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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 1 |
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| 1891 | 2 |
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15 stories matching silli
- The Name That Wasn't: How Washington State Got Its Name Back
In February 1889, Congress nearly erased Seattle's home state from the map, replacing it with 'Tacoma' in a final admission bill. A last-minute correction saved the territory's identity just before statehood.
- The Bloomer Rebellion: Seattle Girls Defy Censors to Save Their Drill
When anonymous posters labeled the University of Washington’s women’s physical culture class as 'obscene,' a committee of students and faculty mobilized the entire city to remove them—proving that the fight for women's bodily autonomy was already a local sport.
- The 'Lingerer' and the Moral Purge of Tacoma
A fiery 1885 editorial spat reveals the tension between town boosters and a 'Law and Order' movement intent on policing the morality of the emerging city.
- The Lonely Traveler’s Fear of the 'Conspiracy'
A Welsh immigrant's cross-state journey ends in the Seattle jail, fueled by his desperate pleas for protection from imagined pursuers.
- The Strange 'Hamlet' Scandal that Wasn't
When a malicious rumor about a local politician’s past as a failed actor spread across the territory, the press had to step in to set the record straight.
- A Night at the St. Charles Hotel
A local journalist's late-night attempt to 'clean out' a hotel leads to a public brawl and a courtroom spectacle.
- The Battle Over a Washed-Out Bridge
County Commissioner R.E. Pratt defends the county board against accusations of negligence regarding the Richland bridge disaster.
- The Electric Gate: An Olympia Father Declares War on Front-Gate Courting
A gadget-minded Eastside householder wires his front gate to deliver a jolt to lally-gagging sweethearts — and proves it first on an unwitting dog and a cabbage-loving cow.
- The Price of a Lost Election Bet
After betting on the wrong presidential candidate, a local man spent his afternoon forced to play a hand organ for charity to settle his debt.
- The Battle for Walla Walla's Smoke
Local cigarmakers protest that city grocers are hyping 'home industry' while importing cheap cigars from out of town.
- The Judge Who Was Only 'Sober as a Judge'
A legendary anecdote from the Seattle police court where a witness’s inadvertent insult revealed the bench's own notorious reputation for intoxication.
- A Bureaucratic Duel in Mason County
A tart, hilarious correspondence reveals the friction between an autocratic Adjutant General and a defiant county official in early Washington.
- The Town's Elite Take Up Knee-Breeches
A satirical poem mocks Aberdeen's socialites for adopting the latest high-fashion trend.
- The State's Duty to Your Dinner Plate
An 1878 editorial debate in the Seattle press over a 'Colusa Sun' piece satirizes the radical notion that government should provide housing and ensure personal satisfaction for citizens.
- The Weight of Little Things
A century and a half ago, a Seattle writer mused on how the smallest details of life—a penny, a word, a drop of water—shape our massive, often overwhelming destinies.