Latest Willam Podcast Episodes
Decade-long dam dispute resolved with dynamite (Episode for Friday, March 22)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 15, 2024 14:40 - 12 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsIN THE SMALL hours of the morning of Aug. 16, 1906, a powerful explosion jolted residents awake near the little town of Willamette, which today is a neighborhood of West Linn. It came from the direction of the nearby Tualatin River. The cause was soon discovered. When the first rays of the morni...
Did monk from China “discover” Oregon 1,600 years ago?
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 15, 2024 14:30 - 7 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsLegend 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, 400s; yeah, that's right, literally 1,500 years ago.) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1103b-was-b...
Did monk from China “discover” Oregon 1,600 years ago? (Episode for Thursday, March 21)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 15, 2024 14:30 - 7 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsLegend 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, 400s; yeah, that's right, literally 1,500 years ago.) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1103b-was-b...
Bridge-building scandal aroused Portlanders’ fury (Episode for Wed, March 20)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 15, 2024 14:20 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsCrafty county commissioners tried to rig the bidding so their favorite bid, padded to the tune of half a million 1924 dollars, would win —but they didn't move quite fast enough. Three months later, they'd all been thrown out of office. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1920s) (For text and pictures, s...
Tiny home-built schooner saved Tillamook settlers (Episode for Tue, March 19)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 15, 2024 14:10 - 7 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsAfter 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. (Tillamook County; 1850s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1102d-tillamook-tiny-schooner.html)
Recollections of an old Oregon railroad telegrapher and union lawyer, Part 1 of 2 (WPA oral-history interview; episode for Mon, March 18)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 15, 2024 14:00 - 22 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsOn Nov. 28, 1938, Federal Writers Project worker Andrew Sherbert sat down with a stocky, animated 77-year-old attorney named George Estes to talk about Mr. Estes' recollections of working in the 1800s, first as a telegraph operator and later as an attorney for the Telegrapher's Union at Southern ...
Diatom Overview with Winemaker Greg Brewer
Bud Break - March 13, 2024 18:00 - 28 minutes ★★★★★ - 28 ratingsJoin David Reuss, Adv. Somm as he interviews winemaker Greg Brewer on all things Diatom.
Was legendary city of Quivira on Oregon Coast? (Episode for Fri, March 15)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 11, 2024 14:50 - 9 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsNative Americans told Coronado there was a fabulous gold-and-turquoise city called Quivira just to the east -- or was it the north? All he found were Indian villages. But, was there a real city behind the legend? More specifically, was that city near Port Orford? (Port Orford, Curry County; 1540s...
Chinese smuggler saved woman and her baby, then vanished (episode for Thu, March 14)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 11, 2024 14:40 - 7 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsIn 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 'Che...
Massive passenger liner won race with fiery death(episode for Wed, March 13)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 11, 2024 14:30 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsCalm seas, a hard-working crew and a cool-headed skipper helped the steamship Congress and everyone on board survive a terrifying night after a fire broke out in the cargo hold and spread throughout the ship. (Coos Bay, Coos County; 1910s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/13...
Rabies epidemic was like a war in Eastern Oregon (episode for Tue, March 12)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 11, 2024 14:20 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsState 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...
Announcement: All This Week Episodes at Once, and Why
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 11, 2024 14:10 - 3 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsI've run into a little trouble with my Internet hosting service. My Website has gotten too large for their taste and they want me to upgrade to a $120-a-month 'dedicated server' or 'virtual private server' account. Hey, I do this stuff for fun, I don't make money on it ... Anyway so I went shoppi...
Recollections of an old Oregon mining-law specialist (WPA oral-history interview)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 11, 2024 14:00 - 17 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsOn May 3, 1938, Federal Writers Project worker Andrew Sherbert sat down with a tall, urbane, professional 70-year-old mining-law specialist named J. Thorburn Ross to talk about Mr. Ross's recollections of working in old Portland for George Himes and later experience in the area of Sailors' Diggin...
Innocent man’s sacrifice averted deadly ‘tong war’
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 08, 2024 14:00 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsIt was obvious to nearly everyone that Chee Gong was innocent. But one of his tong brothers had murdered Lee Yik and disappeared, and blood had to answer for blood. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1880s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1802c.tong-war-in-portland-averted-with-h...
Maggy Hawk Winery with Winemaker Sarah Wuethrich
Bud Break - March 07, 2024 23:28 - 36 minutes ★★★★★ - 28 ratingsJoin VP of Wine Education, Gilian Handelman as she chats with winemaker Sarah Wuethrich on all things Maggy Hawk Winery.
