At the beginning of the 20th century, the most violent city in the Pacific Northwest was Aberdeen, Washington. It was a “roaring” town, full of itinerant sailors, lumberjacks and longshoremen, with accompanying saloons and brothels. Fights and accidental drownings in town were common, with dozens of bodies (“floaters”) found in the harbor every year.
Workers also suffered outrageously high levels of occupational injury and death, due to intensely pressured working conditions and lack of safety equipment or care taken by the employers. Wages were very low. ...