He had done it, he told them — he freely admitted he had done it — and he seemed to almost welcome a death sentence, to expiate his crime. He couldn’t explain his shooting of Minnie, he said; that had not been what he’d intended to do. (Haines, Harney County; 1905) (For text and pictures, see http://www.offbeatoregon.com/1805b.pleasant-armstrong-murder-495.html)

He survived five shipwrecks and was jailed several times. In 1865 he built the world's first steam schooner, then used it to run from the law. (Off Oregon Coast, 1865) (For text and pictures, see http://www.offbeatoregon.com/o1110b-jemmy-jones-rascally-skipper-invented-steam-schooner.html)

Today, it's remembered proudly and fondly by almost everyone. (Aurora, Clackamas County; 1860s) (For text and pictures, see http://www.offbeatoregon.com/o1110a-aurora-colony-best-of-american-utopian-movement.html)

... and one of the most important sources of the strategic wood was the northern Oregon coast. (Northern Oregon coast range; 1917) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1301c-great-war-planes-made-of-oregon-spruce.html)

... and the U.S. Army had to teach soldiers to cut timber to get the industry moving again. (Western Oregon; 1917) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1301d-wobblies-come-to-oregon-timber.html)

When they do, they sometimes carry with them boulders torn off the basalt bluff below. (Tillamook Rock, Tillamook County; 1957) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1511b.storms-on-tillamook-rock-364.html)

... rumor has it some were even supplied by shanghaiers. (Tillamook Rock, Tillamook County; 1878) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1511a.building-tillamook-rock-363.html)

And then something brushed his throat ... (Tillamook Rock, Tillamook County; 1944) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1510d.tillamook-rock-ghost-goose-362.html)

To some extent, that was understandable. “Colonel” Hogg had fought with the Confederacy in the Civil War. His side had lost, so, sure — better not to talk about it, right?

The rumor mill wasn’t nearly as reticent as Hogg was, of course. Hogg’s status as an ex-Rebel, and the fact that his railroad enterprise put him at odds with some of the powerful Portland businessmen who were writing Oregon’s official history, resulted in some very sketchy rumors finding their way into the historical record — such as the one that claimed he and his crew had been captured while trying to raid opium ships. Had his plans been successful, he certainly would have had a go at any ship, whether it carried opium or not; but as it happened, he never had the chance.

Nevertheless, the real story is so much more bonkers than that, that one wonders why the rumor-passers even bothered with making things up. (Toledo/Newport, Lincoln County; 1870s) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/20-04.colonel-hogg-war-record-robbery-on-the-high-seas.html)

For the first six months of 1930, the entire city was riveted to his radio show, wondering who he'd slander next. (East Portland, Multnomah County; 1930) (For text and pictures, see http://offbeatoregon.com/1301b-oregon-wildcat-was-early-shock-jock.html)