Offbeat Oregon History podcast

During the go-go years of the uranium-mining rush of the early 1950s, the character of the uranium prospector became iconic. He was basically the gold-seeking “miner 49er” updated for the atomic age: in lieu of a mule, he rode an Army-surplus Jeep; in place of pick and gold pan, he carried a Geiger counter and ultraviolet flashlight.

So it’s ironic but maybe not surprising that Oregon’s biggest uranium strike was made by an everyday rockhound - a guy who didn’t even own a Geiger counter. (Lakeview, Lake County; 1950s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/22-04.white-king-lucky-lass-uranium-mines-608.html)

He couldn't claim all the credit for it, although he sometimes tried; and his attitude toward Native Americans was unfortunate. But those who love Crater Lake, in large part, have William Gladstone Steel to thank for it. (Crater Lake, Klamath County; 1880s, 1890s, 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1609cT.crater-lake-will-steel-409.html)

Windjammer still holds a world speed record for sailing ships, but by the time of her demise, had been losing money for years; the age of steam had made her obsolete. So when she sailed onto the rocks, insurance adjusters smelled a rat. (Neahkahnie Mountain, Tillamook County; 1910s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1107a-glenesslin-wreck-insurance-fraud-or-drunken-incompetence.html)

Loaded with ordinance and launched by the thousands on the jet-stream currents, the weapons were a much bigger threat to American citizens than most now realize — and one of them probably started the 1945 Tillamook Burn. (Salmonberry River, Tillamook County; 1940s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1608cT.balloon-bombs.405.html)

WPA writer Sara B. Wrenn's oral history interview with Mrs. Annie Cason Lee, reminiscing about her family's Oregon Trail journey and some of the adventures and misadventures that befell them upon arrival ... including a rather priceless anecdote about her father, Hilary Cason, getting in a vicious fistfight with the owner of the Stark Street Ferry on his way to church! (For the transcript, see https://www.loc.gov/item/wpalh001961/ )

ONE OF THE real privileges of being a lifelong Oregonian of a certain, er, vintage, is the opportunity to have seen this state in its golden age — roughly, 1946 through 1980 — through a child’s eyes.

The basic style and culture of the Beaver State have changed a lot over the last 50 years. And, for the most part, it’s changed for the better ... but not entirely.

Sociologists would say this change was the transition from a “modernist” culture — proud, conformist, and optimistic about the future — to a “postmodernist” culture — self-critical, eclectic, and neutral or pessimistic about the future. (Statewide; 1950s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2408b-0902c_OregonGoldenAge-Centennial-662.html)

Every youth orchestra in America today can trace its ancestry back to the a tiny, dusty town in Eastern Oregon, and one gifted, visionary violin teacher named Mary Dodge, founder of the Sagebrush Symphony. (Burns, Harney County; 1920s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1108c-sagebrush-symphony-first-youth-orchestra-in-us.html)

According to legend, the Triskett Gang underestimated the citizens of Sailors' Diggins, which became a fatal error when they went on a shooting spree downtown. But the $75,000 they stole (if true) has never been recovered. (Waldo, Josephine County; 1850s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1106d-gold-field-bandits-loot-has-never-been-found.html)

Four mariners on the sailing ship Arago, in Astoria, tried to quit and were tracked down by police and forced to return to work, like runaway slaves. When they sued, the Supreme Court issued an astonishing ruling against them. (Astoria, Clatsop County; 1890s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1607c.slavery-ok-for-sailors-says-scotus.400.html)

The story of a young lad swept up in the romance of the sea — his maritime adventures and determination to settle down to a quiet retirement far away from home, in the Willamette Valley. From WPA writer Sara B. Wrenn's oral history interview with Frances Looney Cornell. This is part 2 of a 2-part reading of this oral history file. (For the transcript, see https://www.loc.gov/item/wpalh001970/ )