Seattle Squatters Push Land Fight to District Court
Squatters on the Seattle tidelands win a legal delay in a high-stakes title fight against A.A. Denny, as the city watches a $100,000 property dispute head to district court.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The squatters of Seattle won the first round in the contest between A.A. Denny and themselves in Justice Rivers' court, when the case in which J.J. Pierce is defendant was certified to the district court. When the suit was first brought up in Justice Rivers' court about two weeks ago, Messrs. Shore and Dyer moved to have it certified to the district court as the title to land would be brought to issue. Justice Rivers denied this motion, holding that evidence affecting the title to land must be produced in court before he lost jurisdiction. The defendants then set up an amendment defense and answer to the forcible entry and unlawful detainer proceedings, and the suit was made on that basis. After all the evidence was heard, Attorney Dyer again filed a motion for the certifying of the case to the district court upon the ground that the title to the land had been brought into question and that the justice had thereby lost jurisdiction. Justice Rivers, after hearing the arguments, said that some very grave questions concerning Mr. Denny's title had been brought up, and therefore he could do nothing under the law but to send the case to a court having jurisdiction. The squatters were highly elated on hearing this decision, as it puts the case in such shape that they can fight Mr. Denny on the question of title. The disputed tract consists of about 32 acres, and is estimated to be worth fully $100,000.
“The defendants claimed that Mr. Denny had lost title to the disputed property... that the land had never been entered, and that defendants had as much right as any to squat upon the land in hope of acquiring title from the government.”
In 1889, Seattle was a growing city where the boundaries of ownership were still being violently contested. This battle over the valuable Elliott Bay tidelands echoes the modern, relentless pressure of gentrification and development that continues to define Seattle’s housing and land-use struggles today.
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