Offbeat Oregon: How a banana peel changed the course of Oregon history
On your next visit to the beach, you might want to bring along a banana. One of these humble fruits played a small but important part in the historical chain of events that led to the state’s beaches ...
Offbeat Oregon: Confederate refugees made big changes in state politics
The urban-rural divide in Oregon is something that’s gotten quite a bit of press recently, after a group of Republicans left the state to deny a quorum for a bill they opposed. But it’s a ...
Offbeat Oregon: 1890s ‘Hold-Up Session’ featured giant house party
At the time of this writing, the Oregon Legislature was stuck, unable to do anything; a group of lawmakers had gone off to Idaho for the express purpose of denying the legislature’s leaders ...
Offbeat Oregon: Bungling attempt marked end of shanghaiing era
The election of 1904 didn’t end the practice of shanghaiing in Portland, but it did put a huge and (eventually) fatal dent in it. Offbeat Oregon Finn J.D. John, an instructor at OSU, ...
Offbeat Oregon: In regulation attempt, Oregon granted shanghaier monopoly
Things were looking a bit grim for former Welterweight Champion of the World William “Mysterious Billy” Smith and his partners in almost-crime, brothers Harry and Jim White. Offbeat ...
Offbeat Oregon: World champion boxer by day, shanghaier by night
In 1903, shanghaier Larry Sullivan was at the height of his power in Portland. Hard-fisted and belligerent, yet socially polished and with what passed in old Portland society for refined manners, ...
Offbeat Oregon: Portland’s ‘Shanghai Tunnels’ mainly myth, but not entirely
One of the most popular tourist attractions for visitors to Portland is a tour of the “Shanghai Tunnels” that run beneath Old Town’s streets. Offbeat Oregon Finn J.D. John, ...
Offbeat Oregon: Diamond Bill had a way with heiresses
Every now and then, one runs across a man who can sweet-talk absolutely anyone into anything. Such a man was William “Diamond Bill” Barrett Jr., the black sheep of a solid, respectable ...
Offbeat Oregon : Station keeper’s cowardice cost 11 sailors their lives
Tales of the heroism of U.S. Lifesaving Service rescue boat crews (and their successors in the Coast Guard) are so frequent as to be almost unremarkable. After all, theirs is a job that attracts ...
Offbeat Oregon: Trappers’ disappearance had relatives suspecting foul play
As the first day of March 1924 arrived, L. Sarah Wilson’s worry and alarm mounted. Something had happened. Something bad. Her son, 36-year-old Harry “Roy” Wilson, had promised ...
Offbeat Oregon: Old-time millworkers and loggers were a hardy lot
Nearly everyone whose family has been in Western Oregon for more than one or two generations has an older male relative who’s missing some parts — one or more fingers perhaps, or part ...
Offbeat Oregon: ‘Beautiful pelt’ would have been best admired from afar
One of the most appealing aspects of life in rural Western Oregon, around the middle of the last century, was the wildlife. Loggers and mill workers in places like Valsetz and Wendling might not ...
Offbeat Oregon: ‘Prepaid shanghaiing’ went badly amiss when victim died
Most of the time, the shanghaiing of sailors in old Astoria and Portland was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing. It was resorted to when a ship captain needed a crew for an imminent departure, ...
Offbeat Oregon: In 1916, Umatilla’s mayor got an election day surprise
It was around 2 p.m. on Election Day, in December of 1916, that Umatilla’s mayor, E.E. Starcher, first discovered that he was not running unopposed for re-election. Offbeat Oregon Finn ...
Offbeat Oregon: Letter to traveler's family told of his unfortunate end
Letter from afar gave young traveler’s family a view to a shanghaiing Sometime around 1885 or 1886, a handsome-but-diffident-looking young man named Carroll Beebe got on a westbound ...