The Offbeat Oregon History Podcast: Fresh Edition - No Reruns

The fix was in -- all the legislators who needed to be bribed had been paid off -- so John Mitchell felt comfortable 'fessing up to his plans to double-cross Jonathan Bourne and his "Friends of Silver." But Bourne had a plan to turn that around ... NOTE: This "fresh" feed will be closing at the end of 2019. The main 5-day-a-week Offbeat Oregon feed (http://ofor.us/p) will continue.

Bunco Kelley was out of prison, Mysterious Billy Smith was at loose ends, and Jumbo Riley was looking for something to do ... somehow, they ended up at a table at Erickson's Saloon with the Jost brothers, talking about getting back into the shanghaiing business. Alas, it was not to be ... (Portland, Multnomah County; 1907)

Oregon's Sailors' Boardinghouse Commission seemed completely uninterested in any enforcement activity other than ordering Larry Sullivan's competitors to leave the business. Naturally, those competitors fought back as best they could. NOTE: This "fresh" feed will be closing at the end of 2019. The main 5-day-a-week Offbeat Oregon feed (http://ofor.us/p) will continue.

After Jim Turk's death, former pro prizefighter Larry Sullivan virtually owned the shanghaiing business in Portland ... but there was one competitor he couldn't seem to shake: 'Mysterious Billy' Smith, boxing's Welterweight Champion of the World -- whose 'day job' was crimping sailors.

In the glory days of Portland shanghaiing, sailors were 'helped back aboard ship' on the city streets; there was no need for a tunnel to sneak them down to the docks. But the tunnels under the saloons and streets were useful for lots of other shanghaiing-related activities ...

"Diamond Bill" Barrett earned his nickname by sweet-talking a jewelry store into letting him borrow a $55,000 diamond, which he promptly hocked. Later, he deployed that legendary charm to sweet-talk two heiresses into marrying him, then disappeared with showgirl-turned-trophy-wife Sidi Wirt Spreckels' $100,000 string of pearls. But the mystery remains: Did he really steal Sidi's pearls ... or did he fence them for her?

At the critical moment, the keeper of the rescue station at Cape Arago lost his nerve and deserted his waiting crew. Twelve shipwrecked sailors drowned while he huddled behind the warm stove in his cabin. (Cape Arago, Coos County; 1883) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1905b.lighthouse-keeper-cowardice-547.html)

Elated by a recent record-breaking run, the skipper of the full-rigged clipper ship Atalanta bet two other captains heavy money that he'd arrive in South Africa before they did -- even though they'd be clearing port weeks before he would. Hoping to make up some time, he took a shortcut close by the Oregon Coast ... and lost his bet off Tillicum Beach. (Off Waldport-Yachats, Lincoln County; 1898) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1905a.shipwreck-atalanta-wager-gone-wrong-546.html)

The evidence against Charles Kimzey was circumstantial, but police had the goods on him for an attempted murder the year before, so he was sent up the river on a life stretch. But clearly two men had done the killing -- and no one ever really got a line on who his partner might have been. (Lava Lakes, Deschutes County; 1924)

Ed Nickols hadn't wanted to spend the winter by himself at the remote cabin, because he'd made a dangerous enemy in a former coworker who turned out to be an escaped convict. So Roy Wilson and Dewey Morris spent the winter there with him ... and all three disappeared halfway through it. (Lava Lakes, Deschutes County; 1924)

For workers in the "bad old days" of working in the woods and in janky, underengineered sawmills, the occasional loss of a finger or two just came with the territory. (Garibaldi, Tillamook County; 1930s)

Clarence the logger was running a trapline as a side hustle. One day, he decided a passing skunk would look great on his stretching rack, and impulsively seized the skunk with his bare hands. This did not turn out to be one of Clarence's better ideas.

The sailor wanted to quit, but the captain didn't want him to; so he deposited a $60 'blood money' bonus with the British consul, as a reward if shanghaier Jim Turk could swindle him back aboard. Unfortunately, they killed him in the attempt. This kicked off a three-act courtroom drama oddly reminiscent of a Three Stooges episode. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1886) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1903e.frederick-kalashua-shanghaied-541.html)

Laura Starcher and her friends were fed up with the halfhearted, desultory service they were getting from city government. So they got organized, ran for all the public offices, and won ... much to the chagrin of the defeated mayor: Starcher's husband. (Umatilla, Umatilla County; 1916) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1903d.umatilla-petticoat-revolution-540.html)

Four states away from his family, with no living parents, young Carroll Beebe was like a walking, talking invitation to a shanghaiing. And when he checked into Bridget Grant's boardinghouse, she obliged. (Astoria, Clatsop County; 1885)

The saloon owners won in court, but the temperance ladies absolutely destroyed them in the court of public opinion. Delighted, the preachers and patriarchs who fancied themselves their leaders geared up for victory in the upcoming election ... and seriously overplayed their hand. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1874) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1902d.temperance-wars-4of4-536.html)

Angry, surly saloonkeeper Walter Moffett attracted a large, hostile crowd with his harassment of a group of ladies holding a prayer service outside his bar. When the crowd rioted and trashed his saloon, he got the Portland police chief — also a saloon owner — to arrest them for instigating it. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1874. For text and pictures, see offbeatoregon.com/1902c.temperance-wars-3of4-535.html)

Very few of Portland's saloonkeepers threw firecrackers at the ladies of the Women's Temperance Prayer League and called them 'damn whores' when they came by to hold prayer services at their bars. But, as the old song goes, there's one in every crowd .... (Portland, Multnomah County; 1874) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1902b.temperance-wars-2of4-534.html)

Inspired by the successes of temperance activists back east, a group of Portland ladies decided to take their message of abstinence out of the churches and into the streets. They may have been surprised by the reaction they got. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1874) This is Part 1 of a 4-part series on the "Portland temperance riots" of 1874.

“Uncle Joab” was the most famous preacher in the West for a reason ... and that reason was pretty much exactly why the pioneer lawmakers found him to be such a lousy fit for the job of Chaplain of the Legislature. Suddenly they were desperate to get rid of him. But, they'd hired him before his salary was in the treasury.... (Salem, Marion County; 1859)