America's deadliest flash flood happened in Heppner, Oregon
Tiny Willow Creek became a wall of water, swept away a third of the town and killed 247 people
Offbeat Oregon History
Unusual and little-known stories from Oregon history
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Boiler Bay named for spectacular 1910 shipwreck
DEPOE BAY, Ore. -- Lit up from stem to stern like a torch, the steam schooner J.Marhoffer slammed into the rocks after its crew pointed it landward and abandoned ship; its rusty boiler is still visible at low tide
Wolf Creek Inn was writing retreat for Jack London
WOLF CREEK, Ore. -- It was also a fishing retreat for Clark Gable and other Golden Age Hollywood notables -- and, earlier, a place for cowboys to crash
Central Oregon's legendary crystal cave: Is it real?
BEND, Ore. -- Somewhere in the high desert of central Oregon, there's a large cave lined with quartz crystals, which you can walk into. Where is it? There are people who know ... but they're not talking.
Steam excursion train line is now a new bike path
COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. � Until the 1980s, you could ride the "Blue Goose" up the Row River past where "Stand By Me" was shot. Today, it's a 15.6-mile bike trail.
Ping Yang School near Marcola blown up three times with dynamite
Last and most successful attempt, in 1909, rumored to have been made by students at school, who felt they needed a new building; others suspected to be work of a grumpy old pioneer and experienced "dynamite fisherman" who lived nearby
Lure of the sea brought Jimmy Bates -- and potatoes -- to Oregon
Globe-trotting sailor chose Oregon to settle down and retire in; he'd first seen the state, and planted potatoes in it, in 1828 while his ship was being repaired
After 80 years, Oregon Vortex still keeps experts guessing
Water seems to run uphill, and people's height appears to change from one end of a plank to another. Is it a fantastic optical illusion, or a mysterious force? Opinions vary
Dispute over reservation land lasted a century
Warm Springs Indians struggled from 1871 to 1972 to get back a piece of land taken as a result of a survey everyone admitted was in error
Bits of 1926 Hollywood train wreck are still in Row River
The movie was "The General," starring Buster Keaton; in the scene, a real locomotive is crashed through a real burning bridge into the river, at a cost (in 2010 dollars) of more than half a million dollars
For Oregon pioneer family, highway robbers were lifesavers
Two armed men who apparently came to rob travelers helped pull them over the pass instead after discovering there were six children in the wagon
Underground city found in Pendleton potholes
Tunnels contained entire businesses and residences, once used by Chinese residents to avoid contact with liquored-up cowboys, now are a popular tourist attraction for the city
Oregon gold-country legend: The solid-gold snuff can
Is there anything to the story of the Native American man who came out of the woods every few years with a snuff can full of gold dust? Maybe
Biggest meteorite ever found in U.S. came from West Linn, Ore.
Massive 16-ton chunk of iron was found by a neighboring property owner, who dragged it half a mile in an attempt to steal it; today it's in the American Museum of Natural History in New York
Bing cherry has roots on Oregon Trail
World's most popular cherry was bred by pioneer nurseryman who brought its progenitors in a wagon across the Oregon Trail, with Native Americans' help
Hayburner offered one-way cattle-powered river transport
Hayburner story
Ping Yang School near Marcola blown up three times
Ping Yang school story
Timberline Lodge could have been a 9-story skyscraper
Calling the plan a "profit-making eyesore," Forest Service manager nixed 1920s plan for a modern steel-and-glass structure with an aerial tramway