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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 13 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 26 |
| 1893 | 29 |
| 1894 | 18 |
| 1895 | 10 |
105 stories matching trigger
- The Desperate Train Break to Walla Walla
A convicted prisoner attempts to escape his guards while being transported to the state penitentiary, triggering a tense standoff on a moving train.
- The Suicide Machine: An Olympia Pioneer's Meticulous Last Act
A 70-year-old bachelor rigged a gun, a bench and a string in his shed, left a note on a blackboard, and arranged his own death with chilling precision.
- A Deadly Prank at the Blue Front
A malicious false alarm of a plague quarantine triggers a fatal panic in a Seattle dance hall.
- Roslyn Bank Robbery Trial Ends in Hung Jury
A retelling of the 1890 bank heist that terrorized a Kittitas County mining town and triggered a high-stakes manhunt.
- The Perpetual Motion Inventor's Wild Night
Dr. Hannibal Mills, a local crank obsessed with his 'perpetual motion' machine, shoots a saloon keeper after a drunken argument.
- A Revolver in the Mouth: Immigration Conflict on the Steamship Mogul
Tensions boil over in Tacoma as federal inspectors clash with ship officers while attempting to enforce strict Chinese exclusion policies.
- The Day the Bridge Fell: A Tramp’s Fatal Ride and a Railroad’s Collapse
A westbound freight train on the Northern Pacific line was derailed when a stowaway fell under a car, triggering a chain reaction that plunged nine cars into Hangman's Creek. One man died; the rest were spared.
- Seattle's Justice System Ruled Illegal
A state Supreme Court decision against Tacoma’s police court has triggered a legal crisis in Seattle, leaving local officials scrambling to save the city’s ability to prosecute crime.
- The Trial That Nearly Triggered a Lynching
A Whatcom jury's acquittal of George Bwiloos for a brutal murder left the town in an uproar, sparking a desperate, failed manhunt by local citizens.
- The Great Cascade Washout of 1892
A Chinook wind and torrential rain trigger massive landslides and bridge collapses, paralyzing rail travel across Washington.
- Exposing the Opium Dens of Opera Alley
A local expose reveals that teenage messenger boys are being drawn into the city's opium dens and disreputable houses, triggering a promised police crackdown.
- Dynamite Plot Found on Puget Sound Collier
A meticulously rigged infernal machine, timed to trigger via a rat trap and revolver, was discovered in the hold of the steamer Bawnmore.
- Seattle's Chinese Community Faces Forced Registration
Following a Supreme Court ruling, local merchants express fear, defiance, and uncertainty over the restrictive Chinese Exclusion Act.
- The Commonwealers' Battle for the Rails
Striking workers and the unemployed attempt to travel across Washington via hijacked trains, triggering violent clashes with federal marshals.
- Two Men Asked to Test a Seattle Schooner. Then They Tried to Kill Its Captain.
A would-be buyer and his genteel companion lured Capt. Jud La Moure into Puget Sound, attacked him with a lead sounding weight, and demanded his gold watch—until he produced a hidden revolver.
- The Wooden Revolver That Sprung Tom Blanck
A murderer awaiting appeal in the King County jail used a hand-carved fake gun to force his way past the night jailer, then vanished into the Black River woods as a sheriff's posse rushed south by special train.
- Dam Break Triggers Flash Flood in Snohomish
A failed dam at Blackman's Lake sent a torrent of water into the heart of town, caving in streets and flooding basements.
- The Shadow Trial of Ah Jim
A secret trial in a Seattle basement nearly triggers a riot, revealing the intense, violent rivalries between competing Chinese merchant factions vying for control over labor and transit.
- The Day the 'Mercury' Office Became a Shambles
After an article called his theater a 'branch of hell,' a local theater manager stormed the newspaper office, triggering a violent brawl and a shooting.
- The Black Gold Rush of 1888
As Seattle's industry boomed, the city's hunger for coal outpaced its supply, triggering a frantic expansion of mines across the territory.
- A Deadly Afternoon on the Duwamish
A quiet afternoon of target practice turns into a desperate race for survival as a husband accidentally shoots his wife, triggering a high-speed rescue down the river.
- The Great Squatter Takeover of 1891
A landmark court ruling in Tacoma triggered a chaotic, overnight land grab as hundreds of squatters claimed property near the city's residential core.
- The Roslyn Bank Robber Hunt
An anxious stranger trying to sell a fine sorrel horse for half its value triggers a manhunt in Kent after a daring daylight bank heist.
- Street Grading Blunder Ruins Home
A Seattle property owner sues for $10,000 after city street work triggers landslides.
- Who Stole the Northern Pacific Express Gold?
A three-thousand-dollar payroll shipment vanishes from a Seattle express office, triggering threats, a dramatic interrogation, and accusations of internal negligence.
Also about this, in other words
- The Deadly Logic of the Cabin Trap
A man sets a shotgun trigger to protect his home, with fatal consequences for a stranger.
- A Cable Car Gripmans's Violent Run-In
A cable car operator faces legal trouble after a collision with a child results in a serious infection.
- A Close Call on the Logging Trail
A local sportsman finds his gun jammed while a bear charges, forcing a desperate, makeshift solution.
- The Deadly Man-Trap of Whatcom
A man is held without bail after a spring-gun trap set on his property results in a fatal shooting.