Table of contents: 2011 articles

These are the columns published in the fourth year of Offbeat Oregon History.

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No.	Date pub.	Headline	Thumbnail	Area
		2011 articles:
161	12/25/11	Dory fisherman rescues stranded sailors — from Coast Guard boat The conditions were too rough even for the legendary Coast Guard 36-foot motor lifeboat to make it through the breakers, so a fisherman brought them ashore two by two in his rowboat.		•Port Orford
160	12/18/11	“Voice of Looney Toons” was the terror of his Portland high school His teachers may not have appreciated Mel Blanc's humor and talents, but Portland radio listeners sure did — and later, so did generations of Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam, Daffy Duck, Sylvester the Cat and Bugs Bunny fans.		•Portland and Hollywood, Calif.
159	12/11/11	The Port Orford Meteorite: Was it all a big hoax? If it's true, the 11-ton space rock is still out there — and worth over $300 million. But the guy who says he found it was in financial trouble, and many geologists today suspect he made the whole thing up.		•Coos Bay, Columbia Bar
158	12/04/11	Missing gold suggests something sinister in shipwreck mystery There were, so far as we know, no survivors. But when the upside-down hulk drifted ashore, it was 200 miles off course — and there was no sign of the 40-pound keg of gold it had been carrying. What happened? Nobody knows.		•Coos Bay, Columbia Bar
157	11/28/11	Portland was the scene of Sammy Davis Jr.'s big break Star performer of the Will Mastin Trio was a regular sight in Portland nightclubs during the late 1940s and early '50s; a telegram from old friend Frank Sinatra took him away to the big time.		•Portland
156	11/21/11	Black sheep of the Union Army was Oregon's last Civil War veteran Lebanon man lived a quiet, respectable life after the Civil War, but in his youth he was a member of Olney's Detachment of Oregon Cavalry — a Union Army outfit nicknamed "Olney's Forty Thieves."		•Lebanon
155	11/14/11	Oregon's distinctive bridge style is Conde McCullough's legacy Legendary engineer's genius was in making gorgeous architecture cost-effective; his spectacular bridges on the Oregon Coast highway are nearly tourist attractions in their own right.		•Statewide
154	11/07/11	Captain's quick decision saved hundreds from a fiery death Legendary riverman Uriah Scott had to choose between trying to save his steamboat and trying to save his passengers. He didn't hesitate for a second.		•Columbia River, Astoria
153	10/30/11	Steamboat monopoly's clever coup ended up costing them plenty Buying the connecting boat put a competitor out of business ... but left him free to use his boat to eat their lunch on an even more lucrative steamboat route.		•Columbia River
152	10/24/11	They laughed at Captain Scott's ugly little riverboat ... at first. He came to the steamboat companies asking for a job, and they laughed him off. So he built his own boat on a shoestring budget — then used it to eat their lunch on the upper Willamette run.		•Willamette River
151	10/17/11	For one Oregon slave, Civil War didn't end bondage Ame died in 1874, more than 10 years after President Abraham Lincoln set her free, but her gravestone still identifies her as a slave.		•Corvallis
150	10/10/11	Rascally sea-captain was like a 19th-century Han Solo A true old Oregon character, Captain Jemmy Jones seemed to bear a charmed life. Always in trouble with someone, he survived five shipwrecks and many incarcerations; he invented the steam schooner, and ran from the law in it.		•Columbia River Bar
149	10/03/11	Aurora Colony showcased the best of American utopian movement In contrast to the bloodshed and madness that accompanied other attempts to form a more perfect society, the Aurora Colony lived graciously and ended gracefully. Today, it's remembered proudly and fondly by almost everyone.		•Aurora
148	09/26/11	Oregon embraced Carnegie libraries like no other state Of the 32 towns in Oregon offered a grant to build a library, not one failed to raise its matching money; no other state was as successful.		•State-wide
147	09/19/11	Astoria man set out to do something nice for his wife, invented cable TV The nearest TV station was in Seattle. But Ed Parsons figured out he could catch a very weak signal on top of a building in town. All he had to do was figure out how to boost the signal without boosting the noise as well; he did.		•Astoria (North coast)
146	09/12/11	"Professor" Ray V.B. Jackson: Central Oregon's "Angel of Death" The onetime school teacher, later superintendent and rancher just happened to be on hand, playing the role of helpful witness, at almost every high-profile murder scene in Lake and Harney counties. What were the odds?		•Lake County (South Central Oregon)
145	09/04/11	Schoolteacher Ray Jackson of Silver Lake may have been a serial killer It's hard to believe, but in 1902 the school district put a convicted felon, fresh from serving hard time at the state pen, in charge of its grade-school kids. But the forgery he'd been convicted of may have been the least of his crimes.		•Lake County (South Central Oregon)
144	08/28/11	Ship sailed across two miles of sandy beach, relaunched itself Stranded four-masted schooner North Bend crossed Peacock Spit and, a little over a year later, launched itself in Baker Bay on the other side in the late 1920s.		•Columbia River Bar
143	08/21/11	First youth symphony in U.S. came out of Oregon's high desert 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.		•Eastern Oregon
