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It Happened In...
It Happened in Oregon
Oregon is a place with a colorful past filled with lumberjacks, sea captains, and trappers. With an easy-to-read style that's entertaining and informative, It Happened in Oregon offers readers a behind-the-scenes look at some of the most intriguing episodes in Beaver State history.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
13 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
James A. Crutchfield
96 books13 followersJames A. Crutchfield is the author of many books on United States history, including Tragedy at Taos: the Revolt of 1847, Eyewitness to American History, and Legends of the Wild West. His contributions to a variety of newspapers and nationally distributed magazines and journals number in the hundreds. He has been awarded the Spur Award from Western Writers of America and is a two-time award recipient from the American Association for State and Local History.
A native-born Tennessean whose direct ancestors were among the first settlers of Nashville in the 1780s, he has most often turned his probing eye toward their stories. But his writing career has spanned the entire continent, from the days of George Washington and the American fur trade to the Army of the West and the histories of such Western states as Montana, New Mexico and Arizona as part of his It Happened in… book series.
A native-born Tennessean whose direct ancestors were among the first settlers of Nashville in the 1780s, he has most often turned his probing eye toward their stories. But his writing career has spanned the entire continent, from the days of George Washington and the American fur trade to the Army of the West and the histories of such Western states as Montana, New Mexico and Arizona as part of his It Happened in… book series.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 23, 2024
A fun little book. I had bought this years ago, undoubtedly on a trip to Oregon to visit my parents--who lived there for a while, but my dad's family has been there for generations. I have an upcoming trip, so this seemed an ideal time to pick this up.
Crutchfield provides a brief overview for a few dozen events in Oregon, from the formation of Crater Lake to a shipwreck in 1999. Each gets a few pages and there's a bit of jumping around in time. He focuses on the settling of Oregon by white men, largely, but doesn't neglect the effect this had on the native populations.
Some of the stories felt like they could happen anywhere; I did feel like I was missing some of the quirkiness that makes Oregon Oregon. Still, you get a feel for the settling of the area, its important economic drivers, and its history. That said, my biggest takeaway is that David Douglas, for whom the Douglas fir is named, died by falling into an underground pit meant to catch wild cattle in Hawaii.
Crutchfield provides a brief overview for a few dozen events in Oregon, from the formation of Crater Lake to a shipwreck in 1999. Each gets a few pages and there's a bit of jumping around in time. He focuses on the settling of Oregon by white men, largely, but doesn't neglect the effect this had on the native populations.
Some of the stories felt like they could happen anywhere; I did feel like I was missing some of the quirkiness that makes Oregon Oregon. Still, you get a feel for the settling of the area, its important economic drivers, and its history. That said, my biggest takeaway is that David Douglas, for whom the Douglas fir is named, died by falling into an underground pit meant to catch wild cattle in Hawaii.
September 24, 2022
3 stars is a generous rating, I think. What an odd selection of stories from Oregon history. Very focused on the 19th-century white male settler experience. It also included neither DB Cooper nor the Florence exploding whale, which is a dumb oversight in my opinion, as they are easily the most colorful events in recent-ish Oregon history.
July 17, 2020
Enjoyed this little book with 3-4 page vignettes of interesting stuff that has happened in Oregon history. They are really pretty shallow, but since it's an easy thing now to look up tons more info on any of the subjects, it's ok to go with many shallow stories. I liked it.
September 22, 2025
Ought to be really interesting. Each of the chapters has a story about Oregon’s origins, but it’s told in such a dry, boring way I was completely unengaged. Someone should re-write it, it feels like it would’ve taken effort to make such interesting stories dry.
January 7, 2020
Good bathroom book, each chapter is just a few pages!
December 4, 2022
Very biased toward white male settlers, but included some interesting snippets of history.
December 28, 2023
Fun read! Lots of interesting trivia about Oregon history, and Oregon in general. Fast fun read.
November 2, 2024
Interesting stories abut Oregon and its history.
March 9, 2021
© 1994 As a native Oregonian, I was very interested in reading about events and exploration in Oregon's history. These events took place during the 19th and 20th century. Interesting read.
February 6, 2013
Each brief chapter is a stand-alone in being a distinct picture of what was happening in Oregon at one place during one year. Because of this, I learned a lot about the early exploration of the Columbia River and settling of Astoria before the giant influx of settlers in the 1850's. The book then progresses through the 19th and into the 20th century with neat little scenes showing us some of the bad guys, the shipwrecks, the mountain men and the Indians. It gives us some of the environmental view in the 1970's with the Spotten Owl story and ends with the sinking of the New Carissa to prevent more environmental damage from that sea wreck. Easy reading, it would be great for a couple of hour airline flight. I wish I had one of those golden Oregon Beaver coins!
November 3, 2011
This book highlights 40 episodes from Oregon history beginning with the blowup of Mt Mazama to reconfigure itself and become Crater Lake. It makes me happy to write this from Cape Kiwanda and not downwind of the Cascade Mts.
One of the episodes chronicles the Rajneeshes in Antelope, Oregon, 60 miles from our home. I know many lifetime central Oregonians, eyewitnesses who mostly chuckle over the crazy things humanity embraces when they organize.
Most of the vignettes are from pioneer days and leave me proud to be an Oregonian.
One of the episodes chronicles the Rajneeshes in Antelope, Oregon, 60 miles from our home. I know many lifetime central Oregonians, eyewitnesses who mostly chuckle over the crazy things humanity embraces when they organize.
Most of the vignettes are from pioneer days and leave me proud to be an Oregonian.
August 13, 2007
I recently made my first trip to the wonderfully beautiful state of Oregon and city of Portland. In love with the state and city, I wanted to know more about them. My wife bought me this book and I read it in a couple of nights. This is not a straight forward history, but rather a series of (very) short snapshots of key events in the state's history. If you are looking for a detailed account look elsewhere, but I did very much enjoy this for what it was.
October 26, 2011
Very interesting true short stories about one of my favorite states - Oregon!
December 17, 2015
Fascinating collection of historical vignettes . A quick interesting read. (full of surprising stuff.)
August 2, 2019
Interesting book with some great stories. A great book if your interested in quick stories about Oregon’s history.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews