Episodios

  • Bad boat design led to a Coast Guard catastrophe (Part 2 of 2)

    Bad boat design led to a Coast Guard catastrophe (Part 2 of 2)
    May 15 2025
    Bafflingly, the Coast Guard's biggest rescue boat on the Columbia River Bar was one that hadn't been designed to survive a rollover. So, in early 1961, it didn't — and neither did five members of its six-man crew. (Columbia River Bar, Clatsop County; 1960s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1201d-triumph-coast-guard-disaster-2.html)
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    11 m
  • Deadly disaster started as a routine job for rescuers

    Deadly disaster started as a routine job for rescuers
    May 14 2025
    Mammoth seas on the legendary Columbia River Bar, plus the untimely removal of a vital piece of life-saving gear by short-sighted military brass, cost the lives of five Coast Guardsmen that night. (Columbia River Bar, Clatsop County; 1960s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1201c-triumph-disaster-coast-guard-columbia-bar.html)
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    9 m
  • “Unwritten Law” didn’t cover murder of in-laws

    “Unwritten Law” didn’t cover murder of in-laws
    May 13 2025
    Alfred Belding targeted his wife's family with murderous rampage, shot at his young son, and tried to claim “temporary insanity.” It didn't work ... and neither did his crackpot plan for a prison break. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1804e.UL-alfred-belding-murderer-493.html)
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    11 m
  • Deadly ’64 tsunami did a lot of damage in Oregon

    Deadly ’64 tsunami did a lot of damage in Oregon
    May 12 2025
    On the evening of March 23, 1964, Seaside resident Margaret Gammon hadn’t been asleep more than an hour or two when she was awakened by howling. It was the community fire siren, blaring at full blast without stopping. She looked at the clock. It was 11:30 p.m. “I lay in bed thinking to myself, ‘Why doesn’t that fellow at the fire station get his big thumb off the siren button so we can all go back to sleep, and let the firemen take care of the fire?’” she recalled later, in an article for Oregon Historical Quarterly. “In just a few seconds the cars started zipping up our street toward the highway like the devil himself was on their tail. I thought it must be a tremendous fire, so I figured I’d get dressed and go watch it.” It didn’t take long for Gammon to learn that it wasn’t a fire. It was a tsunami — and it was almost upon her. (Oregon Coast; 1960s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/22-06.tsunami-1964-610.html)
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    9 m
  • Rain foiled enemy pilot’s plan to start a forest fire

    Rain foiled enemy pilot’s plan to start a forest fire
    May 9 2025
    AROUND 6 A.M. on the morning of Sept. 9, 1942, Forest Service lookout Howard Gardner heard the sound of an approaching airplane. Peering out into the South Coast pre-dawn gloaming light, Gardner made out a small seaplane, heading toward him, flying low, circling. Showtime! This was what Gardner was here for, bundled up in the little Forest Service firewatch lookout shack atop Mt. Emily. Nine months into the Second World War, Gardner’s duties had expanded a bit from what they had been a year before. Now he was looking not only for smoke from forest fires, but for enemy airplanes. And right then, that’s exactly what he was looking at. (Brookings, Curry County; 1940s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2402a-0907b.glovebox-bomb-031.634.html)
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    15 m
  • Cruise-ship skipper not first to ‘fall into a lifeboat’

    Cruise-ship skipper not first to ‘fall into a lifeboat’
    May 8 2025
    Captains are supposed to be the last to leave their sinking ships, not the first. But that required act of valor has always been easier said than done — as evidenced by the story of the 1903 wreck of the S.S. South Portland off Cape Blanco. (Off Cape Blanco, Coos and Curry county; 1900s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1203a-steamer-captain-named-poultroon-of-the-sea.html)
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    8 m
  • Tangent City Hall office cat was the city’s landlord

    Tangent City Hall office cat was the city’s landlord
    May 7 2025
    Willamette Valley town's mascot was the state's wealthiest housecat; he owned City Hall along with the farm it was built on, as well as an iconic red barn. Today, you can visit Kitty Kat's grave, but his barn has been moved to a new place. (Tangent, Linn County; 1980s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1201b-kitty-kat-owner-of-city-hall-richest-cat.html)
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    8 m
  • The rise and fall of the Oregon Electric Railway

    The rise and fall of the Oregon Electric Railway
    May 6 2025
    Created and priced as a luxury line to compete with coal-fired steam trains, the railroad collapsed rapidly after automobiles came on the scene. Would a cheaper, less opulent service have survived? (Willamette Valley; 1900s, 1910s, 1920s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1612b.oregon-electric-rise-and-fall-421.html)
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    10 m
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