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1. The Taxpayers' League vs. The Railroads: A Battle for Fair Valuation in Columbia County

   In May 1903, local citizens and tax experts challenged the massive capitalization of the Oregon Railway Navigation Company, arguing that its true value warranted a higher tax assessment to fund public services.

   May 27, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyFollow the Money

2. The Stockyards That Were Really About Raising the Value of Sand and Sagebrush

   When Pasco promoters pushed stockyards at Ainsworth, Kennewick’s editor saw a railroad, a packer and owners of “practically worthless” land getting a public subsidy. He wanted no part of it.

   May 4, 1916The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

3. A Bank President Accused of Looting His Own Vault

   Deputy Internal Revenue Collector James P. Gleason says he bought $10,000 in Commercial National Bank stock on promises that turned out to be worthless—and that H. W. Wheeler used a mortgage company to hide the assets.

   Mar 27, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSuperior Court of Washington for King County, SeattleFollow the Money

4. A Receivership Sale Rewires Seattle's Street Railway

   Bondholders sign a deal to merge the troubled Rainier Power and Railway Co. into a new Third Street Suburban Railway Company, with the Denny family’s claims still shaping the terms.

   Jan 27, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

5. Kennewick Wins the Northwest's Great Livestock Clearing House

   Packers and stockmen from four states organize a $100,000 company and pick a triangle of land by the depot to turn Kennewick into the feeder market between Canada and the Rockies.

   Apr 13, 1916The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

6. The Niagara of the Northwest: Wiring Snoqualmie Falls to Seattle

   A new company with $2 million in capital proposes to harness a 265-foot waterfall 23 miles east and sell 5,000 horse power of electricity to the city — if the capitalists will foot the bill.

   Jan 11, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSnoqualmie Falls, Snoqualmie, King CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

7. The Man Who Bought His Own Death

   In a Seattle saloon in 1877, a gambler named 'Hilly Hacker' was challenged by a stranger with a shotgun. Hacker’s response? He bet the man $50 that he could buy him 20,000 shares of stock at a higher price before the market opened—proving his nerve was stronger than any weapon.

   Apr 4, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyLocal Legends

8. The War on Diseased Orchards

   A fierce battle erupts between the State Horticultural Commissioner and outside nurserymen over the destruction of thousands of fruit trees.

   Dec 5, 1903The Evening StatesmanYakima, Yakima CountyCity Hall

9. The Ghost of the Seattle Enterprise: Stockholders Escape a Dead Newspaper's Debts

   A receiver's long-running suit against 85 subscribers to the failed Seattle Enterprise collapses in court, but not before the paper's brief, fiery life is recalled — complete with a building-bulging press and a strike by its own printers.

   Apr 23, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay · Boom & Bust

10. Walla Walla Hosts Inaugural Meeting of State Livestock Association

    Prominent stockmen from across Washington gathered at the local courthouse to unite the industry under a single banner for political and commercial protection.

    Dec 28, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla County Courthouse, Walla Walla

11. The Birth of the Seattle Stock Exchange

    Promoters establish a new financial hub on the corner of First and Spring, promising a 'pure' exchange for the benefit of the city rather than the few.

    Aug 15, 1899The Seattle StarSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

12. Nineteen Buildings Gone Before Breakfast

    With no fire department and only buckets, the Kitsap County seat of Sidney watched its entire business district burn to the ground in three hours — then promised to rebuild as Seattle had.

    Sep 10, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerBay Street, Port OrchardCity Hall · Disasters

13. The Ledger Went Into the Furnace

    A Tacoma courtroom heard how 94 company books were burned on orders from the assignee—while stockholders testified that minutes were falsified and $42,000 had vanished.

    Apr 20, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyFollow the Money · True Crime

14. The Diamond Palace Jeweler Who Vanished With the Stock

    Simon Rumpf’s 'Diamond Palace' is placed in receivership after creditors allege he conspired to transfer his stock and then disappeared.

    Sep 1, 1894The Seattle Post-Intelligencer620 Second Avenue, SeattleFollow the Money · True Crime

15. The Great Match Company Fraud

    The Washington Supreme Court rules against a local match manufacturer for selling fraudulent stock based on fake inventions.

    Jul 6, 1904The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyFollow the Money · Snake Oil

16. 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.

    Mar 7, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerLake Union, Seattle, King CountyFollow the Money

17. Seattle's Bid to Steal the Grain Trade From Tacoma

    Boosters want $75,000 in stock to build a North Seattle grain elevator and a 600-foot wharf — and snatch the Asian shipping business from Tacoma.

    May 12, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

18. The Mountains Closed: Stockmen Fight the Cascade Forest Reserve

    Eastern Washington's cattle and sheep men warn that locking up the Cascades as a federal forest reserve would beggar every valley town — and train their anger on the Yakama Reservation boundary, which they want opened to their herds.

    Apr 8, 1897Ranche and RangeYakima, Yakima CountyFollow the Money · Exclusion & Resistance

19. The Birth of the Washington State Live Stock Breeders' Association

    Prominent stockmen gather in North Yakima to form a new professional organization aimed at elevating the state's agricultural standards and boosting the State Fair.

    Oct 6, 1898Ranche and RangeYakima, Yakima CountyBoom & Bust

20. The Vice President's Cousin and the $1,000 Port Townsend Swindle

    A smooth-tongued 'loan agent' traded on Adlai Stevenson's name to collect membership fees from Port Townsend's most respectable Democrats — then hid behind unreturned abstracts and 'free stock' worth $100 a share.

    Apr 14, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPort Townsend, Jefferson CountyBoom & Bust · Snake Oil

21. Levi Ankeny’s Tax Fight Reaches the Supreme Court

    The prominent banker battles a tax assessment on his First National Bank stock, sparking a legal struggle over school funding and corporate accountability.

    Dec 9, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyCity Hall

22. Orchardists Declare War on Pest-Ridden Nursery

    Kennewick Highlands farmers demand state intervention to stop the spread of wooly aphis by a local nursery branch.

    Sep 10, 1914The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick Highlands, Kennewick, Benton County

23. An Ellensburg Merchant's Stock Goes Up in Smoke

    A mysterious blaze gutted E. K. Fugarty's mercantile store, destroying one of Central Washington's finest stocks and leaving a heavy, still-uncalculated loss.

    Sep 21, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerEllensburg, Kittitas CountyDisasters

24. Spokane Had Mining Fever, and the Men Selling the Stock Had the Only Sure Thing

    A Yakima correspondent visits Spokane and finds a city where hotel clerks, newsboys and waiter girls are all buying mining shares — and where even Ezra Meeker has traded hops for a stock prospectus.

    Apr 22, 1897Ranche and RangeSpokane, Spokane CountyBoom & Bust

25. A University Built on Cold Water—and a Fight Over the Collection Plate

    Seattle prohibitionists incorporate a “temperance university” at Olympia, then a leading Good Templar editor calls it a scheme to tap the movement’s pocketbook.

    Feb 18, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerChamber of Commerce, Seattle, King CountyNightlife

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