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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 7 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 3 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 4 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1863 | 2 |
| 1872 | 8 |
| 1876 | 41 |
| 1877 | 42 |
| 1878 | 41 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 11 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 27 |
| 1884 | 22 |
| 1885 | 35 |
| 1886 | 11 |
| 1887 | 7 |
| 1888 | 7 |
| 1889 | 24 |
| 1890 | 6 |
| 1891 | 23 |
| 1892 | 43 |
| 1893 | 43 |
| 1894 | 47 |
| 1895 | 54 |
| 1897 | 3 |
| 1898 | 5 |
| 1899 | 5 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 24 |
| 1904 | 10 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 4 |
| 1909 | 14 |
| 1910 | 6 |
| 1911 | 5 |
| 1912 | 4 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1916 | 10 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1922 | 2 |
| 1923 | 10 |
| 1924 | 4 |
| 1925 | 10 |
| 1929 | 1 |
640 stories matching settlement
- The Lake Washington Land Fight That Turned on a Cabin, a Railroad Claim, and 'Crazy' Miller
A decade-long homestead contest ends with William L. Miller keeping first claim—if he or his guardian can prove it within 90 days. His rival says the cabin was never really a home.
- State Land Settlement Project Opens to Civilians
After prioritizing ex-service men for years, state officials open the valley's settlement tracts to all, citing a need for rapid development.
- Snohomish, 1898: A Ferry Claim Becomes a Booster's Dream City
A promotional tour of the inland Puget Sound town traces its founding by I.C. Ferguson, its lumber and fishing wages, and the railroad that turned a river landing into a self-described city of homes.
- The Night Seattle Held the Line at the Stockade
A 39th-anniversary account of the January 1856 siege: two blockhouses, a howitzer from the USS Decatur, and two settlers killed in the Puget Sound War.
- A 1.5-Million-Acre Taking: The Colville Reservation Was About to Be Thrown Open
Federal officials and land agents anticipated a rush of white homesteaders into the southern half of the Colville Indian Reservation, framing Indigenous land as 'closed' and state growth as its natural destiny.
- The Trusted Deputy and the Missing $900
Island County's longtime deputy treasurer is found short in his accounts; his old chief quietly makes the county whole.
- The Loggers Who Built a Town: How an Indian Settlement Thrived on the Banks of Port Discovery
While Snohomish debated its own agricultural future, a thriving community of Indigenous farmers and loggers was quietly building a prosperous life in Dungeness, complete with schools, hotels, and dairy herds.
- State-Funded Irrigation Settlement Wins Legislative Backing
After overcoming Senate opposition, state land settlement project secures $50,000 in funding as settlers express guarded optimism about the program's future.
- Building a Road for the Snohomish Valley
In 1876, Seattle merchants were urged to build a road to the Snohomish and Snoqualmie rivers to secure trade and accelerate settlement in the fertile bottom lands.
- The Land Grab That Built Tacoma: How the Northern Pacific Railroad Stole Millions of Acres
A furious editorial in the Seattle Star exposes the Northern Pacific Railroad’s scheme to misappropriate public lands for a private coal line, arguing that the company is using legal loopholes to steal from settlers in King and Snohomish counties.
- 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 Legion's Frustrated Ambitions for Valley Land
American Legion delegates seek to expand the local land settlement project, only to find the cost of pumping water may bury the plan.
- Can 840 Acres of University Land Become 42 Veterans’ Farms?
White Bluffs boosters asked the state university to sell 840 acres near Vernita at $10 an acre, arguing that settled farms would raise the value of the rest.
- The Settlers Beat the Railroad
A Pacific County land fight ends in favor of homesteaders after the Northern Pacific tried to claim their township under its indemnity grant.
- The Unawakened Giant: Why Washington Territory Is the Next California
A sweeping editorial in the *Diligent Intelligencer* argues that railroads are about to unlock the 'inland basin' of Eastern Washington, transforming it from a feared desert into an agricultural empire rivaling the Golden State.
- The Log Jam That Held Back the Skagit
Settlers bet their savings on cutting a channel through a massive timber jam—and begged Sound steamboat captains to link the Skagit to Seattle.
- The Price of a Settlement Gone Wrong
A contract to manufacture shake posts turns into a criminal trial after a partner is accused of embezzling funds.
- The Case of the Substituted Diamond Rings
A famous Seattle divorce settlement turns petty and strange when ex-Senator Dyer says his former wife returned the wrong rings—twice.
- Seattle’s Missing $5,500: A Treasurer, a Fire, and a Quiet Committee Settlement
Ex-City Treasurer W. L. Ames’s accounts were short. His bondsmen admitted it and the finance committee looked for a settlement—no prosecution, just a deal.
- The Battle for Block Eight: Two Men, One Lot, and the Law
In a dispute that highlights the chaotic land rush of early Seattle, two settlers find themselves locked in a legal battle over the same pre-emption claim, forcing a federal judge to intervene.
- The Pre-emptor’s Ledger: A Blueprint for Owning Olympia
In November 1860, the federal government issued a rigid, almost theatrical checklist of requirements for settlers hoping to claim land in Washington Territory. It wasn't enough to just show up; you had to prove your worthiness through a litany of domestic and agricultural details.
- Chief Moses Agrees to Relocate
A landmark settlement in Washington Territory promises to open two million acres to settlement.
- A Million Acres on the Block: Colville Reservation Slated for Settlement
Secretary of the Interior James R. Garfield's annual report listed the Colville and Coeur d'Alene reservations among the Indian lands being prepared for opening to settlement in 1908.
- The Senate Ratifies the Treaties That Remade the Northwest
Ratified in 1859, the 1855 treaties with tribes across Oregon and Washington promised annuities, schools and mills while ceding millions of acres to settlement.
- The Great Land Grab: Tacoma Citizens Unite Against Northern Pacific’s ‘Squatter’ Tactics
In a packed hall at Reinig’s Hall, leading citizens condemn the railroad’s seizure of public lands and its attempt to claim hundreds of thousands of acres for a coal line that will never be built.
Also about this, in other words
- City Council Settles Deadly Runaway Claim
A tragic workplace accident leads to a $750 settlement after the city is sued for the death of an employee.
- The Pioneer Dream: Settling Seattle as an Organized Colony
In 1877, Seattle newspapers championed the idea of 'colonizing' the Washington Territory to solve the isolation of homesteading, mirroring today's debates over density and regional growth.
- Settling Up Before the New Year
A Snohomish City blacksmith issues a stern public notice for customers to settle their debts before 1879.
- The Squatter in the Two-Story House
A landowner is fighting a legal battle to evict a tenant who allegedly obtained permission to pitch a tent on the property only to move into the main house.
- Real Estate Standoff Paralyzes Whatcom
A townsite dispute between original owners and a land colony halts development and freezes local business.
- The Price of a Marital Settlement
A wife files a scathing counter-complaint alleging coercion, threats, and a secret financial pact in a high-stakes divorce suit.
- Eviction Threatens Historical Black Settlement in Tacoma
A US Marshal is ordered to collect rent from 450 squatters living on a 163-acre tract established by early Black settlers.
- The Settler's Plight: Caught in the Crosshairs of Territorial Law
While Washington settlers face prosecution for working their land, Congress remains fixated on minor bureaucratic slights, ignoring the plight of the territories.