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63 stories matching potter
- A Child's Insult Set Off a Seattle Detective's Family Feud
Frank Potter sought a neighbor girl for detective work; his wife suspected more. When his 6-year-old called the girl a 'chippy,' the whipping that followed landed the family in court.
- A Hunting-Camp Quarrel Ends With an Axe and a Jail Term
John Potter struck O. E. Talbot at Happy Camp on Sullivan Creek, then pleaded guilty to assault and was sent to the county jail at Colville.
- A Preacher's Attack Becomes Free Publicity for Seattle's Potter-Bellew Run
A Portland minister accused the touring actors of scandalous church behavior; telegrams from Victoria said he had the wrong couple, and Seattle theatergoers got a four-night engagement to judge for themselves.
- Fifteen Years of Litigation for a Single Plot of Land
A landmark land dispute between Perry Lawrence and J. G. Potter near Garfield nears its end after a decade and a half of courtroom battles.
- The Preacher, the Actress, and the Seattle Theatre Feud
Mrs. Potter and Kyrle Bellew packed the Seattle Theater—then found themselves denounced from a Portland pulpit by a preacher they insisted they had never gone to hear.
- A Texas Tall Tale Falls Flat on the Olympia Stage
The Tribune's critic takes a traveling company to task for butchering a popular novel into an 'unskillful' play—and even the little Scotch terrier doesn't escape review.
- The Failed Heist of the First Bank of White Bluffs
After eighteen months in legal limbo, an attempted safe-cracker faces his sentence, while his two accomplices remain missing.
- The Bank Bandit Who Stayed Behind
After twice being convicted of attempting to rob the First Bank of White Bluffs, C. L. Potter remains at large after a daring escape from the Walla Walla jail.
- The 'Top and Bottom' Sting
A traveler is swindled out of his savings by a gang of con artists on a Seattle sidewalk, sparking a city-wide police sweep.
- The Day the Sloop Fired on a Federal Cutter
In 1860, twenty-four Port Townsend citizens chartered a sloop to save $5 on fares to Olympia. When intercepted by a revenue cutter, their captain opened fire with a brass howitzer—only to discover he’d just threatened the U.S. government.
- Homesteading Rules Tightened in Spokane
A federal ruling denies a homestead title, asserting that occasional visits to a claim are not enough to prove residency.
- A Chaotic Buggy Crash on Third Street
A pair of young, half-broken horses went berserk in downtown Seattle, leading to a violent wreck that left the passengers with broken bones and the animals severely injured.
- The Perils of Rooftop Baseball Fans
When an amateur bleacher made of nailed cleats gave way, two men plummeted twenty-five feet to the sidewalk, triggering a panic among hundreds of spectators clinging to city infrastructure.
- The Dead No One Could Name at Wellington
A coroner fears a score of Great Northern avalanche victims will go to a potter's field; 78 bodies have been recovered and the claim agent counts 95 dead.
- A Potter's Field Grave and a Countrymen's Tombstone
After a Japanese laborer died alone in a West Seattle shack, fellow immigrants considered marking his county grave.
- The Christmas That Almost Wasn't
A local carpenter's struggle to collect payment before the holidays highlights the precarity of working families in early Seattle.
- The Wreck of the Bark Archer
After a violent storm capsized their ship off the coast of Cape Flattery, the crew faced fire and rising seas in a desperate struggle for survival.
- The False Alarm at the Tacoma Regatta
Two young Seattle women return home from a weekend of festivities only to find themselves arrested and cleared in a bizarre case of mistaken identity.
- The Unlucky Speckled Hen and the Tarring Party
In an era of domestic tension, a Washington housewife's patience for her husband's sloth and a neighbor’s story of a local scoundrel collide in a kitchen mishap.
- An Unexpected Champion
At the Canadian Wheelmen's Association meet, a dark horse from Spokane upsets the favorites in a hotly contested bicycle race.
- The Puyallup Sunday Debauch
A weekend of drunken chaos led to the arrest of three saloon keepers for selling liquor to minors and ignoring Sunday closing laws.
- The Grocery Company That Cooked Its Own Books
Tacoma Grocery Company’s president is accused of falsifying minute books and hiding assets from the receiver, creditors and stockholders.
- The Unknown Man of Lake Washington
A decomposed body found near the Madison Street wharf is briefly linked to a notorious double drowning before being buried in potter's field.
- Dredging Up the Past in the City Waterway
Human remains and a rusted knife are unearthed from the Tacoma waterfront, likely belonging to a sailor from a ship that capsized years prior.
- The Body in the Duwamish
A missing merchant’s identity is confirmed through the gruesome discovery of his belongings, heightening fears of foul play in Seattle.