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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 8 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 6 |
| 1860 | 3 |
| 1861 | 7 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 4 |
| 1876 | 46 |
| 1877 | 29 |
| 1878 | 19 |
| 1880 | 5 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 27 |
| 1884 | 6 |
| 1885 | 24 |
| 1886 | 26 |
| 1887 | 11 |
| 1888 | 9 |
| 1889 | 34 |
| 1890 | 5 |
| 1891 | 21 |
| 1892 | 76 |
| 1893 | 65 |
| 1894 | 71 |
| 1895 | 71 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1898 | 9 |
| 1899 | 9 |
| 1903 | 11 |
| 1904 | 18 |
| 1905 | 6 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 5 |
| 1909 | 16 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1915 | 5 |
| 1916 | 5 |
| 1917 | 3 |
| 1919 | 2 |
| 1923 | 3 |
| 1924 | 3 |
| 1925 | 1 |
| 1928 | 1 |
| 1929 | 1 |
684 stories matching island
- Island County Farmers to Seattle: Stop Skinning Us Through Middlemen
A tour of Island County found farmers demanding better roads, cheaper steamer rates and a direct city market—and warning that Bellingham or Tacoma could steal the trade.
- The Ghost Island of Arcadia
A squatter fights for the right to claim a six-acre island that the federal government officially claims doesn't exist.
- The Whidbey Island Job Scam
Workers are left stranded and out of pocket after a hiring agent vanishes.
- Two Governors, One Island, and a War Called Off by Letter
Gen. W. S. Harney writes to Queen Victoria's man at Victoria to explain why United States infantry are dug in on San Juan; Gov. James Douglas writes back hoping no 'collision' follows. The boundary quarrel that became the Pig War, in the principals' own words.
- The Sealing Monopoly Judge Swan Called a ‘Monumental Humbug’
A federal report from Port Townsend shows Puget Sound sealers thriving while a Smithsonian expert blasts the Alaska Commercial Company’s grip on the Pribilof Islands.
- McNeil Island Residents to Get New Ferry Float
County commissioners force construction after government restricts access to the penitentiary's private ferry service.
- The San Juan Boundary Standoff
A dangerous confrontation between American custom officials and British authorities at San Juan Island risks international conflict.
- San Juan Islanders Draw a Line in the Salish Sea
At a packed meeting in the little town of San Juan, American settlers pass defiant resolutions against the Governor of Vancouver Island and thank the U.S. troops sent to hold the island — an early scene in the boundary standoff remembered as the Pig War.
- The Orcas Island Poaching War
Island residents are taking a stand against commercial hunters who are stripping the local deer population bare without contributing to the community.
- Vashon Islanders' Failed Bid for Annexation
A local election to transfer territory from King to Pierce County ends in a technical victory for King County authorities.
- Winter Blooms on Orcas Island
A mid-winter letter from a settler describes the unexpected beauty of a January garden and the quiet expansion of island life in 1878.
- The Shadow Over San Juan Island
A Supreme Court justice warns that the legal limbo surrounding the San Juan islands threatens to turn the territory into a lawless refuge for criminals.
- The Rancher Vanished. Then His House Burned.
Island County investigators suspect foul play after John G. Phinney disappeared and his home went up in flames, focusing on a newly hired ranch hand who was the last to claim he saw him leave.
- Direct Trade with Hawaii Arrives
A Hawaiian brig arrives in Olympia, signaling a potential shift from territorial isolation to a direct exchange of island goods for Puget Sound timber.
- A Push for Independent Telephone Lines to Vashon Island
An independent operator seeks a foothold in Tacoma to break the grip of existing monopolies.
- The Foolhardy Expedition to Cannibal Island
An Aberdeen man is organizing a heavily armed, 100-man expedition to invade a remote island in search of gold, despite warnings of violence.
- The Farming Pioneer of Protection Island
A bold settler bets on agriculture in the San Juan Islands, finding a thriving home where others saw only isolation.
- The Self-Appointed Island Hermit
An account of a weary traveler who found 'paradise' in the San Juans, living a life of isolation among the islands' untouched natural bounty.
- The Unsafe Penitentiary at McNeil Island
Repeated escapes from the government facility lead to complaints that the island's prison buildings are dangerously insecure.
- The Pig War: How a Single Foraging Hog Nearly Triggered a Border War
A look back at the bizarre diplomatic standoff between the U.S. and Britain on San Juan Island, sparked by a hungry pig in a settler’s garden.
- A Coupeville Pioneer Takes His Own Life
Charles Crockett, a resident of Whidbey Island since 1854, is found dead at his home in a sudden and tragic suicide.
- The Fruit Boom on Orcas Island
A local resident reports on the rapid agricultural expansion of the San Juan Islands, predicting a tenfold increase in fruit production.
- The Forced Exodus of Whidbey Island’s Chinese Community
A campaign of economic exclusion and harassment leads to the near-total disappearance of Chinese residents from Whidbey Island by 1892.
- The Vashon Island Cornerstone
On a Tuesday in May, island residents gathered to lay the foundation for the first Methodist Episcopal Church on Vashon Island, embedding a time capsule of 1886 history into the earth.
- The Whidbey Island Rancher Who Vanished Without a Trace
John G. Phinney has been missing for days from his ranch at Penn Cove. A search party aboard the steamer Idaho has not returned, and neighbors now fear he drowned — or met foul play.