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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1878 | 9 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1884 | 1 |
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| 1909 | 7 |
| 1916 | 2 |
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| 1923 | 1 |
136 stories matching tramp
- A Deadly Campfire Dispute
A traveler is brutally murdered after refusing to share his fire with a group of transients, highlighting the volatility of the frontier trail.
- Memorial Day 1896: A Governor, a Nativist Oration, and Thirty Graves in the Rain
Seattle's Civil War remembrance became a stage for anxiety over unemployed marchers and foreign-born workers, while veterans decorated Lake View Cemetery under a steady downpour.
- A Deputy Sheriff's Home Ransacked
Amid a crime wave and an influx of transient workers, a local deputy falls victim to a daylight home robbery, sparking frustration over the town's inability to police itself.
- Seattle's Vagrancy Sweep: Work, Leave Town, or Jail
A late-night police roundup netted more than thirty tramps, beggars, and tinhorn gamblers, who were given a lecture and a three-way choice: work, leave town, or jail.
- South Seattle Laborer Stabbed Over a Nickel
A brickmaker at Lohse's brick yard was attacked by a vagrant after refusing to hand over money for transit.
- The Tramp Problem in the Palouse
Unemployed men camping outside Colfax have turned to raiding gardens and chicken coops to survive.
- He Walked 600 Miles for Work—Then Seattle Called Him a Tramp
In a letter to the editor, Harry Wright defends the men sleeping at the City Mission, tracing his path from a Missoula hotel job to six weeks broke in Seattle.
- The School Fire Drill Revolution
Seattle’s fire chief praises the rapid evacuation of public schools, where students now clear buildings in under two minutes.
- The Queen Anne Scandal: A Tramp’s Slander and the ‘Black Paws’ of Seattle
When a wandering journalist accused a local girl of plunging her cat into flour dough, it sparked a chaotic street confrontation on Queen Anne Hill that revealed the raw tensions of early 20th-century Seattle.
- Vigilante Justice in Cle Elum
Citizens in Cle Elum adopt a brutal method of 'dealing with obstreperous hobos' using whips.
- The Great Train Wreck of 1907
A look back at a dramatic freight derailment that sent twenty-one cars into a Kennewick gully.
- The Willow Switch Verdict
After a hardware store burglary, an Ellensburg marshal opted for a public whipping over a court trial for the suspects.
- The Tramp Economy of Early Seattle
A reporter encounters a 'bummer' among the weeds of Mission Bay, revealing the harsh, transient reality of laborers who roamed the Pacific Coast in the 1870s.
- Trekking Through the Frontier: The Sheriff’s Duty
A grueling journey through Whatcom County’s wilderness in 1878 to summon jurors, revealing a rapidly changing landscape.
- 377,509 Bushels: The Algoa Hauls a Record Wheat Cargo Out of Tacoma
A single tramp steamer carried the largest grain shipment ever loaded at Tacoma — 500 carloads' worth, a train three miles long — bound for Europe and a handsome profit.
- The Unlucky Burglar of the Indian Reservation
A habitual offender is caught in the act at the government Indian school.
- The Boarding-House Brawl
A South Seattle landlord takes matters into his own hands after being swindled by a fake engineer.
- An Explorer's Curious Discovery in the Puyallup Valley
In 1878, a local explorer ventured into the uncharted territory of the Puyallup Valley, reporting back with observations that bordered on the absurd.
- Railway Marauders Arrested Near Auburn
Railroad detectives apprehend three men accused of breaking into a Northern Pacific freight car bound for Tacoma.
- The Uncharted Sphere of a Seattle Businesswoman
A local female shopkeeper in 1872 challenges the rigid gender expectations of the era through quiet, competent labor.
- Late Night Assault at a Front Street Restaurant
A restaurant cook survives an assault after being struck with a revolver by a man who infiltrated the back of the establishment.
- Search for a Lost Surveyor in the Skykomish
J. L. Beatty, a surveyor known for his courage in the wilderness, is believed to have drowned in the treacherous waters of the Skykomish River.
- A Tramp's Alibi: Thirty Tumwater Witnesses and a Murder Conviction Undone
A poor itinerant tinker was jailed for a Tacoma murder until residents of a small Thurston County hotel town swore he was miles away. The state Supreme Court ordered a new trial.
- A Seattle Fish Firm Fires Its Chinese Workers — and the Paper Cheers
In 1877, Tull & Co. dismissed all of its Chinese employees and hired white men in their place, a move the Dispatch celebrated as patriotism.
- The Eccentric Professor: A Man of Culture Lost in the Streets
An itinerant lecturer with 'peculiarities' captivates Seattle crowds, leaving locals to wonder if he is a genius or just mad.