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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 3 |
23 stories matching revert
- The Railroad That Stole Our Land: How Seattle’s Interests Blocked Snohomish’s Future
A furious letter to the editor exposes how political maneuvering in Washington D.C. and Seattle kept vital federal lands locked up, denying homesteaders their rightful homes while railroad tycoons played games with territory.
- The Great Spokane Land Rush
Hundreds of 'boomers' flooded a disputed railroad tract in the heart of Spokane after a legal ruling fueled rumors of unclaimed land.
- The Day Washington Was Born: A City Holds Its Breath
As the nation celebrates statehood, Seattle gathers in a packed hall to hear speeches on liberty, land fraud, and the future of the 'Queen City.'
- The Trial of Judge Wickersham: A Tacoma Scandal Over Land, Lies, and 'Delirium'
In February 1889, the trial of a powerful federal judge in Tacoma exposed a web of political corruption, land fraud, and sexual scandal involving a young woman named Sadie Brantner.
- The Broken Promise of the Rail
Farmers organize a protest against a railroad company for failing to operate the line between Tacoma and Seattle as contractually obligated.
- The High-Stakes Fight for Sunnyside Land
A legal battle over valuable desert land reveals a history of failed filings, rejected appeals, and government corruption in the Sunnyside district.
- The 'Educational Park' That Never Was
When Seattle’s public school superintendent proposed turning the old University of Washington site into a grand, permanent hub for the city’s schools and library, he called it his 'iridescent dream.'
- Major Victory for Settlers on Indian Reservation Lands
A federal decision reverses a precedent, ruling that reservation land is not subject to railroad grants.
- The Railroad's Land Grab: How Northern Pacific Hoarded Snohomish’s Future
A local resident exposes the legal loopholes allowing the railroad to retain millions of acres in Western Washington, arguing that this concentrated ownership is strangling settlement and keeping land prices artificially high.
- The Railroad Land Agent Who Embezzled for Ten Years and Chose Suicide
A Northern Pacific land agent's decade-long scheme to skim payments on timber and farm contracts unravels into a $350,000 shortage — and a bullet.
- Life on the Edge of the World: A Dispatch from Tatoosh Island
A rare 1861 account of the desolate, storm-battered lives of lighthouse keepers and their interactions with the Makah people at the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
- Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad Takes Land-Grant Case to Congress
A legislative battle brews in Congress over land-grant endowments that could finally connect Seattle to the interior.
- Governor Hay Wants to Appoint, Not Elect, Washington's Officers—This Labor Editor Says No
A proposal to make state offices appointive sparks a fierce defense of the direct primary and the people's right to choose their own officials.
- City Contractors Collude Against the Eight-Hour Day
Labor unions in Seattle allege that local contractors are manipulating the courts to strip workers of their legal protections.
- The Streetcar Company That Asked Olympia for Land—and Promised the Moon by July 4
In 1892, the Olympia Light & Power Company pitched an electric railway to Tumwater as a bargain for landowners: donate a strip or an acre, and watch city-limit land double in value. The trust deed gave them until Independence Day to make it real.
- The Statehouse Recesses—and an Impeachment Trial Waits
Lawmakers adjourn until August 11 to try Insurance Commissioner J.H. Schively on 26 counts, capping a special session that cost $117,984 and spawned investigations of the Supreme Court and a 'Nurses' Trust Bill.'
- Ballard's Tide Flats Belong to the Uplanders, State Board Rules
In a decision touching Shilshole Avenue and the Ballard waterfront, the state land commissioners gave upland owners the preferred right to buy tide lands—and warned cities not to become land speculators.
- The Ghost of a Rail Land Grab
A legislative power play over a parcel of land shows that in the early days of Washington Territory, legal maneuvering was as much a part of town-building as the railroads themselves.
- The Judge Rules on the 'Common Law' Marriage
A King County court recognizes a union without a formal ceremony, sparking debate over the legal definition of marriage.
- A $500 Promise and a Government Land Dream: The Homestead Scam Drawing Inquiries Daily
Operating out of Seattle, Tacoma and Bellingham, promoters allegedly charged would-be settlers $500 for 'prior rights' to Oregon land tangled in a federal suit against the Southern Pacific.
- The Collapse of the Credit System
Palouse farmers are forced to abandon large-scale agriculture and the credit-dependent lifestyle as the hard times of 1894 take hold.
- Forty Young Olympians Become Company A — and Veto the 'Governor's Guard'
A new National Guard company musters at the capital, elects its officers, and then debates what to call itself — until one young soldier warns that a governor might someday misbehave.
- The Gold Rush at the Swinomish Flats
While miners chased gold in the mountains, early settlers on the Swinomish tide lands found that dyking and ditching the soil offered a far more reliable fortune.
Also about this, in other words
- The Right to Keep Your Home After a Tax Sale
Judge Langley rules on a pivotal case challenging whether the city can cut off a homeowner's redemption rights after property is sold for back taxes.
- Federal Relief for Failed Homesteaders
A new act of Congress allows pioneers who lost their land to try again if the initial failure was truly beyond their control.
- Redirecting the River: Reclaiming the Stuck Valley
Pierce County engineers cut a new channel through the Stuck River to drain 2,000 acres of farmland and end the cycle of sand-choked floods.
- Legislature Offers Tax Relief to Struggling Property Owners
A new bill aims to waive penalties and interest for delinquent taxpayers, while proposing a shift to semi-annual payments to ease the burden on residents.
- The Ex-Treasurer Who Paid to Take Office—and Wants His Money Back
D. K. Durie says Seattle is stalling on a court-ordered refund of a Mill Street grade assessment. His suit asks a judge to decide how long a city can wait before delay becomes refusal.
- A Reborn Haven in Old Seattle
After the violence of the 1886 anti-Chinese riots shuttered his school, a local merchant defies the lingering hostility to create a space for education and community.
- The City’s Costly Theatrical Blunder
A Seattle judge rules that the city cannot revoke a theater's license without refunding the operator's $1,000 fee.
- The City Takes Back the Waterfront
After the great fire, the city granted a lease for a slip at the foot of Jackson Street. Now, it wants its land back—and the courts have agreed.