Stories by Martin Middlewood

Columbian freelance contributor

Law officers captured this illegal still in 1925. Rarely were such large stills placed inside buildings. Distilling alcohol poses the hazards of fire and explosion because the process releases flammable compounds. Outlaw distillers in Clark County, like Jesse Cousins, often hid stills on their rural farms.

Clark County History: Moonshiner

October 7, 2023, 6:03am Clark County Life

In Washington, urban and rural voters split in 1914 over alcohol. By an 18,632 margin, voters that year approved an initiative prohibiting liquor production, distribution and sale — but not consumption. The vote split between “wet” big cities and “dry” rural towns. Yet moonshiners in rural Clark County would illegally… Read story

This portrait of George Simpson (circa 1787-1860) shows him as he was best known: as an imperious administrator who focused on efficiency and cost reduction, foreshadowing the modern corporation. He wasn't a man who trapped or hunted, but he successfully integrated the British North West Company with the Hudson Bay Company in 1821.

Clark County History: George Simpson

September 30, 2023, 6:02am Clark County Life Subscriber Exclusive

Near where the Washington School for the Deaf stands today, George Simpson, governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and John McLoughlin, chief factor of the company’s Columbia District, picked the original site for Fort Vancouver in 1824. Simpson’s territory covered all lands west of the Rockies to Hawaii, north to… Read story

Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan used this portrait in his presidential bid against President Abraham Lincoln in 1864. Like several other Civil War generals, McClellan served at the Vancouver Barracks before the war. While there, he was a captain under Col. B.L.E. Bonneville, the post commander. Because he was in the engineering corps, he did a survey attempting to find the best routes for roads and railroads for Isaac Stevens, Washington Territory governor.

Clark County History: Capt. George B. McClellan

September 23, 2023, 6:02am Clark County Life

The 1846 West Point graduate Capt. George B. McClellan came to the Vancouver Barracks in 1853 after serving in the War with Mexico. An engineering officer since his graduation, the Army assigned McClellan to Isaac Stevens, Washington Territory governor. Stevens wanted the captain to survey the Cascade Mountains, probing probable… Read story

The first humorous aviation publication, Tale Spins, spun out of the creative minds of two pilots, Walt and Ann Bohrer. This envelope suggests what the content might appear like inside Tale Spins, the first inflight airline magazine. Airplane enthusiasts enjoyed the humorous and gossipy publication.

Clark County History: First in-flight magazine

September 16, 2023, 6:02am Clark County Life

United Airlines and Continental Airlines, although one company today, sprouted roots at Pearson Field in Vancouver. Likewise, so did the first airline magazine, Tails Spins. The magazine was written and illustrated by hand, reproduced using a mimeograph, put in an envelope and mailed. Today, we might call it a comic… Read story

Walt Bohrer and his sister Ann appear above handwriting on a photo addressed the "Ace of Pilots," a phrase they often used in their communications with fliers. The "ace" might refer to Eddie Rickenbacker, a friend, or some other "war ace." Tale Spins was a magazine the Bohrers produced. Although the two siblings' careers meshed, they did go separate ways. Ann is in her "air hostess" uniform, and Walt was a close friend of stunt pilot Tex Rankin and spent 22 years working with him.

Clark County History: Pilot Walt Bohrer

September 9, 2023, 5:45am Clark County Life

When Portland lacked an airport, Walt Bohrer often found himself in tow with his plane-crazy sister Ann Bohrer to Pearson Field in Vancouver. At 15, Walt Bohrer lied to their parents about his attendance at Benson Polytechnic High School. He did “go,” but his daily attendance was brief. Walt Bohrer… Read story

Clark County History: Ann Bohrer, pilot and parachutist

Ann Bohrer was among the first women in the Pacific Northwest to fly and parachute. As the air hostess at the Salem Municipal Airport, she was likely the first flight attendant in the Pacific Northwest. Bohrer and her brother wrote and published a humorous aviation magazine and several books. She belonged to the O-X5 Aviation Pioneer's Oregon Wing and the Portland Aviation Breakfast Club.

September 2, 2023, 6:02am Clark County Life Subscriber Exclusive

In a 1991 interview, Ann Bohrer told a Tualatin Times reporter she was born the same year the Wright Brothers first flew. She fibbed. She was born in January 1904, 37 days later. Still, her birth was close enough to the brothers’ first flight that she could reasonably claim her… Read story

Clark County History: 1907 La Center fire

This photo of La Center before the 1907 fire that burned most of the town's businesses shows the bridge the safecrackers noisily crossed in the background. They came up the road and entered the village, attempting to crack two safes, one in a saloon and the other in a store. Instead, they started a fire that burned out the town. As they left they dropped a half-full liquor bottle on the bridge. They were never caught. The sole business left standing was a blacksmith shop.

In the wee hours of Sept. 26, 1907, horse hooves clomped across the La Center bridge. The noise awakened one nearby resident. Had he arisen from bed, his curiosity may have kept the village from burning. Instead, he rolled over and fell back asleep. He didn’t realize that two noisy… Read story

Clark County history: Klondike gold seeker Vern Gorst

Vergne "Vern" C. Gorst (1876-1953), Pacific Air Transport owner and president, stands left of Claude Ryan, manufacturer of Ryan airplanes often used for airmail runs. The two had just finished a 1926 survey flight of Gorst's West Coast route. Boeing Air Transport bought Gorst's company in 1928. The merger led to United Airlines, making him the "granddaddy" of the airline.

A successful Klondike gold seeker, Vern Gorst, turned his gain toward flight in 1913. Before that, he dabbled in transportation, creating a boat motor launch service, an automobile business, and several West Coast bus lines. With an eye to the future of transportation, he watched the brothers Wright closely, even… Read story