Research the archive
Narrow 25,688 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 |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 6 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 7 |
| 1892 | 10 |
| 1893 | 9 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 4 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1903 | 4 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1910 | 1 |
67 stories matching spar
- Olympia Wakes Up: Subpoenas, Telegraph Rates and a Suffrage Amendment
The 1895 Washington legislature moved from political strife to lawmaking, passing investigative subpoena power and jury reform while introducing bills to cap telegraph tolls, save Columbia salmon and give women the vote.
- Death in the Ring at the People's Theater
A sparring match at a downtown variety hall turns fatal, sparking a city-wide crackdown on brutal 'glove contests'.
- The Stevedore’s Claim: A Waterfront Legal Battle
After loading a massive cargo of spars, timber, and planks, a Seattle laborer took the ship owners to federal court to recover his unpaid wages.
- The Bishop, the Convicts, and the Sparring Match
Bishop Wells insists a prisoner-run entertainment at the penitentiary was decorous and proper—not the prizefight rumor made it out to be.
- The Secret Underground Boxing Ring
A reporter hides in an attic to witness a clandestine sparring match while the city maintains a facade of propriety.
- The Eight-Hour Day Battle in 1887
Washington territorial legislators spar over radical new labor laws, including mandates for an eight-hour workday and the end of company-scrip payment systems.
- The Warden Fights Back: Prison Labor, Jute Sacks and a Seattle Newspaper Scandal
Accused of selling prison-made sacks to middlemen and brutalizing convicts, Walla Walla’s warden answers his critics with a detailed defense—and a challenge to inspect the prison.
- Billy Fife: Self-Taught Caricaturist of Frontier Seattle
A biography of Billy Fife, a sailor and self-taught caricaturist whose sharp wit and rare artistic skill captured Seattle's frontier life.
- The Bread and Butter Vote: How the Custom House Ring Rigged Port Townsend Politics
In a stunning display of patronage politics in September 1876, federal employees in Port Townsend marched in lockstep to defeat local opposition, proving that government jobs were still the ultimate political currency.
- The Deadly Cost of Saloon Boxing
Seattle dives are profiting from 'scientific' sparring matches that frequently turn fatal for the impoverished, untrained men forced into the ring.
- The Custody Battle of Baby Augustus
A toddler causes a stir in Judge Osborn's court as separated parents spar over custody rights in a high-stakes legal drama.
- A Brawl at the Baldwin Hotel
Pro wrestler Clarence Whistler and a member of John L. Sullivan’s traveling entourage clash in a drunken tavern confrontation.
- The Sermon That Demanded a Vigilante Raid
Local clergymen spar over how to handle a notorious 'dive' in Tacoma, with one pastor inciting his congregation to take the law into their own hands.
- Seattle and Tacoma Spar Over Lake Washington Canal
Seattle and Tacoma trade accusations of jealousy and political maneuvering over the proposed Lake Washington Canal.
- The Great Washington Delay: How Congress Stalled Statehood for a Political Game
In January 1889, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an 'Omnibus Bill' to admit four territories as states, but fierce partisan fighting over Dakota and Montana left Washington Territory in limbo—delaying its entry into the Union by nearly two years.
- The First Fight for Women’s Suffrage in Seattle
Before statehood, the 1887 Washington Territorial Legislature sparked a fierce, floor-level battle over the right of women to vote and hold office.
- The Battle for the Yesler Fortune
Legal teams spar in the high-stakes probate battle over the estate of Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler.
- The Great Grain Rate War
Legislators in Olympia spar over a proposed reduction in railroad freight rates, setting Eastern Washington farmers against the powerful railroad corporations.
- Free Wool, Free Lumber: Washington's Mill Towns Brace for the Tariff Shock
Seattle and Tacoma manufacturers warn that the new Havemeyer tariff will cut wages, ruin sheep raisers and hand the lumber trade to Canadian timbermen.
- The Prizefight That Killed a Boxer
A police lieutenant faces suspension for failing to stop a brutal, fatal sparring exhibition at the People's Theater.
- The Ghost of Belltown and the Battle for the Ballot
In 1880, as Seattle’s population swelled, the newspaper sparred with shipping reports over the identity of a neighborhood that 'did not exist' and the urgent need for more polling stations.
- The Great Encampment Squabble
Washington's citizen-soldiers spar over the location of their permanent training grounds and the pride of hosting a Fourth of July parade.
- The Price of a Union Ham
Everett labor organizers spar with the Carstens Packing Company, demanding a city-wide boycott of the firm's meat products.
- The Struggle for Walla Walla’s Gravity Water System
City officials and private citizens spar over the future of the municipal water supply as debates over Mill Creek and private rights boil over.
- The Biting Boxer of Aberdeen
A middleweight bout at the local theater turns ugly when a local fighter resorts to cannibalistic tactics.
Also about this, in other words
- The Benefit Smoker for Striking Switchmen
Everett workers filled Fraternal Hall for a night of wrestling and boxing to support switchmen during their long-running strike.
- The Fight That Sparked a Spasm of Virtue
A boxing exhibition at the opera house turns into a legal battle over what constitutes a prize fight.
- The Pugilist Who Refused to Fight
John L. Sullivan's exhibition match in Seattle ends in humiliation for his opponent, who repeatedly hits the floor to avoid taking a single blow.
- The Health Officer's Election Brawl
A local health official survives a political 'trial' after being accused of interference at the polls.
- A Pugilistic Showdown at the Machine Shop
A staged prizefight between two local heavyweights turns into a public spectacle.
- The Arcade Saloon Melee
A morning brawl involving the 'John Bull Combination' spills out of the Arcade Saloon and into the street.
- A Revolver in the Marriage: Minnie Ober's Divorce
A Seattle court grants Minnie G. Ober a divorce from Harry Ober after testimony that he threatened to shoot her and once pointed a large revolver at her.
- The Featherweight 'Blood' Match at South Prairie
A much-hyped prizefight between two heavyweights in a dance hall turned out to be less about violence and more about a bizarre, non-contact stalemate.