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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
14 stories matching schemer
- The Minister Who Called the A.P.A. a Political Machine—and Named Names
Rev. William Carnes says he quit Seattle’s A.P.A. lodge after it was used to carry secret school-board charges and promote candidates for sheriff, commissioner and coroner.
- The Battle for Seattle's Tide Lands
Powerful legal lobbyists and land speculators are maneuvering to seize control of Seattle's valuable waterfront before the constitutional convention can intervene.
- The Real Estate Gold Rush: How Seattle’s Early Boomers Made Millions on Dirt
A Sunday editorial in the Post-Intelligencer lays bare the staggering profits of land speculation in 1883, revealing how a few savvy investors turned hundreds of dollars into fortunes through sheer timing and location.
- The Political Schemer of Tacoma
How a local industrialist bought a newspaper to build his own influence and secure public contracts.
- 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 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 Olympia Deadlock
Legislative chaos in Olympia as the Senate remains paralyzed by a months-long standoff over the election of a U.S. Senator.
- City Hall Under Siege for Corruption
Calls for the impeachment of two public works commissioners trigger fears of a city hall whitewash.
- Nine Votes to Kill Civil Service—Tacoma's Council Tries to Gut the Charter
At a special meeting, nine councilmen back a plan to let the mayor fire city workers at will; reformists need to hold two more votes to stop it.
- 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.
- Two Creamery Men Split Yakima County's Milk — Then Went to War Over It
Between them, E. E. James and Jacob Frazer control nearly every creamery in the county. Instead of agreeing on a price for milk, they are raiding each other's routes, poaching suppliers, and appealing to the state dairy commissioner over who can even run a Babcock test correctly.
- The Confidence Man of Front Street
A colorful encounter with a local schemer illustrates the 'get-rich-quick' fever that defined the early days of Seattle's business district.
- The Persistent Threat of the Louisiana Lottery
Despite legislative victories and public condemnation, the infamous Louisiana Lottery scheme attempts to relocate its base of operations to Honduras to exploit U.S. citizens.
- The First Populist in Washington Says His Party Betrayed Him
George Schorr, who helped launch Washington's Populist movement, publicly disavows a county convention he says was captured by schemers and poolroom politicians.
Also about this, in other words
- The Real Estate Swindler of the Haller Block
A local developer is arrested for allegedly using a doctored title abstract to secure a fraudulent mortgage, a scheme that left investors exposed and property records in doubt.
- The Painter Who Played the Local Market
A local tradesman's attempt to execute a 'get-rich-quick' scheme by double-dipping on merchant credit ends in a police court trial.
- The Shrewd Landlady of Kennewick
A local boarding house manager turns a favor into a profitable transaction, proving that in the rental business, every crumb counts.
- The Unlikely Enforcer of a Party Game
A jealous husband at a frontier social insists his young wife receives equal attention—or else he will settle the matter with his fists.
- The Ghost of a Forger
A clever swindler slips out of Walla Walla after passing forged postal money orders, leaving authorities empty-handed.
- The Automatic Suitor-Smacker
A fed-up father builds a booby-trapped gate to drive away his daughters' persistent suitors, turning a domestic headache into a mechanical triumph.