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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 5 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 2 |
18 stories matching fetch
- The Barber Who Ran for Mayor: A Dream of Detective Work
When an unsuccessful mayoral candidate applied for a municipal detective job in 1891, his bizarre, globe-trotting proposal sent the Ballard City Council into fits of laughter.
- A Leap from the Window at 1718 Madison
Assistant city electrician E.C. Buckley barely escaped a brutal assault after his landlord, driven by baseless jealousy, armed himself and hunted him down.
- Ex-Fire Chief James Murphy Shoots Saloon Owner Phil Dawe
A former Seattle fire official guns down a saloon owner in a cold-blooded dispute over free drinks, sparking outrage in the city’s lower wards.
- The Tragedy of a 'Box Rustler' at the Standard Theater
After being abandoned by her partner and facing a string of personal losses, 18-year-old Lillian Stewart took her own life in a downtown hotel.
- The Mysterious Government Inspector
A Tacoma man claimed a high-level federal appointment in the Department of the Interior, shaking down friends for cash before federal officials exposed the scheme as a total fabrication.
- The Battle Over Seattle's Ten-Acre University Landmark
A spirited defense of the board’s refusal to sell the original university grounds in downtown Seattle for a 'trifle.'
- A Christmas Auction That Fell Short—and a Mother Sent Home
Donations expected to bring $600 fetch only $158.40, but the Bureau of Associated Charities still outfits 100 families and buys a destitute mother a ticket to Kansas City.
- The Great Harrison Street Heist
A pair of enterprising burglars—and their young apprentice—pulled off a sophisticated grocery store robbery in Seattle, only to leave their loot neatly stashed in a canyon tent.
- 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.
- A Mountain Ford, a Missing Body, and a Father’s Search
Seth Catlin crossed the Upper Cowlitz to fetch the mail and never came back. Days later, his father was still on the river with nets set for his son.
- The Peaches That Dazzled West Street
A Vashon Island fruit grower proves that Puget Sound soil can produce premium peaches, fetching double the price of California imports.
- A Jinxed Steamer Sold at Auction: The Henry Bailey's Bad Luck on the Skagit
After repeated sinkings in the Skagit River and a crew's libel suit, the steamer Henry Bailey went on the auction block at Seattle's Yesler dock—fetching a fraction of its original cost.
- The High Cost of a Depressed Lumber Market
A Seattle lumberman's failed venture in San Francisco illustrates the brutal reach of the 1893 economic panic across the Pacific Coast.
- The Lost Letter of Port Townsend
A postal worker at the Port Townsend wharf brushes off a man’s frantic search for a missing letter, revealing a small, forgotten drama of 1888.
- The Unlucky Speckled Hen and the Tarring Party
In an era of domestic tension, a Washington housewife's patience for her husband's sloth and a neighbor’s story of a local scoundrel collide in a kitchen mishap.
- The Great Tacoma Brick Boom: A City Building Itself Into the Future
As ten new brick structures rise on Water Street and real estate auctions fetch record prices, Tacoma’s leaders are betting big on a booming future—despite labor shortages and material scarcity.
- The Forgotten 'Thousand Isles' of the San Juans
An 1888 dispatch captures a fleeting moment when the San Juan Islands were poised to become the Pacific Coast’s premiere summer resort, complete with massive lime kilns and romantic orchards.
- The Global Wheat Gamble
A look at the 1889 wheat market reveals how Seattle growers were betting on distant Australian droughts and European shortages to secure profits.
Also about this, in other words
- The Curious Catch at Meighan's Wharf
A local fisherman pulls an unlikely stowaway from the depths of Elliott Bay.
- An Ex-Sheriff Charged With Kidnapping Over a Columbia River Fishing Feud
A former Clatsop County sheriff is arrested in Tacoma on a charge of kidnaping, the long-delayed reckoning from an 1890 raid on Washington-side fishermen accused of illegal trap fishing.
- The Colonel and the Dog Catcher
A Democratic campaign rally ends in chilly indifference, punctuated by a bit of slapstick oratory.
- A Desperate Encounter in the Northport Mountains
A local rancher survives a harrowing close-quarters struggle with a wounded black bear.