Case 18: Smugglers of Portland, OR

Places of Legend

The north side of Portland, Oregon, in the late 1800s was the scene of a violent, raucous waterfront, where illicit cargoes from Asia were offloaded, drunken sailors “shanghaied,” the brothels were always busy, and dark opium dens offered escape from the burdens of life. The profits from all these vices—including the smuggling of illegal immigrants from China—flowed to the elegant south side of town.

In this next episode we’ll travel to the docks, whiskey joints, opium dens, and boarding houses of the north side of Portland, Oregon in the late 1800s, a lawless district that contrasted sharply with the neat homes and neighborhoods of the city’s south side. We’ll tell a tale of how these two very different neighborhoods were brought together by a vast smuggling ring masterminded by some of the city’s business elite. The smugglers’ stock in trade were what we now call “undocumented immigrants” coming from China and willing to work in the mines, canneries, lumbering camps. But along with the human cargo, the smugglers’ profits were made from illicitly imported barrels of opium for distribution along the West Coast. Drugs and immigrants, then as now, were an explosive political issue. We’ll discover who were the victims of this smuggling ring and who got off scot free.

Music and FX Credits

• PortDover.mp3, by billcanada, Licensed under Creative Commons: Sampling+ license, https://freesound.org/people/billcanada/sounds/17362/
• The Steamship Princess Marguerite II ( Maggie ) Makes her Last Landing in Seattle, Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzHtRgtupss
• Ishikari Lore Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
• ??????, TenmaErhuSchoo, Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvv3gGuFST4
• Crowd of extras in a waiting room, by nebulousflynn, Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, https://freesound.org/people/nebulousflynn/sounds/269060/
• “Comic Plodding” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
• ????????, TenmaErhuSchoo, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfPpqNxO9B8
• paper_mix_3.mp3, by zwei2stein Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, https://freesound.org/people/zwei2stein/sounds/176053/
• Pencil, Writing, Close, A.wav, by InspectorJ , Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, https://freesound.org/people/InspectorJ/sounds/398271/
• Opium Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
• Splash, by daveincamas, Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, https://freesound.org/people/daveincamas/sounds/59104/
• “Waltz (Tschikovsky Op. 40)” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
• “Hyperfun” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/