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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 4 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1909 | 5 |
23 stories matching payn
- The Great Tacoma Brick Boom: A City Building Itself Into the Future
As ten new brick structures rise on Water Street and real estate auctions fetch record prices, Tacoma’s leaders are betting big on a booming future—despite labor shortages and material scarcity.
- The Vigilantes’ Bones: Seattle Dug Up Its Most Notorious Lynching
Thirteen years after a mob hanged three men on James Street, a county doctor exhumed their skeletons for anatomy students— ropes, necktie and all.
- The Tariff Tax on Your Breakfast Table
The editor calls out a new federal tariff bill, arguing it will drive up the price of basic staples and line the pockets of trusts.
- An Appeal to the 7,000,000 Sisters
A scathing critique of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act, arguing that the tax burden is unfairly placed on the working class.
- Socialist Party Launches Municipal Ticket in Everett
Challenging the two-party status quo, local labor figures organize for a city-wide campaign based on collective ownership.
- Tragedy on the Columbia River
A failed rescue attempt leads to the drowning of two young men in Wenatchee.
- A Fatal Misstep on the Coal Train
A young miner, under the influence of drink, loses his life in a tragic accident on the tracks near Seattle.
- The High Price of 'Luxury' Gloves
An editorial in the Tacoma Times calls out Congress for a proposed tariff that would hit poor women's glove purchases harder than the rich.
- The Pay Cut: Walla Walla Clerks Face Salary Reductions
Postmaster General Payne orders immediate corrections to payroll irregularities; local employees see their wages slashed effective June 1.
- The Shadow Over Squak Valley
In the autumn of 1885, a series of indictments revealed a brutal campaign of violence against Chinese laborers in the Snoqualmie Valley.
- The Night of the Three Nooses
A double lynching followed by a swift vigilante mob justice against a third prisoner defined one of the most violent episodes in early Seattle history.
- The Mob That Stole Justice in Seattle
A federal judge delivers a blistering rebuke to the Seattle vigilantes who lynched three men in January 1882, declaring that the lawless 'Committee of Safety' is a threat greater than the criminals they executed.
- A Federal Judge Orders the Northern Pacific's Workers Not to Strike
With wages about to be cut, railroad receivers win an injunction forbidding engineers, firemen, trainmen and switchmen from combining or quitting—setting up a collision between the courts and organized labor.
- The Bell in the Woods: How Seattle Built Its First University
A 34-year anniversary feature on the Territorial University: 48 laborers, $2-a-day wages, lumber from Port Blakely, and an old bell that warned ships in fog and rang for hangings.
- Seven-Cent Meals: Seattle's City Mission Fed Thousands in 1893
In November 1893, the Seattle City Mission served 3,049 free meals, provided 1,071 lodgings, and begged the city for underclothing as the depression deepened.
- The Stock Rustler, the Murder, and the Vigilante Threat in Colfax
Ed Hill's preliminary hearing for killing Langford Summers turns on liquor and provocation—while a bitter town whispers that a light verdict will bring vigilante justice.
- Seattle Lost the Ship Canal Fight in One Olympia Night
The 1892 Democratic state convention rejected the Lake Washington ship canal, humiliated King County's delegates and nominated Henry J. Snively for governor — setting off a political feud over Seattle's waterfront future.
- The Washington Baseball Club Takes the Field
A new athletic organization of young Black men in Seattle establishes a regular schedule of local games.
- Beauty Trends and Economic Betrayal
A critique of how the public's obsession with celebrity fashion distracts from the economic harm of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff.
- The Silver Dollar Crusade: Seattle’s Local Echo of a National Money War
While the nation debates bimetallism and Indian Wars, Washington Territory officials in Seattle are quietly preparing for a federal commission that could reshape the region's economy.
- The New 'Maynard's Lake Washington Addition' Hits the Market
A sprawling 366-acre tract of land near the lake is now being subdivided into 131 blocks, sparking a rush of early interest from investors.
- Who Gets the Salmon? A Fish-Trap Bill Stirs a Fight Over Foreign Canners
A Blaine sawyer told Olympia that the Biggs fish bill would hand the Fraser River fishery to a few wealthy trap owners—and to British Columbia canners.
- The Promised Land at the Confluence
A high-stakes real estate pitch from 1889 promises investors a fortune as Pasco positions itself as the 'Gate City' of the Pacific Northwest.
Also about this, in other words
- Workers File Liens to Secure Unpaid Wages
Employees of two local businesses resort to legal action to ensure they are paid for their labor.
- The Right to Get Paid
A landmark Washington Supreme Court ruling secures the rights of loggers to file collective liens against timber companies.
- The Logger’s Right to be Paid
A landmark Supreme Court decision upholds the right of loggers to place liens on timber they harvested, shielding laborers from corporate efforts to dodge payroll.
- A Discharged Laborer Speaks Out
Patrick Lavan, a laborer dismissed from city water works, writes to the press to dispel rumors of violent threats and describe the hardship of supporting seven children.
- The Dairy King of the Northwest
How a Seattle entrepreneur consolidated the regional dairy market by centralizing production and expanding into international trade.
- The 'No Cure, No Pay' Medicine Man
A self-styled 'Indian medicine man' faces assault charges after a dissatisfied customer demanded a refund under his own guarantee.
- The Boom Town of Allyn Gets Its Mill
A new industrial settlement on the North Bay peninsula prepares for a rapid expansion with a steam-powered sawmill and hotel.
- The Hustle of the Territorial Frontier
A glimpse into the 19th-century mail-order economy, where ambitious merchants sought to capitalize on the labor and curiosity of working-class families across the Pacific Northwest.