Offbeat Oregon History podcast

Tiny Willow Creek became a wall of water, swept away a third of the town and killed 247 people; one out of every 6 Heppner residents died that day. It was the worst non-dam-related flash flood in U.S. history. (Heppner, Morrow County; 1900s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/H1004c_HeppnerFlood.html)

Everybody had gold in Jacksonville, and nobody wanted to pack it around, and the bank had no access to outside markets where it could be invested. So, instead of paying interest, they charged a storage fee on all deposits. (Jacksonville, Jackson County; 1850s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1611a.jacksonville-where-bank-robs-you-416.html)

Entrepreneurs figured out how to send power over relatively long distances for the first time in history, established DC service to Portland; later, after a flood wiped out power station, they pioneered alternating-current transmission. (Oregon City, Clackamas County; 1880s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1201a-oregon-city-home-of-worlds-first-power-grid.html)

Lumber magnate Simon Benson needed to get logs from the Columbia to his mill in Southern California, so he designed cigar-shaped log rafts a full acre in size. They were a familiar sight until the early 1940s. (Columbia Slough, Columbia County; 1940s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1202c-benson-log-rafts-built-city-of-san-diego.html)

Wild with grief over the death of one daughter, and convinced he had seduced her other daughter, Caroline Briggs attacked schoolteacher John Dalmater in front of his class, shouting 'Shoot the son of a bitch' -- and her son, who'd accompanied her, did so. (Kerbyville, Josephine County; 1870s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1808b.caroline-and-david-briggs-UL-murder-508.html)

Lit up from stem to stern like a torch, the wooden steam schooner J.Marhoffer slammed into the rocks after its crew pointed it landward and abandoned ship; its rusty boiler is still visible at low tide. (Boiler Bay, Lincoln County; 1910s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/H1004b_BoilerBay.html)

Thomas Condon didn’t set out to become a geologist; he was a Congregationalist minister with a hobby of collecting fossils. And although over the years his hobby took over, he never lost touch with his ministerial kindliness. (Oregon Caves, Josephine County; 1880s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1610e.thomas-condon-oregon-caves-415.html)

Bafflingly, the Coast Guard's biggest rescue boat on the Columbia River Bar was one that hadn't been designed to survive a rollover. So, in early 1961, it didn't — and neither did five members of its six-man crew. (Columbia River Bar, Clatsop County; 1960s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1201d-triumph-coast-guard-disaster-2.html)

Mammoth seas on the legendary Columbia River Bar, plus the untimely removal of a vital piece of life-saving gear by short-sighted military brass, cost the lives of five Coast Guardsmen that night. (Columbia River Bar, Clatsop County; 1960s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1201c-triumph-disaster-coast-guard-columbia-bar.html)

The Frishkorn family lived with two boarders, who paid the rent in exchange for board. Then they found out the boarders expected something else, too ... a fight broke out — and was ended by the roar of a double-barreled shotgun. (Manhattan, Clatsop County; 1880s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1807e.girl-defended-her-family-with-a-shotgun-506.html)

... a fisherman brought them ashore two by two in his rowboat. (Port Orford, Curry County; 1940s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/o1112d-dory-fisherman-rescues-shipwrecked-sailors.html)

For the art students and pop-culture aficionados lined up, the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see and meet the “Peter Pan of Pop Art” turned out to be merely a chance to be the butt of one of his irreverent pranks. (Lane and Yamhill County; 1960s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1610c.andy-warhol-punks-oregon-413.html)

The faraway (from Hollywood) rustic haven provided Golden Age stars a place to get away from the pressure of fame and career, and gave famous writers a peaceful place to get work done. (Wolf Creek, Douglas County; 1920s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/H1004aa_WolfCreekTav.html)

Legendary Coast Guard lifesaver took his brand-new rescue boat dangerously close to shore to save four drowning people; hundreds of people were watching and cheering, but USCG brass wanted to bust him for risking the boat. (Newport, Lincoln County; 1950s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1202b-mcadams-legendary-coast-guard-rescuer.html)

For centuries, mysterious chunks of beeswax have been washing up on Oregon beaches. Scholars have finally learned, with about 99 percent certainty, that the ship it's coming from was the San Cristo de Burgos, a Spanish galleon that disappeared in 1693. (Nehalem Spit, Clatsop County; 1690s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1807d.beeswax-wreck-mystery-solved-505.html)