History the weird, the twisted, and the random

07/28/2022

This link has some history on the Kerry logging tunnel in Columbia county and how to find it. So if you are from PNW and find history and exploring fun you may like this page, or you may just like it cause you like just like knowledge and exploring. Also there is really cool video attached at the bottom of the page of them exploring and talking about the history briefly.

Nehalem Divide is the most famous logging railroad tunnel in Columbia County, but it wasn’t the largest. That honor belongs to Kerry Tunnel, a landmark so grown over and remote that few resid…

06/18/2022

06/04/2022

06/01/2022

On this date June 1st in 1773 Wolraad Woltemade, a Cape Dutch dairy farmer, rescued 14 sailors from De Jonge Thomas shipwreck but in doing so drowned along with his horse and the sailors he was trying to rescue. On the morning of June 1st 1773, De Jonge Thomas was driven by a strong gale onto a sandbar on the mouth of the Salt River in Table Bay in South Africa's Cape Town. Many sailors perished as the ship broke up, but a substantial number of survivors were clinging to the hull of the ship. Many sailors died trying to make it to shore. Only a very small number actually made it. A crowd had formed on the Beach, some were there to watch, others wanted to help, and some were there to try to loot the cargo that was being washed ashore. A detachment of soldiers was brought in to keep order. Corporal Christian Ludwig Woltemade, the youngest son of the elderly Wolraad, was part of this detachment. As Wolraad reached the beach, he was filled with pity for the sailors. Seeing as nothing could be done from the beach, Wolraad mounted his steed, Vonk, and rode out/swam out to the wreck. As he approached the wreck, he called for two men to jump into the sea and grab hold of his horse's tail. After a moment of hesitation, two men jumped into the sea and grabbed hold of his horse's tail. Wolraad pulled the men to shore. He did this 7 times. He and his horse had become exhausted and stopped to rest when the when ship began breaking up, so once more Wolraad urged his horse out to the ship. Seeing as this might be their last chance to escape the ship, six men plunged into the water and grabbed at the horse. The combined weight was too much for the horse and all were dragged below the waves. Wolraad's body was found the next day, but the horse was never found. Of the 191 souls on the ship, only 53 survived.

05/26/2022

On this date, May 26th in 1896, Nicholas II is crowned Tsar of Russia in the Cathedral of the Dormition located within the Kremlin. From 1547 the Cathedral of the Dormition had been the site of coronation for Russian monarchs. Nicholas pulled Russia into the July crisis to defend Serbia from Austro-Hungary, who believed the government of Serbia had orchestrated the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. In entering the fray, this also triggered Germany and France to get involved setting off WW1. Germany had treaties with Austro-Hungary and France with Russia. Eventually Russia would leave WW1 due to Nicholas being overthrown by the Bolsheviks and them needing to deal with infighting in Russia. Nicholas would be the last Tsar of Russia, eventually being executed along with his family in a basement in Ipatiev House which was demolished in 1977. Despite the persistent myths and conspiracy theories, none of the family made it out alive. All the remains of the family held at Ipatiev house were found, including Grand Duchess Anastasia, who was just 17. Nicholas and his immediate family were eventually canonized as Martyred saints 1981.

05/25/2022

On this date, May 24th in 1960, the volcano Cordón Caulle in Chile erupted. This event was preceded by the largest ever recorded earthquake. Various studies place the earthquakes power at 9.4 to 9.6 on the moment magnitude scale. There were multiple earthquakes which caused a multitude of other natural disasters. Tsunamis hit southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, China, New Zealand, Australia, and the Aleutian Islands. Some localized tsunamis battered the Chilean coast with waves as high as 82ft. The main tsunamis hit Hilo, Hawaii killing 61 people. There were multiple landslides that mostly happened in the steep glacier Valley of the southern Andes. These landslides did not cause many fatalities because most of the area was uninhabited. 38 hours after the main Valdivia earthquake occurred, Cordón Caulle erupted. The eruption was believed to have been caused by the earthquake. Between two sparsely populated and isolated Andean valleys, the eruption had few eyewitnesses and received little attention by local media, which was preoccupied with the severe and widespread damage and losses caused by the earthquake. The eruption ended on July 22nd, 59 days later. There were no reported death associated with the volcano's eruption. Various estimates of fatalities from the earthquakes and tsunamis puts the death toll between 1,000 and 6,000 dead. The monetary cost was estimated from $3.66 billion to $7.33 billion in today's money.

