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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1860 | 1 |
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| 1876 | 3 |
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| 1883 | 3 |
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250 stories matching jan
- Bismarck’s Bluff: Germany Claims Samoa While Washington Watches
As the German Chancellor declares no treaty prevents his nation from seizing control of the Pacific islands, U.S. officials in Washington struggle to respond to a diplomatic crisis that threatens American interests across the ocean.
- The Quarantine Lie: How Providence Hospital’s Smallpox Cover-Up Sparked a Public Health Crisis
A desperate letter from hospital staff reveals that patients were turned away or allowed to leave while infected with smallpox, leading to a chaotic quarantine and widespread community fear in early 1903 Seattle.
- The Senate Deadlock That Had Spokane Cheering
A joint legislative session in Olympia stays frozen over Washington's U.S. Senate seat, while Spokane rallies to George H. Turner and an Everett legislator bluntly refuses to be pushed toward John L. Wilson.
- The Territorial Legislator and the Editor’s Ego
A fiery public feud erupts in 1861 between a Clark County representative and the editor of the Washington Standard, highlighting the volatile politics of the territorial legislature.
- The Miracle Doctor of Pine Street: How One Man’s ‘New Science’ Tamed Seattle’s Sickness
In the winter of 1890, Dr. J. Eugene Jordan’s 'Histogenetic' remedies were curing everything from scrofula to neuralgia, drawing testimonies from desperate locals who claimed conventional medicine had failed them.
- 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.
- The Race War in Roslyn: How Seattle’s Coal Mines Became a Battleground for Labor and Lynching
As strikers hold the line, the company imports Black miners from Illinois to break them. The result is not just a labor dispute, but a violent racial confrontation that exposes the dark underbelly of Washington's industrial boom.
- The Governor’s Gambit: Why Washington’s Leader Refused to Send Troops to Strike Miners
In the heat of a labor dispute in Roslyn, Gov. Henry M. Temple argues that calling out the military is a last resort, while local officials clash over the legality of using armed citizens as police.
- Shanghaied Aboard the Babcock: A Captain's Escape and a Crew Taken at Gunpoint
Capt. Graham slipped his guards at Port Townsend while his wheat ship waited—after a Tacoma crew of 23 was rounded up with beatings, revolvers, and two bewildered Japanese men.
- A Pioneer's Last Entry: J. P. Stewart of Puyallup
A banker, postmaster, probate judge and territorial legislator died suddenly at 61, leaving behind a handwritten memoir of a journey from New York to the Puyallup Valley.
- The Caucus That Wouldn't End: Olympia's 1895 Senate Deadlock
Republicans balloted again and again in a stormy Olympia caucus, while Spokane businessmen and Union veterans warned that nominating John L. Wilson would wreck the party in Eastern Washington.
- The Terminal Standoff: How Seattle’s Business Elite Forced a Railroad Compromise
In January 1899, the city’s Board of Trade and leading merchants intervened in a bitter dispute between the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad and the Puget Sound Shore Railroad, demanding the construction of vital terminal warehouses to save freight from the elements.
- Spokane's Revolt Against a Railroad-Backed Senator
In 1895, thousands of Eastern Washington voters signed a protest against John L. Wilson, charging that four transcontinental railroads had bought his Senate candidacy while freight rates drained the region dry.
- Aberdeen and Hoquiam Finally Connected by Road
Mayors of the two Harbor cities exchange telegrams celebrating the completion of a plank road between their towns.
- Port Ludlow Wakes Up: New Boilers, a New Schooner, and a Boom in Houses
A correspondent's New Year letter from the sawmill town: the mill comes back to life after three dark weeks, a 140-foot vessel rises on the Hall ways for the Coos Bay coal trade, and even the hotelkeeper is building himself a house.
- The Seattle Winter That Shocked New York
When a Seattle colonel sent a bouquet of fresh January flowers to a snow-shrouded New York editor, the gesture became a national curiosity about Washington Territory's mild climate.
- The Unsung Toll of the Snohomish Frontier
A poignant obituary for Julia E. Haskell reveals the fragile reality of life, health, and community dependence in 1878 Snohomish.
- The Lynch Law in Conconully
After settlers in Okanogan County took an Indigenous prisoner from jail to hang him, local officials scrambled to arm the white population, fearing a retaliatory uprising.
- The Tragic Wreck of the Ferndale
Twenty men perished when the British iron bark Ferndale was driven onto the beach near Grays Harbor during the most violent storm ever recorded on the Washington coast.
- The Tragic Sinking of the SS Clallam
A maritime disaster in the Straits claims the lives of dozens, including prominent Tacoma residents, sparking a federal investigation.
- 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 Iron Flash: How Spokane Fell for a Railroad
In a daring midnight maneuver that bypassed local obstructionists, the Oregon and Washington Territory railroad laid its tracks through downtown Spokane in a single night, turning a political standoff into a civic celebration.
- The Day the Bridge Fell: A Tramp’s Fatal Ride and a Railroad’s Collapse
A westbound freight train on the Northern Pacific line was derailed when a stowaway fell under a car, triggering a chain reaction that plunged nine cars into Hangman's Creek. One man died; the rest were spared.
- The Political Smoke of 1891: Backroom Deals and Populist Uprisings
While Washington’s early legislature debated the direct election of senators and railroad regulation, backroom meetings at the Olympia Hotel signaled the enduring influence of corporate power.
- The Senator Who Bought His Seat
A Washington State legislator admits to accepting $200 to sway his vote for U.S. Senator, sparking a scandal in Olympia that mirrors modern concerns about political corruption.
Also about this, in other words
- A Frontier Promise Kept
In an era of rugged isolation, an anonymous immigrant couple reflects on twenty years of marriage, the silence of their home, and the sudden joy of a child arriving on Christmas Day.
- A Cowboy's Fatal Rage
A domestic dispute in the upper country leads to a brutal killing, as the perpetrator attempts to flee via the Seattle steamers.
- The 'Crab Man' and the Brutal Reality of Frontier Discipline
A teenage girl escapes her abusive father only to be returned to his custody by a legal system that viewed children as the property of their parents.
- A Christmas Eve Assault in Ahtanum
A local man faces justice after a violent holiday altercation with his wife and a dispute over his daughter’s suitor.
- New Year's Eve Brawl Leaves Landlady Stabbed
A festive celebration at a Jackson Street boarding house turned violent when a dispute between two women resulted in a serious stabbing.
- A Community Evening at the Schoolhouse
A local teacher organizes an ambitious evening of recitations and dialogues to fund a needed school expansion.
- A Leaded Revolver and a Restraining Order
Lena Barr’s divorce complaint accused her husband of years of cruelty — and of assaulting her with a loaded weapon in 1890.
- The Day the Law Said 'No': A Seattle Court Blocks Wage Claims Against a Brigantine
In a ruling that highlights the precarious legal standing of maritime workers in the early 1900s, Judge Alye dismisses a suit by five sailors seeking wages from their captain and owner.