This article is in response to the Oregonian Article about the the Shanghai Tunnels and the blog listed here.
http://www.technoccult.com/archives/2008/01/05/historians-say-the-story-of-portlands-infamous-shanghai-tunnels-likely-is-a-myth/

Hello all.

As an educator I would always tell my students, "science is what you believe when you hear it." I think that holds true for this blog. History is what you believe when you read it.

It appears that the real story about the Oregonian article has not been told at all. The story behind this article is "who owns the history", and why is a not for profit organization under attack when a for profit company is doing the same thing? By that I mean, if there is not a lot of published written history, but research has uncovered much of the history, then who owns the research? If you are a scientific researcher and you spend much of your life on one project, would you just give your research away without publishing it first? I think not. Maybe people like "Jacqueline Peterson Loomis, founder of the Old Town History Project and a history professor at Washington State University Vancouver", should seek out the people that have had their lives changed or ended by the practices that started in Portland. Maybe it would be a good idea for the person who wrote this blog to do the same.

In full disclosure, I am a "volunteer" guide for the "Portland Underground". I have a BS in Education and an MS in Natural and Applied Sciences. I have been a teacher, NASA contract educator, and NASA contract scientist through L3 Communications. I am not writing this under the authority of any of the businesses listed or the Cascade Geographic Society. If you want to know about me Google my name as “Dennis Christopher” NASA. If you use just my name you will get a lot about the actor with the same name.

On several occasions I have had people come up to me and tell, before the tours, about what happened to their sister, brother, father or grandfather. They have named people, places, dates and times. So why isn't there a lot in writing? Actually there is. You need to go to some of the papers in other regions of Oregon to find stories.

Want to guess why you are not going to find much in Portland papers? The story of the Portland Underground is a story of kidnapping, murder, drugs, prostitution and white slavery. Who would keep track of people they had shanghaied? Why would a city want to advertise that they were not a place to visit?

If the author or the blogger had bothered to do research on the Portland Underground they would have found that there were tunnels. Most of the tunnels have been filled in by street renovations. Most tunnels have been closed off by business owners. What business would want their storage areas open to other businesses or people getting in from other basements? What business owner would want other businesses or other people to have access through these areas to their business at night?

Did the author go through the entire balance sheet for the Cascade Geographic Society or just throw out what they thought would help their one sided story? Did the author bother to mention Portland Walking Tours does the same thing? Portland Walking Tours, unlike the Cascade Geographic Society, is a FOR PROFIT organization. The Portland Walking tours only drive is MONEY. The Cascade Geographic Society is dedicated to the research, preservation, restoration and documentation of the culture and history of the City of Portland. What do you think it would cost to keep up the Portland Underground as well as two other properties they are renovating for people to visit?

Did you know that the Cascade Geographic Society does not own any of the property they help to preserve and restore? The current property is owned by Naito Properties and leased to Hobo's Restaurant and the Boiler Room. These fine people understand the history and culture and for a very, very small fee (for the recovery of utilities) they help to entice people from all over the world to come to Portland for experience the history and culture.

Portland has been featured on the History Channel, Travel Channel, Sci-Fi, Comedy Central and the Food Channel because of the work of the Cascade Geographic Society. Just recently the History Channel did an entire hour on Portland in their "Cities of the Underworld" series. Before moving from the East Coast for a job in the Portland Area I knew a lot about the history of Portland because of the work of the Cascade Geographic Society.

Did you know that the Cascade Geographic Society did not originally do tours when they started working on the Underground? Did you know that Michael P. Jones has spent his entire life from the time he was seven exploring the tunnel system? Did you know that those 6,000 people that tour the Underground spend money in local establishments?

If you are going to tell the story, tell it all. After all, you know what they say about opinions.