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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 4 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1903 | 1 |
24 stories matching swath
- The Fight for Public Land
Seattle activists organize to challenge the Northern Pacific Railroad's control over vast swaths of Washington Territory.
- The Great Delinquent Tax Sale of 1888
A sweeping list of hundreds of 'Unknown Owners' and Seattle residents facing the auction block, revealing the precarious nature of early land speculation in the city.
- The City Council Grants Massive Streetcar Monopoly
A sweeping new ordinance grants a local transit company the right to lay tracks across vast swaths of Seattle's downtown, prioritizing private infrastructure over the city's future growth.
- The 'Seattle Idea': A Warning Against Corporate Territorial Grabs
In an 1885 editorial, local papers sounded the alarm over the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad Company’s attempt to claim vast swaths of Seattle’s waterfront and tide lands.
- Northern Pacific Accused of Land Extortion by Tacoma-Kalama Residents
Citizens and politicians clash over the Northern Pacific Railroad's monopoly and the holding of immense swaths of land that remain untaxed and undeveloped.
- The Great Railway Land Scandal
A sweeping federal report reveals that major railroad corporations failed to complete thousands of miles of track despite receiving massive federal land grants.
- The Great Land Reclaim: The Fight Over Northern Pacific’s Unearned Rails
A legislative push in 1886 aimed to strip the Northern Pacific Railroad of vast swaths of public land it held but failed to build upon, seeking to return it to settlers.
- Federal Investigation Exposes Land Grabbing on the Yakima Reservation
A government inquiry uncovers how a syndicate of white men seized control of vast swathes of tribal land, prompting new, restrictive leasing rules.
- Railroads Drew Pencil Lines to Claim Millions of Acres
A scathing official report exposes how railroad corporations in Washington Territory and beyond used fraudulent land maps and 'pencil-line' routes to displace settlers and hoard public resources.
- The Great Land Grab Ends: Northern Pacific's Grip on Washington Territory Loosens
A landmark federal decision strips a massive railroad monopoly of its indemnity lands, opening vast swaths of Washington to homesteading settlers.
- A Senator’s Lake Washington Commute
Senator Watson C. Squire returns to Seattle to mediate a messy standoff with the Belt Line railroad, which carved a deep, uncrossable ditch right through his prized farmstead.
- The Great Delinquency: Snohomish’s 1878 Tax Auction
A sprawling list of property seizures offers a rare window into the instability of early Snohomish settlers, who faced total loss of their homesteads for debts as small as twenty-two cents.
- The Hotel Oriental Arson Mystery
An inquest reveals that a fatal Seattle hotel fire was deliberately set with coal oil, as a grieving city searches for the culprit behind the death of Erie Johnson.
- The Great Land Sell-Off
The Northern Pacific Railroad begins dumping vast swaths of Washington Territory land onto actual settlers for $2.60 an acre.
- The Iron War for Seattle
How the city’s early pioneers fought a cutthroat land-monopoly struggle to ensure Seattle would not be sidelined by the Northern Pacific Railroad.
- The Great Land Grab Ends: A Victory for Columbia Valley Settlers
A landmark decision by the Land Commissioner threatens to reclaim 4 million acres from the Northern Pacific Railroad, potentially opening up vast swaths of the Columbia River Valley to homesteaders.
- The Broken Promise of the Puyallup Coal Road
A political scandal erupts as Seattle accuses an attorney of pocketing fees while failing to stop the Northern Pacific Railway from seizing massive swathes of King County land.
- The Half-Million Dollar Land War
After decades of legal battles involving divorce, disputed donation claims, and multiple claimants, a massive 80-acre swath of Seattle real estate finally changes hands.
- The Tribune Demands Its Senators Back Chinese Exclusion
On the eve of the Geary bill vote, Olympia's paper pressures Washington's senators to keep Chinese laborers out — and takes a swipe at any candidate who hires them.
- The Industrial Revolution of the Puget Sound Frontier
Two local inventors debut a massive, horse-powered stump-pulling machine, promising to clear vast swaths of Washington timberland for a fraction of the cost.
- The Mysterious Disappearance of the 'Captain'
A suave equestrian and fencing master vanishes from Portland, leaving behind a trail of unpaid debts and a bewildered society.
- The Mill That Never Was: A Snohomish Land Deal and a Promise from Washington
While local men scramble for housing and business lots in the booming town of Snohomish, a mysterious letter from D.C. hints at federal support for a post route to Pullman, just as a major timber contract is awarded locally.
- The 17,000-Horsepower Plan to Electrify Seattle
Engineers proposed an 800-foot steel pipe, a tunnel through basalt, and a 23-mile copper line to turn Snoqualmie Falls into the city’s power source.
- Old Yank, the Sequim Inventor Who Rigged His Counter to Sting Thieves
A correspondent visits Professor Watkins of Sequim Prairie, an eccentric mechanic whose inventions ranged from a needle-spring burglar trap to a wooden mowing machine and a windmill made to grind the prairie's wheat.