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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 3 |
20 stories matching master
- The Ghost Ship of Port Townsend
A British bark vanishes in the fog off Washington’s coast; a court of inquiry clears the crew, but not before two men drown and the master walks away with nothing.
- The Opium Smuggler of the City of Kingston
A baggage master is caught red-handed smuggling forty-five pounds of opium, but the customs inspector he tried to bribe was playing a double game.
- The Fishhook Baited With Human Flesh
In a Port Townsend hotel, a sailor displays the improvised wire hook that kept survivors of the wrecked whaler James Allen alive after the disaster in Bering Sea.
- The Smuggler's Hold in Port Townsend
A US Customs inspection reveals a secret cargo of sugar and pork, risking vessel forfeiture and perjury charges.
- A Knife Fight in the Bay: Union Sailors Ambush a Non-Union Crew
A boarding master tries to ship five strikebreakers onto an Alaska salmon schooner at Port Townsend. Twelve union men are waiting in the water, and the fight that follows leaves every non-union sailor hurt and swimming for shore.
- The Opium Smugglers of the Idaho
A federal investigation uncovers a massive scheme to hide contraband in the bilges and barrels of a Pacific steamship, revealing a deep culture of corruption in the Sound’s maritime trade.
- The Double-Cross on the Sloop Skagit
A crafty smuggler’s attempt to offload his legal liability onto his hired hand backfires after a loose-lipped celebration at a local saloon.
- Smuggling Ring Exposed at Port Townsend
A customs inspector is accused of taking bribes to let opium cross the border, revealing a deeper scandal within the agency.
- The Struggle for Safe Passage on the Sound
A local captain makes the case for mandatory pilotage to prevent costly shipwrecks in the foggy straits.
- A Maritime Collision in Port Townsend
A federal judge rules both a Norwegian bark and an American steamer are at fault for a late-night crash at the harbor entrance.
- The Price of a Steamboat Collision
Federal Judge Hanford orders the steam collier Willamette to pay $30,000 for a fatal 1892 collision with the steamer Premier.
- The Pilot’s Plea for Protection
A Puget Sound pilot is found cutting wood for a living because the lack of regulation has made the profession impossible to sustain.
- The Shipping Union’s Legal Ambush
Sailors' union activists attempt to use state court writs to challenge the legality of non-union, foreign-recruited crews aboard a ship in Port Townsend.
- Shipping Magnates Prepare for War Against Sailors' Union
The Ship Owners' Association of the Pacific Coast is moving to break the power of the sailors' union on Puget Sound by opening branch offices for non-union hiring.
- The Rowdiest Port in the Pacific Northwest
An 1872 report describes the brutal realities of the maritime labor market in Port Townsend, where sailors were coerced into service and returned to shore battered and bruised.
- Union Seamen Defeated at Port Townsend
A bitter strike of sailors on the Puget Sound ends in failure after boarding house tactics and non-union labor break the blockade.
- The 'Kid Mayor' of Michigan Found in Port Townsend
A brilliant young con artist once known as the 'Kid Mayor' has fled the Washington Territory after his real identity—and a trail of fraudulent bonds—finally caught up with him.
- The Hoodooed Ship That Left Three Dead
At Port Townsend, sailors call the Linlithgowshire cursed after a third officer is killed—and the ship’s recent history makes the word stick.
- The Pioneer Who Built Port Townsend's First Wharf
Captain Enoch S. Fowler, a Maine-born mariner turned merchant and officeholder, dies at 63, leaving a town shaped by his ships, wharves, and stone buildings.
- The Card Sharps Who Picked the Wrong Captain—and Sailed to Peru
Two Seattle gamblers went to Port Townsend to fleece the master of the British ship Dimsdale. He found out, shanghaied them both, and set sail for Callao.