Maud Wagnon’s State Penitentiary mug shots. (Image courtesy of Washington State Archives)

Many people associate our State Archives and State Library with old government documents and historic books and collections that are like gold to genealogists and history buffs.

But many of those documents and collections kept by the Archives and Library also tell fascinating stories.

One example focuses on an Oregon woman named Maud Wagnon (aka Maud Johnson), who defrauded interurban railroads more than a century ago, earning her the nickname “Queen of the Fakers.”

The State Library’s state publications collection includes an old wanted prisoner catalog from 1913. The State Digital Archives has the digital copy. Recently, Logan Camporeal, an Eastern Washington University graduate intern who works at the Archives’ Eastern Regional Branch in Cheney, came across the story about mischievous Maud, the only female convict listed in the document, while doing research for this Treasures of the Archives story.

Logan shared his story about the con artist with KNKX Radio (formerly KPLU). The NPR station recently did a story on the turn-of-the-century swindler. You can listen to the audio version of the story here. (Go to the 5:06 mark to hear Logan’s story.)