The Oregon Shanghaiers: Columbia River Crimping from Astoria to Portland

by Barney Blalock

Overview

In the hardscrabble early days of Portland's seaport, shanghaiing" or "crimping" ran rampant. The proprietors of crooked saloons and sailors' boardinghouses coerced unwitting patrons to work on commercial ships. Shanghaiers like James Turk, Bunko Kelley and Billy Smith unashamedly forced men into service and stole the wages of their victims. By the 1890s, these shanghaiers had become powerful enough to influence the politics of Astoria and Portland, charging sea captains outrageous fees for unskilled laborers and shaping maritime trade around a merciless black market. For nearly a century, the exploits of these notorious crimpers have existed mainly in lore. Now historian Barney Blalock offers a lively and meticulously researched account of these colorful and corrupt men, revealing an authentic account of Oregon's malicious maritime legends."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626194304
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	04/08/2014
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	630,877
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Barney Blalock's love of the Portland waterfront comes from the thirty-three years he spent working on the grain docks. He is the great-grandson of Oregon pioneers, and as such has had a life-long interest in local history. Blalock is the author of the Portland Waterfront History blog and Portland's Lost Waterfront: Tall Ships, Steam Mills, and Sailor's Boardinghouses." He is a member of the Oregon Historical Society and the Oregon Maritime Museum and is a frequent lecturer and guest speaker."

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Gentle Art of Shipping Sailors 7

1 Can Anything Good Come from San Francisco? 11

2 The Grant Family of Astoria 29

3 Mr. Lawrence Malachi Sullivan Comes to Town 35

4 The Palmy Days of Jim Turk 40

5 Pirates of the Port 49

6 The Shanghaiing of Darius Norris 54

7 Citizen Turk 64

8 The Unfortunate Mr. Beeby 77

9 The Arrival of Joe "Bunco" Kelley 83

10 Before the Blind Goddess 88

11 Events Leading Up to the Funeral of James Turk 93

12 A Confederacy of Crimps 108

13 Red lights Burn Out in the North End 125

14 The Unquiet Graves 133

Afterword: A Tall Tale of Tunnels 143

Notes 149

Index 155

About the Author 160