HeyJaredOffbeat Oregon History podcast
The Offbeat Oregon History Podcast is a daily service from the Offbeat Oregon History newspaper column. Each weekday morning, a strange-but-true story from Oregon's history from the archives of the column is uploaded.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 54
- Latest publication
- Sep 15, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 3, 2026
Latest episodes
Fossil ‘Bone Wars’ came to Oregon, but just barely (opens the original)
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It's probably just as well that no actual dinosaur bones were found here; the spiteful, unprofessional “cowboy paleontology” practiced by O.C. Marsh and E.D. Cope left Oregon's pioneer scientists profoundly unimpressed as it was. (John Day Fossil Beds, Wheeler and Grant county; 1870s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1601c.bone-wars.374.html)
Mill owner’s fight with city sparked a race riot (opens the original)
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It's an event remembered with some shame in Oregon: A group of innocent, terrified men and women found themselves at the mercy of an angry mob, pawns in a power struggle between a mill owner and a group of townspeople. (Toledo, Lincoln County; 1920s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1302a-toledo-riot-mixed-racism-and-labor-unrest.html)
Luther Cressman was Oregon’s real-life Indiana Jones (Part 2 of 2) (opens the original)
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THE GREAT BREAKTHROUGH in Cressman’s fieldwork came as a direct result of his having familiarized himself with Indian basketmaking art and other distinctive Native artistic traditions. He was able to recognize the pedigree of bits of basketry that he saw sticking out of the ground in places like the Catlow Valley. ... (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/24-02.luther-cressman-oregons-indiana-jones-630.html)
Luther Cressman was Oregon’s real-life Indiana Jones (Part 1 of 2) (opens the original)
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IN THE SUMMER of 1981 a little action-adventure movie titled Raiders of the Lost Ark came out, and fans have been speculating ever since on who the character of Indiana Jones might be based on. Oregon archaeology legend Luther Cressman's claim to the title is as strong as anyone's. (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/24-02.luther-cressman-oregons-indiana-jones-630.html)
Radical Wobblies found support among loggers (opens the original)
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Industrial Workers of the World union grew strong in the woods just before the First World War broke out — and the U.S. Army had to teach soldiers to cut timber to get the industry moving again. (Lumber camps, 1910s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1301d-wobblies-come-to-oregon-timber.html)
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