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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1928 | 1 |
20 stories matching fraught
- The Curtain Falls on the Olympic
A Tacoma theater is left in the dark after the manager fails to pay a utility bill, marking the end of a disastrous business experiment.
- Washington Territory Declares Loyalty to the Union
Legislators in the newly formed territory pass formal resolutions condemning secession and the proposed Pacific Confederacy on the eve of the Civil War.
- Territorial Legislature Declares Allegiance to the Union
As the clouds of civil war gather in the East, the Washington Territorial Legislature takes a firm stance for the preservation of the national Union.
- The Unfinished Business of Education
A reflection on school life, lifelong learning, and the ambitious spirit of Seattle’s youth in 1876.
- A Fifteen-Million-Dollar Gamble on the Horse Heaven Hills
Voters prepare for a high-stakes bond election to fund the irrigation of 50,000 acres, warning that defeat spells doom for the district.
- A Revolver in the Mouth: Immigration Conflict on the Steamship Mogul
Tensions boil over in Tacoma as federal inspectors clash with ship officers while attempting to enforce strict Chinese exclusion policies.
- The Sting at the State Capital
A political whistleblower braves public scorn to expose the bribery and influence-peddling that turned the Washington State legislature into a 'reeking cesspool.'
- The Iron Road Comes to the Sound
With the first section of the Seattle and Walla Walla railroad under heavy construction, the city braces for a transformation that promises to connect the waterfront to the mountains.
- Fire Loss Fuels Push for City Water System
After a devastating local fire, the city council faces allegations of corruption, backroom dealing, and profit-seeking at the expense of public safety.
- The Great Land Grab: 1886 Democracy vs. The Northern Pacific
At the 1886 Democratic Territorial Convention in Tacoma, delegates launched a blistering critique against the Northern Pacific Railroad for failing its promises and seizing public lands meant for settlers.
- The Ghost Papers of the Frontier
A deep dive into the volatile, high-stakes, and often short-lived history of early Washington journalism—where printing presses were subsidized by political parties and fires frequently wiped out the record.
- A Fourth of July Disaster at the Iron Works
A celebratory cannon salute leaves a local foreman maimed during Seattle's Independence Day festivities.
- Seattle Raises a Half-Million to Cut a Canal to the Sea
In a dreary year, the Queen City's newsboys, millionaires and merchants finished a voluntary $500,000 subsidy for the Lake Washington ship canal—proof, admirers said, that Seattle could fight its own battles and win.
- The Great Nude Debate: When Seattle’s Church Ladies Tried to Save Their Living Pictures
A fundraising gala at Christ Episcopal Church descended into moral panic when vestrymen declared 'living pictures' (nude art) too scandalous for the pulpit, forcing a cancellation that left donors furious and ladies defiant.
- The Library Was Not a Luxury
An 1895 editorial made the case that a free public library was civic infrastructure, not charity—and that starving it of funds betrayed the city's future.
- The Navy Wants a Freshwater Harbor in Seattle
A federal board backs the Lake Washington canal as a strategic refuge for steel ships—and a way to escape the teredo worms eating Puget Sound's timber wharves.
- Seattle’s Forgotten Filipino Poets—and the Prejudice They Turned into Verse
A 1928 Filipino Forum essay introduces Narciso Ines and a circle of Northwest poets writing beauty and protest from the margins of Seattle life.
- The Mayor's Chair Is No Bed of Roses
Olympia's old city officers resign to clear a ballot-printing challenge, the new mayor takes the oath—and both incoming and outgoing officials warn that public service brings more abuse than thanks.
- The Primary Teacher’s Plea: Why Seattle’s Schools Are Failing Our Children
Miss C.I.T. Parsons delivers a scathing indictment of the King County Teachers' Institute, arguing that cheap buildings and unqualified instructors are robbing Seattle’s youth of their potential.
- Seattle’s Post-Panic Pep Talk: Canals, Steel and Paved Streets
On New Year’s Day 1895, Seattle’s mayor and aldermen promised economy, railroad terminals and a Lake Washington canal—and insisted the Panic of 1893 was finally fading.