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  • The Maddest Man in Town: A story of a wake that 'worked' — the deceased woke right up!

    The Maddest Man in Town: A story of a wake that 'worked' — the deceased woke right up!
    2026/10/30
    'Are ya religious? If ya are I won’t tell this story. Awright, I guess it won’t hurt ya none to hear it. It’s about old man Donovan. He was as good a Catholic as I ever knew, until he got mad once. Then he was mad for 17 years — the maddest man in town. Ye-up, ding-blasted mad and powerful mizzur’ble. Considering all in all, I reckon his being mad so long set a record of sorts for the whole danged county....' (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2509a0908b.wpa-writers-project+SB-wakeworks-707.032.html)
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    12 分
  • WPA writers captured a snapshot of early Oregon

    WPA writers captured a snapshot of early Oregon
    2026/10/29
    IN 1935, IN the depths of the Great Depression, the U.S. Congress passed what’s sometimes called the “Second New Deal.” It was a $4.88 billion investment into getting Americans through the Depression. The philosophy behind this new New Deal push was to let unemployed workers earn their way by putting their existing skills to use, rather than treating them like charity cases or giving them make-work jobs raking leaves or doing litter patrols. One category of skilled workers who are often unemployed during hard times is writers and artists. So a comparatively tiny sliver of the WPA’s funds went toward “Federal Project Number One,” a group that included the Federal Writers’ Project, Federal Art Project, Federal Music Project, and Federal Theatre Project. In Oregon, the Federal Writers’ Project was especially interesting, because in 1938 — when most of its work was done — there were actual Oregon Trail pioneers still alive. (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2509a0908b.wpa-writers-project+SB-wakeworks-707.032.html)
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    9 分
  • Rabies epidemic was like a war in Eastern Oregon

    Rabies epidemic was like a war in Eastern Oregon
    2026/10/28
    State health officials scoffed at the idea of hydrophobia in Oregon — until people started dying. It was the start of a decade of attacks by mad coyotes, when folks carried shotguns everywhere and nature seemed to be in open revolt. (Central and Eastern Oregon; 1910s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1303b-rabies-epidemic-eastern-oregon-mad-coyotes.html)
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    8 分
  • Murderer avoided gallows by faking a 2-year coma

    Murderer avoided gallows by faking a 2-year coma
    2026/10/27
    Charles Fiester lay there on his cot, eyes open, staring at nothing, pretending to be catatonic, for 515 days ... knowing that when his ruse was discovered, he'd be hanged. (Kerby, Josephine County; 1890s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1803a.fiester-murderer-faked-insanity-515-days-485.html)
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    9 分
  • Jumbo jet landed at tiny rural airport by mistake

    Jumbo jet landed at tiny rural airport by mistake
    2026/10/26
    Troutdale Airfield is just 10 miles from Portland International — and built to serve Cessnas, not Boeings. But one dark night in 1962, a jumbo-jet pilot got a little confused .... (Troutdale, Multnomah County; 1960s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1802a.massive-jet-lands-at-tiny-country-airport-by-mistake-481.html)
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    8 分
  • The Prineville Vigilantes: Part Three — The Resistance, and the Fall.

    The Prineville Vigilantes: Part Three — The Resistance, and the Fall.
    2026/10/23
    Crook County citizens finally decided they'd had enough of the secretive lynchings and killings; they banded together and defeated the gang of masked riders without a single shot being fired. (Prineville, Crook County; 1880s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2408c-1211d.prineville-vigilantes-663.199.html)
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    11 分
  • The Prineville Vigilantes: Part Two — The Shadow Government

    The Prineville Vigilantes: Part Two — The Shadow Government
    2026/10/22
    Crook Count was formed at the height of Vigilante ascendancy, so when the governor named prominent locals to leadership positions in the new county government, he ended up stocking it with members of the gang. Their official rule would be bloody and chaotic. (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2408c-1211d.prineville-vigilantes-663.199.html)
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    12 分
  • The Prineville Vigilantes: Part 1 — The Lynch Mob, and the Rise.

    The Prineville Vigilantes: Part 1 — The Lynch Mob, and the Rise.
    2026/10/21
    In Crook County, the early 1880s were like something out of a Louis L'Amour novel: Masked riders galloping around by night, dispensing what they saw as justice. It all started with the lynching of an innocent man. (Part 1 of 3) (Prineville, Crook County; 1880s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2408c-1211d.prineville-vigilantes-663.199.html)
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    14 分