IN THIS ISSUE:
Information Wanted on the
"Portland Underground"
The "Portland Underground" holds many secrets and most of these have been carefully "tucked-away" in oral history. People who have experienced this infamous world of shanghaiing that has been hidden away in the "darkness and shadows" of time, may have been there either as victims, as workers for the shanghaiers, or have been into the gambling
parlors, opium dens, and bordellos. Their stories need to be told, even anonymously, and the information needs to finally become part of this history.
The Cascade Geographic Society has made the "Portland Underground" a priority project. And, although the physical restoration of these catacombs and secret inter-connecting basements is a work-in-progress, gathering information about its history is also a work-in-progress.
If you have information about the near-secret "Portland Underground" or about the shanghaiing trade in general, whether it is written or just oral history, please get in
touch with us. This could be very important because we are working on a historical puzzle with a lot of missing pieces. Some of these pieces are large while others are small, and the information you have could provide some critical linkages.
Please contact us and assist in putting together this often confusing historical puzzle on the shanghai trade in Portland and the West Coast. Also, if you have information on the early-day moonshining, bootlegging, speakeasys, opium dens, gambling
parlors, bordellos, and corruption in the former world of vice, also get in touch with us.
Even if you believe the information is not significant or is already known, it could really help us. Please give us a call at (503) 622-4798.
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Husband & Wife Have Participated in
the "Portland Underground" for Past Two Years
A husband and wife volunteer team has volunteered in the "Portland Underground" for two years. Through the dust and dirt, when one would think that it couldn't get any harder, and it does, they have been there.
Terry McAlister, who owns his own construction company, and his wife Rebecca, a teacher in the Portland Public School District, both ventured into the "Portland Underground" during a class from Portland State University. They were the first to understand the vision of preserving the infamous history of the shanghai trade in Portland, and stepped forward to volunteer.
Two years later, Terry and Rebecca are still volunteering, in spite of the eternal dirt and endless dust that seems to sometimes overwhelm the rich history of "Portland Underground". In spite of the difficult working conditions, they have persisted.
Terry and Rebecca, along with their daughter Danielle, are the winners of the Society's "Golden Eagle Award". They have not only donated their time and energy to the "Portland Underground", but have also assisted with the "Mount Hood Huckleberry Festival", the "Mount Hood Salmon & Mushroom Festival", the "Mount Hood Public Lands Clean-Up", work parties at the organization's living history center on Mount Hood, and much more. They are true volunteers in every meaning of the word.
Yet, helping with the preservation of the history of the shanghaing trade, remains an important goal of theirs. From their years of volunteering in the "Portland Underground", they have worked on every single aspect of the needed changes that had to occur in order for this interesting heritage to move from the darkness and shadows of the past into the light of the 21st Century.
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Mack of the "Portland Underground"
Just who is this guy they call Mack who reportedly plays a major role in the "Portland Underground" and its infamous shanghaiing history?
Well, Mack was actually created by Danielle McAlister, who was in the fourth grade at the time at Kelly
Elementary School in Portland, Oregon. After assisting on a number of tours, she decided that something was missing, but didn't know what.
After evaluating the situation, Danielle knew exactly what it was that was needed in the "Portland Underground". So, she went to work. A short time later, Mack became a reality.
So just who is Mack? Well, he's now part of the "Portland Underground". And, to know exactly what his role is, you'll have to take a tour and find out.
As for Danielle and who she is, she is one of the winners of the Cascade Geographic Society's "Golden Eagle Award" along with her parents, Terry and Rebecca McAlister. From working in the "Portland Underground" to assisting with work parties at the organization's living history center on Mount Hood, not forgetting working at the "Mount Hood Huckleberry Festival" and the "Mount Hood Salmon & Mushroom Festival", as well as assisting with other projects, she's a young lady preserving our heritage for future generations.
