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58 stories matching speci
- The Germ War on Washington’s Wheat-Field Squirrels
A state bacteriologist in Seattle tested whether a contagious germ could turn Eastern Washington’s crop-destroying ground squirrels into agents of their own destruction.
- The Fatal Dance of Washington's Ground Squirrels
Scientists at the state agricultural college tried to wipe out crop-destroying rodents with bacteria—and found a native plague that sent infected squirrels spinning until they dropped.
- The Invasive Species Warning
Local fruit inspectors warn that imported Japanese nursery stock is bringing destructive scale insects that threaten to devastate Washington orchards.
- A Rare Shark Surfaces in Hood Canal
A deep-sea fisherman pulls a species unknown to the Pacific from the waters of Puget Sound, stunning local museum curators.
- Puget Sound's Fishing Future, Blocked by Ice and Freight
A federal fisheries report praises the region's deep harbors and salmon runs, but explains why deep-sea halibut and cod fishing has failed to pay—and what it will take to change that.
- The Bug Inspector Who Called Himself a Crank — and Warned That Japanese Oranges Could Wreck Washington's Orchards
A King County insect inspector accuses the state horticultural commissioner of botching a fumigation order, then warns that the scale insects riding in on imported Japanese oranges could become "a curse to one of Washington's greatest industries."
- A Fishing Surprise in Guemes Channel
A local fisherman makes an unexpected catch when he discovers a shark hooked on his halibut line.
- The Naturalist Sent to Trap the Olympics' Unknown Animals
A government field agent bound for Hoodsport planned to collect elk, bears, marmots and mountain beavers—and maybe discover a rodent scientists had never named.
- Introducing a New Species to the Walla Walla Valley
Local farmer George F. Thomas is importing game birds from the Willamette Valley to enrich the landscape for future generations.
- The Looming Financial Chasm of 1877
As Seattle navigates a national economic crisis, editors reflect on the precarious transition from paper 'greenbacks' to gold, revealing the anxieties of a frontier town tethered to a shifting national currency.
- 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 Great Carp Distribution of 1885
A federal fish car arrived in Seattle from Washington D.C., sparking a city-wide frenzy as residents rushed to claim their share of a new, 'hardy' species.
- The Council's Saloon Charity
Aberdeen’s city fathers are accused of legal gymnastics by granting a liquor license under the guise of helping a struggling mother.
- The Great Seattle Land Grab: How the Maynard Donation Claim Stalled City Growth
A legal dispute over the Catherine Maynard Donation Land Claim reveals the messy, high-stakes battle for ownership of Seattle’s central waterfront in the late 19th century.
- The Hidden Destroyer of Seattle’s Waterfront
In 1877, Seattle property owners faced a silent maritime menace: a wood-boring mollusk called the 'Teredo' that could collapse a wharf from the inside out.
- The World's Fair Forestry Fiasco
Grays Harbor lumbermen express outrage over the state's 'shabby' display at the Chicago World's Fair, claiming their industry was ignored and misrepresented.
- The Smoke That Choked Seattle
A Seattle timber investor returns from the Puget Sound to find the region shrouded in disaster as forest fires consume the landscape.
- The Sad End of Seattle's National Symbol
An American eagle, formerly an ornamental storefront display, escaped into the streets of Seattle, only to meet a tragic fate at the hands of those who couldn't handle its fierce independence.
- An Angler's Surprise in Lake Union
A six-pound blue catfish is landed, sparking debates about the ecological impact of non-native species introduced by state commissioners.
- The Fight Against Washington’s Land Barons
An 1877 editorial warns that unchecked land speculation in the Washington Territory is turning away settlers and creating a class of 'land fiends' who gobble up public resources.
- The Streetcar Combine That Built North Seattle
D. T. Denny and his sons bought control of the Consolidated Street Railway, merged it with the Third Street electric line, and set their sights on every route north of downtown.
- The Palouse Professor Who Helped Rediscover Heredity
Before Mendel's laws were famous, an agriculturist at the Washington State Experiment Station stood alongside three European scientists as a co-discoverer of them — and proved the principle with velvet-chaffed wheat.
- The Price of a Filthy City
In 1877, Seattle editors warned that stagnant water and neglected gutters were more than just a nuisance—they were a matter of life and death.
- A Steam-Heated Night Inside Mount Rainier
A local professor and two students discovered steam-filled caverns and potential new plant species while spending a harrowing night inside the crater of Mount Rainier.
- The $12.50 License That Became a $300 Shakedown
Expressman J.A. Fletcher said a license inspector never asked him to renew, then had him arrested, searched, and thrown into a steel cage with seven prisoners—over a $12.50 fee he says he would have paid.