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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 3 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1917 | 1 |
25 stories matching surveil
- A Public Shaming in 1876 Seattle
A husband takes to the pages of the local newspaper to publicly disavow his wife, a common, legally sanctioned form of domestic surveillance in the late 19th century.
- Incendiary Threats in Seattle Lead to Internment
A German resident is taken into federal custody following threats directed at the Pacific Coast as tensions mount on the home front.
- Soldiers accused of brutal assault on woman near American Lake
A widow is left in critical condition after an alleged attack by two military personnel, sparking an immediate investigation.
- The Ghost Relief Recipients
A Seattle charity secretary is caught creating fake relief applications to steal funds, revealing a rot in the city's aid system.
- The Battle Over Ballard's Saloons
Businessmen and residents unite to push back against saloon licensing in industrial neighborhoods.
- Chasing the Chinese Exclusion Act
Federal inspectors struggle to intercept Chinese immigrants who bypass Seattle in favor of Portland to avoid tighter maritime surveillance.
- An Unlawful Entry Trial
A Chinese man arrested under the Exclusion Act is brought before the U.S. Commissioner, highlighting the pervasive surveillance of the era.
- The Boy Who Squirted Ammonia: A Spokane Youth’s Descent into Infamy
Officer Ike keeps a watchful eye on Tobias, the 'bad boy' of the Cineograph theater, after he becomes a fugitive from home and targets Japanese children with chemical pranks.
- The Battle Over Tacoma’s 'Open Town' Policy
Mayor Wright defends his administration against allegations that the city’s restricted district has spiraled into lawlessness, triggering a heated standoff with the City Council.
- The Man Who Vanished: A Railroad Agent’s Embezzlement and Flight
Charles Dickson, former freight agent for the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company in Tacoma, absconded with company funds after gambling them away in local saloons, leaving a massive debt and a warrant for his arrest.
- The 'Endless' Deportation Loop in 1889 Seattle
A federal judge struggles with a legal absurdity where Chinese laborers, ordered out of the country, find themselves trapped in a cycle of failed deportations and re-arrests.
- The Political Battle for Tacoma's Soul
As the 1904 municipal election looms, Democratic mayoral candidate George P. Wright faces intense pressure to define his stance on 'open town' vice policies and city regulation.
- Coxey’s Army Stalls in Puyallup
Industrial marchers find themselves stranded and under federal surveillance after failing to secure a rail transport to Washington D.C.
- The Ghost in the Boarded-Up Cottage
A reporter’s late-night stakeout of a supposedly abandoned home reveals mysterious machinery and strange chemical equipment.
- A Convent Escape and a Steamer Waiting: The Elopement That Ended in Port Townsend
When her parents opposed the match on religious grounds, Mary Emma Kealy was cloistered in a convent. She escaped in a carriage, reached a waiting steamer, and married Ward Debeck in Port Townsend.
- Federal Crackdown on Train Mail Security
Postal authorities issue strict new guidelines for railway employees to stop the 'frequent robberies' plaguing the Northern Pacific lines.
- The Political Grudge Match in Rosalia
A legislative seat is caught in a bitter proxy war after a list of locals is circulated to pressure a politician’s vote.
- The Detective Who Watched a Stenographer—and the Doctor Who Paid Him
A Seattle lawsuit over unpaid surveillance opens a window onto Dr. J. Eugene Jordan’s relationship with Margaret Deboe, the young woman who killed herself with his revolver.
- Quarantined Residents Left Without Food in Seattle
Thirty people trapped inside the St. Denis hotel by a smallpox order face city bureaucracy and hunger.
- The Opium Smugglers of University Street
A customs inspector corners two French laborers on a Seattle gangplank with a heavy cache of illicit opium.
- The Mystery of the Mast
Two Seattle brothers discover a man adrift off Blakely Rocks with a bullet in his forehead, sparking a murder investigation in a quiet maritime town.
- The Jailhouse Performance of an Insanity Faker
A man accused of horse theft attempts a desperate, bumbling ruse to avoid trial by feigning madness, only to be caught plotting his escape with stolen keys.
- The Midnight Treasure Hunt on Coffin Island
A fever for gold and Captain Kidd’s fabled riches sends Seattle-area prospectors into a frenzy of night-time digging.
- The Chief of Police’s Private Vendetta
Seattle’s police chief is under fire for allegedly using his badge to smear a peaceful citizen through fabricated letters and baseless professional surveillance.
- The Mayor Moves to Shut the Dives and Gambling Rooms
A sweeping message from the mayor demands that the council revoke the licenses of saloons and music halls where girls sell liquor and gamblers run their games—passed in full by the aldermen even as auditors report a $27,000 hole in the street-improvement funds.