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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 8 |
| 1893 | 5 |
| 1894 | 7 |
| 1895 | 11 |
| 1899 | 2 |
50 stories matching tramp
- The Political 'Tramp' Hits the Streets
A new reform journal emerges in Seattle, embroiled in the bitter factionalism of the People’s Party and the city's complex political machinery.
- A Railroad Depot's Unlikely New Recruit
A stowaway cat found at the Northern Pacific depot secures a new life as a mouser after surviving a dangerous journey on the trucks of a Pullman car.
- The Electrified Rescuer
A Ballard grocer and a constable lose their suspect when a woman claiming to be possessed by electricity intervenes.
- The Tramp Who Demanded Breakfast
A gentleman in a suburban cottage tried to shoo away a prowler from his back yard, only to discover the intruder was waiting for his morning meal at the front door.
- The 'Vagrant' Scourge of 1878
A Victorian-era editorial attempts to pathologize poverty and social instability in frontier Seattle by blaming 'tramps' and theft for the city’s growing pains.
- Unnamed Drifter Saves Girl from Drowning
A homeless man risked his life to pull a young girl from the water near the Great Northern tracks, only to walk away and spend the reward money on liquor.
- The End of the Chain Gang in Seattle
City officials move to retire the practice of using prisoners for manual street labor, shifting to rock-breaking in a bid to deter professional tramps.
- The Professional Tramp and His Seven Languages
A recurring visitor to the Post-Intelligencer office earns his keep with tall tales, Shakespearean quotes, and a refined taste for cocktails.
- The Tramp-Jail Breakout on the Waterfront
A routine arrest for vagrancy at the Seattle railyards escalated into a chaotic chase, drawing a crowd of hundreds to witness the struggle.
- Memorial Day 1896: A Governor, a Nativist Oration, and Thirty Graves in the Rain
Seattle's Civil War remembrance became a stage for anxiety over unemployed marchers and foreign-born workers, while veterans decorated Lake View Cemetery under a steady downpour.
- Seattle's Vagrancy Sweep: Work, Leave Town, or Jail
A late-night police roundup netted more than thirty tramps, beggars, and tinhorn gamblers, who were given a lecture and a three-way choice: work, leave town, or jail.
- South Seattle Laborer Stabbed Over a Nickel
A brickmaker at Lohse's brick yard was attacked by a vagrant after refusing to hand over money for transit.
- He Walked 600 Miles for Work—Then Seattle Called Him a Tramp
In a letter to the editor, Harry Wright defends the men sleeping at the City Mission, tracing his path from a Missoula hotel job to six weeks broke in Seattle.
- The School Fire Drill Revolution
Seattle’s fire chief praises the rapid evacuation of public schools, where students now clear buildings in under two minutes.
- The Queen Anne Scandal: A Tramp’s Slander and the ‘Black Paws’ of Seattle
When a wandering journalist accused a local girl of plunging her cat into flour dough, it sparked a chaotic street confrontation on Queen Anne Hill that revealed the raw tensions of early 20th-century Seattle.
- The Tramp Economy of Early Seattle
A reporter encounters a 'bummer' among the weeds of Mission Bay, revealing the harsh, transient reality of laborers who roamed the Pacific Coast in the 1870s.
- The Boarding-House Brawl
A South Seattle landlord takes matters into his own hands after being swindled by a fake engineer.
- The Uncharted Sphere of a Seattle Businesswoman
A local female shopkeeper in 1872 challenges the rigid gender expectations of the era through quiet, competent labor.
- Late Night Assault at a Front Street Restaurant
A restaurant cook survives an assault after being struck with a revolver by a man who infiltrated the back of the establishment.
- A Seattle Fish Firm Fires Its Chinese Workers — and the Paper Cheers
In 1877, Tull & Co. dismissed all of its Chinese employees and hired white men in their place, a move the Dispatch celebrated as patriotism.
- The Eccentric Professor: A Man of Culture Lost in the Streets
An itinerant lecturer with 'peculiarities' captivates Seattle crowds, leaving locals to wonder if he is a genius or just mad.
- The Chicken Hustle of Old Seattle
An enterprising pair of thieves managed to con a local woman out of her own dinner in a brazen backyard heist.
- A Hunter's Tragic Accident in Mercer Island Woods
A machinist's quiet day of hunting ends in a life-altering industrial-style accident.
- The Oxford of the Pacific Northwest
A traveling correspondent visits Seattle's Territorial University, witnessing a thriving center of learning and a student body embracing the 'equal rights mania.'
- The Men Who Asked to Be Jailed for Shelter
As unemployment rises in the winter of 1886, the city jail becomes the last resort for laborers seeking shelter and a crust of bread.