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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 9 |
| 1858 | 3 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 7 |
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1864 | 2 |
| 1872 | 19 |
| 1876 | 98 |
| 1877 | 66 |
| 1878 | 61 |
| 1879 | 6 |
| 1880 | 14 |
| 1882 | 16 |
| 1883 | 89 |
| 1884 | 34 |
| 1885 | 71 |
| 1886 | 35 |
| 1887 | 35 |
| 1888 | 55 |
| 1889 | 103 |
| 1890 | 23 |
| 1891 | 79 |
| 1892 | 209 |
| 1893 | 171 |
| 1894 | 186 |
| 1895 | 204 |
| 1897 | 8 |
| 1898 | 17 |
| 1899 | 38 |
| 1900 | 11 |
| 1902 | 4 |
| 1903 | 93 |
| 1904 | 50 |
| 1905 | 6 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 31 |
| 1909 | 83 |
| 1910 | 12 |
| 1911 | 3 |
| 1912 | 6 |
| 1914 | 17 |
| 1915 | 14 |
| 1916 | 33 |
| 1917 | 18 |
| 1918 | 5 |
| 1923 | 8 |
| 1924 | 14 |
| 1925 | 4 |
2,077 stories matching half
- A 1.5-Million-Acre Taking: The Colville Reservation Was About to Be Thrown Open
Federal officials and land agents anticipated a rush of white homesteaders into the southern half of the Colville Indian Reservation, framing Indigenous land as 'closed' and state growth as its natural destiny.
- Seattle Loses by Half a Length—and Wins the Lake
In August 1894, Seattle's first amateur regatta drew crowds to the Madison Street shore of Lake Washington for a four-oared thriller against Portland and Burrard Inlet. The home crew lost by less than half a length, but set a course record and gave the young city a new civic stage.
- A Creameryman Confesses: 'Our Business Conditions Are Rotten'
In an unusually candid letter to The Ranch, the manager of the Rockwood Creamery Co. says reckless price-cutting and smooth-talking rivals are cheating Washington dairy farmers and quietly ruining the state's butter.
- The Marsh That Could Feed a City: Snohomish’s Hidden Goldmine
A detailed survey of the vast wetlands between Snohomish and the Skykomish River reveals thousands of acres of fertile land, drained by new ditches and accessible by scow, waiting for developers to turn swamp into wealth.
- Seattle's Bid to Be the Liverpool of America
In 1895, boosters imagined a Lake Washington ship canal turning Puget Sound into a freshwater harbor for world commerce, coal trade, and naval power.
- They Climbed Rainier First—and Slept in a Sulphur-Scented Ice Cave
In 1870, Hazard Stevens and P. B. Van Trump reached Mount Rainier's summit after a brutal 10½-hour climb, then spent a freezing night beside volcanic steam vents.
- The Day Burrard Inlet Rowed Away With Lake Washington
At the first amateur regatta ever held on Lake Washington, British Columbia crews dominated the junior fours and senior singles while Seattle prepared for its turn on the water.
- The Lake Washington Land Fight That Turned on a Cabin, a Railroad Claim, and 'Crazy' Miller
A decade-long homestead contest ends with William L. Miller keeping first claim—if he or his guardian can prove it within 90 days. His rival says the cabin was never really a home.
- The Great Statehood Gamble: How Washington Territory Bet Its Future on a Coin Flip
In February 1889, Congress passed the 'Omnibus Bill' granting statehood to four territories simultaneously. For Seattle and Tacoma, this wasn't just political news—it was a high-stakes gamble that would determine their city limits, tax structures, and place in history.
- A Missing Lawyer, a $350 Deed, and the North Olympia Land Scheme
With Attorney D. P. Ballard absent, Olympia lawyers are tracing suspicious transfers in a platted addition—land already sold to dozens of owners, now used as security for a $4,000 mortgage.
- A Christmas on the Ice King: The Climb That Saw Rainier Smoking
In 1894, Major Ingraham led six men, seven homing pigeons, and a camera onto Mount Rainier’s glaciers. They came back with frostbite, a story of steam and smoke rising from the crater—and one pigeon missing.
