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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 6 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 2 |
| 1861 | 3 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 45 |
| 1877 | 27 |
| 1878 | 18 |
| 1879 | 3 |
| 1880 | 10 |
| 1882 | 7 |
| 1883 | 33 |
| 1884 | 16 |
| 1885 | 60 |
| 1886 | 31 |
| 1887 | 31 |
| 1888 | 19 |
| 1889 | 67 |
| 1890 | 5 |
| 1891 | 38 |
| 1892 | 107 |
| 1893 | 110 |
| 1894 | 111 |
| 1895 | 72 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1898 | 8 |
| 1899 | 20 |
| 1900 | 5 |
| 1902 | 3 |
| 1903 | 59 |
| 1904 | 52 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 8 |
| 1909 | 44 |
| 1910 | 7 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1914 | 3 |
| 1915 | 7 |
| 1916 | 20 |
| 1917 | 8 |
| 1918 | 2 |
| 1923 | 2 |
| 1924 | 5 |
| 1925 | 2 |
| 1928 | 1 |
1,103 stories matching fear
- The Silent Runaway
A young wife vanishes from her home, leaving behind only the question of whether she was fleeing her husband's unreasonable demands or his silent pressure.
- The Plague at the Doorstep: Seattle’s Battle Against Smallpox in 1877
As smallpox ravages Port Orchard and Salmon Bay, the city's Health Officer takes drastic quarantine measures against Indigenous communities, highlighting the fragile public health infrastructure of early Seattle.
- The Doctor Who Vanished: A Seattle Physician’s Fearful Disappearance Sparks Murder Theories
Dr. H.P. Harrington of Oakdale left his patients and his town in mid-April, leaving behind a trail of illness, a warning from a lynching victim, and friends who fear he was silenced.
- The Silent Men of the Powder Mill
Working in the volatile shadow of Seattle's 1872 gunpowder industry, men labored in constant, hushed fear of an accidental explosion that could erase their existence in an instant.
- The Rifle War: Knights of Labor vs. Mine Owners in Newcastle
A bitter feud between rival labor unions in King County erupts into armed conflict, with rifles smuggled from Seattle to support striking miners.
- Vanished on the Snohomish
A yacht found drifting near the mouth of the Snohomish River sparks fears of a drowning tragedy involving a party of five.
- Who Gets to Rewrite Seattle's Charter — the Council or the People?
A crowded, argumentative hearing at City Hall: the Chamber of Commerce is accused of a 'somersault,' a lawyer sneers at 'the people,' and Dr. Ramsey answers a councilman with a line of Latin.
- Anti-Asian Sentiment and Fear in the Labor Journal
The official organ of the Everett Trades Council argues against Japanese labor competition, citing fears of invasion and industrial displacement.
- The Doctor and the Frog
When a woman believed she had swallowed a frog, a Seattle physician orchestrated a surgical hoax to save her peace of mind.
- The Constitutional Fears of a Growing Territory
As Washington prepares for statehood, editorial warnings emerge that restricting capital and corporate investment could paralyze the region’s economic momentum.
- The Sunnyside Canal's New Problem Was Too Much Water
Farmers who once feared the canal could never water the whole valley are now drowning in seepage — so a private company has been chartered to drain the land before the state district can get its paperwork done.
- The Miser and the Missing Gold
A cautionary tale of a man who loved his gold more than his own peace of mind, only to find that hoarding it under a stone offered no security from the opportunistic thief.
- The Day the Hammock Betrayed George
A classic tale of a lover's spat and a very literal bit of karmic justice.
- A Mountain of Coffins: Franklin Buries Its Miners
After a mine fire killed 37 men, the coal town of Franklin held a day of funerals—five graves at Black Diamond, three Italian miners on a hillside, and widows whose grief doctors feared would kill them.
- The Dynamite Fiend of Oilman: A Lynch Mob’s Tragic Mistake
When a violent feud in King County’s coal fields ended in a massacre, the community turned to vigilante justice. But when they hanged the wrong man, the real killer walked free.
- The Lynch Law in Conconully
After settlers in Okanogan County took an Indigenous prisoner from jail to hang him, local officials scrambled to arm the white population, fearing a retaliatory uprising.
- Washington Celebrates Equal Suffrage
Legislators, judges, and citizens gather in Olympia to hail the territory's historic move to enfranchise women.
- The Dead No One Could Name at Wellington
A coroner fears a score of Great Northern avalanche victims will go to a potter's field; 78 bodies have been recovered and the claim agent counts 95 dead.
- Death Reared Its Horrid Head: Steam Heater Explosion Kills Two Men in Downtown Seattle
A careless Japanese fireman left a boiler unattended at Second and Washington, causing a catastrophic explosion that killed one man instantly and mortally wounded another.
- The Vanishing of Little Nellie: Seattle’s Gypsy Panic
In June 1903, the disappearance of a toddler in West Seattle sparked a city-wide manhunt and deep-seated prejudice against a traveling circus troupe.
- A Neighborhood Under Siege: The Fatal Feud of Fourth Street
A quiet funeral for Fred M. Hall masks a violent, month-long dispute between neighbors that ended in a fatal shooting and a town paralyzed by fear.
- Smallpox Fears Disrupt Trains and Border Crossings
As smallpox cases spiked in British Columbia, Seattleites feared the contagion was crossing the border via Indian canoes and passenger trains.
- Chinese Merchants Return to Tacoma
A trading company opens in the Bostwick Block, sparking fears of renewed anti-Chinese violence.
- The Sea Gives Up a Member of the Ganiard Party
Four months after a storm swallowed a family of musicians bound for a dance, the body of young Wesley Ganiard is recovered near the mouth of the Snohomish River — but his mother is still missing.
- Seattle's Chinese Community Faces Forced Registration
Following a Supreme Court ruling, local merchants express fear, defiance, and uncertainty over the restrictive Chinese Exclusion Act.
Also about this, in other words
- The Panic-Proof Man
A boisterous braggart in a Grand River grocery store claims he can stop any theater panic with a single revolver—until a fake fire prank proves his cowardice.
- The Man Who Feared His Own Gun
An erratic man, fearful of imagined burglars, asks the police to hold his revolver to prevent himself from doing harm, only to demand it back when he gets nervous again.
- Freedom from a Nightmare
A woman testifies to years of physical abuse in the Gilman mines, leading to a swift divorce judgment.
- A Rabies Scare Set Finley’s Dogs on Notice—and Its Poet to Rhyming
A cow and a pig died after violent fits near Finley in November 1916, prompting a state veterinarian, chained dogs, and a local poet’s curfew verse.
- The Bull That Terrorized Snoqualmie
A ferocious bull escapes captivity and leads the community on a chaotic chase, narrowly missing a man with an axe.
- Terrified Passengers Flee as Steamship Hits Snag on Snohomish River
A routine trip turns into a frantic scene of life-preserver panic when the steamboat Fanny Lake hits an underwater obstacle just a mile from city docks.
- The Cheney War Scare
A false alarm regarding an Indigenous uprising sends the town of Cheney into a panicked frenzy.
- Smallpox Scare Triggers Camp Quarantine
Fear grips the Kittitas country as laborers flee a camp riddled with the 'dread malady' before authorities can secure a quarantine.