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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 5 |
| 1895 | 3 |
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| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
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| 1916 | 2 |
44 stories matching fleec
- The Con Man Who Sold the Seattle Circus
A clever swindler fleeced the city's elite by selling them on imaginary contracts for a Ringling Brothers circus that was never coming to town.
- The Unmasking of a Traveling Grifter
A persistent con man who preyed on local residents by posing as a member of the 'fraternity' was finally arrested after fleecing a victim in Port Townsend.
- The Hidden Dens of 1870s Seattle
A citizen appeal from 1872 exposes how unchecked public gambling was eroding the moral and financial fabric of the developing waterfront town.
- The Great Sheep War: Seattle’s Political Flocks and the Independent Goats
A satirical letter to the editor uses a bizarre allegory of sheep herds and wild goats to critique Seattle's political parties, corporate wolves, and the emerging independence of women in public life.
- Telephone Justice for a Livery Thief
A would-be thief who fleeces his benefactor is caught after an early use of long-distance communication stops him on the boat to Westport.
- The Grain Expert Who Confessed to an $11,250 Coast Swindle
A former Utah mayor and postmaster admits fleecing coast grain dealers, then losing the proceeds in promotion schemes.
- The 'Panel Game' Larceny at the Minnehaha
A logging camp visitor is fleeced of $120 in a coordinated robbery, leading to the arrest of a local couple.
- The Floating Poker Game Fleecing Klondike Gold Miners
Returning prospectors, heavy with gold and exhaustion, were systematically targeted by a professional gambling syndicate on the passenger steamers coming into Seattle.
- The Price of Protection
A local businessman pleads guilty to habitual drunkenness to trigger a legal guardianship, hoping to shield his assets from local gamblers.
- The 'Luck Powder' Swindle
A Seattle man is arrested for selling worthless 'luck powders' to women via mail order—and then suggesting they be used as laundry detergent.
- The Tacoma Waterworks Scandal
Citizens and the City Council expose a massive financial swindle involving a failing water plant purchase.
- The Confidence Man Who Conned the Farmers
A smooth-talking impostor fleeced fruit growers by posing as a corporate representative, leaving behind a trail of bad checks and unpaid bills.
- Gambling in the 'Chicago Dollar Store'
A call for city officials to shutter a fraudulent lottery operating in a Yesler building.
- The Swindler Who Stole More Than Just Cash
A prolific con artist wreaking havoc across the Pacific Coast has taken a final, strange step: assuming the identity of the very man he swindled.
- The Wild Goose Chase of 1887
Two con artists fleeced immigrant laborers in Seattle by selling them jobs on farms that did not exist.
- The Bunco Gang’s Wharfside Swindle
Two young women are fleeced by a sophisticated street-con artist on the Seattle waterfront.
- The Swindler with the Golden Brick
A local confidence man allegedly fleeced hotels and saloons by leaving behind fake gold bricks as temporary collateral.
- The Captain of the South Seas Swindle
A smooth-talking grifter poses as a wealthy sea captain in Seattle to fleece hotels and merchants, leaving a trail of unpaid bills and fake credentials.
- The City’s Grasping Monopoly
Tacoma’s editorial board calls out corporate greed and local political complacency regarding the city’s power infrastructure.
- The Great Seattle Straw Hat Swindle
A smooth-talking grifter fleeced the crowds of Seattle by promising cheap hats, only to leave them holding handfuls of worthless paper.
- The Bitter Winter Job Hunt
A laborer complains that the territory is a 'fraud,' sparking a debate about migration, timing, and the realities of frontier economic cycles.
- The Con Artist of Fairhaven
A smooth-talking accountant gambles away his reputation and his wife's dignity with a string of bad checks and a faked suicide attempt.
- 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.
- Vigilante Justice on the Sound
When a steamer full of card sharps tried to fleece a group of shingle weavers, the workers fought back—and won.
- The Tacoma Water Plant Scandal
A suspected $500,000 kickback scheme involving the city's purchase of a private utility plant ignites a public outcry in Tacoma.