Episodios

  • Rooftop stunt made local aero-daredevil famous

    Rooftop stunt made local aero-daredevil famous
    Mar 26 2026
    “This is an age of do-it-first,” said Silas Christofferson, and proceeded to launch his spindly kite-like “aeroplane” from the roof of a downtown hotel — making aviation history in the heart of Oregon's biggest town. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1910s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1408e.302.silas-christofferson-portland-hero-aviator.html)
    Más Menos
    9 m
  • Giant skeleton hinted at legend of pirate treasure

    Giant skeleton hinted at legend of pirate treasure
    Mar 25 2026
    Neighbors wondered if the eight-foot-tall corpse found by developer at what today is YWCA Camp Westwind was evidence that an old Native American legend of a pirate ship is true; if so, there might actually be booty buried there, some say. (Cascade Head, Lincoln County; 1930s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1204e-giant-skeleton-evidence-of-pirate-treasure-legend.html)
    Más Menos
    8 m
  • Mass murderer honored in courthouse monument

    Mass murderer honored in courthouse monument
    Mar 24 2026
    75 years ago, without realizing who he was, Wallowa County included Bruce “Blue” Evans — leader of the gang that massacred dozens of innocent Chinese miners back in 1887 — on a plaque commemorating its earliest white settlers. (Enterprise, Wallowa County; 1880s, 1930s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1204b-monument-mass-murderer-chinese-miners.html)
    Más Menos
    9 m
  • ‘Ship of Romance and Death’ met a dramatic end

    ‘Ship of Romance and Death’ met a dramatic end
    Mar 23 2026
    The Melanope's maritime career started with a witch's curse. But her most dramatic story was the torrid, doomed love affair its skipper carried on with the heiress who bought the ship so she could be with him as he sailed it. (Columbia River Bar, Clatsop County; 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1506b.cursed-ships-melanope-343.html)
    Más Menos
    8 m
  • Prison break happened during “conjugal visit”

    Prison break happened during “conjugal visit”
    Mar 20 2026
    By far the most embarrassing jailbreak in state history happened when a murderer simply walked out the back door of a Motel 6 during an unsupervised “date” with a woman officials thought was his fiancee. (Salem, Marion County; 1970s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1207c-carl-cletus-bowles-jailbreak-during-conjugal-visit.html)
    Más Menos
    11 m
  • Portland lost world’s biggest log cabin in 1964 fire

    Portland lost world’s biggest log cabin in 1964 fire
    Mar 19 2026
    Ancient electrical wiring ignited Portland's legendary Forestry Building, a structure made of massive, flawless old-growth logs that had been built for the Lewis and Clark Exposition in 1905. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1960s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1206c-forestry-building-biggest-log-cabin-burned.html)
    Más Menos
    8 m
  • The mysterious demise of the S.S. South Coast

    The mysterious demise of the S.S. South Coast
    Mar 18 2026
    Historic steam schooner vanished on a calm night in 1930, leaving lifeboats and debris floating in the water — but no bodies, alive or dead. Was it a violent micro-storm? A “seaquake”? A boiler explosion? We'll never really know. (Gold Beach, Curry County; 1930s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1206b-mysterious-disappearance-of-steamer-south-coast.html.html)
    Más Menos
    9 m
  • Horrific 'Trunk Murders' made headlines nationwide (Part 2 of 2)

    Horrific 'Trunk Murders' made headlines nationwide (Part 2 of 2)
    Mar 17 2026
    Ruth Judd was in a fierce argument with her friends Annie Leroi and Sammy Samuelson. Furious, she stood up to go. She took her drink cup to drop it off in the kitchen sink. When she got there — well, something happened. Something involving a kitchen knife, a Colt .25 automatic, and possibly another, larger-caliber pistol... (Phoenix, Arizona; 1930s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/21-03.trunk-murders-anne-leroi-595.html)
    Más Menos
    8 m