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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 6 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 3 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1890 | 2 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 18 |
| 1893 | 13 |
| 1894 | 9 |
| 1895 | 1 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 6 |
| 1903 | 12 |
| 1904 | 4 |
| 1909 | 6 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 1 |
103 stories matching con
- The 'Perryville' Scam: How a Fake Marriage Left Two Women Broke and Broken
In a tale of deception spanning Los Angeles, Washington, and Canada, two women fall victim to the same con artist who used false matrimonial ads to extract money before fleeing with their savings.
- The Great Seattle Hoax: How a 'Captain' Fooled the Press with a Phantom Ship
A con artist named Captain John Brown sold a wild tale of a treasure-laden voyage to a local newspaper for $10, only for customs officers to discover the vessel didn't exist.
- The Snake in the Parlor: How Two Con Artists Drained an Elderly Man Dry
In May 1877, John Dowd and his accomplice targeted a respected Seattle citizen with a fake land deal, winning his trust before stealing his watch, cash, and dignity at a local saloon.
- The Adultery Scandal at the Denny Block
A public courtroom spectacle reveals an illicit domestic arrangement in downtown Seattle.
- The Con Artist Who Played Barber on Marion Street
A fake detective who swindled his way through Seattle with a short-lived barber shop is now wanted for attempted murder in New York.
- The False Priests of Tacoma
Two con artists passing themselves off as Catholic missionaries hoodwinked a congregation in Buckley, performing masses and collecting offerings before being chased down and arrested in Tacoma.
- The Con Man Who Could Never Stay Caught
A prolific swindler known for daring escapes and impersonations finally meets his match, leading to a three-year sentence at the state penitentiary.
- The Smooth Talker of Tacoma
A persuasive con man leaves a trail of bamboozled businessmen and empty wallets.
- The Laundry Con Artists
Two men posing as city water works employees extorted a Chinese laundry owner, sparking a police crackdown on a recurring racket.
- The Portrait Swindle
A crafty con artist used a local shop's reputation to fleece dozens of Seattle residents with a fake photo-enlargement scheme.
- The Miracle Cure Con Man
A visiting 'philanthropist' who claimed to cure alcoholism was feted by city officials before being unmasked as a fraud.
- The Silver-Haired Widow of the Palouse
A charming con artist charmed her way into the best homes of Colfax, only to be undone by a stolen set of hotel silver.
- The Wanted Kidnaper Who Once Walked Our Streets
A Tacoma detective identifies a notorious kidnaper as a local con man who scammed city businessmen a year prior.
- The Con Artist of Fairhaven
A smooth-talking accountant gambles away his reputation and his wife's dignity with a string of bad checks and a faked suicide attempt.
- The City vs. The Railroad
Yakima taxpayers push for the extension of major streets through Northern Pacific property, setting the stage for a legal showdown.
- The Swindling 'Boy Preacher' of Discovery Bay
A young con artist charms his way into the confidence of local ranchers with promises of land purchases and a wealthy mother, only to vanish without paying a cent.
- The Lawyer Who Saved a 'Sucker'
A South Prairie man was nearly swindled out of $1,000 in a fake lottery scheme until he sought the advice of a prominent Seattle attorney.
- The Politics of Washington Coal
A fiery Chamber of Commerce debate pits local labor interests against the influx of British Columbian coal.
- The Robber Barons of the Rails
As the Pacific Northwest rail and steamship empires consolidate, one man's rise mirrors the era of the 'autocrat' industrialist.
- The Miracle Doctor of Fall City
A smooth-talking grifter conned the countryside with fake cures and a borrowed horse, only to vanish into thin air.
- The State’s Office is a ‘Sailor’s Boarding House’: Olympia’s Desperate Search for a Capitol
With state officers scattered across the city in “miserably-ventilated” rooms and valuable records stored in sheds, Representative Collins introduces a bill to erect a temporary building on business property.
- The Wild Goose Chase of 1887
Two con artists fleeced immigrant laborers in Seattle by selling them jobs on farms that did not exist.
- The Jailbreak at the Center of Town
After four prisoners escaped the local lockup, the Sheriff sounds the alarm on the failing state of the city's crumbling jail.
- The Ghost of the Street: Seattle’s Most Prolific Teenage Con Artist
Before the age of identity theft, a nameless youth wandered the streets of 1892 Seattle, forging heartbreaking letters of loss to bilk the city's compassionate elite.
- The Bunko Men and the Judge
A Seattle judge is under fire for releasing two known con-men on cash bail—funded, ironically, by the very money they stole from their victims.