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

And then there was the climactic scene, which is the main thing people talk about in South Lane County when this movie comes up. It was literally a train wreck, although metaphorically it was anything but. Buster wanted the climax of the movie to involve a locomotive falling through a burning bridge into a river. .... (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2409d-1002b.buster-keaton-the-general-in-cottage-grove-668.061.html)

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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 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

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  Bad recording technique led to FBI investigation