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99 stories matching lure
- The Strange Disappearance of John Steele
A Seattle man is lured to a Canadian steamer under the pretense of work, only to be held captive and told he is a deserter from the British army.
- Tacoma Contractor Held in Child Abuse Case
A prominent contractor faces serious charges after authorities allege he lured vulnerable girls to his home with candy and money.
- Olympia’s Industrial Ambitions
Local leaders invest in tide lands to lure manufacturing to the city.
- The Detective’s Trap: A High-Stakes Kidnapping and Coercion Plot in 1889 Seattle
A young woman, under legal guardianship after a landmark trial, is lured into a carriage by a female imposter and delivered into the hands of a desperate man wielding a pistol.
- A Decoy Letter, a Lonely Road, and a Confession
Charles Wezler admits to shooting his former mother-in-law to death on a Gig Harbor country road after a fake letter lured her there — a desperate scheme over children and alimony that ended in murder.
- 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.
- Shipped Out by Force: The Sailor Who Wouldn't Sign
A Tacoma saloonkeeper lured three men to a vessel and kept them aboard against their will — now the seamen's union demands justice.
- Aberdeen Lures Big Shipyard with Eastern Capital
A new industry promises $50,000 in investment and jobs for 250 men by next summer.
- The 'Tramp' and the Steamer Ticket
A traveler, left penniless on the docks of Tacoma, finds an unexpected reprieve through a local act of charity.
- Victoria’s Million Dollar Bet on a Railway
The city of Victoria, B.C., plans to bond itself for a million dollars to lure the Northern Pacific Railroad to build a northern route through Aberdeen.
- Trafficking Charges in the City
A man stands accused of luring two sisters from Puyallup to Seattle under the false pretense of domestic employment.
- A Violent Encounter at the Waterfront
A non-union sailor claims he was robbed and beaten by union agitators, highlighting the growing tensions on the Seattle docks.
- A Dangerous New Year's Prank
Drunken revelers lure firefighters to a ghost blaze, nearly wrecking the department's equipment in the chaos.
- Fake Heirs Besiege a Seattle Undertaker for an Avalanche Victim's Body
Jacob Brackmann died in the Wellington slide, leaving $40,000 to $50,000 and an identification problem. Strangers claiming to be family called day and night.
- The Alberta Dream Turns to Ice
Washington farmers lured to Canada by immigration agents find only misery, frozen stock, and a desperate desire to come home.
- The Myth of the Everett Building Boom
Local labor leaders debunk a fabricated 'building boom' story, warning it is a reckless tactic to lure surplus labor for anti-union motives.
- The Evangelists and the Brothel
In 1887, a group of women conducted prayer meetings inside Seattle’s houses of prostitution, confronting the grim reality of life for the women living and working within.
- The Policeman and the Neighbor's Chickens
A Seattle patrolman faced bizarre, whimsical charges of luring neighbors' hens onto his property to 'tax' their egg production.
- A Fool’s Errand at Leschi Park
A traveler, sick and seeking vacation, was 'taken' by a group of gamblers at the waterfront pavilion, leading to a trial that exposed the city's predatory underworld.
- Sold to the Highest Captain: Seattle’s Sailor Boarding-House Scandal
An editorial demands an investigation into Seattle’s sailor boarding houses, where men were allegedly lured into debt, beaten, and effectively sold to ship captains—and warns union organizers against using the same coercion.
- The Great Tacoma Chicken Heist
A witness in the theft trial of a local gang describes how hundreds of chickens were lured and captured under the cover of darkness.
- Tacoma's One-Dollar Land Deal Lures an Iowa Rolling Mill
The Lake View Land Company deeds fifty acres south of Tacoma to Burlington, Iowa, mill managers for a dollar, betting a new plant will follow the subsidy.
- The Ghost House of Monte Cristo
A widow with two children was lured to the mining camp with the promise of a house that didn't exist.
- The Whatcom Million-Dollar Bet
Citizens of Bellingham Bay pledge their own wealth to lure the railroad, hoping to transform their sleepy coastal town into a Pacific terminus.
- Search Ends for Missing Teen; 'Globe Hotel' Hanger-on Arrested
The disappearance of 16-year-old Norma Hoyt is solved after she is located in a Vancouver brothel with a man known in Tacoma's red-light district.