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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 14 |
| 1877 | 13 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
30 stories matching stranger
- The Gambler Who Won by Losing His Mind
A Seattle street scene from 1876 reveals a bizarre twist on luck: a man wins $50 not by knowing the score, but by believing he did.
- The Pugilist’s Surprise
A strongman looking for a wrestling match in early Seattle learns that a quiet demeanor doesn’t always mean a lack of spirit.
- The Oyster Swindler of State Street
A mysterious philanthropist promises to feed the hungry of Seattle, only to vanish and leave the bill at a local restaurant.
- The Picky Buyer of Seattle
A skeptical land-seeker turns down a perfect farm because of a church organ, illustrating the absurd lengths of a real estate hunt.
- The Smallpox Scare on the Seattle Waterfront
When a stranger fell ill at his Seattle lodgings, he didn't wait for quarantine—he boarded a steamer for Portland, leaving the city in a state of nervous apprehension.
- The City That Couldn't Host Its Guests
As steamers bring hundreds of travelers to Seattle, local hotels are full and a new building sits empty in legal limbo, leaving strangers sleeping on docks.
- The Con Artist’s Benevolent Hustle
A smooth-talking stranger visits a Seattle tobacco shop, spins a yarn about a tragedy at sea, and leaves with more than just a sympathy donation.
- The Madman with the Million-Dollar Conspiracy
A wandering stranger’s frantic claims of a plot to rob him in Seattle lead to his arrest and a stark reminder: the city is growing too fast for its own good.
- The 'Inner Man' Restored: A 19th-Century Call to Dining
A classic 1876 appeal to the hungry travelers of Seattle, promising that even the 'weak' could find relief at Mill Street.
- The 'Saddle-Rock' Chop House: Seattle's 24/7 Energy
In 1876, the Saddle-Rock Chop House promised hungry Seattle laborers and travelers a meal at any hour of the day or night.
- The Great Housing Squeeze: Seattle's Winter Crisis of 1876
As the territory prepares for winter, a correspondent reports that only two comfortable dwellings remain vacant in Walla Walla, highlighting the acute housing shortages gripping Washington communities.
- The Forbidden Courtship of Seattle’s Laboring Class
A satirical poem recounts the trials of a young couple forbidden by their employer from speaking while working on his land.
- Dining in 'New York Style' at the Frontier's Edge
Before Seattle became a global tech hub, it was a rapidly growing port town where restaurant owners competed to offer refined 'New York style' dining to weary loggers, sailors, and travelers.
- The Crackdown on 'Fast Riding' in Old Seattle
When rowdy horsemen turned Front Street into a racetrack, the city police decided the era of reckless riding in the city center had to end.
- The Man Who Thought He Was a Millionaire: A Seattle Mental Health Tragedy
In April 1877, a man wandering the streets of Seattle claimed his parents were murdered and he was retrieving buried fortune. After assaulting a stranger with a dagger, he was committed to an asylum.
- The 'Inner Man' Restored in Pioneer Seattle
A classic 1876 appeal to the hungry traveler invites patrons to the Puget Sound Restaurant, promising a reprieve from the exhaustion of the frontier.
- The Logging Tragedy on the Duwamish
A young worker’s sudden death in the woods serves as a grim reminder of the perils facing early laborers in the Seattle territory.
- The Tall Tale of 'Bluffier Ben'
A boastful trapper spins wild, bloody yarns for free drinks in a Seattle saloon, leaving the barkeep to settle the tab.
- The Art of Boosting: How Early Seattle Built a Territory
In an era before mass media, Seattle’s newspaper editors viewed themselves as the primary architects of immigration, using booster journalism to lure settlers to the Pacific Northwest.
- The Confidence Man of Front Street
A colorful encounter with a local schemer illustrates the 'get-rich-quick' fever that defined the early days of Seattle's business district.
- A Frontier Promise Kept
In an era of rugged isolation, an anonymous immigrant couple reflects on twenty years of marriage, the silence of their home, and the sudden joy of a child arriving on Christmas Day.
- The Soda Fountain Swap
A regular customer at a local Seattle soda fountain finds himself unexpectedly toasted by a new clerk who can't distinguish between pineapple syrup and brandy.
- The Horseshoe Curse: A 1880 Seattle Fable of Fortune
In the pages of the Seattle Intelligencer, a cautionary rhyme warns that even the smallest superstitions can wreak havoc on a settler’s homestead.
- The Man Who Bought His Own Death
In a Seattle saloon in 1877, a gambler named 'Hilly Hacker' was challenged by a stranger with a shotgun. Hacker’s response? He bet the man $50 that he could buy him 20,000 shares of stock at a higher price before the market opened—proving his nerve was stronger than any weapon.
- The Man Who Couldn't Sleep: A Murderer's Five-Year Nightmare Ends in Seattle
William Devitt, a fugitive from a Pennsylvania railroad murder, surrenders to Seattle police after five years of wandering the South, claiming his conscience has finally caught up with him.