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1. The Steam Jet Visionaries

   Two inventors believe they have cracked the code to high-speed maritime travel using hydraulic water jets.

   Aug 4, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountySnake Oil

2. The Navy Secretary Goes Down Into the Big Hole

   Secretary of the Navy Herbert rides the lighthouse tender Manzanita across the Sound to inspect the giant new dry dock at Port Orchard, settles a bitter dispute over how deep to drive the pilings, and dances the night away at the Rainier.

   May 22, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerBremerton, Kitsap CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

3. They Climbed Rainier First—and Slept in a Sulphur-Scented Ice Cave

   In 1870, Hazard Stevens and P. B. Van Trump reached Mount Rainier's summit after a brutal 10½-hour climb, then spent a freezing night beside volcanic steam vents.

   Jan 6, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMount Rainier, Pierce CountyStrange But True

4. The Navy's $600,000 Question: Was the Dry Dock Built on Bad Piles?

   A special commission of Army engineers is rushed to Puget Sound to test whether the navy's new dry dock was built on bad piling and inferior concrete.

   Jun 20, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPuget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Kitsap CountyCity Hall

5. A Night Spent in the Steam Vents of Mount Rainier

   An early mountaineer recounts a harrowing, freezing night spent huddled inside a steam-carved cavern near the summit.

   Sep 25, 1886Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerMount Rainier, Ashford, Pierce CountyStrange But True

6. A Christmas on the Ice King: The Climb That Saw Rainier Smoking

   In 1894, Major Ingraham led six men, seven homing pigeons, and a camera onto Mount Rainier’s glaciers. They came back with frostbite, a story of steam and smoke rising from the crater—and one pigeon missing.

   Jan 6, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMount Rainier, Pierce CountyStrange But True

7. Seattle’s Fourth of July: A City Adorned in Light and Iron

   As the nation celebrates its birthday, Seattle’s business leaders have transformed downtown into a spectacle of gas jets, electric lamps, and iron arches, proving that the young city is ready for its moment on the national stage.

   Jun 30, 1899The Seattle StarColumbia Street, Seattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

8. The Trial of the 'Squak Valley' Vigilantes

   In a tense courtroom session in 1885, a defendant stands trial for the murder of a Chinese laborer, exposing the brutal reality of anti-immigrant violence in Washington Territory.

   Nov 12, 1885Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerLake Sammamish, Issaquah, King CountyExclusion & Resistance · True Crime

9. Point Defiance Dynamite Disaster

   A workplace explosion at Point Defiance Park leaves one man dead and several others gravely injured.

   Jun 5, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPoint Defiance Park, Tacoma, Pierce CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

10. Seattle's First Electric Lights

    The Seattle Electric Light Company fires up its dynamo, turning darkness into a clear, white glow.

    Mar 23, 1886Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerJackson Street, Seattle, King CountyBoom & Bust · Strange But True

11. The Tragedy of a Lonely Laborer

    A Norwegian laborer, recently arrived in Port Townsend with a large sum of money, commits a desperate act of self-strangulation while in city jail.

    Feb 1, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPort Townsend, Jefferson CountyBoom & Bust

12. A Life Undermined by the Vault Explosion

    After years of struggling with the physical and nervous aftermath of a horrific gas blast in the sheriff’s office, a prominent Seattle Republican has passed away at age 30.

    May 24, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyDisasters

13. The Underground Fire Beneath Jackson Street

    Firemen battle a persistent blaze burning within the tide-flat ashes beneath the electric light works.

    Oct 25, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyDisasters

14. A Grand Welcome for Seattle's Visitors

    When an excursion party arrived in Seattle in 1885, they were treated to a citywide illumination and a clam bake at Port Blakely, sparking a fierce local rivalry over the naming of Mount Rainier.

    Jul 28, 1885Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerPort Blakely, Seattle, Kitsap CountyBoom & Bust · Strange But True

15. A Norwegian Teamster's Last Will: Despair, Disease, and a Sweetheart Left Behind

    Fred Syvrud, a 36-year-old teamster, took his own life in a Seattle boarding house, leaving his property to a woman in Norway and blaming an incurable disease.

    Aug 31, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King County

16. A Hotel Room, a Gas Jet, and a Fight for One Young Life

    George McLaughlin was found unconscious in room 43 of the Queen City Hotel. Doctors worked into the night.

    Apr 17, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King County

17. The Dry Dock Deal That Promised 300 Jobs in Ten Days

    A revised Navy contract at Port Orchard promised hundreds of jobs and a permanent naval station—and contractors insisted their work had been vindicated.

    Aug 10, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

18. The Night They Slept in Rainier's Ice Caves

    A Seattle climbing party returns from Mount Rainier after a storm-bound night in the summit ice caves—and Tacoma greets them like a circus.

    Jul 25, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMount Rainier, Pierce CountyStrange But True

19. A Seattle Expedition Sets Out to Map Mount Rainier's Glaciers—and Find a Hidden Volcano

    Major Ingraham's party leaves Seattle for three weeks on the mountain, hoping to name glaciers, test mineral springs, and locate a smoking volcano seen from the foothills.

    Jul 13, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMount Rainier, Pierce CountyStrange But True

20. Explosives Blast Seattle's Waterways Clear

    A dangerous snag, responsible for over $4,000 in damages to loggers, is finally demolished above the old Packard wharf.

    Oct 27, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay

21. City Left in Total Darkness

    A gas main failure leaves downtown Seattle residents scrambling for lamps on Thanksgiving Eve.

    Nov 29, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

22. The Doctor’s Bill vs. The Cure: A Colfax Family’s War on Typhoid

    When typhoid fever struck a household in Colfax, Washington, one family claims their conventional medical treatment failed—until they turned to the 'hygeic' system of Dr. Glover.

    Feb 1, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerColfax, Whitman CountySnake Oil

23. The Doctor Who Walked Among Us: A Case of Acute Alcoholism

    In a rare moment of public health transparency, the Snohomish Star details the physiological dangers of heavy drinking, warning that moderate consumption can turn a man into a 'walking dynamite' ready to explode at the sight of a candle.

    Jun 30, 1877The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountySnake Oil

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