- Under Fire on the Way to Spokane: Seattle's Militia Rode Into a Rail War
Col. Joseph Green's detachment returns from Spokane after escorting a mutinied company through burned bridges, ambushes and striker country—and the city turns out to cheer.
- The Night a Streetcar Powerhouse Fire Left Half of Seattle Dark
A pre-dawn blaze at Fifth and Pine gutted the Consolidated Street Railway plant, destroyed nearly all its cars and dynamos, crippled three lines, and blacked out everything north of Pike Street.
- A Midnight Knock, a Hidden Fortune, and a Brutal Beating on Vashon Island
Two men demand an old rancher's money, bind and club him, then ransack his cabin for a cache of cash. Seattle police arrest a suspect—and then the victim's wife.
- The Fight Over Who Can Vote: Half-Breeds and the 1854 Legislature
A heated debate erupts in the Council over whether 'half-breeds' should be granted the elective franchise, revealing deep tensions over literacy, race, and colonial control.
- The Price of a 'Sharp Practice'
An early Tacoma settler recounts how a handshake deal for a town site—and his trust in corporate promises—cost him a half-million-dollar fortune.
- The Property Battle for Old Seattle
A lawyer and property claimant fight to secure titles to a sprawling Seattle donation land claim amidst territorial legal confusion.
- The Great Skagit Jam: How Local Men Tried to Unplug the River
In 1876, a massive logjam blocked the Skagit River for miles. While officials debated expensive dredging projects, local loggers took matters into their own hands with picks and dynamite.
- Suspicious Death of Indigenous Woman Near Charleston
An Indian woman was found dead in a canoe after an evening of drinking; local authorities noted a suspicious head wound.
- Two Plans, One Spring, and a $25,000 Holdup
Walla Walla's council will let voters choose between a $191,000 pipeline up Mill Creek and a cheaper gravity system at Thomas Springs — but the editor suspects a land speculation scheme is baked into the ballot question.
- Tax Delay Threatens Seattle's First Great Paving Program
A new revenue law lets property owners postpone half their taxes until November, and the road fund is so short that the city may stop accepting new street-improvement petitions.
- The Lawyer Who Pocketed the Property
A Supreme Court ruling exposes a shady real estate scheme involving a local attorney and a disputed Tacoma property.
- The Canal That Would Make Seattle an Island
In 1883, surveyors proposed locks and canals linking Lake Union and Lake Washington to tidewater—so coal could move by water and Seattle could 'practically stand on an island.'
- The Body in the Hen House: An Unidentified Murder Near Eagle Harbor
A well-dressed stranger was found half-burned in an abandoned Kitsap County farmhouse, with only spectacles, a corkscrew, and a torn newspaper to say who he was.
- 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.
Also about this, in other words
- The Mirror in the Half-Dollar: A Gambling Cheat's Downfall
A man arrested for theft in Seattle was found carrying a doctored coin designed to help him win at cards.
- Team of Horses Nearly Plunge Into The Bay
A local expressman is injured after his runaway team bolts through railroad yards and narrowly misses a deadly drop from a coal bunker.
- A Ticket Muddle for the Militia
A breakdown in communication leaves local militiamen feeling spurned at the ballpark gates.
- The Half-Million Dollar Idea
A Tacoma inventor discovers a clever water-powered pump that draws the attention of a major syndicate.
- Seattle's First Real Street Paving
A specimen half-block is laid on Commercial Street as a test to end the era of plank roads and mud.
- The Half-Finished Skeleton on Second and University
After contractors were left hanging without payment, a court orders a developer to pay over $8,000 for a four-story building that never rose past the first floor.
- The Half Moon Bridge Collapse: A Family's Carriage Plunges into the Willapa River
A routine crossing turned to disaster when the Half Moon bridge near Lebam gave way, injuring six people and killing a horse.
- A Dollar and a Half a Day: Olympia's Capitol Strike
Work on Washington's capitol halts as laborers demand $1.50 for an eight-hour day—and bricklayers are left idle when the contractors refuse.