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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1872 | 3 |
| 1876 | 9 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 5 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 12 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 5 |
| 1895 | 9 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1928 | 2 |
90 stories matching humbl
- When Seattle's Taps Ran Dry, One Citizen Took the City to Task
A resident of the city's eastern heights petitions the Seattle City Council over empty pipes, fire risk, and water bills—with sarcasm aimed at every authority from City Hall to the White House.
- The Olympia Pianist Who Claimed Franz Liszt Taught Him Through a Window
A local musician known as the sage of Sherman Valley told a Tribune reporter that as a boy in Westphalia he stole piano lessons from the great Franz Liszt—until Liszt pulled him through the window and set him on his knee.
- Diva vs. The Property Man
A backstage spat at a local theater reveals the off-stage antics of an amateur dramatic troupe.
- The Price of Urban Ambition
A farming family leaves their land for the allure of city life, only to find themselves penniless and humbled by tragedy.
- The Beggar’s Plea: How an Old Man’s Tears Won a Judge’s Mercy
In a touching scene at the Snohomish County Courthouse, John Burner, a destitute laborer of 73 years, pleaded guilty to grand larceny not for greed, but because his starving family had no other way to eat.
- The Plot to Lock Up a Witness: How Greed Tried to Silence a Pioneer
William De Shaw, a respected Seattle merchant and witness to a will worth millions in British Columbia, was nearly committed to an insane asylum by land speculators who wanted his testimony silenced.
- Seattle’s 1895 Co-op Where 150 Unemployed Men Ate for 7 Cents a Day
At a Belltown barracks, unemployed single men pooled their wages, submitted to military-style rules and fed an average of 150 people daily for about 7 cents each.
- The Clearing of the Ten Acres
A dense forest in the pioneer village of Seattle was cleared by hand in 1861 to build a university, marking the humble birth of an institution that would grow with the frontier territory.
- The Tragedy of a Miner’s Search for Work
A desperate father leaves his Seattle family to seek mining work, only to be found dead under a trestle.
- The Machine Behind the Water Bonds
Tacoma laborers are being fired for speaking out against a water plant sale, while reformers fear an election rigged by saloon-bought votes.
- 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.
- A Kenton Picnic Speech and the Justification of Native Displacement
At a Kenton picnic, Judge Orange Jacobs cast pioneer survival as historical necessity and used dehumanizing rhetoric to defend the displacement of Native Americans.
- The Orphan’s Plea: A Poem That Moved Seattle to Tears on Decoration Day
As the city honored Civil War dead with solemn processions and speeches, a young girl’s grief over her father’s unmarked grave brought the Grand Marshal to tears.
- The City That Outgrew Its Rivals
An 1885 dispatch from the front lines of the Seattle boom describes a town shedding its humble roots and leaving former neighbors like Steilacoom in the dust.
- The 1892 Race for Seattle: A City in Construction
As Seattle geared up for the 1892 mayoral election, local candidates debated debt, expansion, and the 'moral' cleanup of the city while the railroad industry reshaped the landscape.
- The Herald's Scathing Feud with the P.-I.
When North Yakima was scolded by Seattle’s 'royal' newspaper for suggesting a statehood convention, the new local paper hit back with a venomous letter and a call for better manners.
- The Chief’s Last Stand: A Vision of Justice Beyond the Grave
In a rare and poignant interview, Spotted Tail articulates a theology of retribution where the Great Spirit favors the Native American over the white settler in the afterlife.
- The Last of the Pioneer Wagon Train
Nancy Biles, who led a 150-person wagon train across the Cascades in 1853, dies in Seattle.
- The Blaine Fisherman Who Pulled Seven People Out of the Water and Never Told Anyone
Hans Nielson is 24 years old, slight of build, and has saved seven lives in ten years — two in Denmark, five around Blaine — and calls each rescue a thing 'only incidental to the life of a water toiler.'
- The Tacoma Flower Clerk Who Woke Up an Heiress
Disowned at eighteen for marrying for love, a former Hotel Washington pantry keeper now running a Tacoma flower shop learns she has inherited ranches, gold mines and three hotels halfway around the world.
- The Auditor’s Open Revolt
A defiant Seattle county official squares off against the city’s tax-paying elite, sparking a public war of words in the local press.
- The Ironclad Oath of Labor
When the founder of the Ancient Order of United Workmen visited Seattle in 1885, he brought a philosophy of 'paternal' cooperation to reconcile the brewing tensions between labor and capital.
- The Great Dayton Train Race
A Union Pacific engineer tried to humble a rival line, but ended up in a high-speed showdown to win local political favor.
- The Humble Origins of an Orphanage in Kitsap County
Rev. I. Tollefsen shares his vision for the Martha and Mary’s Orphans’ Home, established on eight acres of land in the wilderness of Dogfish Bay.
- When General Booth Packed the Seattle Armory
William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, receives a civic welcome from Seattle’s mayor, clergy, and a capacity Armory crowd—then talks social reform, London’s slums, and a cure for drunkenness.
Also about this, in other words
- Isolation and High Water on the Humptulips
Heavy winter rains and falling timber isolate a community, trapping a funeral party and challenging travel across the rugged Grays Harbor backcountry.
- A Desperate Night at the Clifton House
A Clallam County resident struggling with alcoholism and personal heartache attempts to end his life in a downtown hotel.
- The Struggle for a Passable Road
A survey of the Humptulips road reveals treacherous conditions, sparking a debate over the best way to connect the county.