Portland's Dark History

Missing children, shanghaiing tunnels, and the blood beneath the flannel

Portland's reputation as a progressive haven masks a history darker than its famous rain. A child walked into his elementary school and never walked out. The city earned its reputation as "Shanghai Capital of the World" by drugging men through trapdoors and selling them to ship captains. Its second-largest city was washed away in a flood—and officials told residents the dikes were safe 35 minutes before they collapsed. This was the only state admitted to the Union with a Black exclusion clause in its constitution. Serial killers hunted along its highways and dumped bodies in its beloved parks. The ghosts still wander the saloons and mansions. Portland's weirdness was always there—but so was the violence. It just wore better boots.