05/24/2022

On this date May 23nd in 1430 Joan of arc was captured at the siege of Compiègne. She would be transferred many times before her ex*****on and try to escape at least twice and in one instance by jumping from 70 foot tower into a dry moat. Joan had become feared by the English for her apparent supernatural abilities and undermining morale. She was also considered a political threat since her vision had told her she was to help Charles IIV of France defeat the English and crown him King and that her success was shown that she had God's favor. She would be put on trial in an English kangaroo court. Exactly a year later, on May 23nd, Joan would be fully admonished by the court. The next day she would be taken to wooden scaffolding and told she would be burned alive if she did not sign documents renouncing her visions and to stop wearing soldiers' clothes. She agreed and signed. She could not be executed now because of the documents she signed, but she could if she was convicted a second time for heresy. She was kept in English custody and witnesses said she had been subjected to mistreatment and attempted r**e. They also said guards had left male clothes in her cell, forcing her to wear them. She eventually recanted her pervious statements, renouncing her visions and began wearing men's clothes again. She was declared "relapsed" and sentenced to be burned at the stake. She requested to view a cross as she died. She was given one fashioned from sticks from an English soldier, which she kissed and placed next to her chest. A processional cross was also brought for her to embrace before her hands were bound and it was held before her eyes during her ex*****on. She was burned at the stake on May 30, 1431 at the age of just 19.

05/21/2022

05/21/2022

First World War German Field Marshal, "The Last Hussar" August von Mackensen, photographed in c. 1915 at the age of 66. He commanded successfully during World War 1 and became one of the German Empire's most prominent and competent military leaders. He died on the 8 November 1945 aged 95.

Credit: Colorizedhistory
historycolored.com⁠

05/20/2022

On this date, May 20th, in 1631, the city of Magdeburg, Germany was seized by the Holy Roman Empire's Army under the command by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly. They would proceed to slaughter nearly everyone in the city. By the end they had killed around 20,000 people, civilian and soldiers alike. Magdeburg was founded in 805 by Charlemagne the great originally named Magadoburg, mostly likely from old high German magado for big, mighty and burga for fortress. Magdeburg became an extremely important place for the protestant movement. Martin Luther as a 12-year-old boy attended school in Magdeburg and later in life he was called back to preach there. The protestant movement quickly took hold in the city and the city would eventually become a stronghold for the movement. They became the first major city to publish the works of Martin Luther. These things greatly upset the catholic Holy Roman empire and many attempts were made to bring the city back into the fold until things finally came to a head with the siege and then eventual sacking of the city. A year after the sacking, a census taken had the population at only 449. The city was utterly obliterated and much of the city remained rubble until at least 1720. The devastation was so great that Magdeburgisieren became a common term, meaning total destruction, r**e and pillaging.

05/20/2022

The great Cab Calloway

05/20/2022

I wanted to include the story of the Bridge of the Gods with the Mount St. Helens post but I figures the story deserved its own post. I took this version from Wikipedia there a couple sources but this is suppose to be the same basic story the Klickitat people told.

"In the story, the chief of all the gods and his two sons, Pahto (also called Klickitat) and Wy'east, traveled down the Columbia River from the Far North in search for a suitable area to settle.

They came upon an area that is now called The Dalles and thought they had never seen a land so beautiful. The sons quarreled over the land, so to solve the dispute their father shot two arrows from his mighty bow – one to the north and the other to the south. Pahto followed the arrow to the north and settled there while Wy'east did the same for the arrow to the south. The chief of the gods then built the Bridge of the Gods, so his family could meet periodically.

When the two sons of the chief of the gods fell in love with a beautiful maiden named Loowit, she could not choose between them. The two young chiefs fought over her, burying villages and forests in the process. The area was devastated and the earth shook so violently that the huge bridge fell into the river, creating the cascades of the Columbia River Gorge.

For punishment, the chief of the gods struck down each of the lovers and transformed them into great mountains where they fell. Wy'east, with his head lifted in pride, became the volcano known today as Mount Hood. Pahto, with his head bent toward his fallen love, was turned into Mount Adams. The beautiful Loowit became Mount St. Helens, known to the Klickitats as Louwala-Clough, which means "smoking or fire mountain" in their language (the Sahaptin call the mountain Loowit)."