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34 stories matching bait
- The State’s War on Coyotes
Washington’s Department of Agriculture launches a statewide 'Poison Month' to combat rabies by eliminating predatory animals.
- The Fishhook Baited With Human Flesh
In a Port Townsend hotel, a sailor displays the improvised wire hook that kept survivors of the wrecked whaler James Allen alive after the disaster in Bering Sea.
- The Terminus Bait: How the Northern Pacific Played Seattle
In 1878, Washington residents saw through the railroad's broken promises and the cynical 'town lot' real estate schemes that kept the city waiting for a line.
- A Ghastly Price for Dynamite Fishing
A fisherman from Index loses both hands in a horrific explosion while attempting to use dynamite as bait in the Skykomish River.
- The Night Watchman Who Traded His Lantern for a Crab Net
After trading the damp misery of night-shift railroad duty for the docks, a Seattle man explains how he makes a living pulling crab from the bay—and why the job comes with its own set of neighborhood troubles.
- The Art of the Townsite Swindle
A cynical promoter explains to a traveler exactly how to manufacture a fake city out of thin air and poor land to bait unsuspecting investors.
- The Price of Disunity
A local growers' association leader condemns farmers who bypass collective bargaining, warning that consigning produce to commission agents leads to market collapse.
- An Ill-Fated Fishing Excursion to Brown's Wharf
Local residents charter a boat named 'Union' for a fishing trip, only to end up mud-bound and fishless.
- The Judge Who Warned Seattle Not to Sell Its Waterfront to a Canal Company
In 1894, Judge John J. McGilvra urged Congress to build the Lake Washington Ship Canal and warned that a private company's tideflat scheme would put tolls on the water and enrich speculators at public expense.
- The Swarm Descends on Okanogan
Farmers in Okanogan County are battling a historic infestation of grasshoppers that threatens the region's entire wheat yield.
- The Great Hotel Heist That Wasn't: How Seattle’s Gamblers Were Fooled by a Fake Fortune
A broken-down cardsharp named 'Splitcheck Jimmy' was tricked into stealing an envelope full of newspaper, only to be ambushed by actors in a staged robbery at the St. Denis Hotel.
- The Postal Inspector's Decoy Trap
A persistent postal investigator nabs two local lottery men after months of elaborate sting operations.
- The Fight for Seattle’s Tide Lands
Boosterism clashes with civic control as a proposal to alienate tide lands sparks fears of corporate monopolization.
- The Pig in a Poke
Tacoma city officials rush a $1.75 million water works deal through the council despite lacking inventory records or valuation.
- The Custom House Spoils System
A political power struggle over federal appointments in Port Townsend reveals the deep-seated corruption and infighting within the local Democratic Party.
- The Silent Crisis on Everett's Sidewalks
A local labor leader details the quiet desperation of forty idle carpenters as the city's housing and employment market hits a wall.
- The Lamp-Explosion Racket at Snoqualmie
Confidence men peddling a miracle powder to stop lamp explosions are run out of town after a local skeptic replicates their 'scientific' trick without the product.
- The Great Seattle Lot-and-Cottage Lottery of 1888
Developers Kittinger Brothers launch an ambitious and speculative real estate scheme, baiting buyers with the chance to win a fully finished home on the outskirts of 1880s Seattle.
- The Steamboat Swindle
A local laundry foreman is hoodwinked out of his steamboat by two men who used a deed to worthless Tacoma property as bait.
- Tacoma's $750,000 Railroad Bait—and the Utility Deal That Fell Apart
A hastily passed water-and-light purchase ordinance is dead on arrival, while C. B. Wright dangles another railroad in front of Tacoma taxpayers.
- The Whaler That Never Was: A Yankee Betrayal of Puget Sound
In 1877, a local newspaper exposed how Boston shipbuilders stole a lucrative contract from Seattle’s own yards, ignoring the region's superior timber and strategic advantage for whaling.
- The Comeback of the Kennewick Creamery
After years of mismanagement and receivership, a local cooperative secures the loyalty of dairy farmers from Richland to Hover.
- The Great Rat War of the Seattle Waterfront
A local commission merchant argues that poor box design is turning Seattle apple shipments into a banquet for waterfront vermin.
- The Counterfeit Salmon Bait Incident
Two teenagers on Mercer Island find themselves in federal court after attempting to trade a counterfeit dollar for salmon eggs.
- The Safe-Crackers of Princeton
After a string of brazen robberies in Princeton and Coulee City, detectives use decoys to bait a trap for the thieves.