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73 stories matching bodili
- The Roslyn Race War: How a Strike Turned Seattle into a Fortress
In February 1903, hundreds of armed Black miners from Montana arrived in Seattle bound for the coal mines of Roslyn. The city braced for violence as white workers threatened to close down the town's economy and seize its property.
- The Salvage Ship That Came to Raise Puget Sound’s Sunken Wrecks
A new wrecking schooner arrived in Seattle with a rubber-suited diver, hydraulic jacks and a plan to lift the sunken Mississippi and Warhawk from the Sound.
- A House Lifted Off Its Foundations and Floated Out Into the Lake
After five days of rain, Lake Cushman rose to record heights — eight feet deep on the hotel floor — and carried one man's house bodily across the clearing into the water.
- The Apostles of South Union
Thirty people in a rural Thurston County settlement prepare for the Rapture, waiting for the bodily ascension of the faithful.
- The Violent Expulsion of Chinese Workers from Tacoma
While Seattle officials debated the law, a vigilante mob in Tacoma took matters into their own hands, forcibly ejecting Chinese residents from the city.
- 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.'
- The Midnight Kidnapping of the 'Wasco' Deckhands
A bitter labor dispute on the Seattle waterfront spills into open water as union men board a steamer to abduct non-union workers.
- A Mill Owner Held Hostage by His Own Unpaid Crew
When John Tuilock threatened to shut his Rainier shingle mill without paying his hands, the men seized him, marched him back, and forced him to write checks at the point of their anger — until a deputy sheriff rode to the rescue.
- A Dismissed Complaint, Then a Woodshed Ambush in Tacoma
Maggie Kornder had charged Mike Pfeifle with threatening her. A judge let the case go; days later, the rejected suitor hid in her employer's woodshed and shot her before turning the gun on himself.
- The Cowcatcher Lifted Her Into the Air, and Then They Took Her Home
An elderly Native woman walking the Northern Pacific tracks below town is swept up by the overland express — and walks away from it, carried off by her mother and son.
- 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.
- The Ghosting of Yakima City
When the Northern Pacific Railroad bypassed the original town of Yakima City, they didn't just move the station—they forced the entire town to uproot itself.
- A Squall Tore Through Seattle—and a Husband Saved His Wife from the Bay
A sudden storm knocked out telegraph and telephone wires, smashed windows, flipped wagons, ditched a shingle train, and nearly drowned a mill worker and his Native wife in Elliott Bay.
- Lost for Days in the Grays Harbor Wilderness
An elderly hunter is rescued in a state of delirium after disappearing in the rain-soaked timberlands north of Riverside.
- The Door-Casing Defense
A violent husband lands in jail—then his injured wife takes the stand and says she fell.
- The Chambermaid’s Lock: A Seattle Hotel Guest’s Brutal Mistake
When a wealthy Chicago businessman accidentally locked himself in his hotel room and then roughed up the maid who tried to help him, he found himself facing a $10,000 lawsuit for assault.
- The Bloomer Rebellion: Seattle Girls Defy Censors to Save Their Drill
When anonymous posters labeled the University of Washington’s women’s physical culture class as 'obscene,' a committee of students and faculty mobilized the entire city to remove them—proving that the fight for women's bodily autonomy was already a local sport.
- The Wrestling Match That Ended in a Near-Riot
A high-stakes wrestling bout at Turner Hall descended into chaos when the Japanese contestant collapsed, leaving the crowd baying for answers.
- A Vengeful Pursuit of a Debtor
A woman travels from Denver to Washington to confront the man who allegedly swindled her out of her life savings, only to be thrown in jail.
- The Unwritten Law of Ballard
A Chinese laundryman is chased from the suburb by a mob enforcing a local, extra-legal ban on residents of Chinese descent.
- City Hall's Incompetent Board of Works
A critical letter exposes the lack of qualifications among the men overseeing Seattle's infrastructure, from water pipes to sewer systems.
- The Price of a Bank Failure
After the Merchants' National Bank of Tacoma collapsed, a local shopkeeper lost his life savings and his mental stability, eventually seeking refuge in a Seattle jail.
- The Brutal Voyage of the Challenger
A crew files an admiralty suit against their ship's officers, alleging systemic violence and abuse on the journey from Philadelphia.
- The Night a Belltown Real Estate Agent Fought Five Officers and Yelled 'Murder'
J.J. Middleton was taken from his home near Front and Virginia streets in a fit of violent insanity, convinced that a cabal at the post office was plotting to seize his property.
- The Russian Settlement Brawl
A Christmas evening dispute between locals turns into a violent street encounter near Lincoln School.