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Narrow 25,688 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1895 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
20 stories matching sharper
- Whatcom Vigilantes Warn Local Troublemaker
A known card sharper and thief was given a blunt invitation to leave town or face a 'necktie festival' at the hands of local residents.
- The Poker Con on the Anacortes Train
An unwary traveler loses twenty-five dollars to professional card sharps after a distraction at the window.
- The Paradise of Thieves: Seattle’s 1876 Corruption Crisis
When the Territorial Legislature legalized gambling to fund a mountain road, Seattle residents warned that the city was becoming a lawless playground for criminals.
- The 'Kid Mayor' of Michigan Found in Port Townsend
A brilliant young con artist once known as the 'Kid Mayor' has fled the Washington Territory after his real identity—and a trail of fraudulent bonds—finally caught up with him.
- Gambling in the 'Chicago Dollar Store'
A call for city officials to shutter a fraudulent lottery operating in a Yesler building.
- The Lock and the Bunko Men: How Two Hop Pickers Turned the Tables on a Seattle Con Artist
Richard Sullivan, a bunko man with a Tacoma headquarters, was convicted of petty larceny after swindling two Indian boys on the City dock.
- The Auditor’s Open Revolt
A defiant Seattle county official squares off against the city’s tax-paying elite, sparking a public war of words in the local press.
- The Sermon on Seattle’s Future
In 1880, a local minister preached that Seattle’s prosperity depended less on its natural harbor and railroads, and more on the moral integrity of its citizens.
- The 'Lingerer' and the Moral Purge of Tacoma
A fiery 1885 editorial spat reveals the tension between town boosters and a 'Law and Order' movement intent on policing the morality of the emerging city.
- Shanghaied in Tacoma
A waterfront boarding house keeper is caught in the act of kidnapping a sailor in Tacoma.
- The Saloon That Could Not Be Shamed
Despite police testimony alleging the Madrona Saloon served as a hub for 'bunco' swindlers and card sharks, the Seattle City Council refused to revoke its license.
- Stranded in Seattle by Fake Alaska Jobs
Two hundred men were swindled by a fake construction company, leaving them stranded without pay or prospects.
- The Sedro Man Who Outsmarted Seattle’s Lottery Sharks
A traveling salesman from Sedro-Woolley walks away unscathed from a sophisticated confidence game in downtown Seattle, exposing the city's most prominent bunco ring.
- Receivers, Rail and a Wall Street Rally
Receivers Bryant and Brown cut costs, lay new side track and enlarge the Smith's Cove dock—and Eastern bondholders reward the Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern with a Wall Street surge.
- Tacoma Women Demand a Female Food Inspector
Local women's groups argue that a woman's experience in food preparation makes her the most qualified candidate to enforce health standards in city stores.
- The Hungry Brethren: Seattle’s Post-Election Feeding Frenzy
Fresh off a resounding election win, Seattle’s incoming Democratic administration is besieged by a desperate army of office-seekers, while power brokers maneuver to clear the path for the next gubernatorial bid.
- YWCA to Deploy Women Officers to Combat 'White Slave' Trade
Tacoma women's organizations move to protect young women arriving at the city's depots and docks from human traffickers.
- Two Dollars a Head: Seattle's Labor Commissioner Takes On the Employment Agencies
Charged with running the city's free employment office as a union errand boy, Commissioner John Lamb answers that the private agencies have been selling men jobs that do not exist.
- The Watch Thief of South Third Street
A visiting businessman from Ellensburg gets an expensive education in the perils of Seattle's nightlife.
- The Hidden Dens of 1870s Seattle
A citizen appeal from 1872 exposes how unchecked public gambling was eroding the moral and financial fabric of the developing waterfront town.
Also about this, in other words
- Vigilantism in Wiser
A deputy sheriff takes three men into custody for the targeting of Chinese laborers.
- The Gambler Who Outsmarted the City Hall
In Tacoma, a local sharp named Morgan has become so powerful that citizens are joking he holds more sway than the elected officials.
- Legal Briefs and Bare Knuckles in Tacoma
Two prominent attorneys resolve a heated professional disagreement with a fight on the office floor.
- The Justice of the Peace Who Sent Men to the Chain Gang Takes His Turn in It
Former Newport Justice of the Peace Warriner, a fugitive after the grand jury and district court got through with him, is caught by a deputy sheriff and hauled off to serve 150 days at hard labor — ball, chain and a smile.
- Millworker Killed by Planer Blade
A young sawmill worker loses his life after attempting to clear a board in a hazardous industrial accident.
- The Nimrod of Pioneer Days
A legendary deer hunter, famous for his incredible shooting, falls ill as the city remembers his frontier exploits.
- The 'Blasher' Walks: A Razor Fight in a Seattle Saloon Ends in Acquittal
William Robinson, known to police for carrying two or three razors, was cleared of slashing Alander Strom outside the Mint saloon—after witnesses convinced a jury he was the one being thrown out.
- A Settler's Plea for Too-e-pi-ti
An old Pierce County resident says a white man, Jim Riley, shot an Indigenous man without cause—and asks voters not to let the case die.