Research the archive
Narrow 25,724 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 |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 18 |
| 1878 | 9 |
| 1880 | 3 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1885 | 9 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 3 |
| 1888 | 8 |
| 1889 | 12 |
| 1890 | 2 |
| 1891 | 8 |
| 1892 | 25 |
| 1893 | 19 |
| 1894 | 20 |
| 1895 | 24 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 7 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1914 | 3 |
| 1916 | 1 |
199 stories matching seal
- The Bering Sea's Brazen Seal Poachers, as Told by a Port Townsend Captain
A sealing schooner back from five months in the Bering Sea describes a coordinated scheme of lookouts, false alibis and cached skins used to outwit the revenue cutters.
- The Paperwork Error That Challenged Seattle’s Property Claims
A legal dispute over a real estate deed in 1885 reveals how bureaucratic technicalities—specifically a missing county seal—threatened the validity of early land titles in King County.
- The Mayor’s Sealed Envelope: A City Holds Its Breath
Mayor Humes returns the saloon redistricting ordinance to the City Council in a sealed envelope, sparking wild speculation about whether he has vetoed the measure or simply signed it into law.
- The Great Seal Controversy: Do Pups Swim or Sink?
Local mariners and traders challenge the prevailing scientific 'fables' about seal pup habits to protest federal regulation of North Pacific sealing.
- Nine Good Men Never Came Home From the Seal Grounds
A hurricane off Cape Flattery swallows three canoes full of the strongest seal hunters of the tribe, all in the perilous work of gathering furs.
- The Sealing Monopoly Judge Swan Called a ‘Monumental Humbug’
A federal report from Port Townsend shows Puget Sound sealers thriving while a Smithsonian expert blasts the Alaska Commercial Company’s grip on the Pribilof Islands.
- Makah Sealers Face Forfeiture
Federal authorities move to seize two schooners owned by Makah sealers for violating international sealing regulations off Cape Flattery.
- The Octopus and the Seal: A Local Captain’s War Against a Washington Monopoly
In 1901, Port Townsend resident James G. Swan published affidavits from experienced hunters to debunk Professor Elliott’s claim that seal pups sink like stones, exposing the Alaska Commercial Company’s stranglehold on federal policy.
- The Bering Sea Arbitration: A Moral Victory for the Seal
A Paris tribunal rules against American claims of exclusive jurisdiction, yet grants the U.S. the stringent conservation regulations they sought to save the fur seal from extinction.
- Designing the Washington Territory Seal
An early proposal for the official seal that featured a log cabin, a settler’s wagon, and the Chinook jargon word 'Alki'.
- The Deadly Knife Fight at the South End
A fatal stabbing in Tacoma reveals a web of tavern disputes, jealousy, and police misconduct in the South End.
- The Tale of the Leschi Park 'Baby Seal'
A local newspaper mistakenly reports the birth of a sea lion pup at Leschi Park, but local fishermen reveal they actually caught a stray baby seal elsewhere and dropped it in the tank.
- The High Price of the Seal Hunt
After returning from a season in the Bering Sea, the crew of the schooner Henry Dennis is paid off, while experts warn that seal herds are vanishing due to over-hunting.
- U.S. Cutter Seizes Poaching Schooners off Cape Flattery
Defying a violent storm, the U.S. revenue cutter 'Grant' hunts down two schooners accused of illegal seal hunting in forbidden waters.
- The Mystery of the Vanishing Gold
A government shipment of gold disappears between Seattle and Port Townsend, leaving investigators baffled by a tampered seal.
- The Sealing Wars: Customs vs. Navy
Tensions rise at Port Townsend as federal authorities clash over how to enforce restrictive sealing laws on local schooners.
- The Ghostly Harvest of the North Pacific
A brutal accounting of how 19th-century pelagic sealers, operating out of Washington ports, pushed a species to the brink of extinction through industrial-scale slaughter.
- The High-Stakes Gamble for Fur Seals
As tensions mount in the Bering Sea, a local merchant readies his schooner with experimental steam launches, betting that international diplomacy—or flags of convenience—will secure his haul.
- The Willard Ainsworth's Dangerous Nine-Month Cruise
A Seattle sealing schooner heads for the coast of Japan and Siberia, defying revenue cutters and maritime pressure to secure a massive catch.
- The Makah Nation’s Fleet Challenges the Seal Hunters
With firearms banned, the Makah sealers of Neah Bay turn to traditional hunting methods, outmaneuvering white commercial competitors.
- The Seal-Skin Obsession: Why Seattle Ladies Wear More Fur Than Any Other City
A local furrier reveals that the city's obsession with expensive sealskin sacks is driven by climate, fashion, and a secret supply chain from London.
- A Deadly Dispute Over Sealskins
A white sealer and an Indigenous man clash over the ownership of pelts, leading to a fatal shooting on the Ozette Reservation.
- The Hidden Trade in Willapa Harbor
While boosters brag about new ports, illicit opium and seal poaching thrive just down the coast.
- The Makah Sealers’ Schooner Controversy
A bureaucratic fight over whether tribal sealers can legally use schooners as refuge during dangerous Bering Sea storms.
- The Seal Pup Wars: A Local Naturalist vs. The Smithsonian’s ‘Sense-Keeper’
James G. Swan, a long-time Neah Bay resident and customs inspector, challenges Henry W. Elliott’s decades-old claim that newborn fur seal pups sink like stones, offering eyewitness testimony from Captain Elijah McAlmond that they swim.
Also about this, in other words
- The High-Stakes Battle Over Fur Seals in the North Pacific
A political storm brews in Washington as the People’s Party challenges the Republican administration over territorial rights and the protection of fur-bearing animals in the Bering Sea.
- Ten Gales, Three Lost Schooners, and a Widow Who Wasn't
A Seattle seal hunter back from eight months in the North Pacific describes a season that swallowed whole crews — and explains why he'd rather kill seals with a spear than a gun.
- The Sealers’ Rebellion at Neah Bay
A rebellious maritime labor dispute unfolds at the edge of the Washington Territory, where independent seal hunters stand their ground against a heavy-handed federal agent.
- Seattle's Revenue Cutter Heads to Bering Sea to Crack Down on Seal Poachers
The U.S. revenue cutter Grant sails from Seattle for Sitka and the Bering Sea, carrying orders to seize illegal sealers; two fast new launches are being built at Port Townsend.