Mossback's Northwest

Eccentric railroad millionaire Sam Hill built a concrete “castle” on the Columbia River where he entertained European royalty. Curiously, he also erected a replica of Britain’s Stonehenge over 100 years ago which has been the source of mystery, vandalism and speculation. What world events inspired him to build the unique monument? And does it tell us about the stars and the seasons?

Seattle’s iconic candy once drew fans and crowds, and people still want to talk about it. Northwest natives Knute (Mossback) Berger and producer Stephen Hegg look back on an episode that brought back sweet memories for long-time locals.

They may look like Hippy from Woodstock or a modern survivalist, but this was the early 1900s. As Civilization and the 20th Century roared forward, two men decided to go back-to-nature and become “Nature Man.”

Since the 1930s Hollywood has exploited the complex nature of Seattle to its advantage. From its stunning grandeur of mountains and oceans to sprawling freight yards and secondhand car lots.  Seattle was a gritty city in a pretty place.

Settlers came to the Northwest and began lopping down the forests, then they had to deal with old-growth stumps. Some homesteaders were called “stump farmers” for their post-cutting fields. They dug them up, they blew them up. But sometimes they took a different course. Some massive stumps were turned into housing and put to other uses. Thus the regional phenomenon of the Stump House.

Why was a Confederate flag flying over downtown Seattle?

The orca is a beloved symbol of the Northwest, but little was known about them before the 1960s. Whalers saw them a vicious sea predators or competition for salmon. They were called black fish and later killer whales. In the 1930s, one baby orca swam up the Columbia River to Portland and wound up pickled on a Washington mountain. What? Yes, it’s true.

1929, the stock market crashed and the world slid into an economic depression. Hoovervilles sprouted around Puget Sound, the hungry and unemployed marched on capitals in both Washingtons.