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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 2 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 3 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1865 | 2 |
| 1872 | 6 |
| 1876 | 39 |
| 1877 | 25 |
| 1878 | 8 |
| 1880 | 3 |
| 1882 | 6 |
| 1883 | 24 |
| 1884 | 15 |
| 1885 | 29 |
| 1886 | 17 |
| 1887 | 27 |
| 1888 | 20 |
| 1889 | 41 |
| 1890 | 8 |
| 1891 | 40 |
| 1892 | 74 |
| 1893 | 67 |
| 1894 | 100 |
| 1895 | 129 |
| 1897 | 4 |
| 1898 | 12 |
| 1899 | 31 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1902 | 4 |
| 1903 | 33 |
| 1904 | 36 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 2 |
| 1908 | 6 |
| 1909 | 33 |
| 1910 | 6 |
| 1911 | 7 |
| 1912 | 3 |
| 1914 | 8 |
| 1915 | 8 |
| 1916 | 15 |
| 1917 | 10 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 4 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1928 | 1 |
919 stories matching tell
- The Devil's Ledger: A Local Poet Exposes the Hypocrisy of Pullman’s Elite
In a rare moment of social commentary for Whitman County, an anonymous writer publishes a scathing series of rhetorical questions challenging the moral double standards of wealth, gender, and justice in 1889.
- The Captain Who Caught a Monster: Seattle’s Own Sea Serpent Hoax
Captain Pat J. Boyton of Seattle claims to have captured a 63-foot sea serpent in the Pacific, sending a letter from his ship that has locals buzzing with wonder and skepticism.
- A Church Scandal Erupts in a Seattle Libel Trial
M. H. Nichols stood accused of criminally libeling Presiding Elder T. B. Ford. The defense spent the day trading rumors, old grudges, and one complaint about the prosecutor's booming voice.
- The Wholesaler Tells the Growers the Truth: 'We Don't Love You'
Sixteen years in the Seattle commission trade and no patience left, R. Merchant tells a room of fruit growers that no middleman has ever cared about them — and that neat, uniform packing, not grievance, is the only thing that ever got a farmer paid.
- The 'Odd Fellow' and the Suspicious Wife
A Seattle man's secret late-night meetings with his fraternal order spark a domestic showdown over 'goat riding,' moral uprightness, and marital suspicion.
- The Telegraph Messenger Who Walked Away
In the wake of a gruesome Portland murder, Seattle police arrest a young messenger boy while his accomplices flee. But one suspect vanishes before the law can catch him.
- A Steamboat Inspector on Trial, and the Men Who Kicked
A Seattle courtroom hears masters and pilots defend Capt. Bryant against charges of favoritism—and admit that the men who complain are often the incompetent ones.
- The Tragedy of the Tenement Boy
A heart-wrenching account of a young boy struggling to survive in a Seattle tenement while clinging to his faith despite his father's cruelty.
- The Night Kennewick Didn't Show
A Finley Grange fair meant to buy a piano turns into a bitter lesson in small-town loyalty, with only two Kennewick families in the hall.
- The Yesler Will Case: A Dead Millionaire, a Missing Will, and a Widow on Trial
In a Seattle courtroom, prosecutors argue that Mrs. Yesler conspired to destroy her husband's will—while defense lawyers call the case a web of speculation and newspaper rumor.
- The Engineer’s Ash-Box Ghost: A Tale of New Year’s Eve Peril
In a column dated October 1870, the Seattle Daily Intelligencer reprints a harrowing tale from an old engineer about surviving a wreck by hiding under his locomotive's ash pan during a blizzard.
- A Michigan Orator Packs the Armory and Rides Down the Populists
Roswell G. Horr brings the Republican gospel of protection and sound money to a standing-room crowd in Seattle — and turns the free-silver men in the hall into the evening's comedy act.
- The Burglar Who Wanted a Razor Before Walla Walla
Richard H. Ford, a self-styled 'famous burglar' with a morphine habit, was shipped off to the state penitentiary—after begging for a shave and trying to dig through the jail floor.
