Research the archive
Narrow 25,688 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 | 1 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1876 | 5 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 4 |
| 1892 | 7 |
| 1893 | 7 |
| 1894 | 12 |
| 1895 | 9 |
| 1897 | 3 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 5 |
| 1904 | 3 |
| 1909 | 4 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1911 | 3 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 3 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 2 |
99 stories matching uncertain
- King County Teachers Organize for Job Security
Facing uncertain employment tenures and a legal battle in Pierce County, Seattle teachers unite to protect their professional future.
- The Commissioner Said There Was Work. The Unemployed Asked What It Paid.
Labor Commissioner Lamb reported no takers even for guaranteed hop work at Yakima—and conceded that pay for harvests, railroads and ditch digging was often low and uncertain.
- The Wild West at the N.P. Hotel
A young man, fueled by a 'periodic drunk,' terrorizes a hotel proprietor with a revolver in downtown Spokane.
- The Day Washington Was Born: A City Holds Its Breath
As the nation celebrates statehood, Seattle gathers in a packed hall to hear speeches on liberty, land fraud, and the future of the 'Queen City.'
- Diver Paralyzed After Deep-Sea Shift
A professional diver working to clear the Seattle harbor is left paralyzed from the shoulders down after repeated descents.
- The Price of Disappointment
Retribution against Indigenous medicine men persists in Yakima and Klickitat counties over failed spiritual interventions.
- Steilacoom Empties Its Garrison for a Near-War on San Juan Island
On Aug. 9, 1859, soldiers and two brass cannon left Steilacoom aboard the steamer Julia to reinforce Capt. Pickett’s tiny command, as the U.S. and Britain edged toward war over a boundary and a pig.
- The Rising Tides of Industry
An 1873 editorial reflects on the fragility of Pacific Coast harbors, warning that unchecked mining waste and silt are creating an uncertain future for maritime commerce.
- A Brother's Bullet: Deputy Marshal Dies, and the Accused Killer Asks Only for a Match
Shot by his own brother at Pioneer Place and James Street, Deputy U.S. Marshal Edward Minsch lingers a day and dies at Providence Hospital — while Frank Minsch, cool and indifferent in the city jail, shows no grief and admits only that he is 'subject to epileptic fits.'
- Two Steamers Saluted Off Cape Flattery—Then Vanished Into the Storm
A schooner captain’s account places the missing Keweenaw and Montserrat together off Washington’s coast on a night of monstrous seas, just before both were lost.
- Seattle Nearly Buys Its Canal, One Subscription at a Time
With $21,181 left to raise, the $500,000 Lake Washington Waterway fund is within reach — bankrolled by saloon keepers, a fireman and a hospital sister's $150.
- The Right to Water: A Legal Win for Landowners
A landmark court ruling frees White Bluffs landowners from paying for irrigation water they did not use, potentially signaling the end for the local water company.
- Seattle High School Students Petition for Their Right to Learn
After the school board abolished the city's high school, students and volunteer teachers showed up to class anyway, refusing to let their education end.
- The Boy Too Tough for the Reform School
A teenage burglar escapes Chehalis, stumps the trustees, and triggers a constitutional standoff over who must deal with an incorrigible child.
- The War-Ready Chief of Ballast Island
Grandson of Chief Seattle, 'Tyee Peter' rallies his followers to defend the U.S. against Chile—and reflects on a history of misunderstanding with the military.
- The Cheadle Point Shootings
A domestic dispute on a remote homestead near Tacoma turns into a violent, chaotic bloodbath involving a revolver and a desperate act of intervention.
- The Great Congressional Shutdown of 1876
A historic clash between the House and Senate left federal workers across the country—and the crew of a local Revenue Cutter—stranded without pay.
- Puyallup People Wait on Delayed Land Patents
A century-old battle for property rights reveals how corporate interests and federal delays threatened to dispossess the Puyallup people of their ancestral home.
- The Rise and Lonely Fall of Spokane's Richest Man
Banker Anthony M. Cannon, who helped build Spokane from a cabin by the falls, dies broke and bereaved in a New York hotel — days after a secret second marriage made him tabloid prey.
- A Powerhouse Fire Couldn't Keep Seattle's Streetcars Down for Long
Flames destroyed the Consolidated Street Railway's power house and dozens of cars before dawn, but borrowed dynamos and quick repairs had the lines running again by morning.
- The Political Battle for the New West
As Washington prepares for statehood, national parties prepare for a heated contest over legislative control and future congressional influence.
- The Dark-Lantern Courthouse Deal That Split Benton County
Two defeated commissioners pushed a $125,000 courthouse bond through in thirty minutes, and Kennewick's editor saw a county-seat conspiracy — and a raid on the taxpayers' treasury.
- The Great Tax Tug-of-War at the Capitol
As the 1923 state legislature convenes, competing demands for state-funded projects and tax relief pit town against town, leaving lawmakers in a fiscal deadlock.
- Seattle Scraps Skagit Power Expansion
A power project costing $11 million faces an uncertain future as the city council fires the engineering crew and halts construction.
- Washington State's 1910 Political Shake-up
A wave of progressive 'Insurgent' Republicans swept the primaries in 1910, routing the party establishment and shaking the confidence of federal power brokers.
Also about this, in other words
- An Eccentric Prisoner's Optimistic Dance
A man awaiting sentencing in a local court baffles reporters by dancing a jig and promising a champagne celebration upon his release.
- The Brutal Reality of 'Assumption of Risk' in the Mills
A shingle sawyer loses his hand in a mill accident, only to have his lawsuit dismissed due to legal doctrines protecting corporations.
- The Precarious Wealth of a Marcus Bachelor
A wealthy settler in the Colville Valley suffers a public health scare, highlighting the risks of frontier isolation and the burden of managing an estate.
- The Unlikely Candidate: A Call for Judge Hanford
With a federal vacancy looming and political hopefuls stalling, the Seattle bar turns to a man who isn't even running.
- The Mayor's Uncertain Future
Mayor J. T. Ronald faces a swirl of rumors as political factions battle over his potential resignation and the city's gambling policy.
- The Unsolicited Burden of the 'Young Man's' Future
An 1875 newspaper advertisement in Snohomish promised a cure for the 'uncertainties' of life, reflecting a 19th-century obsession with self-improvement and the fear of personal stagnation.
- A Case of Reasonable Doubt
Salvador Pecani, once sentenced to hang for a brutal crime, is set free after the Supreme Court rules the evidence against him purely circumstantial.
- The Tailor-Made Confidence Man
A clever grifter leaves a trail of unpaid bills and stolen suits across North Seattle.