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The Offbeat Oregon History Podcast is a daily service from the Offbeat Oregon History newspaper column. Each weekday morning, a strange-but-true story from Oregon's history from the archives of the column is uploaded. An exploding whale, a few 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. Source citations are included with the text version on the Web site at https://offbeatoregon.com.
540 Episodes
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One of the 20th Century’s most influential show-biz men, the Jacksonville native was a Beaver who made it big; he worked on Disney projects and Popeye cartoons and delighted kids as the first Bozo the Clown. (Jacksonville, Jackson County; 1900s, 1910s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1310b-pinto-colvig-pioneer-animator-showbiz-legend.html)
The nationally notorious “Oregon Style” of newspapering involved vicious personal attacks and a take-no-prisoners style of cutting invective; but it was ink being spilled, not blood. That is, until one day in downtown Roseburg ... (Roseburg, Douglas County; 1870s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1306e-bud-thompson-gunfighting-newsman.html)
His teachers may not have appreciated Mel Blanc's humor and talents, but Portland radio listeners sure did — and later, so did generations of Bugs Bunny fans. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1910s, 1920s, 1930s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1112c-voice-of-looney-toons-mel-blanc.html)
If it's true, the 11-ton space rock is still out there — and worth over $300 million. But the guy who says he found it was in financial trouble, and many geologists today suspect he made the whole thing up. (Port Orford, Curry County; 1860s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1112b-port-orford-meteorite-hoax-or-is-it-real.html)
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. Topic: James Lotan's path from political fixer, to state party president, to drug-smuggling kingpin. (For the full story, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2408a-1202d.james-lotan-opium-king-661.161.html)
There were, so far as we know, no survivors. But when the upside-down hulk drifted ashore, it was 200 miles off course — and there was no sign of the 40-pound keg of gold it had been carrying. What happened? Nobody knows. (Columbia River Bar, Clatsop County; 1870s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1112a-missing-gold-makes-mystery-shipwreck-sinister.html)
Shorty Davis was a popular sheepman who one day in 1900 disappeared ... and no one has ever seen a sign of him since. Virtually everyone suspects foul play. (Prineville, Crook County; 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1901b.shorty-davis-coldest-cold-case-mystery-530.html)
It was no 'Heaven's Gate' -- 'The Way West' was more like the 'Ishtar' of the late 1960s. It was spectacularly and expensively shot on location in Oregon, but plans to celebrate its release here foundered in a tidal wave of scathing reviews. (Lane, Deschutes and Lake counties; 1966) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1901a.way-west-movie-spectacular-flop-529.html)
They pedaled their bicycles from Portland to Astoria, snuck aboard a wrecked ocean liner, and spent the night marooned on board, with breakers crashing all around them. (Peacock Spit, Pacific County (Wash.); 1930s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1812d.admiral-benson-shipwreck-summer-vacation.html)
The city business leaders hoped the Shakespeare Festival would do OK, but just in case it tanked, they insisted that it share the stage with a series of prizefights. The boxing matches bombed badly; luckily, the Shakespeare plays did not. (Ashland, Josephine County; 1930s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1704a.shakespeare-festival-vs-boxing.html)
Among musicians and fans of old-time string-band music, Benjamin Franklin Jarrell is basically royalty.
As a member of one of the most influential bands from the golden age of old-time music — DaCosta Woltz’s Southern Broadcasters — old Ben helped preserve that classic Appalachian-mountain style of fiddle-and-banjo string bands. His son, Thomas Jefferson “Tommy” Jarrell, is maybe the most influential old-time fiddle player even today, 40 years after his death.
In Oregon, though, in the years of Ben’s youth, he was a different kind of royalty. The newspapers called him “The King of the Moonshiners.”
And by all accounts, anyone lucky enough to acquire a quart or two of his product had to agree that the title was his.... (Umatilla and Clatsop county; 1910s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2506a.ben-jarrell-king-of-moonshiners-700.519.html)
For more than 40 years, amateurs and pros alike have put forward dozens of theories, many quite plausible and backed with some evidence. But the story seems destined to remain a delicious historical mystery. (Statewide; 1970s, 1980s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1306d-db-cooper-part4-the-theories.html)
The hunt for the man who called himself Dan Cooper started just hours after he disappeared into the night sky with a bag of $20 bills tied to his waist. Did he get away? Did anyone find him? The search continues to this day. (Part 3 of 4 parts) (Portland, Multnomah County; 1970s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1306c-db-cooper-part-3-the-hunt.html)
After demanding four parachutes and a knapsack of $20 bills, the legendary anonymous skyjacker disappeared into the night sky over southwest Washington with $200,000 — touching off a massive manhunt. (Part 2 of 4 parts) (Columbia River, Multnomah County; 1970s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1306b-db-cooper-part-2-the-getaway.html)
History's only unsolved hijacking drama started at Portland International Airport when a nondescript man calling himself 'Dan Cooper' stepped aboard a Boeing 727 bound for Seattle. (Part 1 of a 4-part series) (Portland, Multnomah County; 1970s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1306a-db-cooper-part-1-the-skyjacking.html)
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. Topic: The wonderful tall tales of Hathaway Jones, the legendary Rogue River Wilderness mailman who almost everyone agrees was Oregon's all-time greatest liar/storytller! (For the full story, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2406b.hathaway-jones-countrys-biggest-liar.html)
Ame died in 1874, more than 10 years after President Abraham Lincoln set her free. So, why does her gravestone still identify her as a slave? We'll probably never know. (Corvallis, Benton County; 1870s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1110c-civil-war-didnt-end-slavery-for-oregon-woman-named-ame.html)
When the mercury dropped below 20 degrees for six weeks, a six-inch layer of ice formed on many Willamette Valley lakes — and locals took up ice skating. And five years earlier, it got so cold, a newly built steamship actually cracked in half. (Willamette Valley; 1940s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1705c.ice-skating-cottage-grove-lake-444.html)
Young cowboy David Tucker wanted a share of the loot so he could marry his sweetheart; after he got out of prison, he worked for decades to earn back the trust of both her and their community. (Joseph, Wallowa County; 1890s, 1920s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1305d-former-bank-robber-named-vp-of-bank-he-robbed.html)
In the mid-1870s, a fast-talking East Coast hustler teamed up with a famous half-Native Indian scout to cash in on his fame with a line of dodgy faux-Indian patent remedies — and the Oregon Indian Medicine Co. was born. (Warm Springs Indian Reservation; 1880s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1812c.ka-ton-ka-donald-mckay-warm-springs-indian-medicine.html)
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I love the podcast. Keep up the good work!
hey guys love the podcast but the text and pictures aren't working .
the pictures are not working