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Changing Facade of the "Portland Underground"
Through the very same silence of the seemingly impenetrable darkness that has kept the "Portland Underground" hidden from view for over 90 years, the Cascade Geographic Society's tours continue to invade this place of mystery. Only now, since the last portion of the month of February during the year 2001, this place of shadows and lingering historical confusion has changed.
The infamous "Portland Underground", seems to be transitioning back into the eerie place that it was during those days of shanghaiing. Rubble that was once in the way has been removed; construction trash that blocked the passages are gone, modern ductwork for heating and air conditioning has been relocated, and much, much more. All of this has been accomplished, thanks to some dedicated volunteers.
More popularly known as the "Shanghai Tunnels", the "Portland Underground" earned the "City of Roses" the well-deserved title as being the "Worst Port in the World". From 1850 to 1941, many thousands of unsuspecting sailors, loggers, cowboys, sheepherders, and others were drugged, dropped through trapdoors, locked-in holding cells, and then taken through the network of inner-connecting secret basements and catacombs that reached to the waterfront, placed on ships and sold to sea captains for "blood money".
Today, as the "Portland Underground" continues to undergo these changes, the mysteries of the past seem to linger even more. Perhaps it's because these secret places are returning to the way they were during those days of the shanghai trade.
As people begin to venture more and more into this place of "darkness and shadows", the shadows interplaying off the beautiful stone walls and brick archways of this hidden place seem to be asking the same question that people have been asking for decades: "How could this have happened and why did shanghaiing last so long?" And, as more and more work in the "Portland Underground" is completed, and as the tours are expanded, most assuredly, in time, this question will be answered.
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Home Depot Adopts Section of
"Portland Underground"
The Clackamas Store of Home Depot has adopted a portion of "Portland Underground". And, to show their sincerity, they have donated $150 to improve lighting and to cover other costs, and has had store volunteers work one evening a week for months.
The volunteers from Home Depot have been instrumental in assisting with the removal of debris, old abandoned pipes, modern-day trash, etc. In addition, they have assisted in the recovery of artifacts which will help to tell the story of the "Portland Underground".
The Cascade Geographic Society sincerely appreciates the work of the volunteers from the Clackamas Store of Home Depot. Little by little, as more and more people from all walks of life come together, the "Portland Underground" will re-emerge from its "cloak" of darkness and shadows and become an important National Historic site where both history is preserved and the education about this infamous past is accepted.
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Northwest Paranormal Investigations
Assisting in the "Portland Underground"
Do you believe in ghosts? Many people do, and they conduct their research very seriously, if not painstakingly. And, a growing number of these people are working through a unique organization that is known as "Northwest Paranormal Investigations".
In October of 2000, a large group of people from "Northwest Paranormal Investigations" visited the "Portland Underground". Armed with a wide variety of cameras ranging from 35 mm to digital, to video cameras and even nightviewing equipment, they stepped back into time and ventured into the remnants of the world of the former shanghai trade in the "City of Roses".
The "Portland Underground" has long held stories of ghosts and hauntings tied to the shanghai trade. So, it was no surprise when the members of the "Northwest Paranormal Investigations" began capturing "unusual entitities" on film. One participant claimed that this unique world of shanghaiing "had more active spirits" than most haunted places that he had visited.
"Northwest Paranormal Investigations", however, did not just go on a tour. Under the leadership of Bob Chamberlain, the organization's President, they have returned time and time again to assist in the restoration of the "Portland Underground". As a direct result, the area where the tours take place are being returned to the way they looked back in the days of the shanghai trade when the "landsharks" (i.e., the shanghaiers), controlled this city along the Willamette River.
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Visit the "Portland Underground" (Shanghai Tunnels)
Call (503) 622-4798 for Information!
website: www.members.tripod.com/cgs-mthood.
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Coming...In the Future...
Living History on the Oregon Trail at our
"Oregon Country Settlement ".
Call (503) 622-4798 for Information!
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