Circuit Preacher Tales III: Longshoreman’s Funeral
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 07, 2024 14:00 - 10 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsThe Reverend preached the funeral service to an empty church, while the deceased's friends and colleagues fought in the parking lot over who got to ride in the taxicabs. But the hostilities were forgotten when they arrived at a roadhouse. (Tacoma, Washington Territory; 1880s) (For text and pictur...
Circuit Preacher Stories 2: Shanghaiing up a flock
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 06, 2024 14:00 - 10 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsWhen trying to minister to the spiritual needs of a crowd of hard-sinning miners and sailors, it was sometimes necessary to resort to unorthodox tactics — tactics not often seen among men of the cloth in more civilized times. (Old Oregon Territory; 1840s, 1850s) (For text and pictures, see https...
Circuit Preacher Stories 1: The Rev. Wells’ wild ride
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 05, 2024 14:00 - 10 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsEagerly, the Reverend leaped into the waiting bathtub, positioned at the top of the stairs in the chilly foyer of the frontier hotel. And then, to his horror, he realized it was sliding toward the top of the staircase on a sheet of ice ... (Weston, Umatilla County; 1850s, 1860s) (For text and pi...
Recollections of an old Oregon hard-rock miner (WPA oral-history interview)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 04, 2024 14:00 - 21 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratings"I was introduced to Hank Simms by the superintendent of the Home (for the Aged) and he took me to his room. At once Hank Simms asked, 'Well, young feller, what do you want — just some straight running off at the mouth or do you want me to go on something special? I am a long distance talker if y...
‘Tillamook Guerillas’ were ready for enemy invasion
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - March 01, 2024 14:00 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsWhen the Oregon National Guard was called up, Oregonians felt vulnerable to Japanese invasion. So they loaded their rifles and possed up ready to give 'em hell! (Tillamook County; 1940s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1802b.tillamook-guerillas-ready-to-fight-off-invasion-4...
When dynamite truck blew up, it looked like nuclear war
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - February 29, 2024 14:00 - 9 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsA 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, Douglas County; 1950s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.c...
‘Home for Wayward Girls and Fallen Women’ a bust
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - February 28, 2024 14:00 - 9 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsWell-meaning church congregations banded together to offer 'wayward girls and fallen women' a place to get away from their profession — but it turned out most of them didn't particularly want to leave it; not yet, at least. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1890s) (For text and pictures, see https://o...
Portland lad grew up to be a founding father of USSR
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - February 27, 2024 14:00 - 9 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsPortland native Jack Reed was the only American buried in the Kremlin wall; his enthusiasm for the Bolsheviks was cooling toward the end, but after he died they gave him a state funeral and declared him a martyr to the revolution. (Portland, Multnomah County; 1900s, 1910s) (For text and pictures,...
The Furrier's Story: Louis Schumacher, part 2 of 2 parts (WPA oral history interview)
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - February 26, 2024 14:00 - 18 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsPart 2 of 2 parts: On Jan. 3, 1939, Federal Writers Project worker Andrew Sherbert sat down with a slim, quick-moving gray haired 70-year-old furrier/pelt buyer named Louis Schumacher to talk about Mr. Schumacher's recollections of coming to Portland from Baden, Germany, and establishing a busin...
Sauvignon Blanc Overview: The Core Four
Bud Break - February 26, 2024 08:00 - 5 minutes ★★★★★ - 28 ratingsJoin Jackson Family Wine's wine educators as they review our core four Sauvignon Blancs.
Massive DC-8 jumbo jet landed at tiny rural airport by mistake
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - February 23, 2024 14:00 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsTroutdale 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-a...
Shipwrecked fur traders walked from Oregon Coast to Louisiana
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - February 22, 2024 14:00 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsWhile 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, Coos County; 1810s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com...
Czarina shipwreck: A deadly marine concert of timidity and incompetence
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - February 21, 2024 14:00 - 9 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsThe wreck of the steamship Czarina: A cascade of bad decisions by nearly everyone involved resulted in the worst possible outcome: 23 mariners slowly dying in the surf as friends and family members watched from the beach. (Coos Bay Spit, Coos County; 1910s) (For text and pictures, see https://of...
Wine Club Dinner Overview
Bud Break - February 21, 2024 08:00 - 29 minutes ★★★★★ - 28 ratingsJoin winery ambassadors Katie Werthmuller and Barry Dodds as they chat about how to put on the best wine dinner for a wine club.
“Camp Castaway” was an inconvenient miracle
Offbeat Oregon History podcast - February 20, 2024 14:00 - 8 minutes ★★★★★ - 160 ratingsFeeling lucky to be alive, the soldiers and sailors of the shipwrecked schooner Captain Lincoln got busy salvaging everything off their stranded ship. But then the Army had a problem: How were they going to retrieve it? (Coos Bay Spit, Coos County; 1850s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbe...
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