Finn John

Corvallis

Host at Offbeat Oregon History podcast

Hello tigers! I'm Finn. College teacher, public historian, author, audiobook producer, vintage pulp fan and all-around Disgrace to the Forces of Evil.

Articles

Offbeat Oregon: Pioneer woman doctor was Oregon’s ‘Modern Prometheus’

6 days ago | newsregister.com | Finn John

In Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s classic novel “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus,” Shelley tells the story of a brilliant and gifted scientist-physician who reaches too far in his quest for knowledge, and dares to lay his hands on the power that rightly belongs only to the gods: that of the creation of life. Oregon history has its own Modern Prometheus.
Pioneer woman doctor was Oregon's Modern Prometheus

1 week ago | mckenzieriverreflectionsnewspaper.com | Finn John

Continued From Last WeekBy Finn J.D. JohnFor the other doctors, though, this was going a bit too far — it had, after all, been his idea to invite her. Also, they all knew he and Dr. Owens didn’t like each other. Prior to her stint in medical school, Bethenia had been a nurse, and they’d had a little clash of wills at a patient’s bedside once for which he bore her a lasting grudge.
Pioneer woman doctor was Oregon's Modern Prometheus

2 weeks ago | mckenzieriverreflectionsnewspaper.com | Finn John

In Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, Shelley tells the story of a brilliant and gifted scientist-physician who reaches too far in his quest for knowledge, and dares to lay his hands on the power that rightly belongs only to the gods: that of the creation of life. Oregon history has its own Modern Prometheus.
Mill owner's wife acquitted of murder after shooting him

3 weeks ago | mckenzieriverreflectionsnewspaper.com | Finn John

Dawn was only a couple hours away when 33-year-old lumber mill owner Gene Harington got home from a really long night. He pulled into the drive around 5:45 a.m., and immediately proceeded to wake up his pretty young wife, Virginia, along with their two babies (ages 1 and 2). Virginia tucked the two kids back into bed, and after that, an argument ensued.
Offbeat Oregon: Colorful sea-captain was a 19th-century Han Solo

1 month ago | newsregister.com | Finn John

There was no reason why the U.S. Marshal should spend the night on board the cramped, smelly little freight schooner he was in charge of. After all, the ship was anchored in a semi-civilized town — Steilacoom, near Tacoma in the Washington territory — and there were several decent hotels there.
Colorful sea-captain was like a 19th-century Han Solo

1 month ago | mckenzieriverreflectionsnewspaper.com | Finn John

There was no reason why the U.S. Marshal should spend the night on board the cramped, smelly little freight schooner he was in charge of. After all, the ship was anchored in a semi-civilized town — Steilacoom, near Tacoma in the Washington territory — and there were several decent hotels there.
Offbeat Oregon: They laughed at Capt. Scott's ugly little riverboat ... at first

1 month ago | redmondspokesman.com | Finn John

Viewers of the Red Green show probably felt, watching him drive off in a duct-taped monstrosity of a vehicle, about the same way the executives of Oregon’s two big riverboat almost-monopolies did back in 1874 while they watched an Ohio greenhorn’s progress on the riverboat he was building. They watched and they laughed. kAm%96 6I64FE:G6D H6C6 2=D@[ :E D66>D 4=62C[ 4@?8C2EF=2E:?8 E96>D6=G6D 7@C 92G:?8 925 E96 8@@5 D6?D6 ?@E E@ 9:C6 E92E “#65 vC66?” EJA6 8FJ H96?
Steamboat monopoly's clever coup was a big mistake

1 month ago | mckenzieriverreflectionsnewspaper.com | Finn John

The executives in charge of Henry Villard’s Oregon Railway and Navigation Co. no doubt thought they’d played their cards very cleverly when they bought the little screw-driven riverboat Gold Dust in 1881. They could not have been more wrong. The Oregon Railway and Navigation Co. was the company Henry Villard had formed to play for a monopoly on transcontinental railway access to Portland.
Offbeat Oregon: Governor of Oregon to U.S. president: Drop dead

1 month ago | redmondspokesman.com | Finn John

If there was a category in the Guinness Book of World Records for the state with the crankiest former governor, Oregon would surely hold the title. The state would have earned the record in 1886, when it elected Sylvester Pennoyer. And Pennoyer would have clinched it seven years later with a telegram he shot off to the President of the United States of America telling him, in essence, to mind his own damn business.
They laughed at Capt. Scott's ugly little riverboat ... at first

1 month ago | mckenzieriverreflectionsnewspaper.com | Finn John

Readers of a certain age all over North America will remember a really excellent Canadian comedy-variety show called The Red Green Show, which had a 15-year run starting in 1990, starring Steve Smith as gravel-voiced handyman Red Green. Each week, Red would preside over the “Handyman Corner” segment of the show, in which he would do something ridiculous with duct tape and, usually, one or more rusty old cars.