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50 stories matching firearm
- The Makah Nation’s Fleet Challenges the Seal Hunters
With firearms banned, the Makah sealers of Neah Bay turn to traditional hunting methods, outmaneuvering white commercial competitors.
- The Midnight Mystery of Alki Park
A recent arrival to Seattle is left wounded in the dark after an unseen assailant fires twice into his hand during a walk through the woods.
- The Legislature Votes Itself a Territorial Rifle
In a moment of classic political opportunism, the Council passes a measure granting every member a firearm at public expense.
- The Bering Sea's Brazen Seal Poachers, as Told by a Port Townsend Captain
A sealing schooner back from five months in the Bering Sea describes a coordinated scheme of lookouts, false alibis and cached skins used to outwit the revenue cutters.
- Celebrating the Lunar New Year in 1863
Olympia's Chinese residents celebrated the New Year with traditional firecrackers and tea, an occasion marked by a local editor with a mix of curiosity and cultural commentary.
- Vigilante Mob Targets Coal Creek Chinese Miners
A masked party of men armed with firearms forced Chinese laborers from their homes, leaving their settlement in flames.
- The Labor Unrest on the Narrow Gauge
When Chinese track laborers struck for higher wages on the railroad, they were met with firearms and immediate termination.
- A Fatal Accident on the Tide Flats
A local hotel proprietor dies in a hunting accident near the Tacoma waterfront.
- Domestic Dispute Leads to Arrest in Richland
A man faces jail time after allegedly threatening his wife with a firearm during a domestic dispute.
- The Midnight Vandal at the Standard Office
An editorial office in Olympia faces a late-night visit from an assailant armed with an effigy and firearms.
- Tragedy at Port Ludlow: A Young Life Lost to a Hunting Accident
A 16-year-old boy dies following a tragic accident involving a firearm while walking near a logging site, highlighting the dangers inherent in the Pacific Northwest frontier.
- 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.
- Kennewick Citizens Nab Depot Burglar
A quick-thinking group of Kennewick locals catches a safe-cracker in the act at the old passenger depot.
- The Tragedy of a Careless Hunter
In an era of casual firearm handling, a tragic accident in the Snohomish area leaves a man dead and prompts a warning to residents.
- The Teenager Who Stole a Shotgun for a Souvenir
A local rancher tracked his stolen firearm all the way to Ephrata after a brazen daytime theft from his cabin.
- Bullets Through the Parlor: A Waterfront Shooting Spree Terrifies a Seattle Family
A late-night rifle-and-revolver crowd near Stone & Burnett's wharf has turned Mrs. P. Andrews's house into a target, and police still cannot find the shooters.
- The Mystery of the Duwamish River Murder
A Norwegian immigrant is found brutally murdered in a ravine, leaving behind a cold trail, a missing peddler, and a community unsettled by itinerant crime.
- A Gunsmith’s Final Misfire
A lifelong firearms expert and pioneer gunsmith meets a tragic, accidental end at his home near Shelton.
- A Father’s Gun, A Mother’s Heart, and a Daughter’s Paralysis: The White River Tragedy
When a father tried to stop his daughter's elopement with a shotgun, the resulting chaos killed her mother and left the bride paralyzed. A local paper reports on the 'terrible tragedy' that ruined an entire family in moments.
- The 1885 Fight to Protect the Workingman’s Tools and Bedding
A proposed territorial law sought to expand property exemptions from debt, shielding everything from a mechanic's tools to a family's bedding from creditors.
- The Bering Sea Arbitration: A Moral Victory for the Seal
A Paris tribunal rules against American claims of exclusive jurisdiction, yet grants the U.S. the stringent conservation regulations they sought to save the fur seal from extinction.
- The Sealing Wars: Customs vs. Navy
Tensions rise at Port Townsend as federal authorities clash over how to enforce restrictive sealing laws on local schooners.
- Tragedy at the Puyallup Indian School
A young student is killed in a firearm accident during a gathering on the reservation.
- A Father’s Deadly Lesson
A tragic household accident on the White River ends in the death of a toddler when a borrowed rifle discharges during a demonstration.
- Tragedy at the Farm: A Young Life Lost to Gunfire
A tragic accident near Tacoma claims the life of a young man, sparking a solemn reminder of firearm safety in the rural landscape of the 1880s.
Also about this, in other words
- The Penitentiary Upgrades Its Arsenal
Fearing prison riots, the Washington state penitentiary outfits guards with high-velocity Winchester rifles.
- The Deadly Cost of the 'Pistol Habit'
A fiery editorial argues that the rampant culture of carrying concealed weapons in the Northwest is transforming citizens into outlaws and fueling a cycle of preventable street murders.
- A Loaded Rifle Turns a Spokane Hunting Trip Into a Fatal Accident
Warren Clark, a recent arrival looking to invest in the city, dies in ten minutes after his own gun fires as he climbs back into a wagon.
- The Boy Who Wanted a Gun: Seattle’s Satirical Take on Sunday School Prizes
A local columnist mocks the absurdity of juvenile weekly papers offering .32-caliber revolvers to boys who recruit eight subscribers, arguing that this 'philanthropy' teaches murder rather than morality.
- The Midnight Shot at the Eldorado
A quiet night in a Seattle saloon turns into a tense legal spectacle after a musician goes on a shooting spree during a restless sleep.
- The Deadly Cost of a 'Sporting' Joke in Sullivan County
A tragic accident near a church gathering leaves a seventeen-year-old girl dead after a careless prank with a loaded shotgun.
- A Courtroom Gunfire Mishap in Walla Walla
A sheriff's demonstration of a murder weapon goes awry, nearly striking a spectator in the courtroom.
- The Great Territorial Rifle Scandal
Legislators in the late assembly faced public backlash for voting themselves government-issued military rifles as personal loot.