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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 3 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1925 | 1 |
21 stories matching bunco
- The Cheese Factory Swindle
A Wisconsin cheesemaker looking for opportunity in White Bluffs becomes the target of a classic Seattle bunco scheme.
- The 'Artistic Swindle' of the Shipbuilding Trust
A scathing editorial denounces the financial manipulation behind the Shipbuilding Trust as a 'bunco game' orchestrated by Gilded Age titans.
- The Saloon That Could Not Be Shamed
Despite police testimony alleging the Madrona Saloon served as a hub for 'bunco' swindlers and card sharks, the Seattle City Council refused to revoke its license.
- The Bunco King of Riverside Avenue
A Wisconsin farmer falls for a classic card-sharping trap in downtown Spokane, while local firemen demand more pay for shoveling coal.
- The Bunco Men Convicted
A trio of swindlers who targeted two young Norwegian women finds themselves behind bars, but the local paper blames the victims for their own misfortune.
- The End of the Road for the 'Manitot' Bunco Ring
After weeks of shadowing, Spokane detectives cornered three notorious confidence men in a hotel room, closing the book on a string of swindles that had plagued the city.
- The 'Top and Bottom' Sting
A traveler is swindled out of his savings by a gang of con artists on a Seattle sidewalk, sparking a city-wide police sweep.
- The Bunco Man’s Cold Feet
After swindling a local man out of his savings, a group of confidence men returned the stolen cash in fear of the law.
- The Great Seattle Manhole Swindle
A persistent insurance claim agent uncovers a ring of traveling grifters who fooled the city council into paying thousands for imaginary injuries.
- The Sedro Man Who Outsmarted Seattle’s Lottery Sharks
A traveling salesman from Sedro-Woolley walks away unscathed from a sophisticated confidence game in downtown Seattle, exposing the city's most prominent bunco ring.
- Washington Senate Tries to Ban Election Pledges—After Being 'Buncoed' by the Anti-Saloon League
Lawmakers voted 27 to 11 for a 'freak bill' disqualifying legislators who promise support for bills before election, then added a rider against corporation lawyers. Legal scholars called it unconstitutional.
- Guilty in Two Minutes: The Bunko Man With a Revolver in His Past
Knowlton, alias 'Robert George,' was convicted of swindling an Aberdeen banker with two copper bars sold as gold—then prosecutors unpacked a record that included a murdered minister and a courtroom shooting.
- A Farm Paper Accuses Olympia of Auctioning a Senate Seat
After the 1903 legislature adjourned, The Ranch blasted lawmakers for graft, railroad favoritism, a $3.25 million budget and $125,000 in fair appropriations.
- The Bunco Gang’s Wharfside Swindle
Two young women are fleeced by a sophisticated street-con artist on the Seattle waterfront.
- The Great Seattle Hoax: How a 'Captain' Fooled the Press with a Phantom Ship
A con artist named Captain John Brown sold a wild tale of a treasure-laden voyage to a local newspaper for $10, only for customs officers to discover the vessel didn't exist.
- The Depot Brawl: A Railway Scuffle Over Booze and Conduct
A barkeeper’s attempt to 'work' a drunken traveler off on a train descends into a violent, chaotic melee involving railroad men, heavy boots, and a crowd expecting a murder.
- Political Patronage and the Janitor's Broom
The state legislature navigated a delicate political situation by dismissing a Tacoma man's manual-publishing contract, only to pacify him with a janitorial appointment for his brother.
- The Gold-Brick Con: A Tacoma Contractor Swindled
A Slavonian contractor loses $550 to two men posing as subcontractors in an elaborate fake-deal scheme.
- Vigilante Justice on a Seattle Street
A man forces two alleged con artists to stand at gunpoint in broad daylight until the police arrive to take them into custody.
- The 'Grafter' of Seattle
A man’s admission of his profession in court highlights the early Seattle obsession with the city’s burgeoning reputation for civic corruption.
- The Unlucky Life and Death of 'Jim, the Stout'
A satirical poem published in 1888 Seattle chronicled the fictional misfortunes of a man whose attempts to embrace city life ended in total catastrophe.
Also about this, in other words
- A Bungled Case of Robbery and Bad Paperwork
A classic instance of municipal incompetence led to suspected robbers walking free after their bail money was returned due to a clerical error in the police department.
- Bucoda’s Coal Company Runs to the Courthouse
A Thurston County coal company secures a receiver in Olympia while creditors race to court, including a claim on a note originally given to pay workers’ wages.