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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 3 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 6 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 7 |
| 1862 | 8 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 23 |
| 1876 | 66 |
| 1877 | 59 |
| 1878 | 49 |
| 1879 | 3 |
| 1880 | 24 |
| 1882 | 9 |
| 1883 | 76 |
| 1884 | 37 |
| 1885 | 76 |
| 1886 | 37 |
| 1887 | 39 |
| 1888 | 41 |
| 1889 | 105 |
| 1890 | 19 |
| 1891 | 88 |
| 1892 | 206 |
| 1893 | 162 |
| 1894 | 175 |
| 1895 | 222 |
| 1896 | 1 |
| 1897 | 5 |
| 1898 | 23 |
| 1899 | 38 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 108 |
| 1904 | 80 |
| 1905 | 5 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 18 |
| 1909 | 125 |
| 1910 | 18 |
| 1911 | 13 |
| 1912 | 5 |
| 1914 | 25 |
| 1915 | 20 |
| 1916 | 39 |
| 1917 | 12 |
| 1918 | 3 |
| 1919 | 1 |
| 1922 | 2 |
| 1923 | 9 |
| 1924 | 9 |
| 1925 | 3 |
| 1928 | 1 |
| 1929 | 1 |
2,115 stories matching hold
- The Judge Who Gambled Away His Office: Soderberg’s Dramatic Resignation
After the grand jury returned five indictments for extortion and malfeasance in office, District Attorney Joseph Soderberg walked into court, tendered his resignation, and declared he would repay every illegal fee to the county treasury.
- Newport Offers Its Town Hall to Win a Court of Its Own
A petition to split Stevens County into judicial districts asks the county commissioners to hold court in Newport—with the town promising free rooms, offices, and a jail.
- The Outlaw Who Begged His Mother Never to Know
Thomas Planck confessed to five murders, broke jail and was shot after a last meal at a Kent farm. Then thousands of Seattleites filed past his body.
- The Hanging Party That Wasn't: Puget Sound's First Murder Arrest
A retired sailor recalls the day a ship's crew nearly lynched a stevedore at Port Blakely—and the strange reunion that followed years later.
- The Timber Monopoly Holding Everett Hostage
A fiery editorial calls out the Puget Mill Company for hoarding vast tracts of land and artificially inflating timber prices while ignoring the welfare of the local community.
- The Retired Colonel and the County Treasurer
A judge instructs a Grand Jury on whether a retired U.S. Army officer is legally permitted to hold the civilian office of King County Treasurer.
- The Secretary Asks the Puyallups Whether They Are Fit to Hold Their Own Land
Interior Secretary John W. Noble met 200 Puyallup people on the reservation and promised to carry their wish to sell to President Harrison — after satisfying himself that they could be trusted with the money.
- A Saloonkeeper's .32 Ends a Masked Raid on Old Town
Three masked men with Winchester rifles walked into the Dougherty & Wilcox saloon at eleven o'clock Saturday night. One of them never walked out.
- The Judge, the Revolver, and the Impeachment Petition
A former judge tells Olympia that Judge W. W. Langhorne drinks on the bench, bullies lawyers, and has threatened to shoot him — and asks the House to remove him.
- The Captain in the Counting House
A legal firestorm over whether a retired U.S. Army officer can serve as King County Treasurer.
- Fatal Bridge Accident Claims Hog Rancher
A Japanese hog rancher dies after being trampled by his own horses on the Grant Street Bridge.
- The High Court Kills Newport's Court District, and Eastern Stevens County Is Told to Go It Alone
Washington's Supreme Court struck down the law that let Superior Court sit outside county seats, wiping out Newport's new judicial district and sending local litigants back down the road to Colville — unless the county itself can be split in two.
- The Schoolteacher Who Came to Montesano Looking for a Fight
After a bitter newspaper exchange, Thomas F. Adams attacked two men and drew a revolver on a third before a marshal disarmed him.
- A Mayor Willing to Resign Over a Ballot Technicality
When Olympia’s election tickets were printed under the wrong law, Mayor Horr offered to step down rather than hold office on a legal loophole—and urged the council to appoint the people’s chosen successors.
