Offbeat Oregon History podcast

On April 28, 1938, Federal Writers Project worker Andrew Sherbert sat down with a stocky, rugged-looking 74-year-old prospector and former riverboat captain named W.H. Hembree to talk about his recollections of life in frontier Oregon for a firefighter, sailor, and gold miner. (For text and pictures, see https://www.loc.gov/item/wpalh001950/)

It's nearly certain that Drake was guilty only of extreme naivete — and his landlord, after murdering a neighbor, knew he could pin the crime on him because Drake was black. (Salem, Marion County; 1880s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1801d.joseph-drake-murderer-or-innocent-patsy-480.html)

The big sub was a key part of Oregon history; it fired on Battery Russell in June 1942, tried to light a forest fire with its on-board airplane that September, and sank several merchant ships. (Offshore; 1940s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1101e-Japanese-submarine-blasted-its-way-into-Oregon-history.html)

Danford Balch got drunk and shotgunned his new son-in-law on the deck of the Stark Street Ferry. His diary and official records tell part of the story. But the real questions can only be guessed at — and some of the guesses are sinister indeed. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1850s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1302b-balch-murders-stump-on-stark-street-ferry.html)

Below decks, a chemical fire burned freely through the hold of the Challenger; above deck, her crew worked desperately in a hurricane windstorm to find a port they could put into before the fire broke through the deck. (Columbia River Bar, Clatsop County; 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1602a.challengers-race-with-time-and-fire-377.html)

On Nov. 29, 1938, at the Portland Odd Fellows Home for the Aged, Federal Writers Project worker Walker Winslow sat down with an 86-year-old miner and prospector named Hank Simms to talk about the life of a wandering prospector in the old American West. 'I am a miner, and for 40-50 years I have been tunneling a shaft straight into this poorhouse,' he said. 'You can't call that very good mining. Most miners is fools and I'll bet you that for every dollar lifted off the bedrock in this country two was put back on it.' (For text and pictures, see https://www.loc.gov/item/wpalh001958/)

In the tall tales of 1840s almanacs, the “King of the Wild Frontier” had a lively interest in the Beaver State. But he did get a few of his facts wrong! (Statewide; 1840s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1801c.davy-crockett-tall-tales-about-oregon-479.html)

The shoddily built Portland suburb existed for six years. In that time, it spawned Portland State University and helped bring ethnic diversity to the state. Few people realize how important the place really was. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1940s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1101d-floating-houses-helped-many-survive-vanport-flood.html)

It's an event remembered with some shame in Oregon: A group of innocent, terrified men and women found themselves at the mercy of an angry mob, pawns in a power struggle between a mill owner and a group of townspeople. (Toledo, Lincoln County; 1920s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1302a-toledo-riot-mixed-racism-and-labor-unrest.html)

At great personal risk, Coast Guardsmen had to rescue the skipper twice, because he insisted on staying aboard the stranded steamship to defend its cargo from marauding salvagers. (Columbia River Bar, Clatsop County; 1920s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1601e.shipwreck-laurel-stubborn-captain-376.html)

In March 1938, WPA writer Claire Churchill sat down with Anne Abernethy Starr for an oral-history interview, touching on Abernethy Starr's childhood memories growing up in frontier Portland and working as a draftswoman and as one of Portland's first telephone operators. (Source on Library of Congress Website: https://www.loc.gov/item/wpalh001932/ )

PORTLAND, MULTNOMAH COUNTY - It was the first news helicopter in the nation, and it gave the Oregon Journal a huge advantage. But then, one day ... (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1801b.sam-jackson-helicopter-crash-journal-478.html)

Stories of lost loot and buried booty have kept treasure hunters busy digging for gold in hidden corners of Oregon for the past 150 years. (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1101c-oregon-backcountry-rich-in-legends-of-buried-treasure.html)

Industrial Workers of the World union grew strong in the woods just before the First World War broke out — and the U.S. Army had to teach soldiers to cut timber to get the industry moving again. (Lumber camps, 1910s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1301d-wobblies-come-to-oregon-timber.html)

Before he made it back, Art Lacey had survived a plane crash, bribed a fire department with illegal whiskey, kited a big check and made bitter enemies in Portland City Hall. But hey, all's well that ends well, right? (Milwaukie, Clackamas County; 1940s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1601d.bomber-gas-station-375.html)