Recollections of an 1880s Astoria salmon fisherman (WPA oral-history interview)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast
English - April 08, 2024 14:00 - 9 minutes - 9.1 MB - ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsHistory Society & Culture Places & Travel oregon pacific northwest ouragan columbia willamette history weird shipwreck pirate Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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Fans of shanghaiing-era waterfront culture will not want to miss this WPA oral history, collected in 1938. Retired fisherman Charles deLashmutt recalls stories of gillnet salmon fishermen 'corking' each other, brawling in bars, and buying hooch from the 'whiskey scows' that anchored 30 feet off the Washington shore and served cheap booze at 'paddle-up windows' for thirsty customers. Mr. DeLashmutt was a piano player in a dance band, so he saw plenty of barroom activity. This one, collected by Sara B. Wrenn, is short but full of good stuff (meaning mostly bad stuff, but good history!). (For text and PDFs, see https://www.loc.gov/item/wpalh001973/)