Bob Gambell Interview – A Brightwood Life Remembered

Brightwood Tavern - Interview with Bob Gambell

A Conversation at the Brightwood Tavern, 2009 Bob Gambell Tells It Like It Was, Preserved in His Own Words In 2009, I sat down for an interview with Bob Gambell at the Brightwood Tavern. Bob was a longtime resident of our mountain community, and he had lived a full, eventful life. In this interview with … Continue reading Bob Gambell Interview – A Brightwood Life Remembered

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Scandal in Cherryville: The Man Who Guarded a Grave

In the summer of 1911, the Friel case in Cherryville Oregon became one of the most disturbing stories ever told from the Mount Hood foothills. A suspicious death, a hurried marriage, a missing medicine bottle, and an armed grave watch pushed a grieving family to the brink of collapse.

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Nettie Connett: The Woman Who Became a Legend

Sandy Oregon

In the timbered hills near Sandy, Oregon, few names live on like Nettie Connett. Born March 5, 1880, in Independence, Oregon, Nettie Loraine Connett would grow into one of the most unforgettable figures in Clackamas County history.

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The Legendary Mrs. Pierce: She Killed a Bear With Her Hoe

I’ve spent a lot of time talking with old-timers and the family members of folks who’ve lived up here in the Mountain Community for years. In one or two conversations, I’d heard tell of a woman who gained local notoriety for killing a bear that invaded her space with a garden hoe.

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Henry and Fred Steiner Deaths in the Mount Hood Forest

Henry Steiner was known throughout the Mount Hood region as a master builder of log homes. He and his wife, Mollie, raised their family in Brightwood, where Henry built dozens of rustic cabins that still stand today.

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