- Conflicting Advice from the O-W, R. N. Company
The town is perplexed by contradictory expert demonstrations from the railroad—one telling them to raise hogs, the other telling them to stop using lard in baking.
- The Seattle Postmaster's Inbox Woes
A satirical poetic complaint from 1885 captures the frustration of a growing city struggling with mail delivery, box rent, and the perceived indifference of the local postal bureaucracy.
- A Guard Called It an Escape. A Witness Called It Murder.
In a letter to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Thomas Hayden described the shooting of convict Thomas Dryden at Walla Walla and accused prison officials of covering it up.
- A Gunfight on Marion Street: The Clerk Who Shot a Seattle Policeman
Harry Good was bound over for attempted murder after a running shootout that left Officer Glasscock wounded and the downtown force scrambling.
- The Mother Who Fled a Tyrant
A mother escapes her husband’s brutal control and property schemes after enduring years of abuse, turning to the law to secure her child’s safety.
- The Body in the Box: A Political Murder Haunts Spokane County
Charles F. Gloystein crossed the Freeman's Protective Silver Federation and disappeared. Now his neighbors are offering a $1,000 reward—not for a killer, but for the body.
- The Converted Burglar Who Asked Kansas to Come and Get Him
After a Salvation Army altar call in Seattle, an escaped Leavenworth prisoner walked into the Post-Intelligencer and confessed—then notified the governor he was ready to serve the eight years he owed.
- Hasheesh, Absinthe, and a Human Pelvis in the Page Murder Trial
Defense experts told a Seattle jury that a drug could explain Page's condition on the morning he shot Fraser, while the state argued he remembered everything.
- The Lumbermen Who Worshipped a Black Cat
Seattle initiates into the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, a new fraternal society for lumbermen, complete with black robes, mock titles and a banquet.
- Keep Your Money at Home? In Kennewick, the Shoe-Leather Trail Led to Pasco
A letter to the editor takes aim at buy-local boosterism, arguing that Kennewick shoppers already knew the real prices—and often crossed the river to Pasco or sent away for mail-order catalogs.
- The Fortune-Telling Machines Banned
A Seattle judge rules that nickel-in-the-slot 'fortune-telling' devices are illegal gambling machines.
- The Senator Who Came to Bless the Canal
Illinois senator Shelby Cullom tours Seattle's proposed Lake Washington ship canal, flirts with a presidential run, and tells boosters their city needs 'a little Chicago push.'
Also about this, in other words
- A Hero Betrayed by Paperwork
A local Indigenous hero, renowned for saving shipwrecked crews, faces the loss of his homestead due to a bureaucratic failure.
- The Interpreter’s Standoff
A courtroom drama unfolds when a key Indigenous interpreter refuses to work without guaranteed pay, stalling a high-stakes murder case.
- The Fashion Reporter's Dilemma: Keeping Secrets in the Social Column
A Seattle newspaper correspondent reflects on the moral tightrope of reporting on local scandals while trying to maintain the trust of society figures.
- The Clerk’s Odd Sales Pitch
A farmer learns a strange and aggressive new way to test if his wife is 'sound' while shopping in 1877 Seattle.
- The Councilman and the Telephone Promoter
A City Council member swears he was offered a massive bribe, but the accused parties are laughing it off—now the council must decide who is telling the truth.
- The Bear That Earned Its Salt
A traveling menagerie arrives in Pullman, offering a rare glimpse into the oddities of frontier entertainment and the community's skeptical gaze.
- The Lawyer, the Boy, and the Five-Cent Lesson
A shrewd Seattle attorney tests a boy’s integrity with a lesson in promissory notes and the value of a promise.
- The Tragedy at the Arcade Saloon
A well-known Seattle boarding house keeper ends his life, leaving behind a young daughter and a legacy of property, marking a grim moment in the city's growth.