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|---|---|
| 1862 | 2 |
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636 stories matching scheme
- The Judge Who Warned Seattle Not to Sell Its Waterfront to a Canal Company
In 1894, Judge John J. McGilvra urged Congress to build the Lake Washington Ship Canal and warned that a private company's tideflat scheme would put tolls on the water and enrich speculators at public expense.
- The Beer-Fueled Plot to Steal a Populist Club
Seattle's First Ward Populists packed a hall over John Considine's theater to stop Democrats from capturing their club—and the meeting turned into a brawl of speeches, resignations and accusations.
- The Dolly Varden Ticket: Seattle's 1894 Scheme to Stitch Together a Political Frankenstein
Disgruntled Republicans and Democrats met in downtown Seattle to plan a hybrid 'taxpayers' ticket aimed at beating the regular Republican slate—if they could keep the seams from splitting.
- The 'Free Lot' Scam
A Tacoma resident exposes a real estate scheme offering 'free' land to lure investors into paying high notary fees for worthless property.
- Olympia’s Capitol Fight: Donate the Land or Lose the Statehouse
A late-night Senate debate over the new state capitol turned on eleven acres, a $150,000 land scheme and whether Olympia should pay to keep the building—before the bill passed to applause.
- The 1909 City Hall Power Grab That Tacoma Voters Were Told to Stop
A fiery Times editorial urged citizens to pack the council chamber against charter amendments it said would gut civil service, raise council pay, and hand city jobs to political loyalists.
- The $5.5 Million Bet That Would Reshape Seattle's Waterfront
St. Louis investors sign on to fill the tide flats and dig a canal linking Lake Washington to Puget Sound, betting Seattle will become the Pacific coast's leading city.
- The Carpenter's Secret Compartment
A crafty smuggler’s hollowed-out tool chest, designed to look like the property of a humble working man, fails to outsmart Seattle Customs inspectors.
- The Insurance Fugitive's Last Laugh
After orchestrating a bizarre life insurance fraud involving a fake cremation, William Radloff writes a rambling, taunting letter to the Seattle police from his secret hiding place.
- Kennewick Residents Buck Port Expansion
A petition signed by 45 citizens halts progress on a sweeping riverfront development plan.
- Port Townsend Refused to Help Seattle Dig Its Canal—Washington Still Paid for It
A Port Townsend meeting cheered resolutions against the 'Seattle ditch,' even as Congress was appropriating $100,000 to begin work on the canal.
- Seattle Rejects the 'Evergreen State' Souvenir
Local business leaders take a stand against an exclusionary advertising scheme that demanded cash for recognition.
- A Senate Seat, a Caucus, and a Yakima Ditch Deal
In Olympia, Republicans moved to settle the U.S. Senate contest between Ankeny and Wilson—while opponents circulated a story that Wilson had traded a Congressional favor for stock in a Yakima irrigation scheme.
- Shipping Voters Across the Sound: Tacoma's Imported Electorate
An organized scheme ships hundreds of men from Seattle to Tacoma by rail and steamer to register and vote in April's election — and it unravels when 150 would-be voters show up at a dock looking for the man who promised to pay their fare.
- Anti-Allen Dark Horse Scheme Fails in Olympia
While anti-Allen forces scramble for a candidate, the state legislature remains paralyzed by 'dark horse' rumors and fabricated desertions.
- A $10,000 Railroad Check and a Whispering Campaign in Olympia
In 1895, Washington's legislature gathered to choose a U.S. senator, and the Seattle press heard that the Southern Pacific had put $10,000 behind one candidate.
- Two Plans, One Spring, and a $25,000 Holdup
Walla Walla's council will let voters choose between a $191,000 pipeline up Mill Creek and a cheaper gravity system at Thomas Springs — but the editor suspects a land speculation scheme is baked into the ballot question.
- Walla Walla's Water War: Springs, a Bank, and a $250,000 Bond
In December 1903, an editorial backed Councilman Glasford's plan to use Thomas Springs rather than buy bank-owned ranch land or bond for Mill Creek water.
- The Secret Lumber Pool
A clandestine plan to monopolize Pacific Coast timber shipments emerges from the shadows.
- A Marriage Built on Lies and Swindling
A husband files for divorce claiming his wife wasn't the 'virtuous girl' he was promised, leading his wife to reveal he was actually a confidence man trying to recruit her into his schemes.
- The Mediums' Trust: When Seattle's Spiritualists Tried to Fix Their Prices
A secret meeting of clairvoyants and mediums ended in failure as new arrivals undercut their rates, proving that even the spirit world is subject to market forces.
- The Boodle Scandal at the Falls
Citizens storm the courthouse to stop an exorbitant, million-dollar water-works project they claim is rife with city hall corruption.
- The Imperial Ambition: Seattle’s Role in a Nicaragua Canal Scheme
Military and political elites weigh the costs and grand strategies of controlling a trans-oceanic canal as the United States shifts toward a global power posture.
- The Machine That Wouldn't Start
Seattle Democrats outmaneuver an attempt by party insiders to hijack a fake non-partisan movement for their own political gain.
- The Failed 'Colony' Scheme to Rig the Ninth Ward
Local political operatives attempted to pack the Ninth Ward with manufactured voters by dangling sewer-digging jobs and boarding house deals, but the plan collapsed under the weight of its own incompetence.
Also about this, in other words
- The Portrait Scheme Scam
A group of Seattle women are out money after an elusive photography company vanishes from the Epler Block.
- The Bold Scheme to Irrigate the Desert
Local entrepreneurs hope to redeem 15,000 acres of 'worthless' land through an ambitious artesian well project.
- The Great Petticoat Ponzi Scheme
Kennewick residents lose their dimes to a Minneapolis 'endless chain' mail fraud ring.
- The Insurance Scheme of the Mary Parker
A courtroom drama unfolds as a detective’s undercover sting operation faces accusations of coercion and bribery.
- The Salvation Army's Plan to End Urban Poverty
A proposal to move impoverished tenement dwellers from congested cities onto government-allotted public lands in the West.
- The 'Irrigation Army' Scheme
Capitalists propose to end the unemployment crisis in Eastern Washington by putting members of the Industrial Army to work on massive irrigation projects.
- The 'Royal Endeavor' Insurance Fraud
A shady order claiming to be an insurance society dupes citizens of Prosser before being unmasked as a total fraud.
- The Secret Scheme to Seize the Tide Flats
Prominent Seattle businessmen form an organization to lobby the constitutional convention for control of the waterfront.