Arthur “Harpo” Marx (born Adolph Marx) was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and musician, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. Although the comedy of his brothers Groucho Marx and Chico Marx, Harpo’s style was visual, exemplifying both clown and pantomime traditions. He wore a curly reddish blond wig and was silent in all his movie appearances, instead blowing a horn or whistling to communicate. One of his most well-known […]
On October 24, 1861, workers completed construction of the link connecting eastern and western telegraph networks of the nation at Salt Lake City, Utah, completing a transcontinental line that for the first time allowed instantaneous communication between Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, and effectively put an end to the Pony Express. The idea behind the […]
This is the troopship HMS Queen Elizabeth. Both the QE and Queen Mary were used as troop transports during and after the Second World War. Their high speeds allowed them to outrun hazards, principally German U-boats, usually allowing them to travel without a convoy. Her carrying capacity was over 15,000 troops and a crew of […]
Quite a few years ago, I was invited to make some presentations at a business conference being held at the Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, Washington. Since I had never been to Skamania, and was still relatively new to Oregon/Washington, I asked for directions on how best to get there. “Easy!” said the meeting coordinator. “Just […]
She started a school for African-American girls with $1.50. The school bordered the town dump. Make-shift desks and chairs were made from discarded crates and boxes. There were five students at the time, and the students made ink for pens from elderberry juice and pencils from burned wood. When the local Ku Klux Klan heard […]
Pittock Mansion has one of the most beautiful, expansive views in the city, overlooking Portland’s skyline from 1,000 feet up. On a clear day, panoramic vistas of five Cascade Mountains: Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, and Mount Jefferson can be seen. The original Pittock estate was comprised of 46 acres of […]
In part one of this series, we read about English-born Henry Lewis Pittock’s journey with a wagon train from Pennsylvania to Oregon in 1853 where, “barefoot and penniless,” he began working for Thomas Dryer’s Weekly Oregonian newspaper. In 1860, at the age of 26, Henry married 15-year-old Georgiana Martin Burton of Missouri. Six years prior, […]
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III (January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American radio personality, conservative political commentator, author, and television show host. He was best known as the host of his radio show The Rush Limbaugh Show, which was nationally syndicated on AM and FM radio stations. Years Active: 1967 – 2021 Awards: Five-time Marconi Award winner National Radio Hall of […]
Returning to America in 1829, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau set aside his cultivated manners and fell into the rough-and-tumble existence of the mountain man. He ranged the length and breadth of the American West, hunting, trapping, guiding and exploring. Unfortunately, Baptiste maintained no diaries or journals, so information about his life is known only through the […]
When Lewis and Clark arrived in the Hidatsa-Mandan territory in October 1804, they hired French trapper Toussaint Charbonneau and his pregnant Shoshone wife Sacagawea as interpreters for their expedition. Wintering at Fort Mandan, on February 11, 1805, Lewis recorded the birth of Jean Baptiste: “About five Oclock this evening one of the wives of Charbonneau […]