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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
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258 stories matching key
- The Jailbreak That Almost Toppled the Penitentiary
A clever prisoner uses his talent for locksmithing to craft duplicate keys, nearly sparking a mass escape at the Walla Walla prison.
- The Farmer Who Halted the Railroad
When a railway company tried to seize land for a branch line without fair payment, a Whitman County farmer fought back by having the construction crew arrested.
- Two Boxers Escape County Jail With False Keys
Two incarcerated pugilists manage a clean getaway from the county jail after an apparent inside job with smuggled keys.
- A Tragic Disappearance at the Occidental Hotel
After arriving in Seattle alone, a young woman known as Nellie McNiel left behind a letter claiming she had been seduced, betrayed, and intended to take her own life.
- The $6,000 Wallet That Vanished From Under a Pillow
Milton Wood locked his door at the Vendome, left his pocketbook under his pillow, and woke to find $6,000 in cash and notes gone—with no sign of forced entry.
- The Jailhouse Performance of an Insanity Faker
A man accused of horse theft attempts a desperate, bumbling ruse to avoid trial by feigning madness, only to be caught plotting his escape with stolen keys.
- The Jailer and the Sheriff’s Keys
A power struggle inside the King County jail ends in a public firing after a suspicious security lapse involving lost keys and unauthorized visitors.
- Tension Rises at the Cœur d'Alene Reservation Border
Farmers near Fairfield arm themselves as a series of skirmishes leaves both Indigenous residents and white settlers fearing violence.
- The Cipher and the Confession: Louis Kostrauch’s Cold-Blooded Gamble
After allegedly faking a death and burning a house to escape a life of poverty, a conspirator explains how a forgotten cipher key and a betrayal of trust landed him in the Seattle city jail.
- Aeronaut Injured in Madison Street Park Accident
Hazel Keyes, a professional parachute jumper, was severely injured after a failed balloon ascent dragged her across a fence.
- The Great Baptist Church Lockout
When an internal church feud in 1887 led to gas being turned off, keys being withheld, and a locksmith called to secure the pulpit against the congregation's dissenters.
- The Jailer Lost the Key
A murder trial in Kitsap County is stalled after a clumsy jailer heads downtown with the only key to the prisoner's cell.
- The Death-Defying Leap at Madrona Park
A daredevil aerialist and a monkey perform a high-altitude parachute jump over Lake Washington, drawing a massive, cheering crowd.
- The Burglar Who Hid Evidence in His Shoes
Detectives tracking a prolific Seattle house-breaker finally cornered him in a Second Avenue drug store, discovering a curious stash of keys hidden in his footwear.
- The Unclaimed Dead of Lake Union
A morning discovery at a local boat house reveals the lonely, anonymous death of a Prussian immigrant, underscoring the precarity of life in a booming frontier city.
- The Key-House Raid: Seattle Police Break Up a Gambling Club
Chief Rogers raided the Union Club in the Cobb Block, seizing 1,150 chips and 63 decks of cards—and arresting two men who each claimed to be in charge.
- The Skeleton Key Gang
A trio of young boys is arrested for a string of lodging-house thefts using stolen keys.
- The Midnight Key
The Columbia Pharmacy was robbed by someone who possessed a duplicate key, leading to a police investigation.
- The Lawyer Locked Out
A prominent Tacoma politician finds himself stranded on the street in his gym clothes after a drafty gymnasium door leaves him quite exposed.
- The Masquerade Ball at Judge Keyes' House
A motley crew of ghosts, devils, and literary figures gather for a secretive and exuberant social event in Aberdeen.
- A House of Prayer for All the Nations
In 1892, Seattle's Congregation Ohaveth Sholom dedicated the first Jewish synagogue in Washington, filling the new sanctuary at Seventh and Seneca with Jews and Gentiles and with sermons that insisted the building must be more than stone and gold.
- The Mystery of Mayor Wright’s Citizenship
A local businessman claims to hold the key to a political scandal regarding the mayor's legitimacy to hold office.
- Hotel Showdown at the Brunswick
A local hop farmer and a married woman are caught in a tense, armed confrontation in a hotel room.
- The Great Jailbreak of 1878
Five inmates, including a man held for attempted murder, escaped a Seattle jail using a key hand-crafted over six weeks.
- The Three-Way Split: How Bitter Feuds Carved Eastern Washington
In January 1891, the state legislature dissolved Lincoln County into three new entities—Grant, Big Bend, and remaining Lincoln—to settle a decades-long battle over county seats that once involved armed men holding courthouse keys.