x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Offbeat Oregon History podcast

www.offbeatoregon.com (finn @ offbeatoregon.com)

A daily (5-day-a-week) podcast feed of true Oregon stories -- of heroes and rascals, of shipwrecks and lost gold. Stories of shanghaied sailors and Skid Road bordellos and pirates and robbers and unsolved mysteries. An exploding whale, a couple shockingly scary cults, a 19th-century serial killer, several very naughty ladies, a handful of solid-brass con artists and some of the dumbest bad guys in the history of the universe. From the archives of the Offbeat Oregon History syndicated newspaper

history places & travel

All Episodes

00:20:13

Finn on KPNW's Wake Up Call: Silverton's...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/08/03

A recording of a June 2024 on-air conversation with Bill Lundun and Gerry Snyder of the Wake Up Call on Eugene's KPNW Radio AM 1120. Topic: 'Bobbie the Wonder Dog's' 2,500-mile odyssey. Lost in Illinois, the affable collie crossed the Rocky Mountains on foot in the dead of winter, making friends along the way and causing a sensation upon his arrival home again. (For the full story, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2406a-1101a.silverton-bobbie-the-wonder-dog-104.652.html)

en-us

00:14:18

Colorful sea-captain was like an 1800s Han Solo

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/08/01

THERE WAS NO reason why the U.S. Marshal should spend the night on board the cramped, smelly little freight schooner he was in charge of. After all, the ship was anchored in a semi-civilized town — Steilacoom, near Tacoma in the Washington territory — and there were several decent hotels there. The next day he’d have a few hours’ cruise to Seattle, where the ship would be sold to pay the debts of its owner, Captain James “Jemmy” Jones — who was, by a happy coincidence, locked up in a jailhouse over

en-us

00:10:22

Plain-talking preacher made lawmakers squirm

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/31

“Uncle Joab” was the most famous preacher in the West for a reason ... and that reason was pretty much exactly why the pioneer lawmakers found him to be such a lousy fit for the job of Chaplain of the Legislature. Suddenly they were desperate to get rid of him. But, they'd hired him before his salary was in the treasury.... (Salem, Marion County; 1850s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1901d.uncle-joab-powell-political-firsts-2of2.html)

en-us

00:10:13

“Uncle Joab” was West’s most famous preacher

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/30

When the Legislature of the new state of Oregon started looking for someone to serve as the state's first Chaplain of the Legislature, Uncle Joab's name naturally came readily to mind. But it wouldn't be long before they wished they'd never even heard of this plain-speaking, long-preaching circuit rider.... (Near Jefferson, Marion County; 1850s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1901c.uncle-joab-powell-part1.html)

en-us

00:11:08

Oregon System showed way to fight corruption

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/29

After out-of-state interests overplayed their hand and showed how little power locals had in their own state, Populists and renegade Republicans got together to do something about it. The result: The initiative-petition system. (Salem, Marion County; 1890s, 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1612d.oregon-system-initiative-referendum-423.html)

en-us

00:10:55

For country docs, life was colorful and action-packed

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/28

Dr. E.R. Huckleberry came to Tillamook County in 1923, fresh from medical school; by the time he retired, in the 1960s, he could safely say the career he'd chosen had been neither easy nor safe ... but he wouldn't have traded it for anything. (Garibaldi, Tillamook County; 1920s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1903a.country-doctors-huckleberry-537.html)

en-us

00:20:25

Was Anna Schrader the victim of ‘torso murder’?

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/25

JUST BEFORE SUNSET on the evening of April 12, 1946, Milwaukie residents James and Mary Rader were strolling with their friend H.C. Foster along the river by the Wisdom Island Moorage in Oak Grove when they saw a strange parcel swirling in an eddy under the dock.The parcel was about the size of a suitcase, wrapped in burlap and tied up with ropes and wires. It looked like it could be something important — or not. Foster thought not; he said it was probably “a bag of drowned cats” and best left

en-us

00:09:20

Dynamite murder caused by a sordid love triangle

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/24

Someone killed Oliver Kermit Smith with a massive dynamite bomb planted under his car seat ... and police soon figured out who. But did Smith's wife really put the killer up to the job, like a real-life version of Nicole Kidman's character in 'To Die For'? (Portland, Multnomah County; 1950s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1811d.kermit-smith-murder-car-bomb-523.html)

en-us

00:10:13

Range-wars veteran made Oregon famous for wool

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/23

After being nearly killed in a range war, sheep baron Jack Edwards started looking for a more peaceable place to run his operation. He found it in Hay Creek Ranch, near Prineville; and soon after settling in, he proceeded to put Oregon's wool industry on the map. (Near Shaniko, Wasco County; 1890s, 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1811c.sheep-king-jack-edwards-522.html)

en-us

00:09:54

Is Central Oregon’s lost crystal cave just a legend?

