Looking Backward at Portland: Stories and Historical Data 1911 Jeff W. Hayes ~ history/city life in the 1880s ~ Oregon

Title: Looking Backward at Portland: Devoted to the Old Timer of the Early '80's, with Humorous and Interesting Stories and Historical Data

Author: J. [Jeff] W. Hayes
Illustrator: Illustrated by Fred A. Routledge

Description: Wraps with printed pictorial on the front cover, showing a couple men smoking in an office which overlooks the city. Bit of soiling on front cover. Interior is unmarked and generally clean. Frontispiece portrait of the author, portraits of Harvey Scott and Henry Pittock, and 17 illustrations by Fred A. Routledge, illustrator for The Oregonian. pp. 97, [4]. Scarce.

A broad collection of entertaining anecdotes about Portland, Oregon, in the 1880's. It conveys a remarkable sense of the character of city's life and its businesses, and provides extensive details about the specific persons who shaped Portland's culture. It was written by Jeff Hayes, the manager of Portland's Western Union office during the 1880's.

Jeff W. Hayes (1853-1917), was a prominent western states telegrapher. In 1877, after working as a telegrapher in various eastern cities, he relocated to Virginia City, Nevada, and went to work for Western Union. Soon thereafter, he set up the Nevada & California Telegraph Company. Between 1882 and 1889 he managed the Western Union office in Portland, then switched to the Postal Telegraph Co. In 1901, he formed the Hasty Messenger and Express Co., a private wire company in Portland. He was a regular contributor to the periodical ''Telegraph and Telephone Age'' and was also the author of several books, including ''Tales of the Sierras'' and ''Portland, Oregon, A.D. 1999, and Other Sketches.

Binding: Soft cover/Wraps
Condition: Very Good

Publisher: Kilham Stationery & Printing Co.
Place: Portland, Oregon
Year: 1911

Keywords: Portland, Oregon, history, Fred A. Routledge, 1880s,