Research the archive
Narrow 25,688 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 7 |
| 1893 | 4 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 3 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
46 stories matching quest
- The Great Pig Entrapment of 1886
A pig's quest for kitchen scraps leads to a neighborhood-wide ordeal in downtown Seattle, involving the Fire Department and a very persistent squeal.
- The Hostage Crisis of the Teanaway Woods
A territorial dispute over two Japanese women in North Yakima turns violent, forcing a desperate appeal for help in Seattle.
- The 50-Year Marriage That Defied Poverty: A Spokane Woman’s Quest for Work
When a rural Washington couple faced ruin from debt and injury, the wife took a train to Spokane with nothing but her satchel and a fierce determination to earn her keep.
- The Great Seattle Streetcar Consolidation
A multi-million dollar maneuver promises to unify the city's competing electric lines, potentially abandoning local power-houses in a massive quest for operational efficiency.
- Lost for Days in the Grays Harbor Wilderness
An elderly hunter is rescued in a state of delirium after disappearing in the rain-soaked timberlands north of Riverside.
- Death the Price of a Job
A brutal internal railroad memo reveals that safety rules were meant for legal protection, while speed was the only metric that mattered for keeping a job.
- The Judge's Cruel Calculus
A Seattle widow’s quest for justice in court meets a cold, misogynistic dismissal from the bench.
- A Heartbreak in a Seattle Boarding House
An elderly man’s public quest to 'rescue' his beloved from her life at the Pacific House leads to a courtroom confrontation.
- The Hidden Enemies in the Workshop
A leaked solicitation letter exposes the shadowy industry of private detective agencies planting 'operatives' in Everett's factories to dismantle labor unions from within.
- Canoeing the Queets: Promise and Dispossession on the Olympic Peninsula
An 1892 travelogue celebrates homesteaders in the Queets River valley while arguing that Native hunters should be confined to the reservation.
- The Great Seattle Fire Hose Scandal of 1891
A fiery Board of Public Works meeting uncovers allegations of bribery, price-fixing, and backroom deals in the city's quest to equip its fire department.
- The Ghost Shipment of Charles B. Langtry
A skeptical investigation into a mysterious opium shipment highlights the rampant corruption and 'Inspector Afloat' complacency haunting the Alaska-Seattle steamship route.
- The Struggle for Seattle’s First Classrooms
Before the city became an educational powerhouse, Seattle’s early schools were built on the backs of local volunteers, rented rooms, and desperate community fundraising.
- The Smooth Talker of Tacoma
A persuasive con man leaves a trail of bamboozled businessmen and empty wallets.
- The Tragic End of William Hill
The body of a Scottish laborer is discovered floating near the Seattle city front, leaving behind a simple will and a recommendation from a Victoria hotel.
- Building a City on Sagebrush and Ambition
As 1890 dawns, a North Yakima editor reflects on a year of rapid growth, fire, and the relentless quest for the state capital.
- The Persistent Quest for a Columbia River Park
A summer-long civic debate over turning a river island into a public park hits a familiar bureaucratic snag.
- The Great Snohomish Desertion: A Husband Left Penniless by His Wife’s Flight
In a scandal that gripped the small river town in early 1877, a man returned from a logging trip to find his wife had vanished with their cash, leaving him stranded and destitute.
- A Seventeen-Year-Old's Failed Quest for a Marriage License
After her father abandoned her, a young woman faced the rigid wall of bureaucratic requirements when she tried to marry.
- The Quest for Walla Walla's Future Water Supply
City council moves to hire an expert engineer to investigate new water sources for the growing city.
- The Quest to Harness Benton County’s Natural Gas
Spokane financiers propose a pipeline to bring local natural gas to Pasco and Kennewick, sparking industrial interest from the Union Pacific Railroad.
- The River That Wasn't: A Captain’s Quest to Put Kennewick on the Map
Captain Martin L. Volwiler isn’t just shipping strawberries; he’s filming them from a boat deck to prove that the Columbia River is worth knowing about.
- Bridging the Divide: The Quest to Unite Washington Territory
In 1882, residents and leaders were grappling with the geographic and cultural chasm between the rugged, booming Puget Sound and the burgeoning Eastern Washington region.
- The Quest for a Clean City
A proposed 'Liernur System' could turn Seattle's sewage into marketable fertilizer while solving a desperate public health crisis.
- The South End's Schoolhouse Fight
A letter to the editor accuses Seattle's school directors of stalling on a promised south-end school block while the north end already got its building.
Also about this, in other words
- The Quest for Water at Temperance and Mercer
Developer D. T. Denny is drilling deep into the ground of North Seattle, hoping to tap an artesian aquifer to secure water for his property.
- The Barber's Great Escape
A local barber skips town, leaving behind a mountain of debt, a jilted wife, and a lover, all while chasing a lifestyle he couldn't afford.
- The Centennial Saloon Mystery
After much anticipation, a elusive character has finally been spotted at the local tavern, proving that some things in Seattle never change.
- The 'Inner Man' Restored: A 19th-Century Call to Dining
A classic 1876 appeal to the hungry travelers of Seattle, promising that even the 'weak' could find relief at Mill Street.
- The Quest for a Snoqualmie Pass Railroad
A citizen's pitch for a specific route through the Cascades to connect Seattle with the riches of Eastern Washington.
- The Unkindest Cut
A young boy's poignant question about inclusion and dignity sheds light on the treatment of people with disabilities in our community.
- The Jealousy That Shut Down a Shop: A Seattle Woman’s Fight for Livelihood
In 1888, a Seattle lumber shop owner saw her business destroyed not by market forces, but by the petty sabotage of her customers' wives. Her story reveals the fragile economic existence of women in the frontier city.
- A Cowboy's Fatal Rage
A domestic dispute in the upper country leads to a brutal killing, as the perpetrator attempts to flee via the Seattle steamers.