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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1885 | 4 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 1 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
35 stories matching sigh
- Tragedy at the Stoecke Home
A peaceful household is shattered when a violent dispute ends in a fatal shooting.
- The Unlucky Fisherman of Seattle
A satirical poem from 1878 chronicles an angler who spends a week sitting by a local sawmill, only to become a living piece of landscape architecture for the local insect population.
- The Eleventh Street Cable Line Breaks Down Again
Tacoma residents are left stranded and forced to hike up the hill after the latest in a string of mechanical failures on the transit line.
- Spokane Delegation Breaks for John B. Allen
A legislative stalemate over the election of John B. Allen reveals fractures in the Spokane delegation and a bitter feud between political factions.
- Seattle Athletic Club's Humiliating Baseball Defeat
The home team suffers a crushing 17-1 loss to Portland, with spectators dwindling as the game devolved into a series of errors.
- The False Alarm That Almost Set Seattle Afire
When an unfounded panic about an anti-Chinese uprising brought the Governor and the state militia to Seattle, a tense city collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
- The Wind That Spoke: Kennewick’s Dusty Plea for a Sprinkler Cart
A fierce Monday wind storm drove residents to subscribe to a new municipal sprinkler fund, proving that the battle against dust was won not by speeches, but by grit in the eyes.
- The Great Regatta Capsizes
A much-awaited breeze sends Seattle’s yachts racing across the harbor, but leads to a dramatic spill and a rescue for one of the city's top boats.
- Homesteader Investigates Wailing at Lake Washington's Haunted Spring
An early Seattle settler recounts a terrifying, night-long vigil at a 'haunted' spring that kept his dog trembling and the local Indigenous community at bay.
- A Frontier Promise Kept
In an era of rugged isolation, an anonymous immigrant couple reflects on twenty years of marriage, the silence of their home, and the sudden joy of a child arriving on Christmas Day.
- The Widow’s Failed Suit and the Captain’s Steel Eye
A flirtatious widow attempts to trap a wealthy widower in marriage, but his razor-sharp wit and exacting standards send her packing.
- The Sad Procession of the Snohomish Bachelors
A local scene captures the quiet, threadbare dignity of three men moving house, offering a rare, human glimpse into the isolation of frontier bachelorhood.
- The Lawyer Locked Out
A prominent Tacoma politician finds himself stranded on the street in his gym clothes after a drafty gymnasium door leaves him quite exposed.
- The Mysterious Case of the Missing Fan
A high-society mix-up at a Seattle art exposition sparks a frantic search, a secret engagement, and a lesson in the dangers of public gossip.
- The Vigilantes' Ghost: Seattle's Dark Secret in Two Maple Trees
A poem published in the *Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer* reveals the city’s foundational myth: that its current 'peaceable' order was bought with the blood of six men hanged by a secret committee when the law failed to act.
- The Ferryman of the Dark River
An encounter on the waterfront reveals the quiet, lingering melancholy of a man reflecting on the 'old timey days' and the hard reality of post-slavery life.
- The End of the Footpath Across the Columbia
Northern Pacific enforces a strict no-trespassing rule on the bridge between Kennewick and Pasco, severing a vital pedestrian link.
- Homesteader Investigates Wailing at Lake Washington Spring
A lonely homesteader chases a supernatural wailing into the woods, only to discover a surprisingly commercial origin for his ghostly disturbances.
- The Judgment Day Landlord
A Seattle resident finds his patience tested when his neighbors' millennial religious fervor leads to the systematic expropriation of his household goods.
- The Ghost of Haunted Spring
A lonely homesteader near Lake Washington discovers the source of a terrifying, mournful wail that had been disturbing his cabin nights.
- She Married the Man She Sued — Then Her Lawyers Came for Their Cut
A breach-of-promise case ends in a wedding, but the attorneys who won the judgment want $6,100, and the newlyweds leave for Walla Walla with papers in hand.
- The Haunted Spring Mystery of Lake Washington
A lonely squatter in the dense forests of early Seattle hears a terrifying, otherworldly wail that threatens his sanity until he discovers the source in the brush.
- A Chicago Broker Returns to Find Olympia Unrecognizable
Away for more than two decades, I. I. Hackney marvels at the capital city's real-estate boom, new statehouse ambitions, and the wilderness he once knew as Tacoma.
- The Stranger from Pike
An eccentric traveler’s awkward recovery of a lost hat becomes a temporary spectacle on Main Street in Walla Walla.
- The Man Who Bet His Wardrobe on the Ballot
A cautionary tale of a local gambler who wagered his suits, boots, and even his vest on the outcome of the 1876 presidential election—and lost it all to the political currents.
Also about this, in other words
- The Seattle Postmaster's Inbox Woes
A satirical poetic complaint from 1885 captures the frustration of a growing city struggling with mail delivery, box rent, and the perceived indifference of the local postal bureaucracy.