Joseph “Bunco” Kelly, a notorious figure in Portland, Oregon’s history, carved a unique niche for himself in the late 19th[…]
Read moreHistory’s Mysteries: Escaping Alcatraz
On the Tuesday morning of June 12, 1962, everything appeared normal at the U.S. Penitentiary on Alcatraz Island. It had[…]
Read moreHow did Battle Ground, WA Get its Name?
Battle Ground, Washington was named for a battle… that never happened. In the 1850’s, significant tension arose between American Indians[…]
Read moreOur Little Slice of Paradise!
Last year, since Tonya already had a house, I sold my house and took the profits and bought 5 acres[…]
Read more1854 Lithograph of Fort Vancouver
I love to hunt for and collect antiques from Vancouver, Washington’s past. The antiques give me a glimpse into Vancouver’s[…]
Read moreExploring Dead Horse Cave
Dead Horse Cave is an extensive cave system outside of Trout Lake, Washington in Skamania County. It is the largest lava tube cave in the continental U.S. with 14,441 feet of passageways.
Read moreWashington Joins the Union: Map of Washington and Oregon from 1889 Letts’s Atlas
This is my newest antique map that I bought from a dealer in the U.K. Right away I liked it[…]
Read moreMcNeil Island: Washington’s own Prison Island
When people think of a prison island they usually think of Alcatraz Penitentiary in the San Francisco Bay. But California isn’t the only state with a prison island. Washington’s Puget Sound is the home to another, older prison island.
Read more1939-S Oregon Trail Memorial Half Dollar
The Oregon Trail Memorial half dollar was a fifty-cent piece struck intermittently by the United States Bureau of the Mint between 1926 and 1939.[…]
Read more1893 Columbian Expo “Pre-Official” Postal Card, Fisheries Bldg
The newest addition to my early pioneer postcard collection is a postal card from the 1893 Columbian Exposition. The 1893[…]
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