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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1876 | 5 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 4 |
| 1884 | 4 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 4 |
| 1887 | 7 |
| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 6 |
| 1891 | 6 |
| 1892 | 11 |
| 1893 | 9 |
| 1894 | 11 |
| 1895 | 12 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 6 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1911 | 2 |
| 1915 | 2 |
| 1916 | 3 |
| 1917 | 3 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1925 | 2 |
| 1928 | 1 |
132 stories matching pen
- The Bamboo Pens of Chinese Registration
Deputy collectors report on the process of registering Chinese residents under the restrictive McCreary law in Western Washington.
- The Night the Chickens Sang Backup: Spokane’s Poultry Show
Spokane’s annual poultry exhibition drew hundreds of birds, a towering silver trophy, and an orchestra the chickens refused to let finish alone.
- The Swindler Is Back, and He's Bought a New Suit
Fresh from Walla Walla, a confident ex-convict jokes about prison, promises diamonds, and leaves Seattle police wondering where his money comes from.
- The Art of Keeping Clean Swine
A century and a half ago, local hog farmers were advised on the strict management of breeding and hygiene to improve their stock.
- The Contingent Death Warrant
A love affair turned lethal in Seattle, as a jilted woman penned a gruesome ultimatum to her lover.
- Labor Leaders Held Without Charge in 'Bull Pen'
A legal battle ensues for the release of union officials held in an extra-legal detention facility during an ongoing labor dispute.
- A Child's Final Act of Mercy
A nine-year-old boy, dying from a pen-knife stab wound inflicted by a playmate, spends his final moments begging police to let his assailant go free.
- The 1889 Dream of Instantaneous Picture Transmission
A Seattle man claims to have invented an electrical device capable of sending handwritten notes and drawings over telegraph wires at the speed of a pen, promising to revolutionize newspaper journalism.
- The Auctioneer’s Audacity: A Watch and a Pen for Gold
Three local men face fraud charges after allegedly selling worthless gold-washed trinkets to unsuspecting buyers under the guise of a legitimate auction.
- When Eggs Became Legal Tender: How the Palouse Survived the Panic of 1893
After the rains wrecked the 1893 wheat crop and merchants slammed shut the credit system, Palouse farmers discovered that the hen — and then the hog — could save them.
- The Great Escape from the Pest House
Afraid of being locked in a 'death pen' for an illness, a Skagit man chose to walk home from Seattle to Mount Vernon over two and a half days.
- The Editor Who Made the Post-Intelligencer a Power—and Died Too Soon
When George H. Heilbron died suddenly at his Seattle home, newspapers across Washington mourned a young editor whose pen had become a force in state affairs.
- The Burglar Who Wanted a Razor Before Walla Walla
Richard H. Ford, a self-styled 'famous burglar' with a morphine habit, was shipped off to the state penitentiary—after begging for a shave and trying to dig through the jail floor.
- The Hobo 'Capitalist' Who Ran Palouse on Credit
A smooth-talking Swiss convinced butchers, brewers and saloon men to hand over shops and goods — some $1,200 worth — on the promise of a fortune still sitting back in Switzerland.
- The Bold Jewelry Store Heist
Burglars bypass a safe to clear out a downtown shop's gold and timepieces.
- Brush Fire Consumes Hay and Hog Pens at Costello Ranch
A routine cleanup of orchard waste turns into a local disaster when a sudden wind catches the rancher's winter feed supply.
- The Berry Patch Heist
A Highlands family returns from their harvest to find a stranger in their home and their silverware missing.
- The Accused Killer Who Wrote to Seattle Police
Oluf Ellingson was found on the Lake Washington shore with his throat cut and a razor in his hand. Four years later, suspect Tony Miller’s letter still insisted he was coming back to clear his name.
- The Mugwump’s Ledger: How Seattle’s Territorial Secretary Gamed the Law Printing Contract
A fierce editorial exposes Secretary Owings for delaying the publication of territorial laws to favor a cronies’ printing bid, while padding the bill with 40 pages of his own party platform.
- The Invisible Killer in Your Milk: Seattle’s Health Officer Warns of Tuberculosis Cows
With consumption rates soaring and no dedicated veterinary inspector on staff, local officials admit the city is dangerously unprepared to stop diseased cattle from entering the food supply.
- The Schoolteacher vs. The Coal Baron
An outspoken Newcastle teacher risks his career to confront the Oregon Improvement Company over its brutal labor practices and the displacement of local widows.
- The Judge Who Warned Seattle Not to Sell Its Waterfront to a Canal Company
In 1894, Judge John J. McGilvra urged Congress to build the Lake Washington Ship Canal and warned that a private company's tideflat scheme would put tolls on the water and enrich speculators at public expense.
- The Poet-Waiter Who Drowned in Seattle Harbor
C. W. Chantrell came from a noble French family and carried a love poem in his pocket. He died broke, alcoholic, and alone on the steamer Idaho—and Seattle's coroner called it an accident.
- A City Turns Out for Its Dead: Seattle's Memorial Day, 1895
Three hundred and five veterans, three militia companies, high-school cadets and a twelve-foot column of flowers marched Front Street and filled the Seattle Theater — while the Board of Health kept the schoolchildren from singing.
- A Desperate Corral Rescue
A husband is gored by a bull near his home, leading to a harrowing, multi-generational effort to save his life.
Also about this, in other words
- The Pen and the Pistol: A Seattle Saloon Brawl
When an editor’s satirical writing sparked a public confrontation on Mill Street, a local developer settled the score with a revolver—until his target managed to disarm him.
- The Pen and the Fist: A Political Brawl
A physical confrontation between two local political figures in Tacoma ends with a heated, yet unresolved, public exchange.
- The Pen Is Mightier Than the Pistol
A Tacoma newspaper editor survives a point-blank assassination attempt after writing a stinging column about a local rival's reputation.
- The Ink Bottle Defense: A Wenatchee Judge Rules That a Well-Aimed Throw Can Keep the Peace
A hotel owner who hit a Seattle man for cursing in front of women was cleared—the court decided he was preserving public order, not disturbing it.
- The Lawyer, the Boy, and the Five-Cent Lesson
A shrewd Seattle attorney tests a boy’s integrity with a lesson in promissory notes and the value of a promise.
- The Pen for Petty Theft
Two young men are sentenced to the state penitentiary for stealing an overcoat and rubbers from a church in Endicott.
- The Typographer's Lament: A Plea for Better Penmanship
A frustrated newspaper printer turns to verse to protest the illegible handwriting of contributors, whose scribbles make the typesetter’s life a living hell.
- Student Rebellion at Pence School
A classroom confrontation at the state line turns physical when a student forcibly takes the teacher's whip.