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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1883 | 7 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 4 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 15 |
| 1891 | 6 |
| 1892 | 5 |
| 1893 | 18 |
| 1894 | 16 |
| 1895 | 9 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 5 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 6 |
| 1904 | 3 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1909 | 4 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1916 | 2 |
| 1924 | 1 |
138 stories matching legitim
- The $100,000 Estate and the Indian Marriage That Seattle Forgot
A daughter claiming the estate of pioneer Franklin Mathias says her parents were married by Indian custom in 1867. A federal judge must decide whether that marriage—and her legitimacy—counts.
- A Creameryman Confesses: 'Our Business Conditions Are Rotten'
In an unusually candid letter to The Ranch, the manager of the Rockwood Creamery Co. says reckless price-cutting and smooth-talking rivals are cheating Washington dairy farmers and quietly ruining the state's butter.
- Washington Dairymen Declare War on a Seattle Butter Dealer
At a dairy convention, producers accuse a Seattle dealer of cold-storing eastern butter and mislabeling it to break the market—and call for an organized, public fight.
- The Price of Progress: A Victim of the Storm
A devastating windstorm hits Olympia, leaving a man critically injured and highlighting the physical perils of frontier expansion.
- The Wharf King’s Victory: Yesler Wins Millions in Land Battle
Judge Lichtenberg rules that the state cannot seize waterfront property without paying just compensation, halting the Harbor Line Commission and protecting H.L. Yesler’s empire.
- The Judge Who Warned Seattle Not to Sell Its Waterfront to a Canal Company
In 1894, Judge John J. McGilvra urged Congress to build the Lake Washington Ship Canal and warned that a private company's tideflat scheme would put tolls on the water and enrich speculators at public expense.
- The Mayor's Change of Heart on Prohibition
Seattle Mayor Hiram Gill publicly disavows his 'wet' past, citing the positive social impact of the state's dry laws.
- The Auction Mania in Seattle
A jewelry merchant's retirement sale sparks a reflection on the city's obsession with bargain hunting and the reality behind the storefront liquidations.
- 'Free' Printing, $176 Later: Seattle's County Contract Scandal of 1877
The Dispatch accuses the Intelligencer of taking public money after bidding to do the county's printing for nothing—and demands the next contract be opened to honest bids.
- Kennewick’s War on Tin Cans
Mayor and council mandate April 1st as annual city-wide cleanup to combat malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
- The Vulgarity of Legislative Gratuities
An editorial critique argues that tipping public officials during legislative sessions undermines the dignity of the state.
- End of the Free-Ride Speculators
Northern Pacific moves to stop speculators from using rail cars as free storage sheds, prioritizing the legitimate lumber and shingle business.
- The Call for Frugality in 1889 Seattle
Following the Great Seattle Fire, the local press urged residents to abandon luxury and 'live within easy limits' to rebuild the city's fortune.
- Organized Pressure Campaign to Expel Chinese Residents
A report on the growing anti-Chinese labor movement across the Pacific Slope and the violent expulsion of workers from Seattle and Tacoma.
- The Landmark Case of an Indigenous Heir
A court ruling recognizes a marriage between a white pioneer and a niece of Chief Seattle, potentially shifting land title laws across the region.
- Labor Groups Mobilize Against Japanese Workers in Mukilteo
Everett labor leaders join forces with local clubs to push for the exclusion of Japanese employees from the Crown Lumber Company plant.
- The Fight for the Right to Trade
Chinese merchants detained upon returning to Seattle face a legal battle over what defines a 'merchant' versus a 'laborer' under federal law.
- The Laundry War: When Seattle Tried to License Away the Chinese
A historic court battle reveals how the City Council once used 'discretionary' licensing to target Chinese-owned laundries, prompting a landmark defense of property rights and constitutional liberty.
- The Winter War Blueprint: An 1858 Campaign to Subdue the Tribes
A field letter from the Indian war in Oregon and Washington urges the Army to occupy the Colville Valley, cut off Indigenous trade, and expel missionaries and Hudson’s Bay Company employees.
- The $12.50 Gold Rush: How a Railroad Rate War Flooded Seattle with Hope and Skepticism
As Canadian Pacific slashes fares to half the price of American lines, local merchants debate whether the coming wave of homeseekers will build the city or break it.
- Longshoremen Strike Against Wage Cuts
Striking dockworkers faced off against non-union labor hired by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company to unload cargo at drastically reduced pay.
- The Legal Battle Over a Pioneer’s Legacy
A Skagit County estate dispute pits an Indigenous widow against a white wife, forcing the courts to reckon with territorial-era marriage customs.
- When a Chinese Theater Company Rented Tester’s Hall
In 1883, a morning paper attacked the lease as a public offense. The Post-Intelligencer pushed back: the actors were no more immoral than any other troupe, and the hall was old anyway.
- The Indian Agent Who Let Settlers Stay: A Lake Chelan Land Fight
A federal Indian agent delayed an order to restore land near Lake Chelan to Indigenous owners, then waded into the estate of 'Okanogan' Smith, prompting charges of military overreach into civil affairs.
- The Shadowed Life of a Russian Emigré
A man pursued from London to New York and Denver finds himself under arrest for arson in Seattle, caught in the web of international extradition.
Also about this, in other words
- The Scandalous Governor Who Never Was
A political fixer with a reputation for bribery and forgery was appointed Governor of Washington Territory, triggering a national outcry that exposed the deep corruption of the era's patronage system.
- The Snake Oil of Snohomish
A century-old miracle cure for man and beast that promised to heal everything from rheumatism to ‘hollow horn’.
- The Unstable Foundations of Early Seattle
When aggressive development on the Masonic lot caused a prominent brick building on Front Street to crack, it revealed the high-stakes risk of early Seattle’s rapid expansion.
- The Gall and Wormwood of Olympia: Tacoma’s Defeat in the Senate Race
As Washington's first U.S. Senator is chosen in a bitter legislative battle, defeated candidate Calkins' supporters cry foul, while Jefferson County delegates secure the victory for Watson Squire.
- A Case of Reasonable Doubt
Salvador Pecani, once sentenced to hang for a brutal crime, is set free after the Supreme Court rules the evidence against him purely circumstantial.
- The Political Machine and the Perjury Case
A witness linked to a local political machine waives his hearing just days before the city election, allegedly to protect prominent figures from being implicated in a naturalization scheme.
- The Political Exoneration of H. J. Snively
After facing accusations of financial misconduct in West Virginia, Democratic gubernatorial candidate H. J. Snively presents a stack of affidavits to clear his name in a massive Seattle rally.
- The 'Virtuous Spasm' of 1876: Seattle’s Early Critique of Political Greed
An editorial from the Puget Sound Dispatch captures the simmering public outrage over a government scandal in Washington Territory, drawing parallels between national corruption and the mismanagement of local university land grants.