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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 13 |
| 1893 | 10 |
| 1894 | 13 |
| 1895 | 17 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 5 |
| 1904 | 4 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 4 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1925 | 1 |
98 stories matching crook
- The Shingle Packing Showdown
Thousands gathered in Snohomish to watch a test of skill that crowned a local favorite and showcased the vital labor of the timber industry.
- The Battle for the Waterfront: Seattle's 1892 Railroad Struggle
As the Northern Pacific sought to claim prime space on Railroad Avenue, the city council faced a pivotal decision: prioritize corporate rail expansion or protect the public from the dangerous, crooked 'ram's horn' tracks that choked the waterfront.
- The Tragic End of a Seattle Logger
After years of success followed by a swift decline in fortune, a once-prosperous logger faces the ruin of his livelihood and his mental health.
- A Train Robber’s Confession From Wales
A fugitive arrested in Wales admits he and a partner held up a Great Northern passenger near Seattle in 1905—a crime local investigators had blamed on the notorious Bill Miner.
- The Cheese Factory Swindle
A Wisconsin cheesemaker looking for opportunity in White Bluffs becomes the target of a classic Seattle bunco scheme.
- The Cop and the Stag Saloon
A police officer is suspended for entering a saloon while on duty, triggering a debate about the force's code of conduct and 'trapping crooks.'
- One Hundred Arrests, Three Hundred Dollars: Newport's Year in the Police Court
The city marshal's 1907 tally — drunks, burglars and a jailbreak by a notorious horse thief nabbed on a Washington Avenue street corner.
- The Auctioneer’s Audacity: A Watch and a Pen for Gold
Three local men face fraud charges after allegedly selling worthless gold-washed trinkets to unsuspecting buyers under the guise of a legitimate auction.
- The Stove Thief, the Opium Smoker, and the Crooked Colony
A red-haired plumber's slip of the tongue and a morphine-addicted burglar's hidden shack give Seattle police a busy day in court.
- Holiday Crime Wave Sweeps Tacoma
While crowds gathered for the Fourth of July celebration, a brazen spree of burglaries and robberies left residents on edge.
- The Failed Promise of Nooksack Oil
A local oil drilling venture stalls as mismanagement and a 'crooked hole' lead to worker layoffs and deep investor suspicion.
- Solving the 'Ram's Horn' Snarl
A council committee moves to eliminate a crooked railroad right-of-way that has long hindered harbor development on the Seattle waterfront.
- The Potatoes Looked Fine on Top
A Moxee grower went to Seattle to sell 27 tons of Burbanks and came back with a warning about crooked packing and the damage to the Yakima name.
- The Criminal Circus Follows the Big Top
Tacoma police brace for an influx of organized pickpockets and burglars trailing the Ringling Bros. circus.
- The Typographer's Lament: A Plea for Better Penmanship
A frustrated newspaper printer turns to verse to protest the illegible handwriting of contributors, whose scribbles make the typesetter’s life a living hell.
- The Great Rebuilding: How the Great Seattle Fire Forced a Modern City
In the smoldering aftermath of the 1889 Great Seattle Fire, city leaders and engineers seized the catastrophe as a singular opportunity to abandon the crooked, cramped street grid for a rational, expanded future.
- The Hasheesh Defense: A Seattle Murder Trial Turns on a Drugged Cocktail
Harry Fraser was shot dead in a Northern Hotel saloon. The accused insisted the last thing he remembered was dice dancing on the table—and a drink that may have been laced with hasheesh.
- The Phoenix City: Seattle's Rapid Rebirth After the Great Fire
Just 18 months after the 1889 fire leveled the downtown, Seattle transformed from charred ruins into a modern metropolis of stone, steel, and electric streetcars.
- The Thief in Blue: Police Chief Exposes Captain’s Theft of Prisoners’ Belongings
A dramatic hearing reveals Officer Fayban’s accusation that Captain Henry Sheahan stole handkerchiefs, neckties, and cash from arrested men, sparking a bitter war of words between Seattle’s top law enforcement officials.
- The Flight of a Crooked City Treasurer
When the city press exposed deep corruption in the treasurer’s office, Adolph Krug didn't wait for the trial—he fled.
- The Opium Smuggling Trap
A Seattle man accused of opium trafficking convinces a jury he was actually working as a government informant to expose a crooked customs inspector.
- A Murder Plot on Puget Sound and a Sickbed Betrayal
A boat captain says two young 'timber buyers' planned to shoot him and rob an Admiralty Head rancher. The same circle of suspects is accused of robbing a sarsaparilla agent while he lay delirious in a Seattle hotel.
- The Tragic Death of an Infant and a Doctor's Arrest
A Seattle coroner’s jury implicates a local doctor following the discovery of a dead infant at a Madison Street residence.
- Seattle's 1894 Election: Corruption, Fraud, and the Fight for City Hall
As voters head to the polls, the Post-Intelligencer unleashes a blistering attack on the Democratic administration, alleging graft, forgery, and a machine determined to hold power at any cost.
- The Unfinished Ditch That Could Have Remade Seattle
An 1877 proposal to carve a channel between Lake Washington and the Sound highlights the ambitious—and forgotten—infrastructure dreams that once defined the city’s early development.
Also about this, in other words
- The Mail-Order Crank of Seattle
A local mining broker faces prison for years of threatening and scurrilous letters sent to the Post-Intelligencer and national leaders.
- The Sleek Scoundrel of Second Street
A dapper bookkeeper flees Seattle after embezzling thousands to fund a lifestyle of high-priced wines and 'bad women,' leaving his employers—and a woman who mourns her lost diamond ring—in his wake.
- The Rogue of Seattle
A serial con artist who targeted the generous, leaving friends to pay his debts.
- The Commissioner, the Gambler, and the Shakedown
A bold blackmail attempt at the Russell House ends in a police hunt for a notorious 'steerer' and his accomplice.
- The Butter Bandits of West Street
A bold group of petty thieves used a sophisticated 'sampling' scheme to systematically loot Seattle merchants.
- The Gray-Haired Con Man Who Left Newport's Saloons Holding Bad Paper
Posing as a copper-company man with money in local banks, William Andrew cashed worthless checks across Newport and Sandpoint—then vanished before anyone could collect.
- The Persistent Barber Who Conned the City
A petty swindler known as 'Clark' or 'Rieff' spent weeks running up tabs at local drugstores and shops by impersonating city employees and prominent businessmen.
- The Pickpocket's Busy Night
A North Bend merchant finds himself 'relieved' of his watch and his freedom after a rough night in the city's variety district.