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|---|---|
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666 stories matching prison
- A Walla Walla Pastor Defends the Prison's Sunday 'Boxing Bouts'
Rector W. Law writes to defend Warden Coblenz and the penitentiary's Sunday programs, insisting the glove contests that scandalized critics were gentler than a schoolyard game.
- The Warden Fights Back: Prison Labor, Jute Sacks and a Seattle Newspaper Scandal
Accused of selling prison-made sacks to middlemen and brutalizing convicts, Walla Walla’s warden answers his critics with a detailed defense—and a challenge to inspect the prison.
- The Dungeon Behind the Standard Theater: Inside Seattle’s Terrifying Jail
A reporter’s inspection of Marshal Hamilton’s holding cells reveals prisoners sleeping on straw in a damp basement, fed by a restaurant manager who claims their diet is 'wholesome' and identical to his paying customers'.
- The Murder Foretold: Three Japanese Laborers Held Without Bail
A witness testifies that one suspect predicted the killing hours in advance, and a bloody butcher knife is found in a kitchen wall. Three Japanese men are ordered held without bail for the murder of a Japanese boss near Christopher.
- Ten Inmates Crawl Through City Jail Roof
A dozen prisoners rip the roof off the city jail, leading to a night of escapes, returns for more whiskey, and public mockery of the facility.
- The Jailbreak Problem: When Every County Was Its Own Penitentiary
In 1877, Washington Territory struggled with a chaotic, decentralized justice system where county jails were crumbling and prisoners were held for profit.
- The Unlucky Look-Alike
A case of mistaken identity in a Seattle courtroom saw an innocent man nearly extradited for a Pennsylvania forgery because he looked exactly like his cousin.
- The Jail That Wasn't: A Tour of Port Madison’s Fortress
While Seattle’s own jails were often little more than wooden rooms with locks, the new facility on Port Madison was built like a fortress—iron spikes, windlass doors, and a view of the sound. But its warden faces a grim reality: no work for his prisoners.
- The Most Decisive Juror in Seattle History
A disheveled, reluctant man is pulled from the street to serve on a murder jury, and he reaches a verdict before the trial even begins.
- The Hangman's Verdict: John Thompson Convicted of Murder in Snohomish
A trial that captivated the entire Territory ends with a death sentence for a man accused of killing his friend during a drunken brawl over a card game.
- The Contract Prison of the Skookum Chuck
A look inside the privatized territorial penitentiary of 1879, where convict labor was auctioned off to pay for a sheriff's enterprise.
- The Great Jailbreak Attempt of 1888
A desperate group of prisoners, including a local forger and a pair of Vancouver burglars, came within thirty minutes of freedom before being thwarted by a vigilant guard.
- The Governor’s Dilemma: The Hand-Me-Down Prison
When Washington became a state, the federal government tried to offload the McNeil Island Penitentiary and its prisoners to state control—but Governor Elisha Ferry wasn't having it.
- The Great Jailbreak of 1889
In 1889, fifteen of 31 prisoners escaped a city jail through a sawed hole in the wall; none were recaptured.
- The Bishop, the Convicts, and the Sparring Match
Bishop Wells insists a prisoner-run entertainment at the penitentiary was decorous and proper—not the prizefight rumor made it out to be.
- The Thief in Blue: Police Chief Exposes Captain’s Theft of Prisoners’ Belongings
A dramatic hearing reveals Officer Fayban’s accusation that Captain Henry Sheahan stole handkerchiefs, neckties, and cash from arrested men, sparking a bitter war of words between Seattle’s top law enforcement officials.
- The Salvation Army’s Plan to Turn a Kitsap Farm Into a Lifeline for Seattle’s Unemployed
With a 250-acre bequest near Sidney and a crowded food-and-shelter depot at Weller and South Third, the Army proposed a co-operative farm, woodyard and prison-gate brigade to put hundreds of jobless men to work.
- The Great Escape: Two Prisoners Vanish from Seattle’s Basement Jail
In a display of audacity and desperation, two men held on smuggling and liquor charges crawled through a torn-off board in a water closet to flee the U.S. Marshal’s improvised prison beneath the Clancy Building.
- The Jailbreak at the Center of Town
After four prisoners escaped the local lockup, the Sheriff sounds the alarm on the failing state of the city's crumbling jail.
- Locking Down the County Jail
Walla Walla’s City Council moves to secure the jail with a high fence to stop well-meaning citizens from helping prisoners escape.
- The Governor’s Unacknowledged Son
A condemned prisoner in the city jail delivers a final, shattering letter to the Governor, revealing a secret connection that exposes the cruel indifference of the ruling class.
- Guilty in Two Minutes: The Bunko Man With a Revolver in His Past
Knowlton, alias 'Robert George,' was convicted of swindling an Aberdeen banker with two copper bars sold as gold—then prosecutors unpacked a record that included a murdered minister and a courtroom shooting.
- The Great Train Escape
A federal prisoner leaps through a train window at 30 miles per hour while handcuffed, sparking a desperate manhunt in the woods near Pasco.
- The Inhumanity of the City Jail
A plea for the humane treatment of women in Seattle's overcrowded, mixed-gender prison system.
- The 'Dead Line' at the San Francisco Store
Before it became a retail hub, the basement of the San Francisco store in Seattle served as a federal jail where prisoners waited for trial while playing cards and bartering for tobacco.
Also about this, in other words
- The Brutality of the Walla Walla Penitentiary
A critical look at the failing 'cell system' and the questionable state industries in Washington’s state prison.
- Inside the New King County Jail
A detailed look at the 'infallible' brick and iron lockup built to replace older, makeshift holding cells in 1870s Seattle.
- The Looming Crisis at the State Penitentiary
Washington's state prison faces overcrowding and inadequate facilities as the inmate population outpaces projections, forcing guards to rent rooms in town.
- The Sad State of McNeil Island
A former inmate calls for books to replace the monotony of prison life.
- A Convict’s Violent Outburst in Whatcom Court
A notorious criminal threatens a judge with violence before being transported to the state penitentiary in Walla Walla.
- The Underground Prison Ring
Warden Catron uncovers a secret society of convicts at the Walla Walla prison, suspected of plotting to smuggle in opium.
- The Iron Cage of Fort Adams
A rare glimpse into the brutal security measures at a Washington Territory jail in the late 19th century.
- An Empty Cage: Sheriff McGraw’s ‘Ghost’ Jail
In a turn of fortune for the Seattle jail, the cells have emptied out, leaving the Sheriff with little to do but manage a single remaining debtor.