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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1891 | 4 |
| 1892 | 15 |
| 1893 | 13 |
| 1894 | 9 |
| 1895 | 1 |
42 stories matching con
- The Art of the Con: How a Swindler Sold 'Rare' Books to Seattle’s Elite
A clever grifter conned prominent Seattle society women into buying ordinary books at exorbitant markups by selling them on a false promise of exclusivity and 'easy' monthly payments.
- Thirty-Seven Miners Died 150 Feet From Safety
An 1894 coroner's jury in Franklin, Washington, heard how a small fire in the Oregon Improvement Company's coal mine became a wall of smoke — and why the men who could have escaped stayed to fight it.
- The Con Man Who Taught the City a Lesson
A prolific swindler who posed as a businessman and senator-associate leaves a trail of bounced checks and broken promises across Seattle, Tacoma, and Fairhaven.
- The Ghost Town That Only Existed on Paper
How two swindlers and a 'Nebraska Cyclone' preacher conned a community with a townsite located entirely in a duck-filled salt marsh.
- The Timber Land Swindlers of Seattle
A new arrival in Seattle narrowly escapes a sophisticated land scam operating out of the Seattle National Bank building.
- The Hypnotic Lothario of Tacoma
A wealthy widow discovers that her 'handy' boarder was a con man who used alleged hypnotic powers to swindle her and charm local women.
- The Bunco Gang’s Wharfside Swindle
Two young women are fleeced by a sophisticated street-con artist on the Seattle waterfront.
- The Lock and the Bunko Men: How Two Hop Pickers Turned the Tables on a Seattle Con Artist
Richard Sullivan, a bunko man with a Tacoma headquarters, was convicted of petty larceny after swindling two Indian boys on the City dock.
- The Real Estate Swindler Who Fooled Seattle
A smooth-talking con artist masquerading as an 'Eastern capitalist' swindled multiple Seattle banks by weaving himself into the city's booming real estate market.
- The Con Artist Who Played Barber on Marion Street
A fake detective who swindled his way through Seattle with a short-lived barber shop is now wanted for attempted murder in New York.
- The False Priests of Tacoma
Two con artists passing themselves off as Catholic missionaries hoodwinked a congregation in Buckley, performing masses and collecting offerings before being chased down and arrested in Tacoma.
- The Con Man Who Could Never Stay Caught
A prolific swindler known for daring escapes and impersonations finally meets his match, leading to a three-year sentence at the state penitentiary.
- The Smooth Talker of Tacoma
A persuasive con man leaves a trail of bamboozled businessmen and empty wallets.
- The Laundry Con Artists
Two men posing as city water works employees extorted a Chinese laundry owner, sparking a police crackdown on a recurring racket.
- The Swindling 'Boy Preacher' of Discovery Bay
A young con artist charms his way into the confidence of local ranchers with promises of land purchases and a wealthy mother, only to vanish without paying a cent.
- The Lawyer Who Saved a 'Sucker'
A South Prairie man was nearly swindled out of $1,000 in a fake lottery scheme until he sought the advice of a prominent Seattle attorney.
- The Politics of Washington Coal
A fiery Chamber of Commerce debate pits local labor interests against the influx of British Columbian coal.
- The State’s Office is a ‘Sailor’s Boarding House’: Olympia’s Desperate Search for a Capitol
With state officers scattered across the city in “miserably-ventilated” rooms and valuable records stored in sheds, Representative Collins introduces a bill to erect a temporary building on business property.
- The Ghost of the Street: Seattle’s Most Prolific Teenage Con Artist
Before the age of identity theft, a nameless youth wandered the streets of 1892 Seattle, forging heartbreaking letters of loss to bilk the city's compassionate elite.
- The Bunko Men and the Judge
A Seattle judge is under fire for releasing two known con-men on cash bail—funded, ironically, by the very money they stole from their victims.
- The Con Man Who Wore a Partner's Identity
A clever grifter posed as a prominent Seattle businessman to swindle New York merchants, leaving local partners to clean up the mess.
- The Fight for Cash Wages
A proposed Seattle ordinance to force contractors to pay laborers in 'lawful money' rather than time checks was struck down by the City Council.
- The Old Man and the Confidence Men
An elderly traveler is swindled out of his watch and checks by a pair of smooth-talking con artists in a Seattle saloon.
- The 'Line-Man' Forger of 1891
A young con artist dressed as a weary lineman successfully swindled several Seattle clothing stores and a saloon before vanishing into the night.
- The Night Seattle’s Mayor Nearly Fired His Police Board
An executive-session showdown over Chief Rogers ended with Mayor Phelps handing a commissioner his own removal papers — then taking them back.