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1. 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.

   Apr 10, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay

2. Who Gets the Salmon? A Fish-Trap Bill Stirs a Fight Over Foreign Canners

   A Blaine sawyer told Olympia that the Biggs fish bill would hand the Fraser River fishery to a few wealthy trap owners—and to British Columbia canners.

   Mar 14, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyWork & Pay · Follow the Money

3. The Salmon-Trap Border War

   Oregon fish officers arrested Washington fishermen for violating a Sunday closure—then found themselves indicted for kidnapping.

   Jun 22, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerChinook, Pacific CountyFollow the Money · City Hall

4. Camp Kelpie: A Seattle Hunting Party in the Last Great Bear Country

   In 1895, Seattle sportsmen pitched camp on Hood Canal between the Duckabush and Hamma Hamma rivers and found a wilderness thick with black bear, salmon, and one very unlucky tenderfoot.

   Mar 3, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerBrinnon, Jefferson CountyStrange But True

5. A Cannery, a Reef, and the Indians’ Right to Fish

   A federal injunction stops the Point Roberts packing company from taking sockeye while the cannery argues the reef was never reserved to the Lummi—and that 130 jobs hang in the balance.

   Jun 20, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPoint Roberts, Whatcom CountyFollow the Money · Exclusion & Resistance

6. The Great Carp Distribution of 1885

   A federal fish car arrived in Seattle from Washington D.C., sparking a city-wide frenzy as residents rushed to claim their share of a new, 'hardy' species.

   Nov 19, 1885Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

7. The First Cannery on the Sound: Vining’s Giant Fish Factory Opens in Mukilteo

   A new industrial giant rises on the Puget Sound waterfront, promising to feed Seattle and bring prosperity to a small town.

   Jul 28, 1877The Northern StarMukilteo, Snohomish CountyWork & Pay

8. The Great Columbia Salmon Run Was Dying — and Oregon and Washington Couldn't Agree Who Should Save It

   In 1894 a Portland memorial to Congress warned that the Chinook were vanishing: a $31.5 million trade, thousands of jobs, and a two-state turf war over who got to regulate the river.

   Jul 14, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerIlwaco, Pacific CountyFollow the Money

9. The 'Oscar and Hattie' Proves a Bounty of Fish

   A schooner returns from Alaska, signaling the dawn of a new independent fishing industry in Puget Sound.

   Jul 12, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

10. The Cannery Boom: Salmon, Chinamen, and the Gold Rush of the Columbia

    A detailed look at the massive industrial scale of the Pacific Northwest's salmon industry in 1877, revealing the harsh labor conditions and the central role of Chinese workers.

    May 21, 1877The Daily IntelligencerAstoria, Pacific CountyWork & Pay

11. The West Seattle Seine Clash

    A standoff on the flats between unionized fishermen and independent dealers turns violent as the harbor becomes a theater of industrial war.

    Sep 20, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay

12. The Great Yakima River Fish War

    Local leaders are locked in a standoff with the state government over salmon rights during food shortages.

    Sep 13, 1917The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyFollow the Money

13. The Devil-Fish of the Chehalis

    Two local fishermen survive a terrifying encounter with a massive, tentacled monster in the waters of Grays Harbor.

    Feb 18, 1892Aberdeen HeraldAberdeen, Grays Harbor CountyStrange But True

14. The Fight to Reopen the River

    As high costs of living plague local farmers, the Courier-Reporter calls on the fisheries commission to restore public fishing rights on the lower Yakima River.

    May 10, 1917The Kennewick Courier-ReporterProsser Dam, Prosser, Benton CountyFollow the Money

15. The Unharvested Wealth of Grays Harbor

    An editorial call to action urges local businessmen to invest in a cold storage plant and a fishing fleet to challenge Puget Sound's monopoly.

    Oct 6, 1892Aberdeen HeraldAberdeen, Grays Harbor CountyBoom & Bust

16. The Illegal Dam Blocking the Yakima River

    A local resident exposes how a private timber dam is choking off fish runs and violating state law near Easton.

    Jun 14, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerEaston, Kittitas CountyFollow the Money

17. New Life for the High Lakes

    A state-funded hatchery at the head of Lake Chelan begins an ambitious program to stock isolated waters with game fish.

    Sep 4, 1903The Evening StatesmanStehekin River, Chelan, Chelan County

18. The Fish That Confessed: A Sturgeon’s Warning to a Sweeping Reporter

    In this bizarre piece of 1876 satire, a newspaperman encounters a talking sturgeon at the market who reveals he is a reincarnated swindler, warning the reporter that frauds become fish after death.

    Oct 28, 1876Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

19. An Ill-Fated Fishing Excursion to Brown's Wharf

    Local residents charter a boat named 'Union' for a fishing trip, only to end up mud-bound and fishless.

    May 17, 1862Washington StandardOlympia, Thurston CountyStrange But True

20. The Salmon Wars of Grays Harbor: How Indigenous Engineers Built a River-Scale Machine

    Long before the white man’s mills choked the harbor, Native communities along the Quinault and Grays Harbor rivers operated sophisticated hydraulic traps that captured thousands of salmon—a feat of engineering described in 1890 as 'thrilling sport' yet vital to survival.

    Nov 13, 1890Aberdeen HeraldAberdeen, Grays Harbor CountyFollow the Money · Strange But True

21. The Salmon War: A 19th-Century Plea for Equitable Fishing

    A sea captain argues that restrictive fishing regulations are designed to benefit luxury fur traders at the expense of the working class’s food supply.

    May 12, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

22. The Salmon War at Point Roberts: Lummi Tribe Battles Cannery Giant Over Treaty Fishing Rights

    A federal judge is set to decide whether the Alaska Packing Association's fish traps illegally block the salmon run, pitting Indigenous treaty rights against a quarter-million-dollar cannery industry.

    Jun 23, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPoint Roberts, Whatcom CountyFollow the Money · Exclusion & Resistance

23. Defending Treaty Fishing Rights

    Federal authorities signal a crackdown on illegal fishing, reaffirming Indigenous treaty rights from 1866.

    Dec 31, 1891The Yakima HeraldYakima, Yakima CountyExclusion & Resistance

24. The Dollar Deed: How a Husband’s ‘Gift’ to His Wife Cost Him His Land Claim

    In a dispute over who settled first on public land, the Register of the Olympia Land Office ruled that W.S. Fish could not claim priority because he had technically transferred his donation claim to his wife for just one dollar.

    Nov 30, 1860Washington StandardOlympia, Thurston CountyFollow the Money

25. The Salmon Wars of 1891: Puget Sound’s Battle for Fishing Sovereignty

    While the Columbia River dictated state fishing laws, Washington’s northern waters faced an existential threat, prompting a legislative clash over spawning cycles and local control.

    Feb 27, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyFollow the Money

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