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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 3 |
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44 stories matching phantom
- The Unlucky Life of the 'Phantom'
A small steamboat with a long string of technical failures and ownership disputes attempts a new life on the waters of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Phantom Bribe: A Legislative Ghost Hunt in Olympia
A state representative demands an investigation into a 'phantom' briber, while the legislature becomes deadlocked by scandal and partisan maneuvering.
- The Phantom Friends of Spokane: A Temperance Warning
An editorial in The Spokane Press warns that friendships forged over liquor are hollow illusions, citing William Makepeace Thackeray to argue that alcohol destroys genuine human connection.
- Chasing the Phantom Falls: A Lost Expedition to the Cedar River
In 1885, two explorers ventured deep into the rugged wilderness above Cedar River to document the elusive, towering waterfalls known only to local legend.
- A Telegraph Prank Turned a Boat Trip into an Armed Standoff
When someone wired Port Ludlow that a steamer carried smallpox, the town's 'commercial travelers' met a wall of shotguns — and a joke got out of hand.
- The Phantom Murder of Snohomish
A night of terrifying screams and gunfire leads to a frantic, futile search for a body in the river.
- The 'Washington Security' Swindle
A California resident discovers that a Seattle firm is a phantom operation.
- The Railroad Baron Who Refused to Compete With Shadows
Northern Pacific president Tom Oakes tells Seattle that Jim Hill’s Great Northern is more phantom than threat—and explains why cutting timber rates could backfire on Puget Sound’s lumbermen.
- The Smooth Stranger’s Trap: A Banker’s Warning Against the 'Get Rich Quick' Scam
In 1920s Kennewick, local banks warned citizens that 'smooth strangers' peddling investments were likely frauds, urging residents to keep their money in trusted institutions rather than chasing phantom profits.
- The Sham Inspection of the Northern Pacific
A whistleblower account of how railroad executives entertained government officials with champagne to secure unearned land grants.
- The Curse of the Mossback Landowner
An editorial critique of local speculators and property owners blamed for stalling Aberdeen's growth during the post-boom downturn.
- The Mischief Makers of Second Street
Seattle's fire department gets a workout from phantom alarms in the Boston Block.
- The Phantom Lynching of Monte Cristo
Sensational reports of mass violence against Italian laborers in the mountains were debunked after local officials and witnesses found the camp quiet.
- The Railroad 'Boom' That Never Arrived
A scathing editorial accuses the Northern Pacific Railroad of building phantom infrastructure to avoid government forfeiture of their land grants.
- The Phantom of Tacoma Avenue
A man disguised in women's clothing assaulted two residents, sparking fear and a police search in a quiet neighborhood.
- The Phantom Wheat That Fooled Seattle's Banks
A forger sold bankers on warehouse certificates for Ritzville wheat—and walked away with tens of thousands before the paper trail caught up with him.
- The Phantom Section Hands of the Northern Pacific
A roadmaster at Cle Elum is arrested for padding six railroad crews with fictitious workers—until a foreman’s conscience, and the auditors, caught up with him.
- The Sovereign Grand Commander Comes to Port Townsend
General Albert Pike arrives by steamer to inspect the local lodges, lectures to the brethren, and is feted with a banquet and a Scow Bay clambake.
- The Porch Gold Delusion
A man is committed to an asylum after terrorizing a South Seattle family over a phantom treasure he believed was buried under their porch.
- A Heartfelt Seattle Send-Off
Friends and local musicians stage a surprise gathering to honor a departing resident with a diamond tribute.
- Repairs for the Chinook on the Waterfront
A routine dispatch from the January 1891 docks captures the industrial heart of old Seattle, where the tugboat Chinook sits on the beach for repairs at the foot of Jackson Street.
- The Paper Street Feud
A homeowner fights a developer over a phantom street that appeared on a map but vanished on the ground.
- The Phantom Fire-Starter of Tacoma
A mischievous prankster is repeatedly triggering false fire alarms, exhausting the local department and draining public funds.
- The Phantom Title: How a Dead Man’s Land Became Seattle’s Newest Addition
A bizarre chain of custody involving a deceased San Francisco capitalist, a paralyzed attorney, and a speculator reveals the chaotic legal origins of Burke's Second Addition.
- The Decoy in the Rubbish Heap: How Tacoma Residents Outsmarted a Private Detective
When a notorious private eye attempted to frame two young express employees for a phantom theft, their friends staged an elaborate performance to expose his heavy-handed tactics.