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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1887 | 2 |
9 stories matching scam
- An Ambassador for the Northwest: Judge Lewis Returns from the East
A Seattle judge’s 1885 journey reveals a Pacific Northwest eager to prove itself to the skeptical East, complete with butter-churning Quakers and coal-scam lawsuits.
- The Decalcomania Confidence Man
A group of Seattle women expose a predatory art instructor who used a 'transfer work' scam to swindle local households.
- The 'Mrs. Maber' Scam: A Community Charity Betrayed
A woman who conned the Ladies’ Relief Society and private citizens out of rent and groceries is publicly outed by the organization after she repeatedly skipped job opportunities.
- The Gospel-Ship Scam on Puget Sound
How a pious Olympia minister raised international funds to build a missionary vessel, only to pivot it into a lucrative towboat business.
- The Swindled Investor and the 'Silver Mine' Scam
A Seattle real estate dealer is arrested after selling fake claims to a nonexistent silver mine, sparking a heated legal battle and a courtroom confrontation.
- The Unmasking of 'Julius the Fugitive'
A small-town swindler’s life of crime finally catches up with him after a string of scams across the Pacific Northwest.
- The Swindler Who Tried to Sell Insurance to a Ghost
A Seattle man attempts to scam his brother in California with a fake insurance policy, only to be outsmarted by a skeptical editor.
- The Great Tacoma Smelter Scam
A smooth-talking promoter arrives in the dead of winter, promises a mining fortune, and leaves a town holding the bag.
- The Homestead Scam That Turned Public Land Into a Speculator’s Prize
An 1883 exposé from Walla Walla describes how doctors, lawyers and merchants faked frontier residency to grab government land—and why the law made perjury easy.