Research the archive
Narrow 25,724 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 | 2 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1891 | 7 |
| 1892 | 7 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 4 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
40 stories matching instinct
- The Miracle of Dido the Blind Cat
A remarkable account of a house cat who, after going blind, mastered his home environment and displayed an uncanny homing instinct.
- Local Outrage Over Animal Cruelty
A journalist’s beloved greyhound is maliciously shot, sparking a fierce editorial denunciation of the unknown perpetrator.
- Cattle Dog Saves Teen from Cougar Attack Near Spokane
An 18-year-old hunting cattle narrowly escapes a mountain lion's spring, thanks to his loyal dog's fierce counterattack.
- Spokane Judge Rejects a Cut-Rate Pauper Burial Contract
A county deal that paid a premium on each pauper's grave is struck down as against public policy—even after another bidder offered to bury the dead for a penny apiece.
- The Tragic Death of a Devoted Teacher
A Rainier School teacher passes away after a heroic, fatal attempt to shield her students from a schoolroom fire.
- The Shadowy World of 'Railroad Spotters'
A scathing editorial exposes the brutal tactics of private detectives hired by corporations to intimidate workers.
- The Brutal Spectacle at West Seattle
Protesters condemn the planned Fourth of July pigeon shoot as cruel and lacking in true sportsmanship.
- The Paper Attacks Populist Proposals
The Post-Intelligencer editors eviscerate the People's Party's platform, calling for state-owned coal mines and legal tender currency 'the grossest kind of ignorance.'
- The Cowboy Who Out-Judged the College Experts
A herdsman’s personal gamble on a prize-winning steer proves that instinct outshines institutional caution in the competitive world of livestock breeding.
- The High Price of the Seal Hunt
After returning from a season in the Bering Sea, the crew of the schooner Henry Dennis is paid off, while experts warn that seal herds are vanishing due to over-hunting.
- The Politics of Snake Oil
A scathing editorial comparing the Populist movement to medical quackery and the sensationalism of the era's 'wonder books.'
- A Slanderous Campaign Against John H. McGraw
A rival paper spreads a rumor that the Republican gubernatorial candidate was born abroad and thus ineligible for office, prompting a sharp defense from the Post-Intelligencer.
- The Great Table Etiquette Debate
An editorial scrap between the Intelligencer and the Post-Intelligencer over whether eating with a knife is a sign of 'vulgar' breeding.
- The Dog Who Defied Gravity (and the Mayor)
A canine visitor to Seattle’s Tremont Hotel proves that while political patronage is hard to shake, a dog’s instinct for self-preservation is stronger.
- The Senator and the Irish Couple
A Western politician’s misguided attempt to intervene in a domestic brawl on the frontier results in an unexpected, four-way showdown.
- They Robbed the Dead as the Surf Came In
A Pacific County newspaper condemned beach scavengers who stripped bodies and trunks after a shipwreck—and recalled the shame of the Grace Roberts disaster.
- Saving the Archives from the Great Fire
Recalling the 1889 Great Seattle Fire, an employee recounts his desperate race to save the newspaper's historical files from the flames.
- The Fashion Reporter's Dilemma: Keeping Secrets in the Social Column
A Seattle newspaper correspondent reflects on the moral tightrope of reporting on local scandals while trying to maintain the trust of society figures.
- The Witch of Avenue A: A Violent Superstition
A Seattle family’s belief in sorcery leads to a brutal attack on their former governess.
- The Deadly Farce of Frontier Justice
When a Whatcom jury ignored the law to acquit a man who murdered his wife and her lover, the press decried an epidemic of 'momentary insanity' defense.
- The Bitter Newspaper Feud of 1876
A public, vitriolic war of words between two Seattle editors reveals the cutthroat nature of early Pacific Northwest journalism.
- The Fragile Earth Beneath Our Feet
An 1877 editorial from the Seattle Daily Intelligencer warns that the city's obsession with waste and its failure to return fertility to the land mirror the downfall of Rome.
- The Bullets That Whizzed Through Commercial Street
A quiet walk near the foundry turns into a terrifying brush with death as three men open fire on passersby.
- The Stranger at the Oriental Hotel
A local man's keen instincts and a sharp-eyed witness led to the capture of a fugitive murderer hiding in plain sight in a Seattle rooming house.
- The Silent Battle of the Salmon Spawning Grounds
An early eyewitness account of the Columbia River’s delicate ecosystem and the struggle to protect a vanishing resource from industrial overfishing.