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58 stories matching folli
- The Judge's Warning Against Mob Rule in 1885 Seattle
Facing rising anti-Chinese violence, Chief Justice Greene of Washington Territory warned grand jurors that economic cycles and social grievances do not justify the 'folly of Xerxes'—mob violence.
- The 'Folly' of Tacoma: A Steamboat Traveler’s Skeptical Report
An 1876 visitor finds the new city of Tacoma lacking and highlights the tragic loss of local boys at sea.
- The Beacon Hill Sewer Scandal
A taxpayer alleges that City Engineer Thomson’s engineering choices were costly, unskillful, and a 'woeful piece of folly.'
- The Great Chehalis Road Debate
A local taxpayer argues that a proposed $224,500 infrastructure bond is an act of folly that ignores the region's most pressing agricultural needs.
- The Broken Promises of Washington Territory
James G. Swan argues that federal mismanagement and bureaucratic neglect are the true causes of unrest, urging the government to honor its treaty obligations to Indigenous nations.
- The Right to Protect a Source in 1887 Seattle
A landmark court ruling in Seattle established that a journalist cannot be legally compelled to reveal their sources, protecting the freedom of the press in the burgeoning territory.
- The Sound Goes Silent: Steamboat Crews Strike Over Wage Cuts
A coordinated walkout by skilled engineers and captains across Puget Sound brings mail service to a halt as operators face the reality of losing their irreplaceable workforce.
- The Fraser River Gold Rush and the Fear of 'Foreign' Highways
How the 1858 gold fever in British Columbia forced the United States to confront its own regional expansionism and the presence of a 'foreign highway' at its northern border.
- The Mob is Not a Court of Law
An editorial reflection on the recent lynching of Bill at Colfax, arguing that a community’s failure to maintain a just legal system does not justify vigilante violence.
- Tacoma's $1.75 Million Water Deal Went Bad—and Taxpayers Were Just Catching On
A special dispatch from Tacoma reports that the city's purchase of the old water plant was sold on a false promise of mountain water, while a new bidder offers a cheaper gravity system.
- Walla Walla's Water War: Springs, a Bank, and a $250,000 Bond
In December 1903, an editorial backed Councilman Glasford's plan to use Thomas Springs rather than buy bank-owned ranch land or bond for Mill Creek water.
- Fatal Currents: City Under Fire for Electrocution
Electricians question the city's management after two men died from a high-tension wire grounding failure.
- The Girl Who Danced on the Boom: A Seattle Near-Miss
In October 1876, a young girl’s reckless game on a floating log boom in Elliott Bay nearly ended in tragedy, sparking warnings about parental neglect and the dangers of Seattle’s waterfront.
- The Great Northern Pacific Railroad Robbery
In 1878, Seattle citizens packed a town hall to condemn the Northern Pacific Railroad, alleging that corporate greed and land fraud were strangling the territory's economic future.
- King County Democrats Revolt Over an Anti-Canal Platform
At the 1892 state Democratic convention, a plank against the Lake Washington canal so enraged Seattle Democrats that many vowed to vote for Republican John H. McGraw — “patriotism first, partisanship after that.”
- Tacoma’s Water Works Scandal
A grand jury struggles to uncover the truth behind allegations of bribery and corruption in Tacoma's municipal water system purchase.
- The Open River Was Supposed to Pay Dividends. Was Anyone Counting?
A year after the Celilo Canal opened, the Courier-Reporter asked whether the Inland Empire would actually use the river—and bragged that Kennewick was already the Columbia’s busiest freight town this side of Celilo.
- A Damning Report on Seattle's Water Works
A Chamber of Commerce committee found a hastily built municipal water system, political patronage and missing maps—and urged Seattle to hire a professional engineer at $5,000 a year.
- A Plan to Move Indigenous People to San Juan Island Stirs a Border Dispute
A Victoria proposal to resettle Native people on disputed San Juan Island draws a sharp warning from Washington Territory.
- The Ill-Fated Voyage of the Duchess of Argyle
A majestic ship meets a violent end against the rocky cliffs of the Washington coast, leaving a crew stranded and a vessel shattered.
- A Tourist's Critique of Seattle's 'Suicidal' Anti-Chinese Policy
A visiting businessman from Pittsburg warns that Seattle's exclusion of Chinese laborers is an economically self-defeating folly that harms the city's trade potential.
- An Editorial on Local Interracial Marriage
A 1909 Labor Journal editorial comments on a marriage between a white woman and a Japanese man in Seattle, reflecting the racial tensions of the era.
- Tacoma’s War on Rubbish
The Anti-Compulsory Vaccination society leads a citywide cleanup campaign, deputizing police to hunt down vacant-lot litter.
- The Price of the Iron Horse
Boosterism, county subsidies, and the hidden cost of corporate expansion in Walla Walla.
- The Senatorial Deadlock Breaks
A Spokane representative abandons his candidate, marking the turning point in a long, gridlocked legislative contest.