- A Mob Hanged Two Men at the Courthouse. Then the State Argued Over the Bill.
After Hill and Parker were lynched in Colfax, Attorney General W. C. Jones ruled that the county need not pay for a coroner's inquest—and said the real hunt for the mob belonged to a grand jury.
- 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.
- Thrown Into a Saw at Colman's Mill — and the Law Looked the Other Way
When Peter Feeney attacked a Chinese coworker in a Seattle sawmill, the man's foot was mangled beyond repair. The justice of the peace declined to hold Feeney, the prosecutor dismissed the case, and the town's paper argued the injury was just an accident.
- The Missing Will That Would Have Given Seattle a Library
Henry Yesler's widow and two doctors are arrested, accused of burning a will that left the pioneer's fortune—and his mansion—to the city.
- Judge Hanford Rules on Native Rights to Personal Autonomy
A landmark federal court decision affirms that Indigenous citizens holding land in severalty are not subject to the same liquor restrictions as those on reservations.
- The Coal Creek Massacre: A Coroner’s Inquest into the Battle Between Knights of Labor and Mine Owners
In January 1890, Seattle Sheriff Cochrane deployed militia to Newcastle to suppress a miners' strike. When a riot erupted at Coal Creek, one man was killed and ten arrested. The subsequent coroner's inquest revealed a chaotic scene where union men claimed self-defense against armed mine owners, while the sheriff dismissed the Knights of Labor as 'too excitable.'
- The Man Who Walked With a Bolt Through His Foot
John Moore, Seattle's most noted diver, recounts the harrowing moment he was impaled by a railroad bolt in the Mississippi River—and how his tender saved him.
- Two Men Asked to Test a Seattle Schooner. Then They Tried to Kill Its Captain.
A would-be buyer and his genteel companion lured Capt. Jud La Moure into Puget Sound, attacked him with a lead sounding weight, and demanded his gold watch—until he produced a hidden revolver.
- The Mayor Fires Two Police Commissioners to Keep Blackchapel Shut
In a single day, Mayor Phelps removed two police commissioners, accused them of conspiring to protect a red-light district and oust Chief Rogers, and installed replacements before the House of Delegates could slow him down.
- The Pony Express Ends: Lincoln Wins, But the South Sees War
As the Pony Express delivers the shocking news of Abraham Lincoln’s election to a nervous Sacramento, Olympia residents mark local weddings and watch their market prices hold steady.
- The Political Scandal of the Missing Orphans' Funds
A fierce campaign battle erupts as the Post-Intelligencer accuses gubernatorial candidate Henry J. Snively of embezzling money meant for orphans.
Also about this, in other words
- Midnight Hold-up at the Pasco Rail Yards
A group of laborers bound for the harvest fields were confronted by masked gunmen in the dark; one victim was shot while hesitating to comply.
- A Hand Held in the Dark
A temperance worker shares a story of reclaiming a man from the grip of alcohol on the streets of Aberdeen.
- Quick Verdict in Waterfront Dock Holdup
A jury finds a man guilty of a robbery near the Commercial Dock in just ten minutes.
- The Price of a Hold-up: Passenger Sues Northern Pacific
After a daring train robbery in a sparsely settled district, a passenger sues the railroad for failing to secure the train's sleeping cars.
- The Would-Be Holdup Man Who Left a Debt Behind in Sandpoint
A Newport saloon shooting killed the gang's ringleader. In Sandpoint, neighbors remembered Robert Hackworth as a family man who stuck a friend with a $300 note.
- Armed Hold-up in Wright Park
A Tacoma resident reports being robbed of his last 50 cents by two masked men near the bandstand in Wright Park.
- The Landlady of Cherry Street
A Seattle lodging house keeper is hauled into court after an altercation with a troublesome tenant—a minor dispute that reveals the grit of a changing city.
- Laundry Wagon Ambush at Depot Street
A brazen nighttime hold-up near Lake Union serves as a stark reminder of the city's dim streets and growing danger.