Shanghaiing in Portland: P-town's time as shanghaiing capital of the world (2 of 2)

Shanghaiing in Portland: P-town's time as shanghaiing capital of the world (2 of 2)

Author: www.offbeatoregon.com (finn @ offbeatoregon.com) January 23, 2026 Duration: 9:31
AS OF THE time of this writing, there is some disagreement over the status of Oregon’s largest city. It all came to a head last month when the President of the United States referred to it as “war-ravaged Portland” in a Tweet, and locals responded by going on Amazon and buying every inflatable frog costume they could get their hands on. Interesting times, indeed! A little over 100 years ago, though, you could have made the case that parts of Portland were — not war-ravaged, exactly, but probably the most dangerous city in North America in which to go out drinking. But the risk you ran wasn’t getting killed, injured, or — uh, ravaged. It was the risk of waking up the next morning with a splitting headache and a bad case of seasickness, on board a barque headed for Liverpool. With an angry first mate screaming at you to get up and get to work and probably giving you a few kicks in the ribs to drive the point home that, whatever you thought your occupation was last night, this morning you were a sailor. (For text and pictures, see https://offbeatoregon.com/2511a1006c.portland-shanghaiing-capital-of-world-710.076.html)

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. An exploding whale, a few shockingly scary cults, a 19th-century serial killer, several very naughty ladies, a handful of solid-brass con artists and some of the dumbest bad guys in the history of the universe. Source citations are included with the text version on the Web site at https://offbeatoregon.com.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Offbeat Oregon History podcast
Podcast Episodes
Worst natural flash flood in U.S. history struck here (Part 1 of 2) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:42
“It is reported that a tremendous cloudburst occurred at Heppner late in the afternoon,” the article states. “All communication with that town has been cut off and nothing definite can be learned.” The silence must have…
Mount Angel Abbey owes grandeur to colorful monk [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:04
Jovial and gregarious, Adelhelm Odermatt locked his sights on a vision of a hilltop monastery — and then deployed himself like a jovial, glad-handing, never-sleeping bombshell to make it happen. It was a near thing, but…
‘Unwritten Law’ no help for man who murdered his wife's brother [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:22
“Amsterdam Jack” Murray claimed it was all a misunderstanding, but the jury obviously suspected he'd intended to murder his wife's brother all along; then the appeals court learned he was a bigamist to boot. (Portland, M…
Frontier murder was even darker than it appeared [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:33
When first reported, it looked like a simple murder-suicide. But it quickly became clear that it was something far more sinister — and the motives of the killer were uglier and more sordid than anyone had thought possibl…
Pixieland and Oregon's midcentury culture [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:37
Jerry and Lu Parks envisioned a “fairy-tale history of Oregon” in the form of an amusement park. What they created was a rich cultural artifact, and a treasured childhood memory for a generation of Oregonians. (Otis and…
‘Daredevil Al’ Fossett was Evel Knievel of the ’20s [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:40
The former logger tried to cash in on his knack for boat design and total lack of normal fear by paddling over waterfalls: Willamette Falls, Celilo Falls, South Silver Falls. But although he got famous, he never managed…
West’s first female lawyer:
A legal Mother Teresa? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:39
The real Mary Leonard was probably someone who had given up “the good life” after realizing, during her time in jail, that the powerless women of her time were getting a raw deal — and determined to do something about it…
Pioneering “lady lawyer” deserved a better legacy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:27
Had Mary Leonard died in 1890, she'd be remembered as she really was — a brilliant orator and an inspiration to future Oregon women and attorneys. But fate let her live another 20 years, during which she devolved into a…
Acquitted murder suspect became first ‘lady lawyer’ [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 7:35
Many historians, eager to see in her the caricature of the nagging, garrulous fishwife and gold-digging black widow, have missed the real story of Mary Leonard — and done both her, and the historical record, a disservice…
Fiery explosive shipwreck gave Boiler Bay its name [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:52
A MILE OR two north of the picturesque little Central Coast town of Depoe Bay, there’s a little unassuming wide spot at the side of Highway 101 where you can pull off the road and park. There are a couple trails leading…