american west Archives • BOOMERPDX

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FRAGILE MEN CLUB? YOU’RE ALREADY SIGNED UP

April 24, 2024 by David Gillaspie

Fragile men had no place in Western American history stories about the savage frontier and cruel hardships. Nor in the early industrialization with mighty oil, steel, and railroad barons casting their deepening shadows across the land. Writers found other virtues to extoll other than common frailties. The western frontier needed stories of valor and sacrifice […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: American History, american west, bitterness, Death, fragile men, fragile men club, frontier, heroes, historian, history buffs, men, Oregon, Oregon Trail, pioneers, racist, regret, sacrifice, scholars, solitude, the west, valor, virtues, western frontier, western history, write about, writers

OREGON HISTORICAL BUSINESS

November 3, 2023 by David Gillaspie

The Oregon Historical Society holds a special place in my heart. I took a temporary job there as a museum guard, a six month assignment to watch over an exhibit called Soft Gold. Six months turned into twenty-odd years before I signed off. It was a dream job from guard, to exhibit worker, to curatorial […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, american west, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, business, education, historical objects, history, history business, museum, museum docent, museum guy, OHS, Oregon historical, oregon historical center, oregon historical society, Portland Oregon, recommend OHS, travel, writer

THE REAL WESTERN AMERICA OUT HERE IN OREGON

April 12, 2017 by David Gillaspie

The real Western America isn’t Texas or California Readers around the world see the American west through movies. From John Wayne in his cowboy costume, to private eye Jack Nicholson in LA’s Chinatown, to policeman Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry franchise, they view the west through a distorted lens. Forget about the red rocks of Colorado, […]

Filed Under: Buckle Up Tagged With: America, american west, california, chinatown, Clint Eastwood, coast range, continental drift, dirty harry, great divide, heartland, history, Hollywood, jack nicholson, john wayne, mason-dixon line, mississippi river, North Bend Bulldogs, Oregon, Pacific Ocean, real western america, Rocky mountains, subduction zone, Washington, western america