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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
12 stories matching obstructionist
- The Ghost of the Printing Contract
A standoff between rival city newspapers turns the Seattle City Council into an empty room.
- The Great Terminal Feud
Judge Thomas Burke slams the Oregon Improvement Company for its long history of blocking Seattle’s progress and rail development.
- The Iron Flash: How Spokane Fell for a Railroad
In a daring midnight maneuver that bypassed local obstructionists, the Oregon and Washington Territory railroad laid its tracks through downtown Spokane in a single night, turning a political standoff into a civic celebration.
- The Battle for Madison Street
A dormant railway company suddenly awakens to block a new transit line, sparking a fierce clash at City Hall.
- The Railroad Is a Trespasser on My River Front
J.R. Patterson advertised his ranch and his grievance: a contractor clearing right-of-way without permission while the railroad still owed a condemnation judgment.
- The Struggle for the Promised Land of Washington Territory
While Washington pioneers clamored for the development of government-held land to build a state, political gamesmanship in Washington, D.C. left the local economy in limbo.
- The Mayor’s War on the 'Ring': A Candidate’s Plea for Clean Government in 1879 Seattle
Bernard Cossen runs for mayor not for power, but to stop wealthy landowners from hoarding public funds and blocking civic progress.
- The Mayor Who Bought His Seat with Lottery Money
In Seattle’s first hotly contested municipal election of 1876, the newspaper publisher who ran for mayor lost to Dr. Weed—not because he lacked support from mechanics and laborers, but because his opponent mobilized the city’s notorious lottery gamblers.
- F.A. Nadeau Favors Belt Line Over City Track Control
As Seattle rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1889, railroad managers and city officials butted heads over who would control the lifeblood of the growing port: the tracks on Railroad Avenue.
- Tacoma Petitions to Throw Open the Puyallup Reservation
Businessmen, railroad men and politicians circulate petitions to oust the Puyallup Indian agent and dismantle federal restrictions, arguing the reservation's lands and rail routes should be 'opened' — a dispossession dressed as progress.
- The Squatters of Port Angeles
A government land reservation intended for protection is caught in a web of bureaucratic delays, shifting administrations, and local political infighting.
- Seattle's Farm Paper Says No to Paying for Portland's World's Fair
As The Oregonian promised a $100,000 state appropriation for the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial, a Seattle agricultural journal argued the money would be better spent on roads and irrigation — and doubted the crowds would ever show up.