Research the archive
Narrow 25,688 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 5 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1910 | 1 |
21 stories matching gasp
- Guns at the Polls: Seattle’s First Ward Primary Erupts in a Street Brawl
Sheriff Woolery and saloon man John Considine tried to seize a Republican primary by arresting the election judges; Chief Rogers and his police fought back with warrants, clubs and drawn revolvers.
- A Wooden Pistol Emptied the King County Jail
Thomas Blanck, awaiting appeal for murder, locked the night jailer in a cell and walked out with eight other prisoners—armed with a black wooden fake.
- The Labor Volcano That Cooled: Seattle’s Coal Strike Ends in Days
A walkout by the Knights of Labor at Newcastle and other local mines appeared to be a major escalation, but operators quickly filled the spots with non-union labor, ending the dispute before it could spark a general strike.
- The Artist and the Swindler
A Swedish immigrant artist is allegedly swindled out of his property by a local man who promised to help him return home.
- The Unstoppable March Toward Women’s Suffrage
A labor newspaper reflects on the sophisticated campaign for the women's vote, arguing that if the home is a woman's sphere, then her voice in government is essential.
- The Hoodooed Ship That Left Three Dead
At Port Townsend, sailors call the Linlithgowshire cursed after a third officer is killed—and the ship’s recent history makes the word stick.
- A Lonely Death on the Way to the Hospital
An unidentified man, likely a former builder suffering from dropsy, dies in the arms of a jailer while being transported to Providence Hospital.
- A Fatal Ride on the Grant Street Line
Jack Collins, a nurse at the poor farm, met an instant death after attempting to navigate the rails while intoxicated.
- A Life Lost in the Sewer Trenches
A laborer was crushed by falling rock in a Whatcom sewer trench while his comrades helplessly watched.
- A Centralia Tragedy: A Logger's Jealous Rage
After a week away at a logging camp, a man returns home to commit a double murder-suicide, leaving behind a chilling note.
- They Ran Him to Earth at Kent
After a jailbreak and a three-day manhunt, the Northwest's most wanted outlaw died in a roadside gunfight — but not before wounding one of the deputies who cornered him.
- Miners Trapped in Newcastle Cave-In
Two workers survived a terrifying collapse in the Coal Creek mine after being pinned under four feet of rock and coal for ninety minutes.
- The Fatal Dance of Washington's Ground Squirrels
Scientists at the state agricultural college tried to wipe out crop-destroying rodents with bacteria—and found a native plague that sent infected squirrels spinning until they dropped.
- The Professor Who Escaped the Shackles: A Seattle Spiritualist’s Audacious Escape
In July 1876, Professor S.S. Baldwin drew a crowd at Yesler’s Hall not for his spiritualist tricks, but for his daring escape from handcuffs and leg irons—a feat that left the audience gasping and proved he was no fraud.
- The Tragedy at the Medicine Bottle: A Seattle Child’s Fatal Mistake
In a heartbreaking incident that has gripped the community, three-year-old Howard Pontius drank from what he thought was a treat, but was actually his mother’s morphine prescription for a cold.
- A Tragic End for a Colfax Pioneer
A respected leader in Colfax social and church circles takes her own life during a period of mental decline.
- The Water Pump's Final Gasp
Seattle's water supply system faces a crisis as pumps fail under the strain of an overtaxed city during an unusually cold winter.
- Gas Poisoning at the Hotel Brunswick
A young woman nearly dies after an accidental gas asphyxiation in her hotel room.
- The Sudden Passing of Captain E. A. Starr
A beloved community leader and steamship captain dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances.
- The Pugilist’s Surprise
A strongman looking for a wrestling match in early Seattle learns that a quiet demeanor doesn’t always mean a lack of spirit.
- 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.
Also about this, in other words
- The Last Breath in Walla Walla: A Mother’s Collapse as Her Son Faces the Gallows
In May 1888, John Ham was sentenced to death for murder in Washington Territory. His mother, Mrs. Pyle, broke down in court, while their co-conspirator fled the state, leaving the family to face the ultimate penalty.
- An unfortunate encounter with a detective
A citizen is fined for confronting an undercover officer after a heated exchange near the circus grounds.
- The Collapse of a Parting Speech
A surprise party for a departing resident ends in a slapstick moment when his chair gives way.
- The Courtroom Scream
A witness in a railroad injury trial lets out a blood-curdling set of shrieks from a locked room, sending the entire Federal Court into a panic.
- The Last Breath of Susie Shouts: A Mother’s Grief in the Garden Lands
In March 1877, just as the Northern Star was extolling the fertile promise of Snohomish’s tide marshes, a local family lost their four-year-old daughter to acute bronchitis at the Riverside Hotel.
- 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.
- Trapped in the Wreckage
A gas explosion in Spokane turns a bookstore into a furnace, leaving a woman to face her final moments in front of a helpless crowd.
- The Floor Gives Way: Panic and Death at Seattle’s Morris Opera House
A grand opening night turns into a nightmare when the second-story floor of the newly converted theater collapses into the stables below, killing several and injuring dozens in one of the city's earliest major disasters.