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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1892 | 8 |
| 1893 | 5 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
38 stories matching mislead
- The Kicked Coffin and the Girl With Two Names
A reporter's accidental kick led Seattle authorities to a body first identified as Myrtle Cook, then as Emily Hall - an Englishwoman whose death at a private lying-in hospital ended with arrests and a Birmingham minister's letters.
- The Great Seattle Tide-Land Grab
Powerful corporate interests are organizing to seize Seattle’s valuable waterfront, leaving citizens and commerce at the mercy of speculators.
- The Sawmill Scandal: Henry Yesler’s Long Legal War
Before the city grew, Seattle’s founding titan was locked in a decade-long, bitter courtroom battle over his sawmill, revealing the ruthless undercurrents of the frontier economy.
- Tacoma's Two-Million-Dollar Question: Buy the Water Works, or Fix the Sewers?
On the eve of a bond vote, Tacoma's taxpayers are told they can have the private water and electric plant and new sewers too. The arithmetic says otherwise: after the purchase, $3,707 is left for sewers.
- The 'Dummy' Notes That Toppled a Bank
A financial scandal in Whatcom County exposes a web of fake assets and political maneuvering between rival cities.
- Seattle's Waterfront Was Up for Grabs — and Everyone Filed a Claim
With the tide-land plats at last filed, hundreds of buyers have staked overlapping claims across Elliott Bay, and officials are predicting years of litigation over who really owns the shore.
- The Fight Over Washington’s Workmen's Compensation
Commissioner John R. Wallace lashes out at 'journalistic highbinders' and insurance companies attempting to discredit the state's new injury insurance laws.
- Ballard’s Political Feud
A bitter public dispute erupts between a former treasurer and a local editor, trading accusations of criminal fraud and libel.
- The Political Brawl Over Seattle’s Debt
At a heated series of ward meetings in 1892, Republicans and reformers clashed over city finances, corruption, and a controversial proposal to tax 'abandoned women and gamblers.'
- Spokane City Council Cracks Down on 'Box' Saloons
In a move against the private partitioned rooms often associated with vice, the city council refuses to renew liquor licenses for establishments keeping doors on their booths.
- Tacoma's 1909 Fight to Own Its Power
On the eve of a city election, advocates urged voters to approve a $2 million municipal light and power plant—and warned the private power trust would lie to stop them.
- The Political Hatchet Job That Failed
A Port Townsend city treasurer finds himself the victim of a coordinated, sensationalist smear campaign—only for the local press to walk it back.
- The Unsolved Death of Nick Smith
Family and friends believe a man found dead in Everett was drugged, robbed, and murdered, challenging the official reports of a drowning.
- A Working Mother Answers the Charity That Called Her Unfit
After a jury refused to brand Mrs. Bennett a prostitute, her lawyer wrote to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to rebut the Associated Charities superintendent who had accused her in front of her children.
- Tacoma’s Power Vote: The Times Calls Out the Trust
On the eve of a city election, The Tacoma Times urges a vote for the municipal Nisqually power project and accuses the private power interests of a campaign of falsehood.
- The Pig War's Lingering Ghost
Decades after the 'Pig War' nearly ignited a conflict between the U.S. and Britain, Colonel Granville O. Haller presents a historical accounting of the San Juan Island boundary dispute to the Washington State Historical Society.
- A Confederate or a Dupe: The Fight Over Lake Washington
A Seattle property owner denies he is part of a Tacoma-backed plot to defeat Senator John B. Allen over the Lake Washington Canal. The editor calls him a confederate or a dupe.
- The Fake Canal Subscribers That Exposed a Seattle Newspaper War
In 1892 the Seattle Telegraph touted a popular subscription fund for the Lake Washington canal. The Post-Intelligencer called the list a confidence game built on the names of prominent citizens who never pledged a cent.
- The Political Shell Game in Spokane
Leaked telegrams expose how national committeeman Hugh C. Wallace manipulated job seekers to install his own favorite for U.S. Attorney, leaving honest candidates in the lurch.
- The Sad Tale of a Mail-Order Marriage
A romantic courtship by mail ended in divorce, a sheriff's sale, and a supreme court battle over a farm in Leland Valley.
- A New Guard at City Hall: Seattle's 1894 Transition
Mayor Byron Phelps assumes office during a severe economic depression, pledging economy, non-partisan reform, and a professionalized city government.
- The High Stakes of a County Commission Primary
Voters in White Bluffs face a decisive primary election to protect their representation on the Benton County board.
- A Noble Fight, but Olympia Takes the First Round
North Yakima finished second in Washington's first state capital election, with no city winning a majority—setting up a bitter rematch and a referendum on railroad-town politics.
- The Map That Wasn’t Evidence May Reopen a State Boundary Fight
Washington’s special attorney says the Supreme Court relied on a colored map never introduced in the Oregon-Washington boundary case.
- The Battle Over Medical Quackery in Early Seattle
A fiery public dispute between the Post-Intelligencer and a member of the State Board of Medical Examiners exposes the era’s struggle to regulate fraudulent 'miracle' cures.
Also about this, in other words
- A Public Retraction of Slander
After circulating damaging rumors about a young woman in camp, a local man takes to the newspaper to publicly clear her name.
- The Nurseryman's Deception
A local farmer recounts the frustration of buying fruit trees that failed to grow true to their labels.
- The Estray Swindle: A Rural Confidence Game
A clever ruse targets farmers by using public notice requirements to set up a rigged animal sale.
- The Birthday Deception in Ballard
A local reading circle purposely published a false meeting announcement to surprise a popular schoolteacher on her birthday.
- The Whistleblower Who Won
A Seattle man is acquitted of criminal libel for writing a letter warning labor organizers against a corrupt local official.
- The Bogus Timber Inspector
A man's elaborate fabrication of a government appointment leads to a public scandal and an investigation into fraud.
- The Political Gossip That Almost Toppled a Judge
In an era of vicious party-line journalism, a Seattle editor defends his local officials against accusations of being 'copper-heads' and 'carpet-baggers,' echoing today’s heated partisan discourse.
- The Betrayal of a 'Friend' in Tacoma
A classic story of a land deal gone wrong, where a trusted drinking buddy pulled the rug out from under an investor’s feet.