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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1885 | 5 |
| 1886 | 7 |
| 1887 | 4 |
| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 18 |
| 1890 | 3 |
| 1891 | 7 |
| 1892 | 28 |
| 1893 | 31 |
| 1894 | 20 |
| 1895 | 10 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 7 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1903 | 8 |
| 1904 | 16 |
| 1909 | 9 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1915 | 4 |
| 1916 | 5 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1925 | 1 |
216 stories matching trigger
- The Desperate Train Break to Walla Walla
A convicted prisoner attempts to escape his guards while being transported to the state penitentiary, triggering a tense standoff on a moving train.
- The Suicide Machine: An Olympia Pioneer's Meticulous Last Act
A 70-year-old bachelor rigged a gun, a bench and a string in his shed, left a note on a blackboard, and arranged his own death with chilling precision.
- The Mob, The Military, and the Riot at the Seattle Wharf
In February 1886, a citizen-led campaign of forced expulsion against Seattle’s Chinese residents spiraled into a violent confrontation, triggering a week of martial law and armed conflict in the streets.
- Seattle's 1889 Fire Destroys 64 Acres of Downtown
A glue pot disaster in a paint shop levels sixty-four acres of Seattle’s business district, triggering a massive regional relief effort.
- A Deadly Prank at the Blue Front
A malicious false alarm of a plague quarantine triggers a fatal panic in a Seattle dance hall.
- A Seattle Streetcar Killing Sparks Calls for Lynching
A labor dispute turns violent in the streets of Seattle, nearly triggering a riot outside a trolley line's offices.
- Roslyn Bank Robbery Trial Ends in Hung Jury
A retelling of the 1890 bank heist that terrorized a Kittitas County mining town and triggered a high-stakes manhunt.
- Seattle Rebuilds After the 1889 Great Fire
A catastrophic blaze levels the city’s business district, triggering a massive relief effort and ushering in new urban planning.
- The Day Northport Vanished
A single cigarette discarded in a tailor shop behind a saloon triggers a conflagration that consumes the entire business heart of Northport.
- The Mob Violence Trial That Shook 1885 Seattle
A jury acquits a man accused of murdering Chinese laborers in Squak Valley, sparking chaotic courtroom protests.
- The Perpetual Motion Inventor's Wild Night
Dr. Hannibal Mills, a local crank obsessed with his 'perpetual motion' machine, shoots a saloon keeper after a drunken argument.
- A Revolver in the Mouth: Immigration Conflict on the Steamship Mogul
Tensions boil over in Tacoma as federal inspectors clash with ship officers while attempting to enforce strict Chinese exclusion policies.
- The Day Smallpox Walked the Streets: How One Man’s Ignorance Sparked Spokane’s Deadliest Epidemic
A drunk man wandering through downtown Spokane with a rash on his face nearly triggered a disaster that killed hundreds—until a sharp-eyed pharmacist stepped in.
- The Day the Bridge Fell: A Tramp’s Fatal Ride and a Railroad’s Collapse
A westbound freight train on the Northern Pacific line was derailed when a stowaway fell under a car, triggering a chain reaction that plunged nine cars into Hangman's Creek. One man died; the rest were spared.
- Seattle's Justice System Ruled Illegal
A state Supreme Court decision against Tacoma’s police court has triggered a legal crisis in Seattle, leaving local officials scrambling to save the city’s ability to prosecute crime.
- The Trial That Nearly Triggered a Lynching
A Whatcom jury's acquittal of George Bwiloos for a brutal murder left the town in an uproar, sparking a desperate, failed manhunt by local citizens.
- The Great Cascade Washout of 1892
A Chinook wind and torrential rain trigger massive landslides and bridge collapses, paralyzing rail travel across Washington.
- Exposing the Opium Dens of Opera Alley
A local expose reveals that teenage messenger boys are being drawn into the city's opium dens and disreputable houses, triggering a promised police crackdown.
- Dynamite Plot Found on Puget Sound Collier
A meticulously rigged infernal machine, timed to trigger via a rat trap and revolver, was discovered in the hold of the steamer Bawnmore.
- Seattle's Chinese Community Faces Forced Registration
Following a Supreme Court ruling, local merchants express fear, defiance, and uncertainty over the restrictive Chinese Exclusion Act.
- The Commonwealers' Battle for the Rails
Striking workers and the unemployed attempt to travel across Washington via hijacked trains, triggering violent clashes with federal marshals.
- Two Men Asked to Test a Seattle Schooner. Then They Tried to Kill Its Captain.
A would-be buyer and his genteel companion lured Capt. Jud La Moure into Puget Sound, attacked him with a lead sounding weight, and demanded his gold watch—until he produced a hidden revolver.
- The Wooden Revolver That Sprung Tom Blanck
A murderer awaiting appeal in the King County jail used a hand-carved fake gun to force his way past the night jailer, then vanished into the Black River woods as a sheriff's posse rushed south by special train.
- The Shadow of 1885 Lingers in Tacoma
Twenty years after the forced expulsion of the city's Chinese population, rumors of new arrivals trigger threats of vigilante action.
- The Prosser Court House Bond Scandal
Two county commissioners bypassed legal procedure and public objection to rush through a massive $125,000 bond issue, triggering an immediate lawsuit and a firestorm of local outrage.
Also about this, in other words
- The Deadly Logic of the Cabin Trap
A man sets a shotgun trigger to protect his home, with fatal consequences for a stranger.
- Explosion at the Stump
A teamster's narrow escape after a misfired blast in his land-clearing efforts.
- The Sudden Assault in the Carpenter's Shop
A South Tacoma teamster reports a mysterious and violent attack while visiting a friend's workspace.
- A Cable Car Gripmans's Violent Run-In
A cable car operator faces legal trouble after a collision with a child results in a serious infection.
- A Close Call on the Logging Trail
A local sportsman finds his gun jammed while a bear charges, forcing a desperate, makeshift solution.
- Family Terrorized by Disturbed Man
A young man, denied commitment to an asylum, drives his family from their home at gunpoint.
- A Brutal Attack on a Prisoner
An Indigenous man held in the Spokane jail is shot through the bars by an unknown assailant in a cowardly act of violence.
- The Deadly Man-Trap of Whatcom
A man is held without bail after a spring-gun trap set on his property results in a fatal shooting.