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71 stories matching steer
- The Great Ferry Steer Escape
A ferry operator and a cattle buyer are headed for a legal showdown after five steers decided to take the scenic route across the Columbia River.
- The Cowboy Who Out-Judged the College Experts
A herdsman’s personal gamble on a prize-winning steer proves that instinct outshines institutional caution in the competitive world of livestock breeding.
- The Fracturing of Seattle’s Labor Movement
As industrial tensions simmered in 1886, a local newspaper editorial condemned the radicalization of the Knights of Labor, contrasting them with the more moderate national leadership of Terence V. Powderly.
- The Case of the Resurrected Steer
A cattle theft trial in Olympia falls apart after the alleged victim's 'slaughtered' cow walks home.
- The Great Dockside Stampede
A pair of range steers escaped their handlers at a Seattle wharf, terrorizing workers and prompting a desperate, armed chase through the northern city streets.
- He Steered the Runaway Team Into a Water Meter
When the fire department's supply horses bolted near Sixth Street, driver Thomas Dunn held the reins through a breakneck descent and steered the wagon into a water meter rather than let the team drown in the harbor.
- A Nighttime Train Wreck Near Chehalis
A northbound express train derails after striking a steer, leading to a miraculous escape for the crew and passengers.
- Slaughter-house Fire Ends in Horror
A blaze at a waterfront facility leaves animals dead and the community shaken.
- The Tragedy on the Sound: A Monday Morning Lost
A routine morning boat trip near Seabeek turns fatal when a sudden lurch of the sail boat claims the life of a worker, leaving his companion to tell the story.
- Kennewick Farmers Rally Against Spokane Market Prices
Local producers reject low offers from Spokane firms in favor of cooperative selling to maintain fair prices for eggs and butter.
- The Rowing Invention That Changed the River
A Snohomish local debuts a mechanical rowing gear that allowed boaters to steer and power their craft with ease, signaling a shift in daily river navigation.
- Local Farmers Watch Market Swings
A sudden dip in hog prices has left area farmers weighing the benefits of early sales as livestock markets struggle with soft demand.
- The Water Monopoly Fight
A local property owner challenges Aberdeen's city council over water rights, accusing officials of steering the public toward an expensive, pre-owned system for their own profit.
- The Mason Who Rebuilt Seattle
Otto Ranke, the master mason who constructed many of the city's most prominent buildings and steered the post-fire reconstruction, has died at 49.
- The Political Orator Who Was a Wanted Man
L.E. Wilson, a fiery People’s Party speaker in Lewis County, was unmasked as a fugitive and serial bigamist.
- Republican Convention Erupts Over Railroad Regulation
A bitter, chaotic fight at the state GOP convention sees Eastern Washington reformers crushed by the party machine.
- Seven Months at Sea: The State of Maine’s Ordeal
The State of Maine left New York in July 1892 and reached Seattle 201 days later, her crew disabled by saltwater boils, her water spoiled, and her captain forced to beat men to the pumps.
- The Smuggler Who Ran a School for Contraband
A smuggler caught near Sumas taught Chinese immigrants American geography to help them evade border officers.
- The Tragedy on the Columbia River
Two men and a ferry boat are lost to the raging rapids and white mist of the Columbia River after an oar breaks in the current.
- The Pig in a Poke
Tacoma city officials rush a $1.75 million water works deal through the council despite lacking inventory records or valuation.
- County Money Drained Into a Doomed Bank — and an Effigy on Dock Street
A Whatcom banker stands accused of steering $50,000 in county funds into a failing institution, while angry citizens string up a stuffed likeness of him on a telegraph pole.
- The $8,000 Schoolyard Fight
A losing contractor accuses Seattle’s school board of steering a South School grounds contract to a favored bidder and wasting taxpayer money. The board fires back that the cheapest bids were unsafe and that a $25,000 schoolhouse was at risk of falling.
- A Close Call in the Indian Wars
A survivor recounts the harrowing 1856 campaign and a near-death encounter along the banks of the Snake River.
- The Water Monopoly
Critics allege the First National Bank is steering the city council toward an expensive water project to inflate the value of land it holds in escrow.
- The Pacific’s Lesson: Floating Decks and Real Sailors
A correspondent proposes turning steamer decks into life-rafts—and blames the wreck of the Pacific on owners who replaced seamen with freight handlers.
Also about this, in other words
- The Klondike Cattle Drive
While Seattle boomed as a gateway to the north, local ranchers and contractors looked to supply the Alaskan gold rush with fresh meat hauled by steamship.
- The Sea Captain vs. The Dairy Cow
A retired mariner swaps the shipping lanes of Seattle for the pastures of Kennewick, only to find cows more stubborn than any crew.
- The Great Cattle Stampede on Wharf Street
Eight head of prize beef from Puget Sound ignored the slaughterhouse route and raided a grain store instead.
- Steerage Passengers Stage an Armed Strike for Better Food
Twenty-five Texas cowboys on a steamship to Portland organized an armed takeover of the kitchen to force the captain to improve steerage rations.
- The Lumber Barons Are Starving Themselves: Why Puget Sound Should Be Feeding Its Own Cows
A local editorial argues that Washington’s reliance on imported dairy is an economic absurdity, urging farmers to switch from beef to Devon and Jersey cattle to capitalize on our unique climate.
- Neglect on the Range
A prominent local farmer faces allegations of animal cruelty for allowing his starving herd to wander the public roads.
- The Porpoise and the Cow: A Nautical Disaster in Tacoma
A schooner, a one-eyed cow, and a cargo-hoisting gone horribly wrong—a day on the Tacoma waterfront that ended in broken bunks and a damp bovine.
- A Butcher’s Betrayal Cleared the Packing House
Tacoma’s Carstens Packing Company wins exoneration after a rogue employee bought diseased cattle behind their back, shipping them into the city.