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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1889 | 8 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
21 stories matching grabber
- The Land Grabber of Kittitas Valley
A sick man discovers his homestead has been stolen out from under him while he was confined to his bed.
- The Tide-Land Grab
As Washington prepares to become a state, newspaper editors fight a shadowy campaign by land speculators to seize public tidelands before the new constitution can protect them.
- The Secret Scheme to Seize the Tide Flats
Prominent Seattle businessmen form an organization to lobby the constitutional convention for control of the waterfront.
- The Tide Flat Grabbers: Seattle’s Fight for Its Own Shoreline
As the statehood deadline looms, a fierce editorial battle erupts over who owns the valuable mudflats of Elliott Bay—speculators or the public?
- The Land Sharks of the Sound
A Seattle real estate firm is trapping local farmers in predatory contracts that cloud property titles for years, leaving settlers fighting for their deeds.
- The Shadow of the Railroad: Tide Lands and Public Trust
As Washington state's constitutional convention drags on, delegates engage in a fierce legislative showdown over the fate of public tide lands, pitted against powerful rail and improvement corporations.
- The Street-Level Cost of Filth
A local observer decries the sanitary conditions of Seattle's waterfront and argues that private enterprise requires public hygiene.
- Seattle Council Accused in 1889 Tide Land Dispute
Tensions boil over at the Washington State Constitutional Convention as delegates clash over who owns the city’s waterfront—the people or the speculators.
- The Minor Land Grabbers of Port Angeles
Federal authorities rule that underage settlers may claim townsite lots, sparking a unique legal experiment.
- The Nickel-in-the-Slot Return
Following a court ruling, Walla Walla's gambling machines reappear on city streets, leaving police and officials at odds over enforcement.
- The Rancher and the Land-Grabbers
A San Juan Island homesteader faces trial for fighting off a crew of surveyors intent on jumping his claim.
- The Fight Against Washington’s Land Barons
An 1877 editorial warns that unchecked land speculation in the Washington Territory is turning away settlers and creating a class of 'land fiends' who gobble up public resources.
- The Garden Valley of the Territory
A correspondent ventures up the White River to survey the booming hops trade, the friction between farmers and the local cheese factory, and the desperate need for a railroad.
- The Squatter’s Defense
A Seattle homesteader fights back against accusations of ‘land grabbing’ in an era of rapid frontier development.
- 1889 Plan to Sell Washington’s Tide Lands
A scathing editorial from 1889 warns that the state's proposed policy for selling tide lands is a 'farce' designed to gift public waterfront to private speculators.
- The Times Takes on a Traveling Carnival
When a traveling Mardi Gras show arrived in Tacoma with false promises, the local newspaper launched a crusade to protect the public’s wallet.
- The Great Tide-Land Grab
As Seattle approaches statehood, a newspaper sounds the alarm against land speculators plotting to seize the valuable tide-lands from the public.
- The Tacoma Gold Rush That Was Salted With Quicksilver
A mining journal exposes how placer claims on Tacoma school land turned a public trust into a speculative jackpot—complete with imported gold, alleged bribery, and a land office that kept saying yes.
- The Land Grabbers of Snohomish: How Loggers Hoarded Tide Marshes
A local editorial exposes the speculative tactics of transient loggers who are buying up fertile river bottomlands for quick profit, leaving the valley's agricultural potential in limbo.
- The Tide Land Grab: How Seattle's Future Was Sold Before It Was Even a State
As Washington Territory inches toward statehood in early 1889, speculators are already circling the waterfront, buying up oyster beds and timber rights in a desperate rush to claim the city's most valuable real estate.
- The $2 Million School-Land Grab
A federal land inspector was accused of rushing a hearing to help speculators claim Tacoma's School Section 16—land the state said was worth $2 million.