Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 5 |
| 1862 | 5 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1864 | 3 |
| 1872 | 3 |
| 1876 | 51 |
| 1877 | 52 |
| 1878 | 31 |
| 1879 | 8 |
| 1880 | 12 |
| 1882 | 8 |
| 1883 | 76 |
| 1884 | 39 |
| 1885 | 45 |
| 1886 | 23 |
| 1887 | 17 |
| 1888 | 26 |
| 1889 | 51 |
| 1890 | 11 |
| 1891 | 42 |
| 1892 | 121 |
| 1893 | 99 |
| 1894 | 89 |
| 1895 | 88 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1898 | 10 |
| 1899 | 21 |
| 1900 | 4 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 53 |
| 1904 | 29 |
| 1905 | 5 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 15 |
| 1909 | 39 |
| 1910 | 10 |
| 1911 | 3 |
| 1912 | 3 |
| 1914 | 10 |
| 1915 | 17 |
| 1916 | 22 |
| 1917 | 9 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 4 |
| 1924 | 8 |
| 1925 | 2 |
| 1928 | 1 |
1,185 stories matching travel
- A Mother's Desperate Search for Her Son
Three years after a family separation in Montana, a mother travels to Colfax hoping to find a man who was once spotted with a traveling photography business.
- The Drummer’s Deed: A Tale of Lost Blocks and Mutual Recrimination
A traveling salesman thought he’d scored a bargain on Seattle real estate, only to discover his deed was for the wrong lot—and his seller had no idea either.
- The Circus Boy Lost in Everett
A young Walla Walla resident finds himself stranded in a strange city after falling asleep on a traveling circus train.
- The Year the Trains Couldn't Hold Everyone
Seattle's rail agents report the heaviest travel in years — packed cars, booming Alaska bookings, and a colony of 500 Hollanders settling on Whidbey Island.
- The Traveling Salesman’s Clever Ruse
A skeptical livery stable owner meets his match in a traveling drummer who refuses to pay for his own horse.
- The High-Fence Strategy Against 'Vagabonds'
In an attempt to deter 'traveling vagabonds' from loitering in Seattle's waterfront district, the city's rail companies have erected a 16-foot-high barricade.
- The Traveling Quack and the Stolen Girl
A traveling doctor accused of abducting a 12-year-old girl is arrested in Tacoma after a trail leading from California to the Puget Sound.
- Midnight Buggy Accident Outside Kennewick
A dark road and an overturned carriage leave a local traveler injured.
- The Battle Over Public Purse Strings
A heated local political clash over mileage reimbursement and alleged fiscal mismanagement by county officials.
- The Roads of Seattle: A Grumbling Legacy
A wealthy traveler’s sharp assessment of Seattle’s infrastructure in 1880 highlights a civic struggle over street quality that feels strikingly familiar to modern residents.
- The Plague Panic at the Border
As smallpox cases surge in British Columbia, Seattle and surrounding towns scramble to implement strict quarantine measures and mandatory vaccinations to keep the disease at bay.
- A Final Journey: Indigenous Travelers Bury a Kin in Ellensburg
Four travelers journeyed 35 miles by wagon to ensure a Christian burial for a woman who passed away on the banks of the Columbia River.
- Railroad Bridge Collapse Halts Travel
An iron bridge spanning the Crease Creek is lost to a washout, causing significant disruption to traffic.
- Kennewick’s Youth Claim Regional Victory
The local chapter of the Epworth League secures top honors at Liberty Lake, bringing them one step closer to permanent ownership of a coveted traveling trophy.
- The Mud That Stalled Seattle: Why Our Hills Are Unrideable
Four months of relentless rain have turned Seattle’s steep streets into impassable quagmires, halting commerce and terrifying travelers. As the city debates reform elsewhere, locals demand immediate graveling or paving before the mud claims another season.
- The Piano Contracts That Were Really $400 IOUs
A traveling salesman for a Hartline piano house was bound over after Whitman County farmers signed what they thought were storage agreements.
- 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 Struggle for a New County
Citizens in the Wenatchee Valley argue that traveling across the Cascades to reach their county seats is an unreasonable burden for local governance.
- The Forgotten Pioneer Missionary
Before Marcus Whitman, there was Samuel Parker, an elderly preacher who braved the frontier to map the way for the mission of 1836.
- Lost in the Sagebrush: A Driver's Frustration
A traveler vents his anger at the lack of signage between Prosser and Kennewick, highlighting the perils of early automobile travel in the desert.
- The Trust’s Empty Wallet: How Monopolies Are Starving Seattle’s Hotels and Stables
As giant combines fire thousands of traveling salesmen to boost profits, the ripple effect hits local businesses hard—yet consumers see only higher prices.
- A Mother's Sorrow at the City Jail
A woman travels from Spokane to Seattle to reunite with her son, only to find him imprisoned for vagrancy.
- The Price of a 'Square Meal' for a Piano Tuner
After recovering from a drinking binge in Oroville, a hungry traveler found himself penniless—and learned the hard way that business owners in 1882 took a dim view of unpaid bills.
- The Northern Pacific Railroad's PR Pitch
A railroad executive reflects on the 'hard times' and the massive campaign to lure Easterners to the Washington territory.
- A Lifeline on the Empty Road
Facing a fourteen-mile stretch of road with no human habitation, Benton County installs a telephone booth to aid motorists stranded between Hanford and the Yakima River.
Also about this, in other words
- The City That Couldn't Host Its Guests
As steamers bring hundreds of travelers to Seattle, local hotels are full and a new building sits empty in legal limbo, leaving strangers sleeping on docks.
- An Enchanting Journey Across the Salish Sea
A descriptive account of an 1881 midnight steamship voyage from Seattle to Victoria, capturing the beauty of the Sound and the Straits of Juan de Fuca.