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1. The Alchemy of the Sands

   Prospectors on the coast claim to have found a secret chemical process to extract gold from black sand near Ocosta.

   Sep 28, 1893Aberdeen HeraldOcosta, Grays Harbor CountyFollow the Money · Strange But True

2. The Great Telephone Wars of Tacoma

   A rival phone company manager staged a bizarre arrest of his competitor to derail a franchise bid—only for the plot to unravel at the police station.

   Jun 28, 1904The Tacoma TimesPantages Theater, Tacoma, Pierce CountyFollow the Money · Scandal

3. They Planned to Pull Iron Out of Columbia River Sand

   A Hanford inventor and the Great Western Iron Company claimed the Columbia Valley's sand held high-grade magnetite worth $90 a ton.

   Nov 23, 1916The Kennewick Courier-ReporterHanford, Benton CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

4. Striking Gold in the Black Sand of the Beach

   A Tacoma visitor reports a machine at Ocosta that pulls a dollar of gold from every ton of beach sand — and a local banker has already bought it.

   Jun 1, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOcosta, Grays Harbor CountyBoom & Bust · Strange But True

5. The Gold Rush on the Pacific Beaches

   A Tacoma syndicate aims to extract gold and platinum from the sands of Beard's Hollow near Ilwaco.

   Jan 15, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerIlwaco, Pacific CountyBoom & Bust · Snake Oil

6. The Stockyards That Were Really About Raising the Value of Sand and Sagebrush

   When Pasco promoters pushed stockyards at Ainsworth, Kennewick’s editor saw a railroad, a packer and owners of “practically worthless” land getting a public subsidy. He wanted no part of it.

   May 4, 1916The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

7. The River That Cost Twice

   A landowner is forced to pay for the same property twice after the Columbia River shifts its channel and alters the state boundary.

   Sep 21, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSkamokawa, Wahkiakum CountyFollow the Money · Strange But True

8. Kennewick's Street Improvement Fiasco

   After building roads with dirt and sand over oiled gravel, the City Council calls in an expert to fix the crumbling infrastructure.

   Aug 2, 1917The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyCity Hall

9. Trapped by the Tide on the Road to Queets

   In 1892, poet Herbert Bashford joined a camping party for a walk up Washington’s wild Olympic coast—and found the rising tide more dangerous than any highwayman.

   Jul 24, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerQueets, Grays Harbor CountyStrange But True

10. Before the Next High Tide

    An 1878 editorial warns that hauling gravel and pulling drift logs off the Point Hudson spit has already helped flood Port Townsend twice—and calls for an ordinance before the winter storms return.

    Oct 6, 1876Puget Sound Weekly ArgusPoint Hudson, Port Townsend, Jefferson CountyFollow the Money · City Hall

11. The Blue Sand Beneath Seattle

    In September 1876, a crew of Chinese laborers excavating the foundation for a new building at Wellington and Third struck a rare geological treasure: a bed of pure blue sand.

    Sep 22, 1876The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

12. The Tragedy Beneath Lake Union

    A routine sewer tunneling project turns into a deadly nightmare, leaving one laborer lost beneath six feet of quicksand as his comrades narrowly escape.

    Feb 14, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerWest Street, Seattle, King CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

13. The Desert Bloom of Ainsworth

    A skeptical traveler discovers a German immigrant coaxing bountiful gardens from the dusty sagebrush plains of the Snake River.

    Oct 14, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerAinsworth, Pasco, Franklin CountyStrange But True

14. Violent Windstorm Shreds Walla Walla County Infrastructure

    A sudden, shifting gale rips roofs from elevators and destroys miles of railroad sand fencing across the valley.

    Nov 13, 1903The Evening StatesmanMill Creek, Walla Walla, Walla Walla CountyBoom & Bust · Disasters

15. Worker Killed in Tacoma Gravel Pit Slide

    A young laborer was buried beneath a wall of sand at a North End worksite.

    Mar 30, 1909The Tacoma TimesSouth J Street, Tacoma, Pierce CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

16. The Battle for Salmon Bay’s Sand Spit

    A multi-year legal feud over a railway right-of-way and a squatter’s claim reaches the courtroom.

    Apr 11, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSalmon Bay, Seattle, King CountyFollow the Money

17. Seattle's First Real Street Paving

    A specimen half-block is laid on Commercial Street as a test to end the era of plank roads and mud.

    Oct 21, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust · Gone Forever

18. Chasing Gold in the Yakima River

    A group of enterprising prospectors has constructed a specialized barge to extract gold from the sands of the Yakima River.

    Aug 27, 1891The Yakima HeraldYakima River, Yakima, Yakima CountyFollow the Money

19. The Sawdust in Your Spice Cabinet

    A Seattle newspaper exposé from 1888 reveals that the city's food supply was being systemically poisoned by greed, with sawdust in spices and grease in butter.

    Jun 19, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountySnake Oil

20. The Midnight Landing at Smith's Cove

    When dozens of Chinese laborers were smuggled into Seattle via a frigid landing at Smith’s Cove in 1892, a frantic, city-wide pursuit ensued.

    Jan 3, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerThird Street, Seattle, King CountyExclusion & Resistance · True Crime

21. The Sermon That Rocked the Elks

    A Presbyterian minister uses a memorial service for the departed to launch a fiery, public crusade against the morality of his fraternal hosts.

    Dec 10, 1903The Evening StatesmanTacoma Theater, Tacoma, Pierce CountyScandal

22. Masked Vigilantes Hang a Convicted Murderer in Dayton Jail

    James McPherson, convicted of murdering E. H. Cummins at New York Bar, was taken from the Dayton jail by masked men and hanged, despite a governor's reprieve and a new trial order.

    Aug 8, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerDayton, Columbia CountyTrue Crime

23. The Opium King’s Last Stand: A Seattle Showdown

    As federal agents prepare to prosecute the city's most notorious vice figure, he stands defiant in his hotel room, claiming his trunks were rigged and vowing to clear his name before a New York jury.

    May 20, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall · True Crime

24. The Navy Secretary Goes Down Into the Big Hole

    Secretary of the Navy Herbert rides the lighthouse tender Manzanita across the Sound to inspect the giant new dry dock at Port Orchard, settles a bitter dispute over how deep to drive the pilings, and dances the night away at the Rainier.

    May 22, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerBremerton, Kitsap CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

25. A Near Miss for Kennewick’s Warehouse District

    A passing locomotive sparked a blaze in the sagebrush that nearly razed the town's lumber yards and warehouses.

    Aug 25, 1905The Kennewick CourierKennewick, Benton CountyDisasters

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