23 mariners slowly dying in the surf as friends and family members watched from the beach. (Coos Bay Spit, Coos County; 1910) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1302d-czarina-shipwreck-tragic-concert-of-incompetence.html)

So he built his own boat on a shoestring budget — then used it to eat their lunch on the upper Willamette run. (Oregon City, Clackamas County; 1874) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/o1110d-uriah-scott-ugly-steamboat-eats-monopolys-lunch.html)

... that wasn't enough to overcome the economic issues. (Monmouth, Polk County; 1858-2010) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1511c.thirsty-monmouth-last-prohibition-town.html)

He didn't hesitate for a second. (Lower Columbia River, Clatsop County; 1887) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/o1111a-heroic-captain-saved-hundreds-from-fiery-death.html)

... and some of the guesses are sinister indeed. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1858) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1302b-balch-murders-stump-on-stark-street-ferry.html)

“Declaring that she would rather be ravished by a Hun than support the United States in this war, M. Louise Hunt, assistant librarian at Central Library here, brought down a storm of indignation from Portland citizens today.”

“Miss Hunt’s attitude is an insult to the motherhood of our Nation and to their boys who are knee-deep in the muddy trenches of France fighting for liberty,” fulminated Portland Mayor George Baker.

“Not only should she be dismissed (from her position), but if she continues her anti-war propaganda she should be interned during the course of the war, like any other disloyal citizen or enemy alien,” proclaimed Oregon Governor James Withycombe.

So, what was the great sin against the American people perpetrated by this quiet assistant librarian? What was this despicable act of treason that had brought upon her the censure of the most powerful men in the state?

Simply this: When offered the opportunity to lend the government money to finance the war, she said “no thanks.” (Portland, Multnomah County; 1918) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1805c.traitor-louise-hunt-wouldnt-buy-war-bonds-496.html)

... why does her gravestone still identify 'Ame' as a slave? (Corvallis, Benton County; 1874) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/o1110c-civil-war-didnt-end-slavery-for-oregon-woman-named-ame.html)

Dime novels were cheap paperback novelettes printed on pulpwood stock and sold for 5 to 15 cents each. They were pure entertainment, with no literary aspirations whatsoever; plots were lurid and melodramatic, characters were clownish and overdrawn, and heroes and villains were painted without shades of gray. Basically, they were pulp fiction before there was anything called pulp fiction.

One of the most famous dime-novel heroes was Deadwood Dick, a roving gambler, gunfighter, and white-hat con artist, very much in the style of television’s “Maverick.” Deadwood Dick was the creation of Edward Lytton Wheeler, a New York native who cooked up the character for his Philadelphia Vaudeville theater and then used him in a series of 35 dime jobs published by the Beadle Brothers.

Now, these old dime novels are hard to come by, and I have not been able to personally inspect all 35 of the Deadwood Dick stories — nor the 100 or so that followed starring our intrepid hero’s only son, Deadwood Dick Jr. But in his wanderings about the American West, Deadwood Dick does seem to have strayed into the Oregon country a few times. (Roseburg, Douglas County; 1887) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1805a.deadwood-dicks-danger-ducks-494.html)

But that night, over supper, he learned the hard way how successful he'd been at convincing her. (Rural Clackamas County; 1854) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1511e.charity-lamb-murder-367.html)

... pawns in a power struggle between a mill owner and a group of townspeople. (Toledo, Lincoln County; 1925) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1302a-toledo-riot-mixed-racism-and-labor-unrest.html)