Offbeat Oregon History podcast

Offbeat Oregon History podcast


Latest Episodes

Autobiography of an Oregon Trail pioneer (Part 3 of 3)
January 22, 2024

In 1847, while a lad of 15, Mr. Brown crossed the great prairies and mountains of the Oregon Trail in a wagon train with his father, grandfather, and sundry other relatives. ...

‘Automo-bubble’ a part of Deschutes railroad war
January 19, 2024

SOMETIME IN THE late spring of 1909, at the Oregon Railway and Navigation Companys ticket booth in Portland, a 19-year-old man named Jim Morrell laid down his last $2 for a ticket on the Bailey Gatze

Shipwreck of Brother Jonathan is ground zero in treasure squabble
January 18, 2024

Sidewheel steamers sinking was a major maritime disaster for Oregon; treasure hunters found the gold-laden wreck in 1993...

SPADs, Sopwith Camels made with Oregon spruce
January 17, 2024

The famous First World War aircraft were made of spruce, and ...

Fossil hunters' ‘Bone Wars’ came to Oregon, but just barely
January 16, 2024

It's probably just as well that no actual dinosaur bones were found here...

Autobiography of an Oregon Trail pioneer (Part 2 of 3)
January 15, 2024

In 1847, while a lad of 15, Mr. Brown crossed the great prairies and mountains of the Oregon Trail in a wagon train with his father, grandfather, and sundry other relatives....

State government was ‘decapitated’ by crash
January 12, 2024

When it came out just after the war, the Beechcraft Bonanza was the hottest private plane in the sky a sleek, speedy, fuel-efficient hot rod. But...

“Wonder Dog’s” 2,500-mile odyssey put Silverton on the map
January 11, 2024

Lost in Illinois, the affable collie crossed the Rocky Mountains on foot in the dead of winter

Gun-toting ‘Wildcat’ was nation’s first ‘shock jock’
January 10, 2024

Robert Gordon Duncan was the first radio broadcaster ever to be sent to prison for cursing on the air. For the first six months of 1930, the entire city was riveted to his radio show,...

Portland ‘jitney wars’ were monopoly vs. small-biz
January 09, 2024

Regular motorists would swing by streetcar stops and offer to take passengers faster and in greater comfort for the same nickel. But...