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/22

Is there a lost crystal cave in central Oregon somewhere, lined with thousands of quartz crystals? Or is the whole thing just a legend? If it's real, maybe it would be better if we never found out .... (Deschutes and Crook counties, 1890s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1811a.central-oregon-lost-crystal-cave-520.html)

en-us

00:10:39

Linn County had a bloody holiday season in 1895

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/21

In September, deranged housewife Emma Hannah gunned down a dangerously sexy neighbor she suspected of making moves on her husband; then in November, 18-year-old Lloyd Montgomery had a temper tantrum and murdered his parents. (Jordan and Brownsville, Linn County; 1890s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1810a.1812.montgomery-murder.html)

en-us

00:22:11

Finn on KPNW's Wake Up Call: The Wall Street wizard...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/20

A recording of an on-air conversation with Bill Lundun and Gerry Snyder of the Wake Up Call on Eugene's KPNW Radio AM 1120, in May of 2024. Topic: When Thomas Lawson, one of the architects of the Anaconda Copper affair, one of the greatest pump-and-dump swindles in Wall Street history, came to Prineville and used his Wall Street wiles to foil Silver Lake's evil plan to win a baseball tournament. (For the full story, see

en-us

00:13:26

Oregon governor to U.S. President: Drop dead

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/18

IF THERE WERE a category in the Guinness Book of World Records for the state with the crankiest former governor, Oregon would surely hold the title.The state would have earned the record in 1886, when it elected Sylvester Pennoyer. And Pennoyer would have clinched it seven years later with a telegram he shot off to the President of the United States of America telling him, in essence, to mind his own damn business. His precise words: Washington: I will attend to my business. Let the president

en-us

00:11:50

‘Crusade’ collapsed when leaders got too preachy

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/17

The saloon owners won in court, but the temperance ladies absolutely destroyed them in the court of public opinion. Delighted, the preachers and patriarchs who fancied themselves their leaders geared up for victory in the upcoming election ... and seriously overplayed their hand. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1870s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1902d.temperance-wars-4of4-536.html)

en-us

00:11:50

Riot at bar led to charges … but not against rioters

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/16

Angry, surly saloonkeeper Walter Moffett attracted a large, hostile crowd with his harassment of a group of ladies holding a prayer service outside his bar. When the crowd rioted and trashed his saloon, he got the Portland police chief — also a saloon owner — to arrest them for instigating it. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1870s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1902c.temperance-wars-3of4-535.html)

en-us

00:10:54

Stubborn saloonkeeper refused to play nice...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/15

Very few of Portland's saloonkeepers threw firecrackers at the ladies of the Women's Temperance Prayer League and called them 'damn whores' when they came by to hold prayer services at their bars. But, as the old song goes, there's one in every crowd ... and it's usually Walter Moffett of the Webfoot Saloon. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1870s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1902b.temperance-wars-2of4-534.html)

en-us

00:13:26

Portland’s “Temperance War of ’74”: The backstory...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/14

Inspired by the successes of temperance activists back east, a group of Portland ladies decided to join the “crusade against that terrible villain, Demon Rum” and take their message of abstinance out of the churches and into the streets. They may have been surprised by the reaction they got.... (Portland, Multnomah County; 1870s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1902a.temperance-wars-1of4-533.html)

en-us

00:10:15

Wife acquitted of murder after shooting husband

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/11

DAWN WAS ONLY a couple hours away when 33-year-old lumber mill owner Gene Harington got home from a really long night. He pulled into the drive around 5:45 a.m., and immediately proceeded to wake up his pretty young wife, Virginia, along with their two babies (ages 1 and 2). Virginia tucked the two kids back into bed, and after that, an argument ensued. Virginia later said it was a bad one — at one point Gene threatened to kick her out of the house, and at another point he threatened to push her

en-us

00:10:44

When Portland flooded, locals raised the sidewalks

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/10

But in 1861, the worst floods in state history turned the Willamette Valley into one giant half-million-acre lake and swept several burgeoning towns away. And, despite our flood-control dams, someday it will probably happen again. (Willamette Valley; 1860s, 1890s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1704c.willamette-floods-1894-1861-439.html)

en-us

00:10:31

Huge 1934 P-town dock strike paralyzed the state

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/07/09

Half a century of winning labor disputes left the waterfront employers feeling overconfident. When the Portland longshoremen walked out, they expected it would be a repeat of earlier victories for them ... it wasn't. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1930s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1304a-1934-dock-strike-paralyzed-oregon.html)

en-us

613 results

Similar Podcasts

The Old Front Line

Paul Reed

Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Retrospectors

جنود خلدهم التاريخ

ALSUMOOD PODCAST

Film History - Daily

Inception Point Ai

Madonna - Biography Flash

Inception Point Ai