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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 2 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 13 |
| 1877 | 10 |
| 1878 | 3 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 7 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 5 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 10 |
| 1889 | 13 |
| 1890 | 3 |
| 1891 | 7 |
| 1892 | 8 |
| 1893 | 8 |
| 1894 | 14 |
| 1895 | 26 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1903 | 8 |
| 1904 | 5 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 2 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 11 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1911 | 2 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1915 | 2 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1928 | 2 |
189 stories matching wise
- She Thought Her First Husband Was Dead. He Wasn’t.
A Seattle woman seeks to annul her second marriage after learning the man she believed dead—and the man who had actually died—were not the same person.
- The Vigilantes' Ghost: Seattle's Dark Secret in Two Maple Trees
A poem published in the *Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer* reveals the city’s foundational myth: that its current 'peaceable' order was bought with the blood of six men hanged by a secret committee when the law failed to act.
- The Unsolved Disappearance of John H. Wisely
A man disappears from his home in broad daylight, only for his body to be discovered days later on the shores of Elliott Bay.
- A Freethinker Takes On the Pulpit in Olympia
At Liberal Hall, P. D. Moore answers a minister’s sermon on law with a call for a religion of nature, reason, and good conduct rather than wrath and dogma.
- The Schoolhouse Lessons of Old Seattle
A reflection on the struggles of the country schoolmaster and the long-lost, innocent games of childhood in pioneer-era Washington.
- Tacoma's Labor Boycott: Business Men Forced to Meet in a Basement as Tensions Escalate
A planned meeting of business men to address the Trades Council's boycott of the Ledger newspaper is postponed after the Commercial Club refuses its rooms. Undeterred, a group meets in a basement, but the Trades Council dismisses it as meaningless. The city remains on edge as labor and business collide.
- Rain Turns Early Seattle's Front Street to Mud
When heavy rains turned downtown thoroughfares into impassable quagmires, residents demanded better engineering than the temporary, 'penny-wise' patch jobs of the 1870s.
- The Great Escape at Steilacoom
Five convicts at the state penitentiary staged a daring, daylight breakout, leading to a desperate shootout in the woods.
- The Great Cascade: A Pilgrimage to the Roar of Snoqualmie Falls
In July 1877, three travelers walked the rugged trail from Snohomish to Fall City, documenting the lush farms, the hospitality of settlers, and the awe-inspiring power of the falls—a testament to the beauty and isolation of early Washington Territory.
- The Legislature Tried to Starve the Militia. Seattle’s Officers Rebelled.
A cut to $8,400 — and the abolition of commissioned officers — convinced Washington militia leaders that the state was quietly trying to disband its citizen army.
- The 'Wise Men' Choose a Candidate
A closed-door committee of seven selects a business-friendly mayoral ticket in a move to 'run the city like a corporation.'
- The Counterfeiters of Boren Avenue
A Secret Service investigation reveals a family-run forgery ring using 'secrets of wise men' and early forensic fingerprinting to manufacture bogus coins in Seattle and Tacoma.
- The Seven Wise Men and the Municipal League
Local politics are in flux as the city's power brokers and the Democratic party vie for control ahead of the municipal elections.
- The Great Liquidation: Herman Wise’s Desperate Plea to Sell Everything in Aberdeen
A frantic letter from a Seattle merchant to his Aberdeen agent reveals the volatile nature of late-19th-century real estate and retail, urging a fire-sale 'regardless of cost' as business conditions sour.
- The Labor Journal’s Lesson in Hypocrisy
A satirical exchange exposes the double standards applied to organized labor versus corporate 'community of interest' trusts.
- Seattle's Chinese New Year: Fireworks, Debt Settling, and a Tartar Emperor
Local Chinese merchants celebrate the new year with fireworks and a week of festivities, while manager Woo Gen voices his opposition to the ruling Tartar dynasty.
- Debs in Seattle: The Case for Union, and the Cost of the Wrong Leaders
As Eugene Debs lectures in the city, the Post-Intelligencer argues that organized labor is essential — but warns that strikes and reckless leaders can bankrupt the very workers they claim to serve.
- Mob Violence Against Federal Officers on Seattle Streets
A correspondent defends the Seattle police for their inaction while deputy marshals were hunted through the downtown district by angry crowds.
- The Streetcar Strike and the Press
Everett labor leaders push back against media portrayals of the ongoing streetcar strike, demanding an end to misrepresentation.
- Federal Troops Arrive to Quell Anti-Chinese Agitation in Seattle
United States soldiers are deployed to maintain order amidst rising tensions, as the newspaper argues the law must be upheld against the ongoing intimidation of Chinese residents.
- The Mugwump’s Ledger: How Seattle’s Territorial Secretary Gamed the Law Printing Contract
A fierce editorial exposes Secretary Owings for delaying the publication of territorial laws to favor a cronies’ printing bid, while padding the bill with 40 pages of his own party platform.
- The Judge Who Scratched Out His Own Eyes
A Seattle judge’s legal flip-flop on municipal taxation sparks a fiery editorial showdown and accusations of corrupt land speculation.
- The Man Who Laughed Through the Flames: A Snohomish Tragedy of Love and Loss
When a gas leak ignited his home in Fruitland, Washington, Chandler Chandler didn't run for safety—he shielded his wife from the blast. His subsequent conversation with the doctor reveals a stoicism that defies belief.
- The Northern Pacific Railroad Monopoly
Critics argue that the railroad company's selection of Stampede Pass is a calculated power grab over Washington's coal wealth.
- A Monster Rally Against Rome: Nativists Pack the Seattle Armory
Anti-Catholic secret societies and the American Protective Association fill the Armory to protest 'papal interference' in American politics and to promise a fight at the ballot box.
Also about this, in other words
- Vigilantism in Wiser
A deputy sheriff takes three men into custody for the targeting of Chinese laborers.
- The Case for Naming an Olympia Street After Judge Hewitt
A memorial sermon for a territorial judge becomes a plea to carve his name into Olympia's street map—and a meditation on what makes a public life worth remembering.
- The Art of Living Well in 1877 Seattle
While Seattle’s pioneer merchants touted their iron stoves and fine whiskies, the local press offered practical, timeless advice on navigating life’s demands.
- The Well in the Wenas
A local carpenter, suffering from the effects of alcohol, met a gruesome and solitary end after falling into a spring in the Wenas Valley.
- Trapped in the Wiser Lake Wilderness
A traveler gets lost in the brutal mud, snow, and falling timber of the Nooksack Valley while searching for a homestead.
- A Woman’s Plea for Protection
The lawful wife of Gee Lee seeks sanctuary with the police, fearing for her life at the hands of her husband's associates.
- The Trial of Neil Sweeney: Sane or Mad?
A Seattle probate court spends an afternoon determining the mental state of a man accused of madness, highlighting the precarious nature of asylum discharges and personal liberty in 1887.
- The Price of Vigilance: Lessons on Parenting and Education
A nineteenth-century essay reflects on the heavy responsibilities of raising children, the failures of the 'crowded schoolroom,' and the timeless struggle between rigid tradition and the pursuit of truth.