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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 13 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 9 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 5 |
| 1895 | 10 |
47 stories matching boot
- The Prickly Pear That Changed a Life: How a Boy’s Prank in Iowa Sent Him to Seattle
A local resident reveals the bizarre chain of events that led him from an Iowa farm to the Pacific Northwest, starting with a screwdriver and a pair of boots.
- The Boot That Didn't Fit: A Murder Trial at the Turn of the Century
In a dramatic courtroom scene, an accused man attempts to clear his name by proving his feet were simply too large for the evidence that supposedly convicted him.
- The Anti-Catholic Crusade Comes to Rake's Hall
A Seattle crowd packed a nativist A.P.A. rally to hear a Baptist pastor demand that immigrants prove their patriotism—or take the first train home.
- The Coal Creek Massacre: A Coroner’s Inquest into the Battle Between Knights of Labor and Mine Owners
In January 1890, Seattle Sheriff Cochrane deployed militia to Newcastle to suppress a miners' strike. When a riot erupted at Coal Creek, one man was killed and ten arrested. The subsequent coroner's inquest revealed a chaotic scene where union men claimed self-defense against armed mine owners, while the sheriff dismissed the Knights of Labor as 'too excitable.'
- A Seattle Wife Sued Her Husband for Beating Her. The Court Said She Couldn't.
Judge Osborne ruled that a married woman could not maintain a damages action against her husband for assault—even after testimony of a fist to the eye and kicks with heavy boots—sending the case to the state Supreme Court.
- Officer Shoots Bystander During Foot Chase
A logger is wounded in the arm by a stray bullet when a policeman fires at a fleeing shoplifter in the South Third Street district.
- Chief Butterfield's Night Raids on Two Gaming Houses
After weeks of public defiance, Seattle’s police chief launched a series of high-stakes raids on the city's most prominent gaming houses, leading to dramatic foot-booted entries and stacks of confiscated faro layouts.
- The Shadow at the Window: A Frontier Murder Trial
A Swedish laborer stands accused of a cold-blooded killing at Cedar Mountain, as prosecutors weave a circumstantial web of muddy boot prints and stolen rifles.
- The Smooth Talker of Tacoma
A persuasive con man leaves a trail of bamboozled businessmen and empty wallets.
- A Red-Ink Grudge in Tacoma
A minor mail-tampering incident leads to a brutal cane and boot assault at a Tacoma boarding house.
- The Rifle War: Knights of Labor vs. Mine Owners in Newcastle
A bitter feud between rival labor unions in King County erupts into armed conflict, with rifles smuggled from Seattle to support striking miners.
- The Great Reconstruction
A reporter recounts the feverish pace of laborers, bricklayers, and carpenters rebuilding Seattle following a massive fire.
- A Brutal Encounter on C Street
A prominent cashier is left bleeding on a Tacoma sidewalk after an altercation with his former lodger.
- The North Seattle Commuter Who Fought Back
When two armed men attempted to rob a local resident near the Grant-Street bridge, he chose to defend his coin with a kick and a fistfight.
- The Oil Men’s Last Stand: Seattle’s Battle Over Fire Safety and Corporate Power
In March 1889, a proposed ordinance to ban oil storage within city limits sparked a fierce standoff between the Board of Trade and powerful petroleum interests. While the city pushed for safety, the oil dealers argued the rules were discriminatory and economically impossible, setting the stage for a legal battle that would define Seattle’s industrial future.
- The Man Accused of Starting the Great Seattle Fire Gets a New Trial—and Denies He Did It
J. W. Tollman, convicted of robbing a butcher, wins a new trial; he also confronts the old rumor that he knocked over the glue pot that burned Seattle in 1889.
- The Captain Who Caught a Monster: Seattle’s Own Sea Serpent Hoax
Captain Pat J. Boyton of Seattle claims to have captured a 63-foot sea serpent in the Pacific, sending a letter from his ship that has locals buzzing with wonder and skepticism.
- The Longshoremen’s Riot: How a Watch Theft Sparked a Street Brawl in Pioneer Square
When a dockworker was arrested for stealing a gold watch from a drunk patron, his fellow laborers turned the courtroom into a battleground, forcing the justice to flee and the city to confront its own violent underbelly.
- The Office Brawl: A Manager Kicks a Clerk Out of the Store
A workplace dispute over office gossip turns physical, landing the manager of W. Davis & Co. in front of a justice.
- The Boastful Prisoner Who Talked Himself Into Federal Custody
Henry C. Grady came to Seattle to pay taxes on his Jackson Street lots and to deliver a mail-fraud suspect. P. C. Pomeroy had bragged his way out of an Oregon jail; the confession sent him straight to McNeil's Island.
- The Sheriff’s Swift Justice at Commencement Bay
After a horse was stolen from Georgetown, the sheriff tracked the thieves to a camp near the Indian reservation and recovered the animal in less than 24 hours.
- A Coal Town Crawls Back From the Fire That Entombed Forty Miners
Six months after the Coal Creek disaster, a reporter follows Newcastle's superintendent a thousand feet underground into the new mine the company is racing to make bigger than the one it lost.
- The Vanishing Sidewalks: How Seattle’s Council Cleared the Streets of 'Obstructions'
In a bold move to modernize downtown, the City Council ordered the immediate removal of all fruit stands, bootblack benches, and candy vendors from the city's busiest thoroughfares. The result? A clash between civic order and the livelihoods of informal street merchants.
- The Unsafe City: A Local Builder Battles Seattle’s Negligence
After the city left a decaying, debris-filled bulkhead to collapse onto his building site, one developer takes his grievance to the public—and hits a wall of municipal bureaucracy.
- Trapped in the Snowy Labyrinth of the North Cascades
A Seattle prospecting party seeking a Skagit River mine nearly perishes in a brutal trek through Whatcom County’s mountain wilderness.