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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
9 stories matching val
- The Centennial Lottery Gamble
In 1876, the Washington Territorial Legislature authorized a public lottery to fund a wagon road across the Cascade Mountains, marking a desperate and creative approach to frontier infrastructure.
- The Great Seattle Lottery: A $100,000 Sawmill and a Road to Nowhere
In 1876, the Washington Territory legislature authorized a massive public lottery to fund a road through Snoqualmie Pass. The grand prize? Yelver’s Steam Saw Mill. It was a bold gamble on infrastructure that reveals how early Seattle funded its growth.
- The Jailhouse Serenade: Seattle’s Most Popular Prisoner Refuses Bail
Val Wildman, proprietor of the 'Vanity Fair' lottery, sits in King County Jail refusing to pay his fine. When friends and influential citizens gather outside to raise the money for his release, he turns them away—insisting his imprisonment is a matter of principle.
- The Lottery That Wasn't: A Commissioner's Moral Standoff in 1876 Seattle
While the county board approved a gambling license for Val Wildman to fund a road project, one commissioner filed a formal protest, declaring the legislature's authority void and refusing to legitimize vice.
- Gambling in the 'Chicago Dollar Store'
A call for city officials to shutter a fraudulent lottery operating in a Yesler building.
- The Great Fill: Seattle’s First Major Land Reclamation and the Fight for White Labor
In October 1876, workers are frantically raising Front Street to save it from the Duwamish River. The local press frames this massive public works project not just as engineering, but as a moral victory for 'white labor' over cheap Chinese competition.
- The Ghost of Olympia Found
After years of speculation, the identity of a mysterious fugitive hiding in Olympia is revealed as a disgraced Kentucky cashier.
- The Man Who Paid for Nothing
A witty anecdote from Seattle's early days captures the city's growing confidence and irreverence toward authority.
- The Tavern Named After a Scandal
In a frontier Seattle row of saloons and steamers, one establishment adopted a moniker that flirted with the risqué.
Also about this, in other words
- A Mother, a Revolver, and Nux Vomica: Spokane’s Poisoning Trial
Helen Grier stands trial for her sixth husband’s murder, while her daughter testifies that Grier first handed her a gun and then bought the poison herself.
- The 'Lava-Bed Ranger' and the Brawl at the Saloon
A rowdy evening in 1876 Seattle ends in a courtroom, highlighting the rough-and-tumble street life of a frontier town.
- Lulu White's Elopement Ends in Touraine Hotel Robbery Charge
After eloping from Spokane to Seattle, a young bride was left at a hotel with a cruel note and emptied pockets.
- A Bloody Dispute Over Unpaid Wages
A Seattle saloon keeper is accused of pistol-whipping his former bartender after a heated argument over unpaid back wages.
- Brutal Assault in Wa Chong's Building
A man preparing for sleep is robbed and slashed in a violent late-night attack.
- The End of an Era: The Vincent House Dissolves
In a move that signals shifting tides in Seattle’s early commercial landscape, the partnership behind one of the city’s most prominent hotels and saloons has been officially dissolved.
- The Tragic Disappearance of a Sunday School Teacher
A heartbroken mother searches for her daughter, a former Sunday school teacher in Walla Walla, who has vanished into the shadows of Spokane's nightlife.
- Lulu White Abandoned at Seattle Hotel, $330 Stolen
A Seattle elopement ends in betrayal and theft at a hotel.