Synopses & Reviews
Kicking off Globe Pequot's new
Jerks series,
Speaking Ill of the Dead: Jerks in Oregon History presents 13 sketches of assorted crazy and crooked characters from Oregon's past. Itinerant preacher Edwin Creffield gathered his followers in Corvallis--minus their clothes! Vigilantes stormed a central Oregon town hoping to wipe out rustlers, but ended up catching innocent men in the crossfire. S. A. D. Puter, once a timber assessor, headed a cast of dozens of Oregon officials who cheated the government out of thousands of acres of land. These and other stories tell of the adventures and misadventures of some of Oregon's wacky and jerk-y historical citizens.
Synopsis
Other newspapers jumped on the bandwagon. The Baltimore American wrote, "Governor Pennoyer has made something worse than a mistake. He has made himself ridiculous." The New York World stated, "Governor Pennoyer was simply laboring under the delusion that the sun rises in Oregon as well as sets there. A very considerable strip of territory lies eastward from his state and Governor Pennoyer would do himself a kindness if he knocked off for a few weeks from his official duties and made a trip over it. It is just the campaign of education that he needs." Criticism in the newspapers meant nothing to him; it was business as usual for Governor Pennoyer.
About the Author
Elizabeth Gibson began a career as a freelancer when she researched place name origins in eastern Washington. Her articles have appeared in several local publications and online, and she has written five books about the American West. She lives in Kennewick, Washington, and has worked as a technical writer for a government contractor for more than 15 years.