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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

00:09:04

Mount Angel Abbey owes grandeur to colorful monk

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/25

Jovial and gregarious, Adelhelm Odermatt locked his sights on a vision of a hilltop monastery — and then deployed himself like a jovial, glad-handing, never-sleeping bombshell to make it happen. It was a near thing, but he pulled it off. (Mt. Angel, Marion County; 1880s, 1890s, 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1505c.adelhelm-odermatt-mt-angel-abbey-339.html)

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00:09:22

‘Unwritten Law’ no help for man who murdered his...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/24

“Amsterdam Jack” Murray claimed it was all a misunderstanding, but the jury obviously suspected he'd intended to murder his wife's brother all along; then the appeals court learned he was a bigamist to boot. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1880s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1709d.john-murray-murders-brother-in-law-462.html)

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00:09:33

Frontier murder was even darker than it appeared

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/23

When first reported, it looked like a simple murder-suicide. But it quickly became clear that it was something far more sinister — and the motives of the killer were uglier and more sordid than anyone had thought possible. (Brownsville, Linn County; 1860s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1708d.sidney-barbara-smith-murders-458.html)

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00:11:37

Pixieland and Oregon's midcentury culture

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/20

Jerry and Lu Parks envisioned a “fairy-tale history of Oregon” in the form of an amusement park. What they created was a rich cultural artifact, and a treasured childhood memory for a generation of Oregonians. (Otis and Lincoln City, Lincoln County; 1960s, 1970s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1709c.pixieland-old-oregon-cultural-artifact-461.html)

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00:10:40

‘Daredevil Al’ Fossett was Evel Knievel of the ’20s

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/19

The former logger tried to cash in on his knack for boat design and total lack of normal fear by paddling over waterfalls: Willamette Falls, Celilo Falls, South Silver Falls. But although he got famous, he never managed to get rich. (Silver Falls State Park, Marion County; 1920s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1708c.al-faussett-waterfall-running-daredevil-457.html)

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00:10:39

West’s first female lawyer:A legal Mother Teresa?

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/18

The real Mary Leonard was probably someone who had given up “the good life” after realizing, during her time in jail, that the powerless women of her time were getting a raw deal — and determined to do something about it. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1205d-mary-leonard-legal-mother-teresa.html)

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00:09:27

Pioneering “lady lawyer” deserved a better legacy

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/17

Had Mary Leonard died in 1890, she'd be remembered as she really was — a brilliant orator and an inspiration to future Oregon women and attorneys. But fate let her live another 20 years, during which she devolved into a total nut case. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1890s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1205b-mary-leonard-murder-trial-part2.html)

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00:07:35

Acquitted murder suspect became first ‘lady lawyer’

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/16

Many historians, eager to see in her the caricature of the nagging, garrulous fishwife and gold-digging black widow, have missed the real story of Mary Leonard — and done both her, and the historical record, a disservice. (The Dalles, Wasco County; 1880s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1205b-mary-leonard-murder-trial-part1.html)

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00:10:52

Fiery explosive shipwreck gave Boiler Bay its name

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/13

A MILE OR two north of the picturesque little Central Coast town of Depoe Bay, there’s a little unassuming wide spot at the side of Highway 101 where you can pull off the road and park. There are a couple trails leading down to the sea from that spot, and at very low tides you’ll often see people there, climbing over the ridge and picking their way down to the rocky, forbidding shore below.You’ll also sometimes see one of them stop to get a photo of a really incongruous thing at the top of the

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00:10:35

Bob Straub stopped plan to put highway on the beach

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/12

State treasurer Straub was a regular visitor to the state park through which the highway department wished to route the main Oregon Coast arterial. He took one look at the department's plans — and declared war. (Nestucca Spit, Tillamook County; 1960s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1708b.bob-straub-saves-nestucca-spit-456.html)

