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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

00:18:13

The Barlow Family and their walnut trees; also, some...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/27

NOTE: This will be the last of these oral-history readings until at least summer. If you have been enjoying them, please reach out and let me know. — This one is writer Sara B. Wrenn's oral history interview with the great-granddaughter of old Sam Barlow — he of the Barlow Road. They discuss a famous avenue of black walnuts, which are probably the progenitor-trees of every black walnut in the state today; and some twin-sisters hijinks that took place on a riverboat, and changed the destiny of an

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00:14:43

Pendleton Underground was like a secret town below...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/24

SOMETIME IN 1922, a letter came in to the city of Pendleton. Enclosed with it was a bill for $45 — for a set of new Goodyear tires.It seemed the letter writer had come to Pendleton for the annual Pendleton Round-Up and had lost both front tires to the city’s downtown potholes. Pendleton’s potholes were famous, both for their size and for their intractability. They seemed hungry; one filled them up and a few weeks later they were empty again, as if some night-stalking gravel thief had scooped it

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00:10:19

Corvallis veterans heroes of two different Civil Wars

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/23

The farmer was a former Union general; the pastor, an ex-Rebel soldier who once faced his forces on a battlefield. But in Corvallis, they traded enmity for friendship, and blue-vs.-gray for Beavers-vs.-Ducks. (Corvallis, Benton County; 1890s, 1900s, 1910s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1510b.bell-thorp-civil-war-story.360.html)

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00:25:15

Klondike Kate and the Case of the Fake Kitty-Kate...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/22

There is a persistent myth that the 'real Klondike Kate' was a female Mountie named Kate Ryan, and that Kate Rockwell, the dancer, stole her name and reputation. It's a bogus charge, but the real story of Klondike Kate, the Belle of Dawson who later took up a land claim near Brothers and became known as Aunt Kate of Farewell Bend, is way more interesting than the myth. (Brothers, Deschutes County; 1910s, 1920s) (For text and pictures, see

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00:09:19

Unwritten Law cases were not always moral failures

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/21

A Linn County case with a strong element of self-defense, and a Malheur County child-abuse travesty that ended with a shotgun blast, were called Unwritten Law triumphs in the newspapers — but there were differences. (Linn and Malheur County; 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1509d.powell-n-brown-UnLaw.html)

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00:19:14

Ghost stories, superstitions, and Methodist camp...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/20

Part 2 of 2: WPA writer William Haight's oral history interview with Gertrude Balch Ingalls, sister of legendary frontier Columbia Gorge writer Frederic Balch (author of The Bridge of the Gods, and probably the first really important author in Oregon history) recalling ghost stories, common superstitions of frontier folk, and some personal memories of attending weeks-long camp revival meetings. (For the transcript, as well as a good bit of additional content such as song lyrics and original poetry

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00:10:05

Gov. Martin’s 'gestapo' goons played dirty, but...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/17

One-term governor had a team of secret agents working for him, trying to subvert labor unions and ferret out communists; but most of their efforts seemed to end up scoring points for the “other team.” (Salem, Marion County; 1930s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1601a.charles-martin-part3.272.html)

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00:10:57

Gov. Martin, Oregon's own Dr. Doom, tried to run...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/16

The retired major general campaigned as a New Deal Democrat, but dropped the mask almost immediately; seeing every hint of opposition as an existential threat to democracy, he reacted to criticism like a junta dictator. (Salem, Marion County; 1930s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1512d.charles-martin-part2.html)

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00:10:46

Martin was Oregon’s own would-be fascist dictator

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/15

REMEMBER GENERAL JACK D. Ripper, the character from the 1964 movie “Dr. Strangelove; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb”? Can you imagine what might have happened if General Ripper had been elected governor?For Oregonians, just a few years ago, it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch. In 1934, voters elected a retired major general named Charles Henry Martin — known to the soldiers assigned to his care during the First World War as “Old Iron Pants.” And although Martin isn’t known

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00:08:37

Private manhunt ended in cold-blood assassination —...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/14

IT WAS A little after 6 a.m. on June 14, 1907. Dawn was just brightening the decks of the passenger steamer Alliance, docked at the pier in Astoria, when John Bowlsby saw his prey step aboard. He fingered the big .44 in his pocket and tried to stay out of sight, waiting for a chance to make his move. His chance came almost immediately. The marked man was moving away from the crowd of people, and soon he stood in a spot where Bowlsby felt he could get in a good shot without risking hitting any

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00:18:43

A hardshell-Methodist childhood in frontier Oregon...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/13

