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90 stories matching scratch

  1. The Snake Oil of Snohomish

    A century-old miracle cure for man and beast that promised to heal everything from rheumatism to ‘hollow horn’.

    Mar 8, 1879The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountySnake Oil

  2. A Train Derails in the Smoky Woods

    A Satsop Railroad locomotive plunges off the tracks after hitting a fallen tree in the fire-choked timberlands near Shelton.

    Aug 9, 1889The Mason County JournalShelton, Mason CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

  3. Nightgowned Citizen Puts Burglar to Flight

    A local homeowner interrupted a late-night intruder, forcing him to flee empty-handed—save for a stolen kimono.

    Apr 1, 1909The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyTrue Crime

  4. The Estus Mill Riot and a Summer of Fights

    A flurry of violence in Montesano leads to court appearances, boundary disputes, and a neighborhood brawl.

    Nov 9, 1893Aberdeen HeraldMontesano, Grays Harbor CountyWork & Pay

  5. A Revolver at the Polls: Seattle’s Republican Primary Erupts

    Seattle’s Republican primaries collapsed into shouting, challenged voters, fake tickets and a police chief drawing his revolver to declare the polls open.

    Sep 2, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

  6. A Nighttime Train Wreck Near Chehalis

    A northbound express train derails after striking a steer, leading to a miraculous escape for the crew and passengers.

    Jun 12, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerChehalis, Lewis CountyDisasters

  7. A Nine-Year-Old’s View of Ranch Life

    A young Richland girl writes a candid, humorous account of her first encounter with farm life after moving from the Alaskan frontier.

    Aug 3, 1916The Kennewick Courier-ReporterRichland, Benton CountyStrange But True

  8. The Miracle at the Bend

    An engineer’s harrowing account of a toddler playing on the tracks, the desperate silence of the brakes, and an inexplicable survival.

    Sep 4, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerNewcastle, King CountyStrange But True

  9. The Lumber Industry's Long Wait for the Iron Horse

    As Seattle's timber economy struggled under local isolation in 1893, local mill owners pinned their hopes for survival on the impending arrival of the Great Northern Railway.

    Apr 8, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

  10. The Hyena of Seattle: A 'Herculean Woman' Leaves a Man Sprawled in the Dust

    In a rare display of physical dominance that defied Victorian gender norms, a local woman engaged in a public brawl so fierce it was described as 'fiendish delight,' leaving her male opponent screaming for mercy.

    Apr 14, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

  11. A Desperate Escape on the Duwamish River

    A woman seeking work in Seattle narrowly avoids a violent attack after being lured into the wilderness by a false job offer.

    Jun 1, 1878Puget Sound DispatchYesler Way, Seattle, King CountyTrue Crime

  12. The Case of the Misunderstood Brawler

    A sensational report of a violent street fight in Seattle turns out to be a classic case of mistaken identity, where a frightened man accidentally assaulted the wrong person.

    Aug 31, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

  13. The Territory's Legislative Snake

    A scathing critique from 1877 exposes the 'headless and tailless' chaos of newly minted Washington tax laws, exposing a system designed to strip residents of their property through administrative incompetence.

    Dec 29, 1877Puget Sound DispatchOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall

  14. A Heartbreak in a Seattle Boarding House

    An elderly man’s public quest to 'rescue' his beloved from her life at the Pacific House leads to a courtroom confrontation.

    Oct 25, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyScandal

  15. The Walla Walla Man Who Wanted to Buy the Rails

    In 1903, B.D. Crocker—former collector of internal revenue and local favorite—shocked railroad executives by offering to buy the Columbia River & Northern line, sparking rumors of a secret deal with the powerful Oregon Railway & Navigation Company.

    May 29, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyFollow the Money · True Crime

  16. The Wild Foot Race on Commercial Street

    Before the city grew, Seattle’s main thoroughfare hosted a high-stakes sprint that drew crowds to the rooftops and left bettors stunned.

    Aug 8, 1878The Daily IntelligencerCommercial Street, Seattle, King CountyNightlife

  17. The $6,000 Wallet That Vanished From Under a Pillow

    Milton Wood locked his door at the Vendome, left his pocketbook under his pillow, and woke to find $6,000 in cash and notes gone—with no sign of forced entry.

    Mar 7, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyTrue Crime

  18. Puget Sound Out-Sailed Every U.S. Port but New York in 1894

    Customs records showed a young Washington district building an Oriental trade from scratch, even as falling wheat and lumber values masked the boom in raw tonnage.

    Jan 2, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPort Townsend, Jefferson CountyBoom & Bust

  19. She Fell Into Puget Sound and Woke to Fishermen at Dawn

    An 18-year-old hotel guest went shell hunting near Smith Cove, slipped between the logs, and spent a rainy night unconscious on the beach before two fishermen found her.

    Jan 15, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSmith Cove, Seattle, King CountyStrange But True

  20. The Butter Wars: Kittitas Dairymen Fight to Keep Their Good Name

    Farmers near Ellensburg built a first-class creamery industry from scratch — and now they're objecting to their prize butter being sold in Seattle markets under the name 'Yakima' or 'Eastern Washington.'

    May 7, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerEllensburg, Kittitas CountyBoom & Bust

  21. A Ship's Name-Board Washes Ashore 115 Miles From Where the Ivanhoe Went Down

    A lighthouse keeper's wife finds the port quarter name-board of a lost coal freighter buried in the sand at Willapa Bay — and a Navy inspector uses the currents to argue the ship foundered far south of Cape Flattery.

    May 1, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerWillapa, Pacific CountyTrue Crime · Disasters

  22. The Idle Crowd: Seattle's 1877 Moral Panic over 'Street Loafers'

    A local editor observes the growing ranks of the unemployed and 'non-descript' men gathering on Seattle corners, questioning how they survive in a bustling, labor-dependent territory.

    Jan 23, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay · Strange But True

  23. A Cow on the Track, a Freight Train in the Air, and Two Dead Railroad Men

    A wandering cow derailed a freight train near Latona in 1894, killing two railroad workers and scattering thirteen cars while crewmen ran ahead to flag the passenger trains.

    Aug 21, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerLatona, Seattle, King CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

  24. The Hermit Rancher Who Died Without Ever Knowing He Was Worth $4 Million

    For years Ansel White scratched a living from a Clallam County farm while a fortune waited for him in the East. By the time his nephew tracked him down, he had been dead three years — and sixteen heirs were still waiting for the money.

    Apr 28, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPort Angeles, Clallam CountyTrue Crime · Local Legends

  25. A Hunter's Bear Hug Nearly Becomes His Last

    Adam Mechling shot at what he took for a fawn in the Skagit County woods and found himself beneath a 300-pound she bear.

    Aug 17, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerHamilton, Skagit CountyStrange But True

Download all 90 as a spreadsheet (CSV)