lost their land to try again if the initial failure was truly beyond their control.
- The Strategic Move of a Custom House
Congress orders the transfer of the Port of Entry for Puget Sound from Port Townsend to Port Angeles, sparking local political controversy.
- Twenty-One Land Claims, One Pennsylvania Syndicate, and a Fraud Hearing in Olympia
Federal agents say twenty-one Satsop River entries were fraudulently made for an out-of-state syndicate; the contest is being heard in Olympia’s land office.
- The Potato Patch Fraud
A federal investigation reveals that a 'homestead' in Everett was nothing more than a few spuds and a locked door.
- The Great Land Grab: How Speculators Stole Washington's Public Lands
A new federal ruling threatens to invalidate thousands of land claims in the Pacific Northwest, exposing innocent buyers to ruin and revealing a system rigged by attorneys and speculators.
- The Great Timber Land Swindle: How Seattle’s Elite Claimed Farmable Soil as Forest
A federal commissioner rules that the lands held by Bailey and Hawley are actually fertile agricultural soil, not timber land, overturning decades of speculative entries in the Samish Lake district.
- The Shadowy Business of Land 'Jumpers'
A look at the corruption and speculation surrounding homestead land claims in Washington Territory, where the rules of pre-emption favored the well-connected over the actual settler.
- Snohomish Land Claim Dispute Heads to Probate Court
A legal summons from 1877 reveals the precarious reality of early Washington settlers who vanished from their claims, leaving behind only government paperwork and public notices.
- The Battle for Homestead Titles
A legal dispute over a homestead in Franklin County signals potential trouble for many Walla Walla residents holding land claims.
- The Government's Green Light for Land Speculation
A federal ruling confirms that 'investing' in timber land without living on it or using it is perfectly legal, sparking relief among speculators.
- The Mystery of the Man Called Buckskin
A local homestead is mired in scandal as neighbors allege the owner is an impostor hiding a dark past.
- Border officials block Chinese merchant entry
New federal regulations trigger a strict enforcement crackdown on Chinese residents returning to Seattle.
- The End of the Cattle Barons' Land Grab
Federal authorities tighten rules on soldiers' homestead claims to stop large cattle companies from using widows as proxies to secure public land.
- The Minneapolis Teachers' Land Grab
A group of Minnesota teachers lost their timber and stone land claims in Washington after the government deemed them speculative ventures.
- Timber Syndicates Used Fake Claimants to Seize Public Land
How corporate syndicates bypassed federal land laws to hoard the Northwest's forests, one 'dummy' entry at a time.
- The Coming of the Dam
The federal government pulls three islands from public entry at Priest Rapids, clearing a major hurdle for a proposed mega-dam.
- Seattle Commissioners Fight for School Lands
The Board of County Commissioners petitions the federal government to block fraudulent 'coal land' entries on property reserved for public education.
- The Forged Passports of Seattle's Chinese Exclusion Era
A federal investigation reveals how corrupt officials exploited the Chinese Exclusion Act for profit by forging entry certificates.