142	08/14/11	Vaudeville's famous “Klondike Kate” became a Central Oregon legend After injuries to her knee, ankle and heart, she needed to get away from show business and from an ex-boyfriend. So she retreated to the high desert near Brothers, and became a homesteader ... and looked fabulous doing it.		•Central Oregon
141	08/07/11	Space-age whalers help grow fur coats, put a man on the moon Few people know a small whaling venture was launched in Astoria in 1961 — seeking whale oil for the space program and whale meat to feed to hungry minks. (Updated Nov. 3, 2011 with substantial new info.)		•Columbia River Bar
140	08/07/11	Shipwreck ends Astoria's bid to be “Nantucket of the West Coast” When the treacherous bar claimed a fully-loaded whaling ship, its owner chalked it up as a very expensive lesson learned, and gave up on its plan to hunt whales out of the Oregon seaport.		•Columbia River Bar
139	07/31/11	In marshal's saloon, drinks were on prohibitionist Gov. Oswald West Legendary governor dropped in on a trip to Boise, gave a speech in the now-ghost-town of Harney; a few years later, he pardoned the town marshal, who'd been convicted of shooting the owner of a competing tavern.		•Eastern Oregon (high desert)
138	07/25/11	Life of Sacagawea's mountain-man son “Pomp” a tantalizing mystery Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, the baby born to Sacagawea during the Lewis and Clark exposition, is one of the most important figures in Oregon history — but we know almost nothing of his life.		•Southeastern Oregon
137	07/17/11	Mariner's dream predicted shipmates' deaths with eerie precision In his spooky nightmare, first mate of the German barque Mimi saw seaweed covering all but three shipmates; the next day, all but three drowned in one of Oregon's worst-ever salvage disasters.		•Northern coast, near Nehalem
136	07/10/11	Little-known hero of Silver Lake fire died saving dozens of lives When the packed community center caught fire, Lucinda Schroder ran back inside and blocked the door open with her body, enabling dozens who otherwise would have been pinned and crushed against the closed door to escape.		•South-central Oregon (Lake County)
135	07/03/11	Wreck of the Glenesslin: Insurance fraud, or just drunken incompetence? 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.		•Northern coast, near Manzanita
134	06/26/11	Gold-field bandits' stolen loot still hasn't been found 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 has never been recovered.		•Waldo (South Josephine County)
133	06/19/11	Tired of watching mariners die, lighthouse keeper started a rescue service After finding a battered lifeboat washed up on shore from a fatal shipwreck, Joel Munson made it his life's mission to use it to start a life-saving service to rescue people. Today, his creation soldiers on, as part of the U.S. Coast Guard.		•Astoria, Columbia Bar
132	06/12/11	Legendary Oregon wrestler pinned by heavyweight real-estate dream Olympic gold medalist and OSU legend Robin Reed might have been the best wrestler of all time; throughout his 20-plus-year career he was never once pinned. But his plan for the "Delake Rod and Gun Club" defeated him.		•Portland, Corvallis, Paris (France)
131	12/01/09	How Newport nearly became Oregon's major seaport city Railroad developer T. Edgenton Hogg had big plans for the little city; it was going to eat Portland's lunch with cheaper, faster passenger service to San Francisco. But two suspicious shipwrecks left him in financial ruins.		•Newport, Yaquina City
130	06/05/11	Story of "nudist church" in Corvallis ended in murder, suicide, insanity Bride of Christ cult sought perfect righeousness, Christ-like simplicity and total humility. In practice, though, it spawned nothing but misery and madness, and a legal precedent for “honor killings.”		•Corvallis, Waldport, Seattle
129	05/29/11	The real story of the "nudist church" in Corvallis: How it began F. Edmund Creffield's Bride of Christ Church broke up families, sanctioned adultery and inspired deadly violence in the early 20th Century. Ironically, its practitioners' goal was perfect holiness and godliness.		•Corvallis
128	05/21/11	Blimps were first line of defense against Japanese subs, balloon bombs The massive dirigibles were housed in the largest clear-span wood buildings in the world, near Tillamook; one burned in 1992, while the other houses the Tillamook Air Museum today.		•Tillamook
127	05/15/11	Crew of shipwrecked schooner rescued — by a railroad train A small construction engine was being used to build the South Jetty, to protect the mouth of the Columbia River for ships, when one off-course sailing ship crashed into it — so construction crews chugged to the rescue.		•Columbia River bar
126	05/09/11	“Hermit of the Craggies” went from acorns and roots to prison food Convinced his only neighbor was out to get him, solitary trapper and paranoid former prospector “Crazy Hugo” ambushed him with a rifle; the state prison became his retirement home.		•Rogue River Wilderness Area
125	05/01/11	Coast Guard rescue saved ship — for Stalin's most notorious gulag Norwegian freighter got off course, piled onto Peacock Spit; a cutter pulled it off, and motor lifeboat crews rescued its crew, and the wallowing ship was pulled to port and repaired. A happy ending? Well, not for the Russians, it wasn't.		•Columbia River bar
