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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 4 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 7 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 6 |
| 1892 | 12 |
| 1893 | 8 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 1 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1923 | 1 |
71 stories matching mast
- Hewing the Great Fir: A Seattle Ship's New Mast
A local carpenter is hand-crafting a massive 84-foot fir mast for a visiting ship, showcasing the immense timber resources of early Seattle.
- The Unwieldy Giants of the Sound
After a grueling trip from Australia, a captain declares five-masted schooners unfit for the deep-water lumber trade.
- The Mystery of the Mast
Two Seattle brothers discover a man adrift off Blakely Rocks with a bullet in his forehead, sparking a murder investigation in a quiet maritime town.
- Power Company Wires Block Ships on Thea Foss Waterway
When high-voltage wires blocked a sailing ship from the city dock, a newspaper reporter dropped the story the moment they learned who owned the infrastructure.
- The Sailor Who Hung by His Own Neck
A seaman aboard the English ship Halewood survives a sixty-foot fall after a piece of rigging snags his throat in mid-air.
- The Orphan’s Plea: A Poem That Moved Seattle to Tears on Decoration Day
As the city honored Civil War dead with solemn processions and speeches, a young girl’s grief over her father’s unmarked grave brought the Grand Marshal to tears.
- The Wreck of the Lily Grace
After surviving a harrowing gale and the total loss of his ship near Cape Flattery, a sea captain washes up in Seattle to recount a battle against the elements.
- Tugboat Crashes into Merchants' Wharf
A mechanical failure sends a tug steaming into the trestle, scalding a cook and shaking the vessel to its bones.
- The Lineman and the Trolley Line
A worker's damage suit against a telephone company is thrown out after the court decides infrastructure shouldn't have to withstand streetcar accidents.
- The Porpoise and the Cow: A Nautical Disaster in Tacoma
A schooner, a one-eyed cow, and a cargo-hoisting gone horribly wrong—a day on the Tacoma waterfront that ended in broken bunks and a damp bovine.
- Forty-Three Days of Gales, Then a Jury-Rigged Schooner Limps Into Port Townsend
Sails torn to ribbons and gear twisted, the three-masted schooner Buhne makes port after a voyage that should have taken three weeks and took six.
- Efficiency on the Waterfront
A clever engineering fix replaces a main mast in record time at the Seattle docks.
- The Seattle Star’s Local Beat: A Robber’s $20, a Funeral, and the Yellow Peril Panic
While New York burns in wire copy, Seattle deals with petty theft, local funerals, and a debunked rumor of an Alaskan battle.
- The Tragic End of the Ferndale
A British bark shattered by Grays Harbor breakers leaves sixteen dead, but a local woman's bravery saves three survivors from the surf.
- The Vigilantes' Ghost: Seattle's Dark Secret in Two Maple Trees
A poem published in the *Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer* reveals the city’s foundational myth: that its current 'peaceable' order was bought with the blood of six men hanged by a secret committee when the law failed to act.
- The Blast at Mason Slip
A steam tug carrying three crew members is obliterated in a freak explosion on the Seattle waterfront.
- The Tragic Disappearance of a Smuggling Sloop
Twelve people, including ten Chinese laborers and two young girls, are believed to have perished in the treacherous straits separating Victoria from the American side during a high-stakes human smuggling operation.
- The Heroine of North Beach
How Martha White, a solitary woman on the storm-lashed coast, braved mountain-high waves to pull dying sailors from the surf.
- The Ghost Ship of Barclay Sound
A British bark, found abandoned and dismantled, leaves a maritime mystery in its wake.
- Seven Months at Sea: The State of Maine’s Ordeal
The State of Maine left New York in July 1892 and reached Seattle 201 days later, her crew disabled by saltwater boils, her water spoiled, and her captain forced to beat men to the pumps.
- Six Drowned and the Dead Looted: The Wreck of the Strathblane
Eyewitnesses described a fearful scene off North Beach as the iron ship Strathblane broke apart—farmers rode into the surf to save survivors while others rifled the dead.
- The Day the Sloop Fired on a Federal Cutter
In 1860, twenty-four Port Townsend citizens chartered a sloop to save $5 on fares to Olympia. When intercepted by a revenue cutter, their captain opened fire with a brass howitzer—only to discover he’d just threatened the U.S. government.
- The Ill-Fated Final Voyage of the J.C. Ford
After battling leaks and heavy seas for days, a lumber schooner goes down at the mouth of Grays Harbor as a passing collier ignores its distress signals.
- The Fire That Starved a City: How a Burning Lime Ship Stalled Seattle’s Building Boom
When the steamer *Yquina* exploded in flames at Pacific Dock, it didn't just destroy $35,000 worth of cargo—it left 600 mechanics without work and halted the construction of a growing metropolis.
- The Mail Must Go Through: A Fatal Storm on the Coast
A dedicated mail carrier and his father lost their lives in a treacherous storm off the Washington coast while attempting to deliver the mail from Montesano to Chehalis Point.
Also about this, in other words
- Aberdeen’s Shipbuilding Ambitions
The steam barge Clan McDonald slides into the harbor, signaling the town’s growing industrial influence.
- The Mayor’s Chimneys Are on Fire
Two separate blazes in Tacoma’s South End prompt a frantic response from the city fire department, revealing that even elected officials are not immune to the dangers of defective flues.
- A Bolt Out of a Clear Sky Passes Inches From a Sleeping Man
Lightning hits the flagpole of the Walla Walla Athletic Club on West Alder at seven in the morning, tears a hole in the roof, rips an American flag down through the building — and leaves manager S. S. Bettman untouched in his bed.
- Hoquiam’s School Board Prioritizes Local Business Over Outsiders
While Hoquiam mandates that local contractors perform school heating work, Aberdeen officials look to Tacoma for technical installations.
- The Town That Rose from the Jam: Mount Vernon’s Wild Start
A new settlement is sprouting along the Skagit River, fueled by loggers, surveyors, and a patriotic name change.
- The Crew That Wouldn't Sail: A Mutiny on the War Hawk
Seattle's shipyard workers and legal system clash as the crew of the brig War Hawk refuses to depart, citing safety concerns, while the city watches a habeas corpus battle unfold.
- The 'Loud' Man on Mill Street
A boisterous late-night disturbance on the Seattle waterfront ends in a quiet arrest by Sheriff McGraw.
- A Fiery Catastrophe at the Tacoma Mill
A newly installed furnace at the Tacoma Mill overheated with such intensity that its massive iron stack melted and collapsed, narrowly missing the workers nearby.