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73 stories matching meeker
- A Pigeon Flew 100 Miles to Report From Mount Rainier
A carrier pigeon from the Starlee-Meeker expedition delivers dispatches, tall trees, trout, and one very sleepy doctor.
- The Collapse of the Hop Corner
Ezra Meeker breaks a massive market manipulation scheme that threatened to hold Pacific Coast hop farmers hostage.
- Two Trains Met at McMillan Station. A Jury Blamed One Man at a Telegraph Key.
A coal train and a shingle train collided on the Northern Pacific near McMillan, killing trainman Louis Harmon. The coroner's jury ruled the death criminal negligence — charged not to the railroad's schedules, but to dispatcher F. S. Rawlins, who had been running a post-strike backlog.
- The Hop King's Forecast
Ezra Meeker weighs in on the state’s hop yield, the superiority of 'short-pole' farming, and the labor politics of the Puyallup Valley fields.
- The Hop Blight and the Fall of Washington's Premium Crop
Ezra Meeker warns that poor cultivation and sloppy picking are costing the region its competitive edge in the global market.
- Hop Growers Pledge Their 'Word and Honor' to Pay Pickers Less
With the hop market collapsing in the summer of 1894, growers from ten Puget Sound counties met at Puyallup and fixed a single price for picking — 65 to 75 cents a box, down from the dollar they had promised. Ezra Meeker, the valley's biggest grower, said out loud what the resolution implied: the pickers had no seat at the table.
- The Hop Capital's Boom Years
In 1890, Puyallup was a bustling, bank-rich agricultural hub defined by Ezra Meeker’s hop empire and massive infrastructure investments.
- The Hop Pickers' Bargain: Growers Cut Wages as Harvest Opens
In the Puyallup Valley, growers try to hold the line at two cents a pound. Crews register, balk and bargain — while Native pickers from British Columbia are turned away in favor of white workers.
- The Pioneer Who Never Gave Another Speech After Mt. Baker Erupted
N. V. Sheffer, Whatcom County’s oldest living pioneer, brought his donkey cart to Ferndale’s old-settlers’ reunion—and told why he stopped speaking in public in 1854.
- Drunken Brakeman Crushed on Northern Pacific Line
A railroad worker is killed near Meeker after falling between cars while intoxicated.
- The Last of the Trail Blazers
Ezra Meeker, the pioneer who spanned the era from ox-carts to airplanes, faces a final struggle as he fights for his health.
- A Frontier Rivalry Renewed
84-year-old pioneer N.V. Sheffer sets off on a donkey-drawn cart to reunite with his childhood rival, Ezra Meeker, at the Ferndale settlers' picnic.
- Carrier Pigeons and a Cougar on Rainier
A Puyallup party pushes toward the summit, sending dispatches by carrier pigeon and shooting a cougar for its skin.
- The Packing Plant That Wasted Nothing
At Meeker on the Seattle–Tacoma line, the Pacific Meat Company turned cattle, hogs and sheep into cured meat, sausage and fertilizer with almost no waste—and kept a small town working.
- Ezra Meeker’s Golden Rules for Hop Success
The legendary pioneer shares his controversial methods for baling hops hot to secure the crucial foreign market.
- The Great Sugar Beet Gamble of 1885
As Seattle prepared to showcase Washington’s agricultural potential at the New Orleans Exposition, a local commissioner embarked on a mission to put Seattle on the map—one sugar beet at a time.
- The King of the Hop Fields
In 1891, Washington's hop industry was a global juggernaut, fueling a million-dollar boom and transforming the Puget Sound landscape—until the lice arrived.
- The Hop Gold Rush of the Puyallup Valley
In 1877, a booming agricultural industry turned the Puyallup Valley into a high-stakes arena of heavy capital, immigrant labor, and unpredictable environmental risks.
- Puyallup Tribe Begins Commercial Hop Farming
In a historic shift, local indigenous farmers take the first step toward independent hop production.
- The Tragedy at Meeker’s Cabin
A quiet day in the woods turns fatal when an open door and a gust of wind ignite a powder horn, destroying a home and claiming lives.
- Will They Harvest the Hops?
Facing a glut of inventory and low market prices, Seattle-area hop growers debate whether to pick the season's yield or let it wither on the vine.
- The Hop King's Defense
Ezra Meeker pushes back against public criticism, defending his company’s labor practices during the hard times of 1894.
- Hop Growers' Revolt Fizzles Out
An ambitious attempt by local hop farmers to form a collective against industry speculators collapses when attendees refuse to take leadership.
- The Fight to Build Washington's Capitol—and the Man Who Wanted It in Puyallup
A state commission says the capitol can be finished debt-free, but a rival town's booster has other ideas.
- Ezra Meeker Tries to Take Back Puyallup's Park—and Loses
The state supreme court rules that a public dedication survives the town's invalid original incorporation, leaving Puyallup's park in the city's hands.
Also about this, in other words
- The Fugitive Foreman of Franklin
A man working at the Oregon Improvement Company’s stables in Franklin is revealed as a wanted fugitive for a fatal land dispute in Indian Territory.
- A Desperate Tailor's Public Plea at the Postmaster's Door
After his wife fled to Tacoma to work in the post office, a destitute man attempted to take his own life on the doorstep of her employer.
- The Miser of Komo
A local man who distrusted banks is robbed of his hidden savings, highlighting the precarious nature of wealth in a frontier town.
- The Marshmallow Hike
A community gathers for a rural social event at the Wienenga ranch.
- Vultures at the Washout
When an unlucky driver wrecked his car in a washout, thieves swooped in to strip the vehicle clean before help could arrive.
- The Sheep-herder and the Gold Rush
A lonely worker from the hills finds big-city trouble after a payday binge in North Yakima.
- Hop Picker Kills Intruder in Midnight Stand-off
A teenage hop picker at a South Prairie ranch shoots and kills an unidentified man during a confrontation at a barn.
- A Local Pastor’s Miraculous Escape from a Train Disaster
Rev. Oliver T. Mather, arriving in Tacoma to lead the Bethany Presbyterian Church, survives a catastrophic Canadian Pacific derailment.