A Selection of Blog Posts on Portland Waterfront History:

The Last Word on Shanghai Tunnels - Including 14 reasons why the stories are bogus
This would have been the last word on this ridiculous subjecet but I came up with even more reasons in the appendix of The Oregon Shanghaiers: Columbia River Crimping From Astoria to Portland.

Shanghai Dock in Black and White
This "mysterious" dock appeared in the early 1920s and disappeared just before WWII

A Sea Captain's Daughter and the Shanghaiers of Astoria
A young sea captain's daughter tells of the shanghaiing evil in a winter visit to Astoria and Portland in late 1889 and early 1890.

The Events Prior to the Winter of 1889 - 1890
The same period as above, only from the veiwpoint of newspaper articles.

How Deep Is My River? Part 1
Captain Robert Gray, the discoverer of the river that he named, Columbia, was unable to sail any further upstream than the start of a ten mile long sandbar, about 13 miles from the river's mouth.

How Deep is My River? Part 2
In the 1840s the Wilkes expedition takes soundings of the Columbia and Willamette rivers. These charts show the original shape of these rivers. Later in this decade John Couch brings a load of cargo to open a store at Oregon City. The cargo must be canoed from the mouth of the Willamette-the river being too shallow for the vessel to enter.

How Deep is My River? Part 3
The U.S. Army Engineers' ambitious project of dredging, sluicing, and building jetties and dikes to deepen the river channel was never ending as the vessels grew, over the years, from draughts of 17 feet to 45 feet. Today we are faced with a "new Panamax," as the new channel of the Panama Canal opens to vessels drawing more than 50 feet. The seaport 113 miles from the sea was a vision that worked because of rail connections. Will it continue to work on into the 21st century?

How Deep is My River? Part 4 What port city is the furthest from the ocean?

M.M. Dee and the Giant Fake
The Astoria shanghaier Matt Dee became a big boxing promoter in Portland, but it had its downside.

The Steel Bridge and the Railroad
Who built this bridge anyway?

The Cowboys Who Came to See the Elephant
A true tale of when the riders of the sage came to the big seaport.

The Baggage of War—The Repatriation of Japanese-Americans
Why were we not taught in school about this shameful period of our history? Sure, we hear about the camps, but we do not hear about the repatriations.

The New Sailor's Home Harry and Annie Lynch, (the forgotten "shanghaiers").