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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 4 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1903 | 4 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
45 stories matching toe
- Thrown Into a Saw at Colman's Mill — and the Law Looked the Other Way
When Peter Feeney attacked a Chinese coworker in a Seattle sawmill, the man's foot was mangled beyond repair. The justice of the peace declined to hold Feeney, the prosecutor dismissed the case, and the town's paper argued the injury was just an accident.
- The 'Toe Social' of Tacoma
A mischievous fundraising dance where bachelors bid on mystery partners based solely on a glimpse of their feet.
- The Street Corner Justice
A detective fires into the sidewalk on South Second Street, wounding a fleeing shoplifter.
- The Seattle Correspondent’s Gaze on China
A disorienting, 1877 report from a Seattle newspaper explores the rigid social hierarchies and gender dynamics of the Qing Dynasty through a lens of Victorian fascination.
- The Great Seattle Fire: How a Painter’s Fall Saved the City
In the chaos of the 1889 inferno, a worker’s tragic accident at a construction site inadvertently alerted the city to the approaching flames, turning a moment of horror into a pivotal warning.
- The Man Who Walked With a Bolt Through His Foot
John Moore, Seattle's most noted diver, recounts the harrowing moment he was impaled by a railroad bolt in the Mississippi River—and how his tender saved him.
- Fatal Fall from the N. P. Bridge
A traveling salesman loses his life after catching his foot on a protruding bolt while crossing the bridge between Pasco and Kennewick.
- The Drunken Highway Shooting Near Kent
A senseless act of violence on a flooded country road leaves a stranger fighting for his life in a Seattle hospital.
- Tragedy on the Tracks: A Silent Commuter
A deaf man walking to find work near Selah was struck by a train in the night.
- The Ice That Crushed a Man: A Frightful Death on White Pass
Louis Wrick was clearing ice near the summit of the White Pass when a massive block gave way, pinning him beneath tons of frozen weight. Another worker survived; Wrick did not.
- The Office Brawl: A Manager Kicks a Clerk Out of the Store
A workplace dispute over office gossip turns physical, landing the manager of W. Davis & Co. in front of a justice.
- The Solitary Tragedy of Maple Valley
A lonely squatter, once neighborly, ends his life in a wretched cabin while local settlers eye his unclaimed homestead.
- Aeronaut Injured in Madison Street Park Accident
Hazel Keyes, a professional parachute jumper, was severely injured after a failed balloon ascent dragged her across a fence.
- A Ghastly Discovery in Tacoma
A railroad laborer found dead in a lodging house was subjected to post-mortem indignities, raising questions about his final hours.
- The Nahcotta Bear Fighter
A meat market man from the coast fends off an angry mother bear using only his boot.
- A Sawmill Worker’s Leg Was Cut Off. His Boss’s Quick Thinking Saved Him.
At a mill near Auburn, Edward McKeown lost a leg to a circular saw. W. M. Rodgers’s makeshift tourniquet and a hurried call for doctors kept him alive.
- The Blue Glass Cure: A Barber’s Quackery and a Seattle Elder’s Rage
In March 1877, an elderly Black man named Uncle Dan nearly came to blows with a white barber over a ridiculous 'medical' treatment involving blue window panes and sunlight.
- An Officer's Surprising Thanksgiving Gift
A Seattle patrolman expecting a crime scene instead finds himself showered with gratitude and a silk umbrella.
- The Ballroom Ignored the Flames: Olympia’s Nonchalant Dance Amidst Disaster
While citizens and firemen battled a blaze at the Washington Hotel on Friday evening, revelers inside continued dancing with startling indifference to the falling cinders.
- The Scandal of the 'Ragged One': How Pendleton's Victory Sparked a Riot in Walla Walla
When the local team lost to Colfax and Pendleton took first place, the crowd’s frustration boiled over into violence against a theater patron.
- The Empty Crib at the Corner of Third and Union
A quiet, haunting reflection from 1876 Seattle on the enduring grief of losing a child and the keepsakes that remain.
- The 'Folly' of Tacoma: A Steamboat Traveler’s Skeptical Report
An 1876 visitor finds the new city of Tacoma lacking and highlights the tragic loss of local boys at sea.
- A Brutal Mill Accident at Port Blakely
A mill worker loses his foot to the saw, marking another dangerous day in the Puget Sound timber industry.
- The Clue in the Rubber Boots
A fire in a barn on White River leads to an arrest after a trail of distinct boot prints is discovered.
- A Punch-Up Over a Chambermaid
A political fixer accused of theft turns his ire on a harbormaster who offered unwelcome romantic advice.
Also about this, in other words
- The Tragedy of the Pigeon-Toed Dude
A brief, biting observation from the Seattle Press on the shifting aesthetics of late 19th-century masculinity and fashion.
- The Beachcomber's Grim Find
A duck hunter discovers a severed foot on the shores of Useless Bay, leaving behind a mystery that would never be solved.
- A Tragic Railroad Accident
A young man loses both feet after falling between train cars while riding illegally.
- The Sad Case of the Shoe-Snatching Prisoner
A man’s desperate theft of footwear ends in a courtroom, highlighting the meager choices available to the poor in 1870s Seattle.
- The Deadly Cost of Progress on County Projects
Working 85 feet above the ground with pile drivers, Everett laborers face life-threatening conditions daily.
- The Thief With Two Left Feet
A burglar targeting a downtown clothing store learned the hard way that his loot was perfectly useless.
- Two Workers Lose Feet in Same Week, Win Judgments
A recurring industrial nightmare in Tacoma: employees suffer catastrophic injuries in railroad and rail-related jobs, leading to high-stakes legal battles for compensation.
- The Fatal Nail: A Tragedy in San Juan Valley
A routine repair job on the family farm turns into a fatal struggle with blood poisoning, highlighting the constant vulnerability of life in 1898.