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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1904 | 1 |
24 stories matching monstrous
- The Trial of Judge Hoyt
Facing a barrage of 'partisan slander' in the race for state office, Judge John P. Hoyt fights back against claims he acted as a railroad puppet and denied due process to labor protesters.
- The Trial of a Seattle Anti-Chinese Rioter
In 1885, a local judge delivers a blistering instruction to a jury, reminding them that the 'stranger and sojourner' are entitled to the equal protection of American law during a time of rampant xenophobic violence.
- The Grand 1904 Fourth of July Prep
Tacoma readies a massive celebration featuring an electric fountain and a municipal fundraising drive for a 'monstrous' patriotic event.
- A Wartime Thanksgiving in 1862
Governor William Pickering issues a formal proclamation calling for territorial prayer and unity amidst the 'monstrous conspiracy' of the Civil War.
- Councilors and the Cost of Progress
A standoff between property owners and council members over street grading reveals the deep entanglement of private business and city government.
- The Broken Promise of the Puyallup Coal Road
A political scandal erupts as Seattle accuses an attorney of pocketing fees while failing to stop the Northern Pacific Railway from seizing massive swathes of King County land.
- Two Steamers Saluted Off Cape Flattery—Then Vanished Into the Storm
A schooner captain’s account places the missing Keweenaw and Montserrat together off Washington’s coast on a night of monstrous seas, just before both were lost.
- The Railroads Wanted a Senator, and They Worked Olympia to Get Him
A Republican paper accuses John L. Wilson of backing a railroad-friendly bill while transcontinental lines quietly lobby the legislature to send him to the U.S. Senate — and Tacoma's A.P.A. splits over the fight.
- Senate Votes to Forfeit Unearned Northern Pacific Lands
As the Senate debates the forfeiture of Northern Pacific Railroad land grants in the Washington Territory, legal experts and legislators clash over whether corporations should be held to the same standards as individuals.
- Seattle’s 'Reform' Government Promised Clean Streets and Low Taxes. Two Years Later, the Bill Came Due.
A furious 1894 editorial accuses the Democratic city administration of breaking every campaign promise—keeping Whitechapel open, protecting gambling, and cutting day laborers while salaried officials kept their pay.
- Washington Wheat Rolls East for the First Time
A landmark Northern Pacific shipment carried Walla Walla wheat through Spokane Falls toward Minneapolis, announcing the railroad's promise to turn Inland Northwest grain into global commerce.
- The Political Price of Free Trade in 1889
As Washington Territory prepared for statehood, a fierce political battle erupted over how the Mills Tariff Bill would impact local timber, coal, and iron industries.
- The Divine Sarah Bernhardt’s Theatrical Meltdown in Seattle
When the legendary French actress discovered her grand stage at the Columbia Theater had been booked for a minstrel show, she didn't just walk off—she unleashed a legendary, multi-lingual tantrum.
- The Plot to Fire the Engineer Behind Seattle’s Sewer Tunnels
Democratic operatives wanted Reginald H. Thomson’s job for a patronage appointee. Mayor Ronald threatened to make them pay.
- The Fight Over Unpaid Rail Taxes
A new Congressional bill aims to force Pacific railroads to pay taxes on their vast land grants, closing a loophole that left farmers shouldering the civic burden.
- The Tacoma Republicans Who Refused to Knife John McGraw
A Pierce County party committee tried to block the state ticket. A rival Harrison Club fired back with a mule-team metaphor and demanded candidates pledge loyalty.
- The Sea Serpent of Puget Sound
A skeptical mariner claims to have spotted a 60-foot serpent off the coast of Marrowstone Point, leaving local sailors shaken.
- The Vultures on Steilacoom's Streets
A furious 1858 editorial accuses local authorities of letting California gamblers plunder the town in plain sight.
- The Grand Master’s Crusade Against the Gaming Tables
A stern decree from the Royal Arab Masons attempts to purge 'monstrous' gambling and intemperance from lodge halls in Seattle and beyond.
- The Fifteen-Year-Old Hunter of Avondale
A teenage boy fells a massive black bear with two shots in the woods near Avondale.
- The Logging Frontier’s Monstrous Spruce
A Wishkah River logger claims a record-breaking tree that hints at the scale of the region's ancient forests.
- The Fish That Confessed: A Sturgeon’s Warning to a Sweeping Reporter
In this bizarre piece of 1876 satire, a newspaperman encounters a talking sturgeon at the market who reveals he is a reincarnated swindler, warning the reporter that frauds become fish after death.
- Three Hundred Republicans and a Barrel of Tariff Whisky
Seattle's First Ward Republican Club packed its South Third Street headquarters, signed up 300 members, and spent the night attacking the Havemeyer tariff bill and the Democrats who defended it.
- The Anatomy of a Political Glutton
A satirical 1885 editorial dissecting the sudden, transformation of humble private citizens into greedy 'Ins' once they secure public office in Washington territory.
Also about this, in other words
- The Monster of the Beach: A Giant Squid in Snohomish
A spectacular display of a thirty-three-foot giant squid in Snohomish invites locals to gawk at the creature Victor Hugo once called a 'sea vampire.'
- The Devil-Fish of the Chehalis
Two local fishermen survive a terrifying encounter with a massive, tentacled monster in the waters of Grays Harbor.
- The Monster of Whatcom Creek
A massive devilfish caught in a dredging machine causes a stir among mill workers and local Indigenous paddlers.
- A 'Beast' in the Courtroom Says Only 'Not a Word'
McGee, convicted of assaulting his wife with intent to murder, drew ten years in Walla Walla—but his appeal kept him in the King County jail while Seattle read about his courtroom act.
- A Monster in the Mud
An unusually large sulphur bottom whale ends up stranded on the Olympia mudflats.
- The Fight for Life in the Depths
A harrowing, vivid account of a fisherman's life-or-death struggle against a giant cephalopod, reprinted from Victor Hugo's 'Toilers of the Sea' in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
- The Strange 'Sea Monster' of Clay Street
A fisherman’s routine day at the docks ends with the haul of a mysterious, gelatinous creature.
- The Monster of Tokeland
A massive whale beaches itself in Pacific County, drawing crowds and sparking wild speculation about its age and history.