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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 9 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 2 |
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| 1887 | 3 |
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| 1889 | 12 |
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| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 1 |
155 stories matching vest
- Hops of Port Blakely: The Cast-Off Clothes Protégé Who Saved a Captain
A Post-Intelligencer reporter hears from John Corbett how an Indigenous man named Williams earned a lifetime of beer, boarding-house meals, and the run of the Port Blakely mill.
- The Bullet and the Bankroll: A Saloon Feud on Pike Street
A Seattle land swindler survived an assassination attempt at the Abbott House, thanks to a well-placed $20 gold piece in his vest pocket.
- The Constable and the Club
A Snoqualmie lawman claims self-defense in a Christmas Eve shooting.
- The Railroad's Land Grab: How Northern Pacific Hoarded Snohomish’s Future
A local resident exposes the legal loopholes allowing the railroad to retain millions of acres in Western Washington, arguing that this concentrated ownership is strangling settlement and keeping land prices artificially high.
- The Confidence Game on the Kalama-Tacoma Line
A traveler from Missouri lost his life savings to a smooth-talking stranger on a train, proving that 'confidence men' were a perennial threat to those passing through the region.
- State Supreme Court Upholds Lake Washington Canal Contract, Clearing the Way for Tide-Land Transformation
The Washington Supreme Court rules that the Lake Washington Waterway Company's contract to dig a canal and fill tide lands is constitutional, rejecting a landowner's challenge and affirming the state's power to remake the waterfront.
- The Confession That Stunned the Bench: A Stevedore’s Shameful Theft
In a Tacoma courtroom, Fred Wells didn't just admit to stealing from his sleeping bunkmate—he detailed how he lived like a king on stolen cash before being caught red-handed.
- The Fight Over Who Gets to Count King County's Money
County commissioners hire outside experts to comb the treasurer's books, brushing aside the prosecuting attorney's claim to the job.
- The $6,000 Wallet That Vanished From Under a Pillow
Milton Wood locked his door at the Vendome, left his pocketbook under his pillow, and woke to find $6,000 in cash and notes gone—with no sign of forced entry.
- The Watch Thief of Front Street
A desperate thief snatched a gold watch from a construction site, triggering a neighborhood chase that ended in a vacant lot.
- The Price of Dirt in Washington
A Senate debate on land values turns into a bragging contest about the Pacific Northwest's booming real estate market.
- The Corset Clerk's Nightmare: A Beaver Dam Prank Gone Wrong
In a tale of mistaken identity and trembling knees, a young man’s attempt to escort a famous lecturer ends in panic when he is led to believe he must be measured for lingerie.
- The Unintended Comedy of a Seattle Home-Grown Play
A young Seattle playwright attempts a 'powerful' American drama, only to accidentally create a farcical scene involving nightshirts, chin-wiping, and a very confused father-in-law.
- The Wharf King’s Victory: Yesler Wins Millions in Land Battle
Judge Lichtenberg rules that the state cannot seize waterfront property without paying just compensation, halting the Harbor Line Commission and protecting H.L. Yesler’s empire.
- The Great Vancouver Land War
A government ruling unravels decades of competing claims between the St. James Mission, the U.S. Military, and the heirs of Amos Short over the heart of Vancouver.
- The State Paid the Troops That Faced the Coal Riots
Washington's Supreme Court ruled that militia sent to Gilman, Franklin and Newcastle during the 1891 coal-mine troubles acted in the state's service — and the state, not King County, had to pay.
- The Abandoned Wife of Seattle's Founder
Dr. David S. Maynard claimed 640 acres in Seattle, then secretly divorced his wife of 24 years to marry another—a legal battle that exposed the heartless machinations of the city's early days.
- A Son Takes the Stand Against His Father in a Seattle Murder Trial
Prosecutors in the second Wilcox trial alleged that Charlotte Fetting's murder was a conspiracy involving her son-in-law—and the witnesses included the son-in-law's own teenage son.
- The Test Case for Chinese Exclusion
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear the Chae Chan Ping case, the lives and property rights of Chinese laborers in Washington hang in the balance.
- The Great Tide Land Tug-of-War
Delegates at the Washington Constitutional Convention debate whether to reserve the state's waterfronts for the public or sell them to private interests.
- Two Governors, One Island, and a War Called Off by Letter
Gen. W. S. Harney writes to Queen Victoria's man at Victoria to explain why United States infantry are dug in on San Juan; Gov. James Douglas writes back hoping no 'collision' follows. The boundary quarrel that became the Pig War, in the principals' own words.
- The Forgotten Wife of Seattle: Dr. Maynard’s Double Life
A landmark land dispute in 1872 reveals how the territorial government attempted to erase the existence of Dr. David S. Maynard's first wife, Lydia, to secure a donation claim for his second family.
- The Privatization of Seattle's Waterfront
The Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad declares exclusive ownership over tide lands south of King Street, locking the public out of the harbor.
- The Paper Trail That Went Up in Smoke
A King County tax assessor admitted that sworn property records were routinely burned, sparking a public outcry over local fiscal transparency.
- The Unsolved Murder of John Smith
A Scottish laborer is found beaten to death on the roadside, his pockets empty and his identity a mystery to the local coroner’s jury.
Also about this, in other words
- The Iron-Molded Suit: When Tailors Pressed Clothes Onto Your Body
A bizarre new fashion trend in Seattle has women wrapping themselves in hot irons to 'mold' their suits into shape.
- The Solitary Tailor’s Winter Plea
A brief, wistful moment in 1884 Seattle captures the isolating struggle of early frontier life through a tailor’s longing for a coat.
- The Sheriff’s Shabby Costume: A Prisoner’s Trick to Escape the Penitentiary
In a bizarre twist of early Washington Territory justice, a sheriff attempted to smuggle a prisoner into the territorial penitentiary by disguising him in shabby clothes. The trick failed, but not before the warden made a memorable quip.
- The Tailor-Made Confidence Man
A clever grifter leaves a trail of unpaid bills and stolen suits across North Seattle.
- The Radical Defense of Sweat Equity
In an 1876 editorial, a fierce local voice challenges the city’s idle wealthy to stop 'illustrating fashion's caprices' and embrace the dignity of physical labor.
- The Spokane Racket Over Male Attire
When an amateur actress faced a local scandal for wearing pants on stage, the press stepped in to defend the choice as both traditional and modest.
- The Queen City Brass Band's High-Stakes Ballroom Dance
In an era of strict social decorum, a Seattle brass band hosts an 'apron and necktie' ball at the Court House, strictly barring 'disreputable characters' to fund their new uniforms.
- The 'Green Goods' Confidence Trick
A Tacoma woman narrowly avoids a total swindle only to have her money snatched in a daring streetcar exchange.