Research the archive

• “pierc” ×

1. 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.

   Aug 27, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

2. Seattle and Tacoma Nearly Came to Blows Over the Ship Canal

   At the 1892 Democratic state convention, King County's demand for a canal plank turned the floor into a shouting mob — and the vote flipped twice in a single night.

   Aug 25, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

3. The Canal Plank That Nearly Tore Washington’s Democrats Apart

   In Olympia, King County delegates fought Pierce County over whether to endorse the Lake Washington canal. They settled on a vague promise, then spent the night shouting each other down.

   Aug 25, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

4. The Ship Canal Double-Cross at the Democratic Convention

   Seattle's delegates went to Olympia ready to die on the canal plank. Their own campaign manager had already sold them out.

   Aug 30, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall · Scandal

5. Seattle Democrats Bolt Their Own Party Over the Lake Washington Canal

   Furious that the state convention caved to Pierce County and denounced the Lake Washington canal, King County Democrats vow to vote the Republican ticket — and to knife their own party from top to bottom.

   Aug 28, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

6. The Silver Fight Waiting Inside Spokane’s Republican Convention

   Nine Supreme Court hopefuls, three congressional candidates, and a free-silver bloc turn Washington’s 1894 state convention into a backroom brawl before it even opens.

   Sep 18, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerAuditorium, Spokane, Spokane CountyCity Hall

7. A $10,000 Railroad Check and a Whispering Campaign in Olympia

   In 1895, Washington's legislature gathered to choose a U.S. senator, and the Seattle press heard that the Southern Pacific had put $10,000 behind one candidate.

   Jan 14, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall · Scandal

8. The Newspaper Letter That Nearly Started a Fight in the Washington Senate

   With the U.S. Senate election deadlocked in Olympia, a Pierce County senator read a rival’s letter aloud — and the chamber erupted over money, lobbyists, and borrowed favors.

   Jan 27, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

9. The Great County Border War of 1886

   When Pierce County attempted to poach King County's townships to bolster its own size and wealth, the local press didn't mince words about the 'unauthorized' territorial expansion.

   Nov 9, 1886Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

10. The Courthouse Math Behind a Judge-Shrinking Plan

    Tacoma officials weigh merging the Pierce and Thurston judicial districts to save $10,000 a year, even as prosecutors ask for more help.

    Jan 13, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

11. The Political Toboggan: Tacoma's Revolt Against a Carpetbagger Candidate

    As the state legislature prepared to convene in 1891, prominent Tacoma Republicans publicly abandoned their own local candidate, labeling him an opportunist from Indiana.

    Jan 5, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

12. The Railroad Contractor Who Thought He Could Boss the Republican Party

    Nelson Bennett's Tacoma Ledger refused to back John H. McGraw and the state Republican ticket after a canal fight. A Pierce County senator told the party to stand by the convention—and warned that one wealthy man was not bigger than the party.

    Aug 25, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

13. King County Democrats Cry Foul Over a Rigged Delegate Count

    The state Democratic Party cut King County's representation at the convention and handed its delegates to Pierce County — and the Post-Intelligencer was not about to let it pass quietly.

    Aug 23, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

14. The Great University Runaway

    Two schoolboys, terrified by their principal's stern warning about broken windows, decided to flee campus entirely.

    Apr 21, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerRainier Avenue, Seattle, King CountyStrange But True

15. The U.S. Senate Seat That Stalled Olympia

    With Republicans split over Wilson and Ankeny, Pierce County played a double game and the governor's message shoved the Senate election to the back of the room.

    Jan 16, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerWashington State Capitol, Olympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

16. The Political Feud Dividing Tacoma and Seattle

    Pierce County Republicans formally resolve to defeat their own party's gubernatorial nominee, John H. McGraw, as a protest against Seattle's growing influence.

    Oct 20, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

17. Seattle’s Canal Demand Became a Political Trap

    At the 1892 Democratic state convention in Olympia, King County’s push for a Lake Washington ship canal collided with a Pierce County-led alliance—and James Hamilton Lewis’s gubernatorial hopes hung in the balance.

    Aug 24, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia Hotel, Olympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

18. Republican Party Brass Launch Re-election Campaign

    Prominent local figures gather at the Donnelly Hotel to secure the future of Pierce County’s federal delegation.

    Apr 19, 1904The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

19. One Day Late: The Veto That May Hang a Man

    A clerk's date stamp, a messenger who cannot recall which day he ran an errand, and a condemned Italian at Tacoma whose last chance at a new appeal may have expired in the paperwork.

    Mar 3, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerWashington State Capitol, Olympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall · True Crime

20. The Great Stuck River Jam: A Battle Over Water and Land

    In a tense standoff on the White River, Pierce County cattlemen illegally dammed the waterway to protect their pastures, forcing King County officials to ride out with Winchester rifles to avert a violent conflict.

    May 16, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPuyallup, Pierce CountyFollow the Money · Strange But True

21. King County Democrats Revolt Over an Anti-Canal Platform

    At the 1892 state Democratic convention, a plank against the Lake Washington canal so enraged Seattle Democrats that many vowed to vote for Republican John H. McGraw — “patriotism first, partisanship after that.”

    Aug 27, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

22. Pierce County Republicans Keep Censure of Canal Backer McGraw

    A simmering regional feud between Seattle and Tacoma boils over as Pierce County Republicans move to condemn the proposed Lake Washington ship canal.

    Oct 25, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

23. Her Wages Bought the House at Fourth and Plum. The Sheriff’s Deed Was Canceled.

    Elizabeth Burkett turned a $700 gift into a hotel and a home. When a Pierce County judgment against her husband threatened it, a Thurston County judge traced the property back to her own labor.

    Oct 23, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyFollow the Money

24. The Price of Justice in Olympia

    A legal fight over venue costs in 1892 sparks anxiety among Thurston County taxpayers, revealing the administrative strain of high-profile litigation.

    Jan 2, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

25. 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.

    Oct 27, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

Download all 400 as a spreadsheet (CSV)