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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1872 | 6 |
| 1876 | 10 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 8 |
| 1880 | 4 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 16 |
| 1884 | 6 |
| 1885 | 18 |
| 1886 | 7 |
| 1887 | 21 |
| 1888 | 14 |
| 1889 | 26 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 23 |
| 1892 | 56 |
| 1893 | 70 |
| 1894 | 86 |
| 1895 | 100 |
| 1897 | 3 |
| 1898 | 6 |
| 1899 | 13 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 27 |
| 1904 | 19 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 8 |
| 1909 | 23 |
| 1910 | 4 |
| 1911 | 3 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1914 | 7 |
| 1915 | 6 |
| 1916 | 9 |
| 1917 | 10 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1923 | 4 |
| 1924 | 2 |
| 1925 | 2 |
645 stories matching explain
- 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.
- Spokane Falls Council Tackles Charter, Cash, and a Dead Horse
In August 1883, the Spokane Falls City Council met to discuss a new city charter, unpaid bills, street assessments, and the problem of a dead horse. The meeting offers a glimpse into the challenges of a growing frontier town.
- When Seattle's Mayor Took on Poverty: The 1895 Charity Bureau Meeting
At the Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Byron Phelps and local leaders discussed unemployment, aid to families, and the growing demand for relief during a depression year.
- The Murder Foretold: Three Japanese Laborers Held Without Bail
A witness testifies that one suspect predicted the killing hours in advance, and a bloody butcher knife is found in a kitchen wall. Three Japanese men are ordered held without bail for the murder of a Japanese boss near Christopher.
- A Blind Herb Doctor and the Death of a 14-Year-Old
An Olympia coroner’s jury found that Clara M. Linton died from the botanical treatments of Dr. William T. Campbell, a blind patent-medicine practitioner who promised her father a cure.
- A Fight for the Right to a Shave in Pioneer Square
H. R. Cayton, editor of a Black Republican weekly, is thrown out of a barber shop after the proprietor demands an old debt, sparking a scuffle and a smashed window.
- 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.
- The Dust That Cost a Dollar: Kennewick’s Summer of Dry Streets
With city coffers empty and saloon licenses expired, the Commercial Club faces a parching summer. Will business owners pay for water, or let the dust settle?
- The City Hall Gambling Den
When police raided the local underworld, the city’s courtroom was transformed into an impromptu warehouse for illicit gaming gear.
- The 10 Percent Rake-Off That Put Tacoma's Water Board on Trial
A job printer's testimony blows open an inquiry into the Tacoma Board of Public Works, where the president admits he knows little about running the city's water and electric plants—and a councilman asks if he has any shame.
- The Town Meeting Catechism
Taxpayers pack Denny Hall to grill the school board over building costs and teacher salaries during the 'hard times' of 1894.
- The Legislators Who Came to See a Ditch—and Left Believers
A steamboat tour of Smith Cove and Lake Union turns Eastern Washington lawmakers into ship-canal converts.
- The Almshouse Grand Jury Faces a Conflict of Interest
Jurors with business ties to the contractor under investigation are allowed to remain on the case after an unusual courtroom scene.
- 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.
- The Missing Will That Would Have Given Seattle a Library
Henry Yesler's widow and two doctors are arrested, accused of burning a will that left the pioneer's fortune—and his mansion—to the city.
- The Unsanctioned Heavyweight Brawl in Everett
A six-round bout between two Seattle men leaves the local marshal scrambling to explain why the law failed to stop the illegal fighting.
- The Delegate Who Sold Seattle’s Future for Five Thousand Dollars
A scathing editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch accuses Territorial Delegate George Freeman Willard of betraying Seattle’s interests—specifically the mud flats of Duwamish Bay—to secure his own political and financial gain, while simultaneously accepting bribes from rival railroad companies.
- A Two-Dollar Chip, a Drawn Revolver, and a Death in the Hotel Barroom
A gambler named Page goes on trial for shooting Harry Fraser dead in the barroom of Seattle's Northern Hotel — a killing that began over the change from a $20 bill.
- The Evangelists and the Brothel
In 1887, a group of women conducted prayer meetings inside Seattle’s houses of prostitution, confronting the grim reality of life for the women living and working within.
- The Ring of Corruption: How King County’s Auditor Hid the Books
A scathing editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch exposes Gardner Kellogg for refusing to explain thousands of dollars in missing county funds, accusing him of treating public office as private property.
- The Franklin Mine Dead Were Buried. Then the Miners Went Back Down.
A relief fund swells with donations from Eddyville millmen and Seattle readers as surviving miners reopen the levels that did not burn.
- The Day Seattle Shut Down: Sailors, Longshoremen and the First Labor Day
Banks, courts and public offices closed for the first time in the city's history, 2,500 people packed Pioneer Place for a 36-minute tug-of-war, and a labor orator told the crowd that good wages are the engine of everyone's prosperity.
- The Dredgers Were Coming: Seattle Builds Its Tide Flats
Engineers surveyed bulkheads, plotted fill, and prepared to bring two big dredgers to the Duwamish tide flats—while speculators rushed applications to buy the new land.
- The Councilman Who Lived Across the State Line
A lawyer’s residency challenge nearly voided a railroad franchise—and forced Councilman Eckerson to offer his resignation.
- The Trial of the Man Who Named Himself 'Defendant'
A former newspaper man takes the witness stand in Seattle to explain his eccentric public preachings, his 'divine' inspirations, and his rejection of the name Jones.
Also about this, in other words
- The Invisible Milky Way in a Glass of Wine
A scientific lecture from 1878 explores the 'vital ether' and the microscopic life forces that drive fermentation.
- The Invisible Army Under the Microscope
A scientific lecture delivered in Snohomish contemplates the origins of life, the invisible world of bacteria, and the processes of decay.
- The Art of Getting Helped
A clever traveler tricks two impatient men into doing the labor he was too tired to finish.
- The Anatomy of a 'Drunk' in 1883
A local observer breaks down the social mechanics of the saloon-crawl, from the first casual invitation to the inevitable collapse on the floor.
- The Confusion of the Ballot: Understanding the Initiative and Referendum
Voters struggle to decipher the complex state measures governing lawmaking, recall, and public utilities ahead of the November 7th election.
- The Riotous Destruction of a Home
When a house caught fire, neighbors and bystanders didn't just help extinguish the flames—they tore the home apart.
- A Saw Blade, a Slipped Foot, and a Surgeon's Race to Save a Worker's Arm
A worker's foot slipped against a circular saw, severing the artery and nerve in his right arm; doctors ligated the artery and stitched the nerve.
- The Mystery of the Counterfeit Dollar
A single bill makes its way through the local economy, settling debts until it hits the bank, a counterfeit, and finally, the collection plate.