Great and Minor Moments in Oregon History

The essays and anecdotes collected in this book are an engaging and fascinating array of both the familiar and the surprising in Oregon history. While not a comprehensive history, it covers the long span from the prehistoric to the present with in-depth, thought provoking and often humorous glimpses of the personalities and peculiarities that inhabit Oregon's past. Its offbeat, ecclectic approach will inform and entertain you. Learn what forces of nature combined to create Oregon over geologic eons. See how the land's natural gifts inspired the mythic world of its original natives. What was it like for Lewis and Clark to spend an Oregon winter on the north coast — without the modern tourist conveniences? Follow the Barlow Road, the most perilous part of the journey facing pioneers at the end of the Oregon Trail. Witness Portland's booming optimism at the start of the 20th century, staging the west coast's first worlds fair and building a world-class rail transit system. See revealed — as never before — the seemy vice underworld of Portland's 1950s rackets mobs. Recall Oregon's illustrious sports heritage and re-live the careers of her superstars — not just in sports, but in politics too. All this and much, much more — from the sublime to the ridiculous, the momentous to the minute — awaits within these pages.Dick Pintarich has combined his own extensive body of popular history works with contributions from other Oregon writers to compile this anthology, which also includes new and previously unpublished works by Pintarich and others.