Part 1 of 2: WPA writer William Haight's oral history interview with Gertrude Balch Ingalls, sister of legendary frontier Columbia Gorge writer Frederic Balch (author of The Bridge of the Gods; no known relation to Danford Balch, btw) including details of a childhood in a strict Methodist home, featuring frequent tent revival meetings and such. (For the transcript, see https://www.loc.gov/item/wpalh001941/ )

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00:10:32

Jane Barnes was Oregon country’s first ‘adventuress’

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/10

ONE OF THE more interesting things about Oregon history is how much of a role “colorful characters” played in it.Until a few dozen years ago, historians didn’t much like talking about the contributions of prostitutes, swindlers, shanghaiers and other underworld characters to Oregon’s history, preferring to talk about brave pioneers and clean-living homesteaders and noble missionaries and such. So it’s no surprise that the name and identity of the first woman of European extraction to set foot in

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00:10:06

Keeping Terrible Tilly lit was dangerous and costly

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/09

QUITE OFTEN, DURING his precious days of shore leave, lighthouse keeper James Gibbs Jr. would meet people who envied him his job. “Must be nice,” they would say, “to have such a cushy government job. Relaxing at the coast, surrounded by scenic beauty, nothing to do but trim wicks and make sure nothing breaks ….”It’s tempting to wonder how long such critics would have lasted on Tillamook Rock Light, where Gibbs was stationed at the time. When the lighthouse closed for good in 1957, only one person

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00:10:32

Builders were hard to hire for scary lighthouse job

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/08

THE EIGHT STRANGERS must have been a little puzzled when they arrived in Astoria, in the fall of 1878. They’d been brought in at considerable expense from far away by the U.S. Lighthouse Board to work on a new lighthouse construction project. But now that they were finally here, they weren’t even allowed to go into town for a drink. They were whisked away, across the river onto the lonesome wilds of the Washington Territory, and put up in an empty lightkeeper’s house at Cape Disappointment. So,

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00:09:30

Tillamook Rock lighthouse ‘ghost’ greeted keeper on...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/07

ON ONE GRIM winter morning, near the end of the Second World War, a young Coast Guard seaman named James A. Gibbs, Jr., was looking apprehensively out over an angry sea from the rail of the 52-foot motor lifeboat Triumph. Far out over the field of towering pyramid-shaped waves, a tiny speck was just coming into view — his destination. “Tillamook Rock,” the boatswain muttered, as a seasick Gibbs silently fought to hang onto his breakfast. “I wouldn’t take that duty on a bet.” Gibbs might not have

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00:13:17

Life among the early Chinese workers in Eastern...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/06

WPA writer Sara B. Wrenn's oral history interview with Portland attorney A.L. Veazie, who grew up in Polk County in the late 1800s, recalling what life was like with the Chinese laborers who were working on railroads and other worksites. Not all his recollections are flattering, but they're not super surprising given that the Chinese were nearly all young, socially ostracized peasant men in a foreign land. (For the transcript, see https://www.loc.gov/item/wpalh001990/ )

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00:09:17

Schooner sailed 120 miles in a gale, full of water

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/03

FROM THE MID-1800s through the runup to the Second World War, lumber schooners were a familiar sight in all Oregon seaports. These were small, simple cargo ships, with shallow drafts so that they could fit across small river bars and in and out of the “doghole” ports of northern California and southern Oregon. In many of these ports, lumber from local sawmills was actually loaded onto the ships with a block and tackle, dangling from something like a zipline, while the crew fought to hold the ship

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00:09:45

When the “Dark Strangler” stalked the streets of...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/02

One of America's first known serial killers, Earle Leonard Nelson preyed on landladies, killing them while they were showing him real estate. By the time he was hanged, he'd slain at least 21 women — including four in Portland. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1920s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1309d-dark-strangler-earle-nelson.html)

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00:11:24

Picture-show murder case quickly turned sordid

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2025/01/01

The “good guy” was a petty swindler. The “wronged woman” was a prostitute and bigamist. And the “innocent victim” was a serial philanderer. By the time the “bad guy” was caught, everybody in Portland just wanted to forget the whole thing. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1509c.bradley-gittings-part2-UnLaw-357.html)

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00:10:35

Cop-killer case helped end mania for Unwritten Law...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2024/12/31

What started out looking like a clean-cut morality play, with a hero, a villain, an innocent victim and a bereaved widow — at Christmastime no less! — quickly turned into a tale of remarkable sordidness as the truth slowly emerged. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1509b.bradley-gittings-part1-UnLaw-356.html)

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613 results

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