124	04/25/11	Gallon House covered bridge: Ground Zero in Oregon's battle over booze The historic structure, halfway between “dry” Silverton and “wet” Mt. Angel, became a meeting place for the thirsty — and a symbol of Oregon's strange relationship with good ol' Demon Rum.		•Mt. Angel- Silverton and downtown Portland
123	04/17/11	Amateur pirates' bumbling scheme didn't work out as they'd planned Two liquored-up Navy deserters planned to seize control of a passenger liner, drive it onto the beach and steal away into the night with three tons of gold. It's probably safe to say they didn't think their plan through very well.		•Central Oregon Coast
122	04/10/11	Only sitting U.S. Senator killed in battle was from Oregon … sort of Edward Dickinson Baker was a personal friend of President Lincoln and a formidable public speaker; had he not been killed, he might well have become president. Without his influence, Oregon would likely have sided with the South.		•Salem
121	04/03/11	Bungling burglars skunked in Corvallis courthouse job Perhaps thinking the Benton County Treasurer would have treasure in his office, they blew the safe with dynamite — and were disappointed. A month later, having left pawnshop claim stubs lying around camp, they were busted.		•Corvallis
120	03/27/11	Oregon had the first female governor in U.S. history — for one weekend When Carolyn B. Shelton took charge of the state for 48 hours, she and other Oregon women were still three years away from gaining the right to vote.		•State capitol, Salem
119	03/27/11	Eugene woman was first female VP candidate to get Electoral College vote Longtime Eugene resident Tonie Nathan, one of the founders of today's Libertarian Party, was also the party's first-ever vice-presidential candidate when she ran with John Hospers in the election that gave us "four more years" of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew.		•Eugene
118	03/19/11	Harney County rancher saves pioneer Oregon aviator's life Barnstormer Ted Barber was down to his last half-cup of gasoline when Ralph Grove rescued him by lighting up a field with the headlights of his car; Ted's old Waco 9 biplane lived to fly the next day, and so did he.		•Steens Mountain area
117	03/13/11	Did Buddhist monk from China “discover” Oregon 1,600 years ago? The legend of a monk's journey to a land called “Fusang” dates back to 499 A.D.; is it possible that Fusang was Oregon? Or was the whole thing a complete fabrication?		•Oregon Coast
116	03/05/11	Chinese gold smuggler saved woman and her baby, then vanished In Gold Rush-era Oregon, the most skilled miners were probably the Chinese — but they were in constant danger. To avoid being robbed, they entrusted their gold to professional couriers who masqueraded as penniless vagabonds. This is a story from the life of one of them, a man we know only as "Cheng."		•Southwest Oregon
115	02/27/11	Tiny home-built schooner “Morning Star” saved Tillamook settlers After the only skipper willing to brave their fearsome river bar died, the only way to get wheat and cheese to market was to build their own trading ship — which they did, in 1854.		•Tillamook
114	02/20/11	When dynamite truck blew up in Roseburg, it looked like nuclear war A truck driver parked 13,000 pounds of explosives next to the hardware store downtown. That night the hardware store caught fire … and so did the dynamite, in the biggest human-caused disaster in Oregon history.		•Roseburg
113	02/13/11	Shipwrecked fur traders walked from Oregon Coast to Louisiana While they were ashore, their sailing ship sank in a storm, leaving four fur traders alone in a vast wilderness with no prospects for rescue. So they set out for Louisiana – and two years later, they arrived.		•Umpqua River (Reedsport)
112	02/06/11	Little remains of back-woods luxury spa at Wilhoit Springs county park During the heyday of hydrotherapy, the remote mountainside resort was Clackamas County’s No. 1 tourist draw; its waters actually had scientifically provable therapeutic value.		•Molalla- Scotts Mills
111	01/30/11	Japanese submarine I-25 blasted its way into Oregon history — twice. The big sub was a key part of Oregon history; it fired on Battery Russell in June 1942, tried to light a forest fire with its on-board airplane that September, and sank several merchant ships.		•Oregon coast
110	01/23/11	Vanport houses floated like life rafts, helped many survive the flood. The shoddily built Portland suburb existed for six years. In that time, it spawned Portland State University and brought ethnic diversity to the state. Few people realize how important the place really was.		•Vanport, Portland
109	01/16/11	Oregon back country is rich in legends of buried treasure and robbers' loot. Stories of lost loot and buried booty have kept treasure hunters busy digging for gold in hidden corners of Oregon for the past 150 years. Here are a few of the stories that keep them searching.		•Grants Pass area; Medford area; Corvallis; Columbia Gorge
108	01/09/11	Little boy somehow knew mom and aunt were drowning on shipwreck. Historic sidewheel steamer Brother Jonathan’s sinking was a major maritime disaster for Oregon in 1865; treasure hunters found the gold-laden wreck in 1993, touching off squabble over salvage rights at historical sites.		•South Oregon and north California coast
107	01/02/11	Bobbie the Wonder Dog’s 2,500-mile odyssey put Silverton on the map. Lost in Illinois, the affable collie crossed the Rocky Mountains on foot in the dead of winter, making friends along the way — and a media sensation when he arrived.		•Silverton