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68 stories matching shaw
- The Failed Heist at Shaw’s Boarding House
An audacious attempt to rob a Tacoma mill worker's boarding house ends in a series of slapstick mishaps and a gunshot.
- Chief Seattle's Promise, Recalled in a Fishing-Rights Case
Col. B. F. Shaw came to Seattle to testify in a Point Roberts fishing case—and remembered the 1855 Point Elliott treaty, when 6,000 Indigenous people gathered and Chief Seattle offered friendship.
- The Judge Forgot the Evidence, and the Gambling Case Walked
Charles Shaw’s Union Club prosecution ended when the judge couldn’t recall Chief Rogers’ key testimony. The gambling furniture went out the door anyway.
- The Mother Who Fled a Tyrant
A mother escapes her husband’s brutal control and property schemes after enduring years of abuse, turning to the law to secure her child’s safety.
- Deadlock in Olympia: Allen Four Votes Short as Legislators Flee
The Washington state legislature remains gridlocked over the election of a U.S. Senator, with Senator Allen stuck at 41 votes and political maneuvering turning farcical.
- The Plot to Lock Up a Witness: How Greed Tried to Silence a Pioneer
William De Shaw, a respected Seattle merchant and witness to a will worth millions in British Columbia, was nearly committed to an insane asylum by land speculators who wanted his testimony silenced.
- Midnight Hold-up at the Pasco Rail Yards
A group of laborers bound for the harvest fields were confronted by masked gunmen in the dark; one victim was shot while hesitating to comply.
- Sunday Poker at the Union Club Draws a Police Raid
Detectives Philbrick and Hart entered the exclusive Union Club on Front Street, found men hiding chips, and carted away two loads of furniture and cards.
- The Key-House Raid: Seattle Police Break Up a Gambling Club
Chief Rogers raided the Union Club in the Cobb Block, seizing 1,150 chips and 63 decks of cards—and arresting two men who each claimed to be in charge.
- The Union Club's Roulette Wheel
A judge rules that a seized roulette wheel isn't necessarily a gambling tool, sparking a debate over the city's power to destroy property.
- The Fight for Better Roads in Benton County
Travelers and locals decry the state of rural roads as political blame-shifting hinders repairs.
- No Honor Among Gamblers
A Seattle judge dismisses a lawsuit between two gambling house partners, ruling that the courts have no jurisdiction over crooked dealings.
- The Tragic Last Notes of L. R. Shaw
A desperate local resident details his financial ruin, drug dependence, and final instructions to his family in a series of haunting letters before taking his own life in Seattle.
- The Gold Rush That Never Was: How Canadian Laws Stifled Seattle’s Northern Dream
A Victoria contractor tells the Star that new British Columbia legislation has turned away American miners, leaving Alaska's gold fields dark and local businesses in ruins.
- A Judge Tells Spokane's Restaurant Men Their Strike Injunction Is Worthless
Judge J. Stanley Webster refused to restrain the cooks' and waiters' union, upheld the right to strike and to publish 'union house' cards — a rare courtroom win for organized labor in 1910.
- Seattle Lost the Ship Canal Fight in One Olympia Night
The 1892 Democratic state convention rejected the Lake Washington ship canal, humiliated King County's delegates and nominated Henry J. Snively for governor — setting off a political feud over Seattle's waterfront future.
- The City Wants Its Fair Share: Republican Wards Revolt Over Delegate Math
Three ward clubs storm the county Republican committee to protest an apportionment that hands the countryside outsized power — and the committee adjourns without budging an inch.
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Visits Tacoma
Leslie M. Shaw delivers an impromptu address at First Presbyterian Church, urging young men to embrace a 'strenuous existence.'
- City Treasury Faces Potential Delinquency Crisis
With less than one-third of city taxes collected by mid-August, Treasurer Shaw warns of an unprecedented pile-up of delinquent accounts.
- The Siege and Tragedy at Friday Harbor
A reclusive farmer's descent into madness and murder in the San Juan Islands ended in a gruesome, fiery standoff with local law enforcement.
- Insurance Agent Vanishes After Passing Spurious Checks
A smooth-talking insurance agent charms his way through Seattle's business community before disappearing with premiums and bad checks.
- Tragedy at the Dayton Crossing
A railroad crossing accident near Dayton claims the life of a Sprague man and leaves another seriously injured.
- Seattle’s Canal Demand Became a Political Trap
At the 1892 Democratic state convention in Olympia, King County’s push for a Lake Washington ship canal collided with a Pierce County-led alliance—and James Hamilton Lewis’s gubernatorial hopes hung in the balance.
- The Canal Plank That Nearly Tore Washington’s Democrats Apart
In Olympia, King County delegates fought Pierce County over whether to endorse the Lake Washington canal. They settled on a vague promise, then spent the night shouting each other down.
- The 83-Ballot Deadlock: 'Either Allen or No One'
In Olympia, John B. Allen’s Republican caucus held the line while Judge Humes and Levi Ankeny saw their candidacies frostbitten—and the ballots kept piling up.
Also about this, in other words
- A Scantling Scuffle at the Boom
A simmering dispute over local timber booms erupts in violence at Chenoise Creek.
- The Seneca Street Sludge
A persistent drainage issue on a downtown sidewalk sparks frustration among Seattle pedestrians, highlighting the lack of basic civic maintenance in the growing city.
- A Warning to the Shanghaiers of Tacoma
A notorious boarding house keeper is sent to prison for his brutal, predatory business practices.
- Smuggling Silks in His Trousers
A crew member of the steamship Olympia attempts to bypass customs, revealing the era's aggressive enforcement against Chinese laborers.
- A Cow, a Pistol, and a Pitchfork
Two men east of Olympia fought over a single cow—one with a revolver, the other with a pitchfork—and then showed up at the same doctor's office to get patched up.
- Mill Worker Attempts Suicide Amid Personal Despair
A Tacoma mill employee remains in critical condition after a desperate act brought on by his wife's absence.
- The Chain-Gang’s Shovel Symphony
In the heart of Olympia, a group of convicts turned Pacific Avenue into their personal construction site, wielding pickaxes and shovels with obstinate pride.
- City Hall's Battle Over the Sewers
Seattle's new city engineer clashes with the Board of Public Works over questionable construction projects and a lack of 'practical common sense.'