Into The Archives

On a Saturday afternoon in 1928, smoke began pouring from the clock tower of Washington’s Old Capitol building in downtown Olympia. Within minutes, flames engulfed one of the state’s most recognizable landmarks — drawing half the town into the streets to watch it burn.In this episode of Into the Archives, we step inside that moment: the fire, the frantic effort to save irreplaceable government records, and the turning point it marked in Washington’s history.It is a story of firefighters racing from Tacoma, volunteers carrying the state’s records out by hand, and how the loss of the eight-sided clock tower reshaped Olympia’s skyline — and its sense of time.Despite the destruction, government never stopped. The fire accelerated a transition already underway — from a cramped downtown seat of power to the modern Capitol campus up the hill.A story about loss, resilience, and the fragile nature of history itself. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tvwstories.substack.com

The Pig War - Talking It Out at the BorderA pig in a potato patch nearly sparked a war. In 1859, American settler Lyman Cutlar shot a Hudson’s Bay Company hog on San Juan Island, igniting a sovereignty dispute between the United States and one of the British colonies that would become Canada. British warships soon appeared offshore as tensions rose. In this episode of Into the Archives, historian Ed Echtle and archivist Ben Helle join TVW's Paul Taylor to explore the Pig War — set against the Fraser River gold rush, rising nationalism and the looming American Civil War — and why a crisis on the U.S.–Canada border ended in restraint instead of battle.Show Notes:John Dwyer, The San Juan Pig (1978) - https://pnwfolklore.org/PigWar.html This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tvwstories.substack.com

A government file labeled “Sasquatch.” A fake law citation. A taped strand of “hair.” In this episode of Into the Archives, the Washington State Archives reveal how a legendary forest being found its way into official state records. Through archivists, historians and Indigenous perspectives, the story moves from Coast Salish traditions to the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film and the rise of American Bigfoot culture. Along the way are hoaxes, laws, festivals and environmental anxieties — all preserved on paper. The episode doesn’t ask whether Sasquatch exists. It asks what happens when mystery collides with government, pop culture and Indigenous knowledge — and what those records say about the people who created them.Sources for this episode:* Oregon Public Broadcasting* Bigfoot Field Research Organization* Salish Sasquatch* Skamania County Sasquatch Protection* The Lore Lodge* Wild Assault This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tvwstories.substack.com

On its debut episode, Into the Archives explores the hidden history of Washington’s State Archives, tracing its origins from a Cold War–era fallout shelter beneath the Capitol campus to its role as the state’s institutional memory. Through archival audio and interviews with historians and archivists, the episode examines how Washington came to preserve its public records, why only a small fraction of government documents are retained, and how those materials illuminate everything from legislative intent and agency formation to overlooked stories of immigrant life, popular culture, and even UFO sightings. As the nation approaches its 250th anniversary, the episode underscores the archives’ civic purpose: slowing the rush of misinformation, grounding public debate in evidence, and safeguarding the historical record through the stewardship of generations of archivists.Related links: Rachel La Corte's 2013 story about the state archives doubling as a fallout shelterOSOS Legacy Washington's websiteJohn C. Hughes's interview on TVW's Inside Olympia This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tvwstories.substack.com