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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 8 |
| 1894 | 17 |
| 1895 | 7 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
44 stories matching bunko
- The Bunko Men Who Got Away
A rare conviction for 'bunko' card-trick swindling hits a dead end as the culprits flee the state and the extradition fund runs dry.
- The Bunko Men and the Judge
A Seattle judge is under fire for releasing two known con-men on cash bail—funded, ironically, by the very money they stole from their victims.
- The Bunko Man's Five-Minute Trial
A grifter who terrorized two Norwegian women is convicted in record time after a failed attempt to discard incriminating evidence.
- The Flight of 'Japanese Tommy'
A notorious 'bunko' con artist evades justice after the supreme court upholds his conviction for swindling a farmer.
- The Lock and the Bunko Men: How Two Hop Pickers Turned the Tables on a Seattle Con Artist
Richard Sullivan, a bunko man with a Tacoma headquarters, was convicted of petty larceny after swindling two Indian boys on the City dock.
- The Clergyman and the Con Men
A visiting clergyman outwits a band of Seattle 'bunko steerers' who tried to trap him in a gambling game at a local church-adjacent hideout.
- The Confidence Men of Leschi Park
A visiting Wells, Fargo express agent is fleeced by a trio of notorious swindlers in a elaborate 'bunko' game near the sea lion pavilion.
- The Patent Scam That Ended With a Frenchman's Last $3
A Seattle detective's account of a fake invention scheme shows how confidence men worked—and how the law let the swindlers slip away.
- The Ex-Geologist's Con Game
Former State Geologist George A. Bethune allegedly swindles Los Angeles investors in a fraudulent gold mine deal.
- City Hall Targets Gambling Rings
A proposed municipal ordinance seeks to criminalize everything from card games to 'bunko' schemes.
- The Confidence Man of Colby
An elderly immigrant family arrives in Washington only to be swindled of their life savings at the docks.
- The Stranger Who Threatened to Level the Town
A vengeful drifter vows to erase a chaotic mining camp, only to return a year later and find it replaced by a civilized city.
- The Circus Day Swindle
A pair of local men fall prey to traveling confidence men operating under the cover of the circus.
- A Wooden Pistol Emptied the King County Jail
Thomas Blanck, awaiting appeal for murder, locked the night jailer in a cell and walked out with eight other prisoners—armed with a black wooden fake.
- The Waterfront Confidence Game
A sailor from the U.S. steamer Grant learns a hard lesson about poker and 'accommodating' strangers on the waterfront.
- The Gold Brick Swindler Faces Trial
A notorious 'gold brick' confidence man is headed to the superior court after a dramatic legal clash in the courtroom.
- The Great Seattle Bonding Debate
City Hall hosts a fiery town hall where residents and officials clash over debt, taxation, and the future of municipal infrastructure.
- The Pacific House Confidence Game
A visitor from British Columbia loses his savings in twenty minutes flat at a Second Street boarding house.
- The Hypnotic Lothario of Tacoma
A wealthy widow discovers that her 'handy' boarder was a con man who used alleged hypnotic powers to swindle her and charm local women.
- The Strange Case of the Missing Bracelet
A young man finds himself the pawn in a political scheme involving police reform, an ex-chief, and a diamond bracelet.
- Detective's Divorce Case Reveals Scandalous Secrets
A former Spokane police detective is caught in a bitter divorce suit after a suspicious photograph is discovered in his watch.
- The Funeral Grifter of North Yakima
An undertaker is conned out of five dollars by a man feigning the grief of a widower.
- A Veteran, a Fake Opium Deal, and a $2,000 Swindle
John Tilley thought he was buying cut-rate opium. Instead, police said, two men walked off with his cash, his watch, and a mortgage from his Idaho ranch.
- The Bold Swindler of Port Angeles Captured in St. Louis
After organizing fraudulent banks and fleeing his legal consequences, Benjamin P. Schwartz has been finally apprehended through the diligent reporting of the Post-Intelligencer.
- The Unwelcome Tax Man
A Seattle poll tax assessor describes the frustration and absurdity of tracking down residents in a city where the transient population and the immigrant community resisted his rounds.