Hear in the Gorge

Thought the Oregon Trail was all covered wagons and pioneers? Think again! Join us as we take a roadtrip down the very last leg of the Oregon Trail. We'll get to know the trail in ways you never expected - and maybe even see an elephant or two!

While re-tracing the Oregon Trail we stopped in Dufur, Oregon and talked to Josiah Dean at the Balch Hotel. Turns out we're not the only ones who've wondered about naming a town, Dufur.

Song: Gordon Lightfoot "Did She Mention My Name" -

An impromptu recording turns into my toughest interview yet. I can't help but think that Woody Guthrie would've been proud.

Stories told through lost recordings, unexpected discoveries, and listening to the people who know this place best. Each episode starts here, in the Gorge, but you never know where we’ll end up.

When folksinger Woody Guthrie strolled into the Bonneville Power Administration in 1941, he played a song or two on his guitar, filled out some paperwork, and was hired by the federal government to write songs about dams on the Columbia River. And then, just as abruptly as it began, this odd-couple story came to an end. The folk singer’s 30 days at BPA is considered one of the single most productive bursts in his fruitful songwriting career. We track down the man who rediscovered this complicated history and get to the heart of what caused the federal government to hire a “scruffy radical folksinger” and why he chose to come to the Pacific Northwest.

Music and archival audio: Woody Guthrie - Library of Congress Recording Sessions, March 1940 with Alan Lomax. Woody Guthrie, Columbia River Collection - released 1988 by Smithsonian Folkways.

In the summer of 2013 a father and son set out on their first camping trip together. For the 10-year old boy, it was a dream come true and he was prepared, but then the trip took a turn they never saw coming. In this episode we hear from two Crag Rats and the father of the boy, to learn just what happens when things go wrong in the wilderness.

JAPANESE HISTORY IN THE HOOD RIVER VALLEY

In 2015, Min Yasui was the first Oregonian to ever receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom - our nation's highest civilian honor. Min was first generation Japanese American, born right here in Hood River. His father, Masuo, had immigrated from Japan and become a respected leader in the small community. But this is far from a simple success story. It includes FBI spying, unexpected death, the largest mass incarceration in U.S. history, and a small town in Oregon struggling with newfound notoriety. This is an immigrant story turned national narrative, one still relevant more than a century later.

music: Blue Dot Sessions, Kai Engel, and Poddington Bear.

archival audio from: Minoru Yasui, Oct. 23, 1983, Steven Okazaki Collection, DDR_densho_1012_3_13, Densho

Hear in the Gorge on the radio! Amanda Lawrence and Sarah Fox stopped by the Mid-Columbia Today show to talk with Host Mark Bailey about the upcoming podcast launch party and episodes.

An audio postcard to celebrate Min Yasui Day in Oregon.

Music by: Kai Engel, "Denouement" - Free Music Archive.

Japanese Americans growing up in the Hood River Valley...Our country's oldest mountain search and rescue team, The Crag Rats...Woody Guthrie and the Columbia River songs - you'll find it all in this season of Hear in the Gorge.