Offbeat Oregon History podcast

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Vigilantes overreached with murder of ‘rustler’

Everyone thought John Hawk was stealing cattle, and he refused to talk about it. So one night, a group of cattlemen snuck into his camp and assassinated him — and were shocked by the frontier community's response. (Joseph, Wallowa County; 1870s) (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/1310d-john-hawk-murder-by-vigilantes.html)

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  Oregonians had the jump on California Gold Rush

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  Palatial riverboat caught in hurricane on open sea

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  Drunk looting party broke out at scene of shipwreck

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  Civil War plotters hoped to get West Coast to secede

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  Buster Keaton brought Hollywood to Cottage Grove (Part 2 of 2)

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  Buster Keaton brought Hollywood to Cottage Grove (Part 1 of 2)

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  Prohibition sting ended with a deadly gunfight

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  Town’s emergency wood money is still legal tender

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  Bunny-massacre parties were big social events

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  Corvallis man found cows make lousy boat engines

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  Alcoholic shipmate drank snake-preserving whiskey

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  Schemers’ plans to exploit Multnomah Falls failed

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  Shanghai tunnels mostly a myth...or are they?

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  Tarzan fans are grateful for gold miner’s failure

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  Riverboat party turned out to be shanghaiing trick

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  Skipper doubled down on a bad bet ... and lost it all