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2014 Hidden Portland Museum Guide
I would like to draw your attention to the Portland “Museum Lady,” Carye Bye. Carye has become a real Portland treasure, and I am delighted to have made her acquaintance. Her insatiable curiosity has...
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Portland by Night
The Evil Deeds of Darkness An Evening in Whitechapel and Its Celebrated Resorts of Crime and DissipationThis article was written by an unnamed Oregonian reporter and appeared in the Sunday Oregonian,...
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Jim Turk and God
What I hope my readers will find as fascinating as I did is this, another first hand report of Jim Turk boarding a ship on its arrival in Portland. The incident takes place around 1880 and the teller...
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The Ballad of the Flying Prince
This being my 100th post I will wax poetic. What I offer below is my own weak attempt to turn one of Portland's undying pieces of folklore B.S. into folk song. I have turned this lyric over to some...
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The King of Swan Island
In mid-April 1861 a group of local lads formed a boating club, which they named the “Regatta Club.” It so happened that about this time the Willamette River went into a semi flood stage, and a...
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Portland Nostalgia Served Cold
I spend more time reading old newspapers than anything else. I suppose I should moderate my obsession at some point, but I keep being rewarded with stories that unfold in my imagination in a way that...
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In and Around the Sanitarium
I have been away from my beloved blog for many days. The story of why would be boring for you to hear, and painful for me to tell (involves--among other things--a new, titanium knee). So here, then, by...
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The Sinking of the Flor
--This is another in the continuing story of my adventures in the grain trade.--Into the 1980s the Portland grain docks would occasionally see an old steamship. Only an expert in maritime finance...
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Hacking, 1883 Style
In the days when the telegraph was the primary medium of information exchange there would be, in certain cities, saloons with names like, "The Turf Exchange" where bets could be placed on far off horse...
View ArticleBunko Kelly's Music Video
I needed to get this done so I could spend more time on my newest book (due in March). I still don't feel like publicizing the topic, since it is a little weird for me to show interest in such goings...
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The Riversdale Incident
The full-rigged ship, RiversdaleBack in the palmy days of the Portland sailor’s boarding masters the occasional landlubber that was shipped was small fry compared to the steady trade in deserting...
View ArticleShanghaied in Portland, Oregon
Some of you may be familiar with this story of a young logger named Scrumpy who visits the big city for a good time and ends up becoming a sailor. Either Youtube or my video had technical problems--it...
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A Bit of an Update
--This just in -- It looks like July 10th is a big day for me. --This just in -- It looks like July 10th is a big day for me. I will be giving a talk at Powell's in the evening, and that morning I will...
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Can Any Good Thing Come From San Francisco?
The title to the first chapter of my book, The Oregon Shanghaiers, is: “Can Any Good Thing Come From San Francisco.” Some readers may have found this either somewhat insulting, or confusing, so I hope...
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A Most Barbarous and Disgraceful Proceeding
While looking into the previously mentioned invasion of “Sydney Ducks” into San Francisco, and the subsequent rise of lynchings and other forms of vigilantism, I stumbled on the following brief article...
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Announcement
Kick Ass InterviewFor you who missed the broadcast here is the interview I did with Doug Kinck-Crispin dispelling some myths of old Portland. Give it a listen!Coming up!Thursday July 10thIn the...
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Fragment: Malachi not Mikola
I have noticed how mistakes will sometimes be picked up and repeated in history books and articles. One mistake that is repeated in a number of books and articles on Oregon’s shanghaiers is L.M....
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Time Traveler On TV
The big announcement/reminder is this:Tomorrow I will be interviewed on KATU Channel 2 AM Northwest at 9 AMThen that evening I will be speaking atPowell's City of Books downtown at 7:30I will be so...
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Powell’s City of Books Experience
I want to thank everyone who came for helping to make last night wonderful thing (to paraphrase a Steely Dan lyric). I would say that it was "awesome," but I am no longer a teenager.From the young man...
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The End of Summer—and a new book in time for the Holidays
As the sky takes on more red color, causing the little green plants to spurt forth buds, and the year turns toward Indian Summer I find it necessary (at least for my own conscience sake) to give some...
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Asthmatic Weakling Writes Book on Prizefighting in Portland
It is true, an asthmatic weakling, who used to regularly give up his lunch money as tribute to bullies, has written a book on prizefighting. Not only this, History Press has just published it! Oregon...
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The First Girl "Mysterious" Billy Smith Ever Loved
To cover discoveries not directly connected to the old waterfront I have started a new blog, Oregon Ozone. I stole the name from an Oregonian column from the 1890s.The first girl “Mysterious” Billy...
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Update on an Update
My "static, HTML5" website, (as it would be called by a geek), is Portland's Lost Waterfront at: www.portlandwaterfront.org. Today it received a bit of an overhaul looking toward the appearance in...
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How Deep is My River? Part 4
During my days of working on the docks it slowly dawned on me that a city 113 miles from the sea is an odd place for a major seaport. When I began researching the subject, and discovered how these...
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The Oregon Shanghaiers: Columbia River Crimping From Astoria to Portland
Coming April 15th From History PressAvailable at these booksellers.Powell's City of BooksAmazonBarnes and Nobleand many more Hauntings and HorsefeathersOver the past two decades there has been an...
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