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1. The Great Columbia Salmon Run Was Dying — and Oregon and Washington Couldn't Agree Who Should Save It

   In 1894 a Portland memorial to Congress warned that the Chinook were vanishing: a $31.5 million trade, thousands of jobs, and a two-state turf war over who got to regulate the river.

   Jul 14, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerIlwaco, Pacific CountyFollow the Money

2. The Wholesaler Tells the Growers the Truth: 'We Don't Love You'

   Sixteen years in the Seattle commission trade and no patience left, R. Merchant tells a room of fruit growers that no middleman has ever cared about them — and that neat, uniform packing, not grievance, is the only thing that ever got a farmer paid.

   Apr 9, 1898Ranche and RangeSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay · Follow the Money

3. The Salmon War at Point Roberts: Lummi Tribe Battles Cannery Giant Over Treaty Fishing Rights

   A federal judge is set to decide whether the Alaska Packing Association's fish traps illegally block the salmon run, pitting Indigenous treaty rights against a quarter-million-dollar cannery industry.

   Jun 23, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPoint Roberts, Whatcom CountyFollow the Money · Exclusion & Resistance

4. They Climbed Rainier First—and Slept in a Sulphur-Scented Ice Cave

   In 1870, Hazard Stevens and P. B. Van Trump reached Mount Rainier's summit after a brutal 10½-hour climb, then spent a freezing night beside volcanic steam vents.

   Jan 6, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMount Rainier, Pierce CountyStrange But True

5. The Pioneer’s Last Gold Rush

   A 59-year-old bachelor leaves his farm near Pendleton to gamble on the Klondike, heading out from Colfax with a massive pack train.

   Apr 6, 1898Adams County NewsColfax, Whitman CountyLocal Legends

6. The Salmon Slump of 1894

   A historic overproduction leaves Seattle's fishing industry in a cold, stagnant market.

   Apr 28, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

7. The High Cost of Packaging

   Yakima Valley fruit shippers consider a major shift to marketing apples without paper wraps to offset rising production costs.

   Mar 15, 1917The Kennewick Courier-ReporterYakima, Yakima County

8. Washington Apples Fight Back Against a New York Snub

   A Seattle commission man rebuts a trade journal's claim that Northwest fruit can't match California's, citing 10,000 boxes of fancy apples already shipped east.

   Dec 8, 1898Ranche and RangeSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

9. The Strawberry Wars: Can Kennewick Growers Cooperate?

   An editorial plea for local strawberry growers and marketing agencies to standardize their pack and stabilize pricing before the season collapses.

   Apr 22, 1915The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton County

10. 7,000 Miners Head for the Skagit, But High Water Halts the Diggings

    Spring freshets wash out the wingdams on Ruby Creek while hundreds of men wait at the Portage for a trail and pack animals — and California newspapers predict a stampede of thousands.

    Jun 7, 1880Puget Sound DispatchSkagit City, Skagit CountyBoom & Bust

11. Winter at the Packing-House Picket Line

    As Seattle's labor landscape shifts in 1887, meat-packers face a grueling struggle against both their employers and the encroaching winter chill.

    Nov 10, 1886Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay

12. A Christmas on the Ice King: The Climb That Saw Rainier Smoking

    In 1894, Major Ingraham led six men, seven homing pigeons, and a camera onto Mount Rainier’s glaciers. They came back with frostbite, a story of steam and smoke rising from the crater—and one pigeon missing.

    Jan 6, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMount Rainier, Pierce CountyStrange But True

13. A Packing Company Tries to Buy Point Roberts' Tidelands at $1.25 an Acre

    As the Alaska Packing Association angles to lock up a fishing monopoly on cheap public shore, Governor McGraw scrambles for witnesses to prove the tide flats are worth far more than the appraisement.

    Jan 7, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPoint Roberts, Whatcom CountyFollow the Money

14. The Wolf-Dog of the Grande Ronde

    A ranger’s loyal pet answers the call of the wild, but gives his life to defend his master against his own pack.

    Sep 1, 1916Coulee City DispatchAsotin, Asotin CountyStrange But True

15. Ten Days Over Cascade Pass—and No Wagon Road

    A member of Mayor Curtis's 1894 party recounts the camps, storms and lost pack animals on the route from Marblemount to Winthrop.

    Mar 10, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMarblemount, Skagit CountyBoom & Bust

16. The Green Gold Rush: How Kennewick’s Asparagus Boom Became a Local Gold Mine

    Local growers are realizing that with the right fertilizer and strict quality control, their valley's asparagus is commanding top prices and opening doors to eastern markets.

    Apr 16, 1914The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton County

17. Trapped by the Tide on the Road to Queets

    In 1892, poet Herbert Bashford joined a camping party for a walk up Washington’s wild Olympic coast—and found the rising tide more dangerous than any highwayman.

    Jul 24, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerQueets, Grays Harbor CountyStrange But True

18. The Valley Sixty Miles From a Railroad

    In 1892, the Big Bottom settlers of Lewis County had no road, no sawmill and no rail line — just hand-hewn homes, packhorses, a tobacco-chewing cat, and a Fourth of July party for 160 neighbors.

    Jul 25, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMorton, Lewis CountyStrange But True

19. Snohomish, 1898: A Ferry Claim Becomes a Booster's Dream City

    A promotional tour of the inland Puget Sound town traces its founding by I.C. Ferguson, its lumber and fishing wages, and the railroad that turned a river landing into a self-described city of homes.

    Apr 21, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSnohomish, Snohomish CountyWork & Pay · Boom & Bust

20. The Apple Packing Revolution

    A new mechanized system at the Kennewick District Fruit Growers' association transforms a chaotic shed into an efficient, clattering factory.

    Aug 16, 1917The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyWork & Pay · Strange But True

21. The Salmon Run's Surprise

    Fishermen were caught off-guard as the silver salmon return bucked historical two-year cycles, resulting in a heavier pack than anticipated.

    Dec 14, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King County

22. A Cannery, a Reef, and the Indians’ Right to Fish

    A federal injunction stops the Point Roberts packing company from taking sockeye while the cannery argues the reef was never reserved to the Lummi—and that 130 jobs hang in the balance.

    Jun 20, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPoint Roberts, Whatcom CountyFollow the Money · Exclusion & Resistance

23. The Lawless Slaughter of Columbia River Salmon

    A century and a half ago, reports from 1887 reveal that unregulated commercial fishing practices on the Columbia River led to the mass harvest of out-of-season fish, despite laws designed to prevent such waste.

    Aug 5, 1887Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

24. The Battle for Seattle’s First Meatpacking Plant

    A local firm threatens to move to Tacoma unless the Seattle City Council changes ordinances to allow a large-scale packing house.

    Jun 5, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust · City Hall

25. The $2,000 Apple Lesson: A Walk Down Seattle's Produce Row

    A farm columnist tours Seattle's commission houses on Western Avenue, where a single packing mistake cost one grower a season's profit — and offers a cautionary tale for every farmer shipping to the city.

    Jan 1, 1904The RanchSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

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