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821 stories matching prison
- The Jailbreak Problem: When Every County Was Its Own Penitentiary
In 1877, Washington Territory struggled with a chaotic, decentralized justice system where county jails were crumbling and prisoners were held for profit.
- U.S. Marshal Transports Prisoners to McNeil Island
A roundup of prisoners sent to the federal penitentiary highlights the era's aggressive and exclusionary legal climate.
- The Sheriff’s Son and the Jailbreak
A quick-thinking schoolboy foils a planned escape at the Vancouver county jail.
- Marshal Narrowly Survives Jailhouse Shootout
A prisoner in Colfax, suspected of being a relative of the James brothers, opens fire on the police chief while being locked in a cell.
- Quarantine at McNeil Island Penitentiary
An attending physician clarifies the status of a smallpox outbreak at the McNeil Island federal prison.
- A Desperate Dash for Freedom in Walla Walla
A prisoner working in the Walla Walla courthouse yard made a bold break for liberty, resulting in a dramatic street chase.
- The Jailer’s Mysterious Absence
A police inquiry into the escape of a prisoner who slipped away while his guard was supposedly busy with locksmiths.
- The Great Escape: Two Prisoners Vanish from Seattle’s Basement Jail
In a display of audacity and desperation, two men held on smuggling and liquor charges crawled through a torn-off board in a water closet to flee the U.S. Marshal’s improvised prison beneath the Clancy Building.
- The Inhumanity of the City Jail
A plea for the humane treatment of women in Seattle's overcrowded, mixed-gender prison system.
- The Day a Prisoner Broke His Chains and the Police Chief Grabbed a Boy's Horse
A robbery suspect makes a mid-day run for the bushes from the chain gang; Seattle's police chief commandeers a horse and trees him just outside town.
- Smallpox Outbreak Hits McNeil Island Penitentiary
An outbreak of smallpox has reached the federal penitentiary at McNeil Island, sparking a vaccination drive and fears of wider contagion.
- The Wife Who Couldn't Bear the Badge of Shame
In 1903 Spokane, a woman secured a divorce from her husband not because he was abusive, but because his life sentence for murder made her social standing untenable.
- Lummi Tribe Asserts Reservation Rights Against Fishermen
Armed tribal members detain eight foreign fishermen in Hales Pass, leaving local authorities powerless to intervene.
- The Town Chain Gang
Kennewick’s new municipal code establishes forced labor for inmates to settle debts and minor offenses.
- Seattle's Jail Was Overcrowded and Waiting on Steel Cells from St. Louis
Sheriff Winger held eleven prisoners in the county jail, including four sailors and two Puyallup men sentenced for assault, while unfit close cells had to be used until new steel cells arrived.
- The Great Jailbreak on the Waterfront
Two young prisoners pried their way out of a city jail with nothing but a table leg and help from friends on the outside.
- The 'Dead Line' at the San Francisco Store
Before it became a retail hub, the basement of the San Francisco store in Seattle served as a federal jail where prisoners waited for trial while playing cards and bartering for tobacco.
- County Jail Prisoners Put to Work on Roads
Walla Walla commissioners order inmates to break rock and repair Mill Creek road under chain-gang supervision.
- The Jailer’s Blunder and a Quick Escape
Three prisoners in the Yakima county jail staged a daring, if temporary, breakout after a jailer accidentally left their cell door unlocked.
- The Governor’s Unacknowledged Son
A condemned prisoner in the city jail delivers a final, shattering letter to the Governor, revealing a secret connection that exposes the cruel indifference of the ruling class.
- The Short-Timer’s Escape
With only forty days left on his forgery sentence, a trusty prisoner at the state penitentiary slipped away from his garden duties and vanished.
- Prison Population Explodes
Walla Walla's state penitentiary faces record overcrowding as prisoner count surges to 673.
- The End of the Chain Gang in Seattle
City officials move to retire the practice of using prisoners for manual street labor, shifting to rock-breaking in a bid to deter professional tramps.
- The Mystery of the 'Man in Woman's Clothes'
A queer identity case arrives at the Seattle Police Court, as a person arrested for cross-dressing faces a judge and a courtroom full of skepticism.
- A Walla Walla Pastor Defends the Prison's Sunday 'Boxing Bouts'
Rector W. Law writes to defend Warden Coblenz and the penitentiary's Sunday programs, insisting the glove contests that scandalized critics were gentler than a schoolyard game.