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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1886 | 1 |
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31 stories matching ponder
- Tragedy at the Runway: A Logger’s Fatal End in Cowlitz County
A routine day at a logging camp near Freeport turns deadly when a log jam triggers a sudden, violent chain reaction, claiming the life of C.C. Howard.
- The Sentinel of the Sound
A citizen’s poetic tribute to the indispensable role of the press in the frontier life of 1880s Seattle.
- The Library Overwhelmed
Seattle's public library is struggling to keep pace with an insatiable public, as staff and patrons debate the merits of a complex new cataloging system.
- Twenty-Ton Cable Sinks into Pioneer Place
A massive power-house cable falls through a street-level planking, requiring hours of heavy lifting to recover.
- The Monopoly of Water: A Seattleite’s Outrage Over Yesler’s Wharf
In 1877, a local citizen confronted the city's most powerful industrialist over his claim to the waterfront, sparking a debate about public access and private power that echoes in Seattle today.
- Lynden Prepares for a Massive Community Picnic
A multi-band parade, athletic contests, and the installation of a giant wooden axe are set to draw a massive crowd of excursionists from Bellingham.
- The Price of Justice
The Washington State Supreme Court admits that legal machinery has long worked against the poor, promising to prioritize the cases of those unable to afford bail.
- A Twelve-Ton Locomotive Rolled Down the Street to the Water
Seattle's Washington Iron Works spent months building a geared logging engine. When it was finished it drove itself through town on temporary track to the foot of Washington Street, to be lashed to a scow and floated north to the woods.
- The Industrial Kingdom of Port Gamble
In 1872, the Puget Mill Company reigned supreme over a company town that prioritized industrial output and 'refinement'—with a cemetery view to match.
- The Trial of the Sheep Herder
A legal dispute over grazing rights in Sunnyside escalates into a dramatic courtroom spectacle involving out-of-town lawyers.
- The Final Spike: Connecting the Cascade Division
A commemorative ceremony at the west portal of the Stampede Pass tunnel marks a massive milestone for Northern Pacific Railway expansion.
- The Political Spoils System in 1892 Seattle
Mayor John Ronald’s effort to oust his political opponents from the board of public works reveals the bare-knuckled power struggles of early Seattle city hall.
- The Great Snohomish River Canoe Disaster: A Tale of Terror, Whales, and Pluck
Four prominent local businessmen nearly lost their lives when a massive whale capsized their boat in the dark, but one man’s calm courage saved them all.
- The Prank on the Train
A flirtatious encounter on a local commute leads to an unexpected and humiliating lesson for an overly confident young man.
- The Price of Discontent: A Warning from the 1877 Panic
While Seattle thrives on the steady hum of mills and logging camps, a Seattle editor warns citizens against petty grievances by recounting the harrowing hunger and unemployment plaguing the rest of the country.
- The Myth of Civilization
A satirical look at the displacement and forced assimilation of Indigenous people in the Yakima Valley.
- The Mother Who Disinherited Her Sons Based on Financial Competence
A Seattle widow pens a remarkably candid will, detailing exactly why she believes her sons are incapable of managing her estate while praising her daughter's business acumen.
- The Political Brawl for the Soul of Pioneer Seattle
As the city approaches a high-stakes municipal election, a local newspaper mounts a vitriolic defense of the business class against a 'People’s' movement they claim will bring anarchy and mob rule.
- The Marriage Mill: Is Olympia a Haven for Runaways?
Legislative divorce bills in 1860 are turning Washington Territory into a 'by-word and reproach' as lawmakers bypass the courts to dissolve marriages for political favors.
- The Perpetual-Motion Man Came Downtown Armed
Before Dr. Hannibal Mills shot a man in the Occidental saloon, he told a restaurant waiter he would not live until morning and announced, “I'm God, the devil and himself.”
- 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 High Stakes 'Sing-Gamble' of the Cedar River
For over 130 hours, tribes from the Black, Cedar, and Puyallup rivers engaged in an ancient, rhythmic gambling ritual near Renton, staking their entire winter's livelihood on the outcome.
- Chief Hamilk Refuses the Government's Money
A Wenatchee chief rejects a pro-rata share of the fishery-reservation sale and demands either a new reservation or the whole $20,000 — land that white settlers now farm.
- Forty Tons of Seattle Iron: Moran Brothers' Giant Pumps Head for the Dry Dock
The biggest centrifugal pumps ever cast on the Pacific Coast leave Moran Brothers' foundry for the government dry dock, three machines able to empty it in two hours.
- Sixty Armed Men Took the Jail at Dayton
A convicted murderer was hauled out of the Columbia County jail and strangled from a rope in the public square — the coroner's jury named no killers, and the local editor scolded lynch law while calling the mob 'cool and systematic.'