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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 2 |
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46 stories matching fleec
- Vigilante Justice on the Sound
When a steamer full of card sharps tried to fleece a group of shingle weavers, the workers fought back—and won.
- The Tacoma Water Plant Scandal
A suspected $500,000 kickback scheme involving the city's purchase of a private utility plant ignites a public outcry in Tacoma.
- The Closure of the Free Employment Bureau
Everett’s decision to shutter its city-run employment office leaves unemployed laborers at the mercy of predatory agencies.
- The Gamblers Who Took the Wrong Ship
Two Seattle card sharps tried to fleece an English sea captain. He had them shanghaied instead.
- The Confidence Game of 1888
A victim of a brazen street robbery in Seattle describes how he was lured into a basement by a sophisticated crew of swindlers who posed as wealthy travelers.
- The Confidence Men of the Steamer Route
A trio of swindlers fleeing Seattle justice find their match in a wary traveler on the Puget Sound steamship line.
- The Confidence Men of Leschi Park
A visiting Wells, Fargo express agent is fleeced by a trio of notorious swindlers in a elaborate 'bunko' game near the sea lion pavilion.
- The Strange Career of Captain Mauritzen
A crafty imposter poses as a Scandinavian official and newspaper correspondent to fleece local islanders and investigate a non-existent murder.
- The Jailbreak of Port Angeles’ Fake Banker
After fleecing investors and local organizations, Benjamin F. Schwartz slips past his jailer to disappear into the night.
- 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.
- Colville Boosters Redrew the Map, and the Taxpayers Paid for the Surveys
Northport cries foul after County Surveyor Clare Hunt moves the Newport–Metaline–Orient road off its original line, leaving a direct-route town side-tracked — and several thousand dollars spent on surveys that produced no road at all.
- The Unlucky Life and Death of 'Jim, the Stout'
A satirical poem published in 1888 Seattle chronicled the fictional misfortunes of a man whose attempts to embrace city life ended in total catastrophe.
- The Courthouse Deal Done in the Dark
Benton County commissioners quietly sold $125,000 in bonds for a new courthouse. Farmers from Finley to Prosser cried foul over up to $40,000 in extra interest—and demanded to know why it had to be secret.
- The Con Artist Who Fleeced All of Seattle
A smooth-talking lawyer arrives with a letter of introduction from the Governor, only to leave a trail of unpaid debts, fake mortgages, and broken promises across the city.
- The Middleman Trap: A Farm Journal Warns the Growers About Shady Commission Houses
A Northwest agricultural paper tells fruit shippers to beware 'snide concerns' that report produce as damaged and pocket the difference — and names a Tacoma firm closing its season 'under the cloud of shady transactions.'
- How Tacoma Beat Seattle for the Railroad—and Who Paid for It
An Eastern paper says Northern Pacific officials picked an inferior Tacoma site because it let a small coterie profit from townsite speculation, while Seattle refused to hand over its waterfront.
- The Invading Clovers of the White River Valley
A botanical report on how the 'indomitable' white clover quietly conquered the hay fields of 19th-century King County, displacing the farmer’s preferred timothy.
- 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.
- The Roadhouse in the Woods That Kept Its Women in Debt
A raid between the coal towns of Wilkeson and Carbonado exposed a liquor-and-gambling dive where miners were fleeced and women said their clothes were held hostage for debts.
- Knockout Drops at the Standard Saloon
A Tacoma man swears he was drugged, fleeced of $210, and knocked toothless—then asks the city to revoke the saloon's license.
- The Day Seattle Shut Down: Sailors, Longshoremen and the First Labor Day
Banks, courts and public offices closed for the first time in the city's history, 2,500 people packed Pioneer Place for a 36-minute tug-of-war, and a labor orator told the crowd that good wages are the engine of everyone's prosperity.