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26 stories matching drifter

  1. The Christmas Confidence Game

    A crafty drifter in a small town orchestrates a social and financial coup by fabricating the death of his friend's wealthy uncle.

    Dec 22, 1888Pullman HeraldPullman, Whitman CountyBoom & Bust · True Crime

  2. The Murderer in the Parlor

    A frontier tavern killing, a suspicious trial, and a woman who rose from obscurity to the height of Washington society—only to be haunted by a past she thought she’d buried.

    Aug 2, 1876The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyTrue Crime

  3. The Glass-Chewing Drifter of Seattle

    A traveling laborer with a bizarre appetite is arrested after a barroom brawl ends in broken glass and a ruined mirror.

    Dec 21, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyLocal Legends

  4. Drifters on the Columbia

    Three adventurers arrive in Kennewick via a 300-mile journey on a homemade scow from Kettle Falls.

    Oct 11, 1917The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyStrange But True

  5. The Confederate Counterfeiters

    A local drifter finds himself behind bars after attempting to pass a reassembled Confederate bank note at a city saloon.

    Jan 15, 1909The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyTrue Crime

  6. The Unraveling of a Grifter

    A well-connected drifter faces consequences after passing bad checks in local saloons.

    Jun 11, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerWashington Street, Seattle, King CountyTrue Crime

  7. Tragedy on the Tracks at Ritzville

    A drifter loses his life attempting to catch a moving freight train outside the local flouring mill.

    Jul 6, 1898Adams County NewsRitzville, Adams CountyDisasters

  8. The Teenager Who Rushed Toward the Pen

    A young drifter steals a horse in Yakima, only to be caught in Toppenish the very next morning.

    Feb 11, 1892The Yakima HeraldYakima, Yakima CountyTrue Crime

  9. The Man Who Bought the Territory: Harry Allen’s Rise from Drifter to Lumber Baron

    A local anecdote about a young man who turned advice to buy land into a $150,000 fortune in Washington Territory.

    Nov 17, 1888Pullman HeraldPullman, Whitman CountyFollow the Money

  10. The Christmas Poultry Heist

    Two local drifters outsmart a tavern keeper in a holiday shooting match scheme.

    Dec 13, 1862Washington StandardOlympia, Thurston CountyTrue Crime

  11. A Desperate Theft in Wallula

    A hungry drifter is sentenced to ten months in the penitentiary after stealing from a Chinese household in Wallula.

    Jan 9, 1904The Evening StatesmanWallula, Walla Walla CountyTrue Crime

  12. A Brutal Robbery in Whatcom

    After pleading guilty to a violent assault and robbery, a 26-year-old drifter is sentenced to two decades of hard labor.

    Aug 25, 1903The Evening StatesmanBellingham, Whatcom CountyTrue Crime

  13. Hotel de Copeland Opens Its Doors to Winter Drifters

    As temperatures plummeted, Kennewick's city jail became a refuge for seventeen 'blanket boys,' highlighting the city's unofficial policy for managing homelessness during the deep freeze.

    Dec 17, 1914The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyHousing & Rent

  14. A Woman, a Gate, and a Smoking Log Pile in the Huckleberry Mountains

    Two prominent Stevens County farmers and a drifter called 'Tennessee Jack' are jailed after two hunters stumble on charred human bones nine miles east of Cedonia.

    Nov 4, 1909The Newport Miner (Newport, WA) 1899-CurrentCedoniaTrue Crime

  15. Unnamed Drifter Saves Girl from Drowning

    A homeless man risked his life to pull a young girl from the water near the Great Northern tracks, only to walk away and spend the reward money on liquor.

    Aug 15, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerVirginia Street, Seattle, King CountyStrange But True

  16. 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.

    Jan 25, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust · Local Legends

  17. The Shadowy Death of Charles Smith

    A suspected opium smuggler dies by his own hand in the Puyallup reservation jail, leaving behind a cryptic note that hints at corruption and a hidden fortune in contraband.

    Apr 20, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPuyallup reservation, Tacoma, Pierce CountyTrue Crime

  18. The Mother Who Faced Down a Lynch Mob

    When a gang of miners prepared to hang a young drifter, the town laundress did the unthinkable: she claimed him as her own son.

    Apr 3, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

  19. The Vagabond Philosopher of Yakima

    A traveling drifter offers a bizarre, theological defense of his nomadic lifestyle to a local reporter.

    Jun 11, 1891The Yakima HeraldYakima, Yakima CountyLocal Legends

  20. The Heavy Bundle that Gave Away a Thief

    A German drifter's scheme to fund his return to Prussia is undone by a suspicious, heavy bundle of stolen goods left on a train.

    May 20, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerColfax, Whitman CountyTrue Crime

  21. The Strange Confession of Henry Lattimore

    After the murder of C. Grant in a Tacoma boarding house, a 19-year-old drifter with a 'straightforward' story was captured by rail workers and police.

    Jul 25, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyTrue Crime

  22. The Dentist and the Stolen Mare

    A frontier community falls for a charming drifter who performed medical miracles before making off with the local postmaster's horse.

    Nov 14, 1876The Daily IntelligencerTolt River, Carnation, King CountyTrue Crime

  23. The Riot at the White River Schoolhouse

    A young drifter recounts how he and his companions, spurred by a mysterious 'big fellow,' turned a quiet schoolhouse into a scene of chaotic destruction.

    Apr 12, 1885Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerWhite River, Auburn, King County

  24. The Hungry Teenager Who Could Not Resist

    After a kind Kennewick woman fed a hungry 17-year-old drifter, he stole her silver mesh bag and watch, later telling police he felt a strange compulsion to commit the crime.

    Dec 17, 1914The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyTrue Crime

  25. The Vagrant and the 'Iron Jewelry'

    A petty theft on the Duwamish River lands a drifter in a Seattle jail, where he must trade his freedom for hard labor.

    May 17, 1882Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerDuwamish River, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall · True Crime

Download all 26 as a spreadsheet (CSV)