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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 12 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
21 stories matching disappear
- The Man Who Vanished: A Tacoma Mystery
A stock raiser leaves his home in fine clothes and is never seen again. Is it a disappearance or foul play?
- The Disappearance of James Goodwin
A cook vanishes from the steamer Yakima while en route from Snohomish to Seattle, leaving behind a mystery that leaves the local authorities puzzled.
- The Engineer Who Vanished Into the Sound
A respected steamboat captain’s sudden disappearance in October 1878 sparks a desperate search and a grim theory of accidental drowning.
- The Strange Disappearance of George Clark
A local merchant vanishes from Steilacoom, leaving behind $5,000 in debts and unpaid laborers.
- The Disappearing Spouse: A 19th Century Public Shaming
In an era before no-fault divorce, a Seattle husband took to the public press to publicly renounce his wife's debts and dictate his marital authority.
- The Burglar Who Stole From Himself
A clever thief in Seattle pulls off a double deception: stealing from a store and then framing a Chinese employee for the crime.
- The Search for Three Lost Cows in Early Seattle
A local farmer turns to the public after a small herd disappears from his pasture, offering a reward for their safe return.
- The Persistent Business of Superstition
An editorial from 1877 examines why, despite the march of progress and the printing press, humanity remained obsessed with palmistry, spiritualism, and bad omens.
- The Man Who Vanished Into the Mist
A local resident disappears after a three-day canoe trip from the Duwamish River mouth, leaving behind only his revolver and provisions.
- Seattle's Muddy Streets Stall Railroad Equipment in 1877
A local editor chronicles the impossible state of the city's thoroughfares, where wagon axles disappear into the muck.
- The Lost Cook of Lowell
A camp cook vanished from the logging woods near Snohomish, leaving behind his belongings and fueling local rumors of desertion or death.
- The Man Who Vanished Into the Brush: A Seattle Mystery
In September 1876, a resident named Wm. Harris left his home for a brief trip to Seattle and never returned. His wife’s desperate search led investigators to suspect either a fatal heart attack or foul play in the dense woods near Snyder's slaughterhouse.
- The Seattle Daily Intelligencer’s Panic Over 'The Vagrant Horde'
As property crime spiked in Portland, Seattle’s newspaper urged citizens to arm themselves and remain vigilant against a 'vagrant class' they believed was sweeping the Pacific Northwest.
- The Terrors of Belltown: Youth Gangs and Civic Chaos in 1870
Before it was a bustling neighborhood, Belltown was a site of 'villainous' youth pranks and neighborhood disturbances that left residents clamoring for order.
- The Doctor’s Disappearing Act
A Sacramento physician abandons his wife, fakes his departure for Oregon, and is tracked to a Seattle hotel by the Chief of Police.
- The Midnight Treasure Hunt on Coffin Island
A fever for gold and Captain Kidd’s fabled riches sends Seattle-area prospectors into a frenzy of night-time digging.
- The Haunted Theater of Seattle: A Superstition of 1876
A group of locals at the Occidental Hotel exchange tales of theater lore, specifically the peculiar story of a spider that allegedly predicted the success of a New York stage house for ten consecutive seasons.
- The Perilous Climb of St. Peter's Lantern
A daredevil’s afternoon of ‘roof climbing’ in 1876 Seattle turns into a life-or-death struggle when a simple stunt leaves him dangling a hundred feet above the pavement.
- 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 Scandal of Kate Claxton: A Star’s Divorce and the Rumors That Rocked Seattle
In April 1873, celebrated actress Kate Claxton filed for divorce from her husband, a downtown broker, amidst rumors of an affair with a fellow actor. The case highlights the intense public scrutiny faced by women in the theater world during Seattle's early territorial days.
- The Slave Ship That Vanished: An Old Man’s Confession in Seattle
A weathered sailor walks into a Seattle saloon and recounts the night his crew mutinied against a slaver, only to watch the ship sink with 200 souls aboard.