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00:07:50

Shanghaied in Astoria: A once-perilous port city

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/11

Desperate for men, shanghai artists once tried to kidnap the local Methodist minister. He turned out not to be as soft a target as they'd anticipated. (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1203d-astoria-once-hotbed-of-shanghaiing.html)

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00:09:45

Secretary imposed martial law on rowdy town

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/10

Don't be fooled: Fern Hobbs was a secretary in the “Secretary of Defense” sense of the word. A practicing attorney, she was the highest-paid woman in public service. Copperfield's city fathers thought they could charm her ... they were wrong. (Copperfield, Baker County; 1910s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1708a.copperfield-affair-oswald-west-martial-law-455.html)

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00:10:43

Legislators shut down Salem with a raging party

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/09

The six-week-long drunken party was thrown by the notoriously rascally Jonathan Bourne Jr. to keep the state Legislature from convening, so it couldn't elect John H. Mitchell to the U.S. Senate. It worked — well, sort of.(For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1201e-bourne-40-day-party-stopped-legislature.html)

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00:08:56

Wolf Creek Tavern was a refuge for Hollywood stars

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/06

THERE WERE TIMES, during Hollywood’s golden age, when Clark Gable simply couldn’t be found anywhere.Studio executives would search frantically for the top-shelf star, needing to talk to him about a project and facing a tight deadline. He’d be gone. In fact, he’d be fly-fishing on the Rogue River in Oregon, while staying in a small inn that today is the oldest continually operating hotel in the entire Pacific Northwest: The Wolf Creek Tavern. Clark wasn’t the only Hollywood bigshot in on the

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00:08:36

How Marie Dorion earned title ‘Oregon’s Revenant’...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/05

Marooned in a frozen winter wasteland after a hostile tribe attacked and killed everyone else, she kept herself and her two children alive through the winter and then led them home to safety. (Snake River basin; 1810s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1707c.marie-dorion-oregons-revenant-part3-452.html)

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00:11:39

Astorian party’s decision to follow river proved...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/04

Charged with blazing a trail to the West Coast, the voyageurs in the party decided to paddle down a strange river, hoping for an easy ride to the sea. Only the charity of local Native American tribes saved them all from starvation. (Snake River wilderness; 1810s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1707b.marie-dorion-astorian-party-part2-451.html)

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00:09:46

Marie Aioe Dorion was a wilderness-survival ninja...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/03

As the Native American bride of a French-Canadian interpreter, she joined the Astorian Party on its overland voyage to Oregon to set up a trading post on the Columbia River. Did she know what they were getting into? (Snake River area, 1810s - Part 1 of 3 parts) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1707a.marie-dorion-part1-450.html)

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00:07:50

Legendary Civil War ship met a sad end in Coos Bay

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/02/02

During its glory days, the Gertrude was the fastest blockade runner in the Confederate fleet. But just 17 years later, it was just another dumpy old steamer on a lowly coastwise run, wrecked in what was probably an insurance-fraud scheme. (Coos Bay, Coos County; 1880s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1310a-gussie-telfair-shipwrecked-warrior.html)

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00:08:21

Dispute over 'McQuinn Strip' lasted more than a...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/01/30

The dispute over the McQuinn Strip was no simple neighborhood kerfuffle. The amount of land in dispute was roughly 80,000 acres — close to 10 percent of the whole Warm Springs Indian Reservation. And the dispute burned hot for 101 years.Not until 1972 did Congress finally do the right thing and pass legislation giving it back. And even then, there were still people in the government (notably the Forest Service) who didn’t want to do it. (For text and pictures, see

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00:06:56

Dispute over Indians’ land lasted for 101 years (Part...

Offbeat Oregon History podcast ·

2026/01/29

IF THERE IS an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest active land dispute, it has to belong to the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Indians in central Oregon. But maybe it wouldn’t count for the record, as the land was only in dispute for the first 16 of those years. The whole rest of the time was taken up trying to get the government to follow the law and give the stolen land back. (For text and pictures, see

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643 results

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