Relive the magic of the Portland Timbers’ 1975 season and the birth of Soccer City, USA. This is the story of seventeen players and two coaches who came from different clubs and different countries to form a team just days before their inaugural game. In this fast-paced account, Michael Orr weaves together player interviews, news coverage and game statistics to capture the Timbers’ single-season journey from expansion team to championship contender. From the first televised game against Pele’s New York Cosmos to the seven-game winning streak that vied for a league record and the postseason battle for the game’s highest prize, rediscover how, in just four months, the Timbers won the hearts of Portlanders and left an indelible stamp on the Rose City’s sporting landscape.

For more about The 1975 Portland Timbers: The Birth of Soccer City, USA, follow this link to an interview with Michael Orr. Also check out the FC Media website, which boasts all kinds of club lore.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to read more nonfiction and to know more about the history of our region, a new book from a local author will set you on the right path. You might even prop it up on the treadmill that you swore would be used for more than a clothes rack and put in a few miles before the end of 2011 while being entertained by a gifted writer.

To read more, follow this link to Richard L. Carrico’s North County Times review of Richard W. Crawford’s The Way We Were in San Diego.

How did the Timbers’ Army get its start? What won the hearts of Portlanders in that first year?

In the Timbers’ inaugural season of 1975, there was no official supporters group. A booster club was founded before the 1976 season started, by a group of dedicated fans who fell in love with the team during the ’75 season. Several factors led to the winning of Portlanders’ hearts in ’75, not the least of which was a very successful team. The Timbers only lost one game at home all year, the season opener, and played an attractive, offensive-minded style that appealed to even the newest of fans. The club also arranged for post-game parties at downtown hotels, allowing fans to meet and visit with their favorite players. This accessibility gave the Timbers players an approachability not often found in professional sports. The winning, the scoring of goals and the ease with which the players fit into the community combined to bring fans out en masse during the summer of ’75.

Many of the 1975 Timbers were from the United Kingdom. What were their initial impressions of the Rose City?

Most of the British players on the ’75 Timbers team had never before visited the United States, so Portland was their entry into the country and their first experience with American culture. With mild summers and low humidity, the playing conditions in Portland were ideal for players who just emerged from a long winter of English football. Some differences in lifestyle were quickly evident: notably the size of cars, the distance between cities and the understanding of their chosen profession. But every player has remarked that Portland was a special place, a city where they immediately felt at home and were much more easily able to acclimate. The small-town feel of the city in those days appealed to players who were used to the very local nature of their hometown cities and clubs. The evidence of the love between players and city is in the number of players from the original team, five of seventeen, who still live in Portland today.

What drives your interest in club history, and what is FC Media?

I grew up watching baseball, basketball and football, each of which celebrates the history of their teams or schools. Great players of the past are remembered, even if no one living saw them play. Professional soccer in North America has a fascinating history, much of which has been ignored or underutilized in the stories of modern clubs. The Portland Timbers are among a unique group that can date their history to the 1970s and there are many names, stories and visuals that have been forgotten over the years. FC Media was created as a conduit for bringing that history to the fore and connecting a club’s past with its current manifestation. We created an exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society to showcase physical items from the Timbers’ 1975-82 era and remind fans that the current Major League Soccer club only exists because of the exploits and efforts of those who came before. To me, club history, whether with the Timbers or others, is a way to provide intergenerational continuity to a sport where it is often lacking.

What makes Portland Soccer City, USA?

Soccer City, USA is a term coined by the Timbers’ original General Manager, Don Paul. He was quoted ahead of the Timbers’ second-to-last regular season home game in 1975, the Timbers’ first sell-out of 27,000 fans, saying that the capacity crowd would show the visiting Seattle Sounders exactly which city was truly Soccer City, USA. From that day forward, Portland has been a city that has embraced both the Timbers and the game of soccer in a unique way. Part of that is inherent in the mentality of Portlanders who are extremely proud of their hometown players. Part of it has come from an amazing fostering and growth of the game, first through the Timbers and then through players and fans who have carried on the Timbers’ traditions in youth and collegiate programs. Despite losing the team on more than one occasion, the Timbers’ name has always returned when professional soccer reemerged, and the crowds have always followed.

How bitter is the rivalry between fans of the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers?

There is no more bitter rivalry in North American soccer. The matches between the Timbers and Sounders require separate entrances and police protection for visiting fans, and the Cascadia Cup, a trophy between the Timbers, Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps, is acknowledged as the most prestigious cup competition among North American supporters. Even in 1975 this rivalry was intense as the teams played four times, including a famous 2-1 overtime victory for Portland in the NASL quarterfinals. Sounders manager John Best said before their third meeting of ’75: “Seattle playing Portland has become as heated as any neighborhood rivalry in England. It’s Liverpool playing Everton. After they beat us, Portland celebrated all night. It was a victory for the whole town. And in Seattle, everyone has been saying how they’d show Portland who had the best team next time. It’s what real soccer should be.” That explanation could easily have been said by Timbers manager John Spencer, of the matches in 2011.

How has the Timbers team changed since that debut season in 1975?

The Timbers are in their fourth iteration, since their founding in 1975. The NASL era lasted through 1982, the Western Soccer League/American Professional Soccer League era came between 1989 and 1990, the A-League/United Soccer Leagues era stretched from 2001 to 2010 and the Major League Soccer era began in 2011. Gone are the days of unsponsored jerseys, terrible artificial turf and the importation of dozens of British players. The Timbers today operate as one of nineteen MLS clubs in a league growing from its debut in 1996. In the earliest days, most players were simply on loan from British clubs, due back in the UK at season’s end for their ‘real season.’ At present, the Timbers are able to lure players from not only the UK but also from Colombia, The Gambia, Ghana, Haiti and other countries around the world to complement the healthy number of North American players. Though the specifics of the league and team have changed, the ethos has not. The Timbers are still connected with the Portland community in a way that creates fans of the people, not just the players and coaches. The Timbers have remained relevant and successful due to their ties with the city and their embracing of its culture.

For the uninitiated, can you describe the experience of a soccer game?

The experience of a soccer game depends greatly on the location, fan support and stadium of each particular team. In Portland’s case, the Timbers play in an 85-year old downtown stadium with a supporters group that numbers in the thousands. Supporters line-up to get into Jeld-Wen Field two or three hours before the game starts, snaking around the stadium, regardless of the weather. An hour before kick-off, the Timbers Army begins chanting and singing, leading to a crescendo as the match kicks off. Throughout the ninety minutes, the 4000-strong Timbers Army stays standing, singing songs that support the Timbers and disagreeing loudly when the referee dares make an incorrect call. When the Timbers win, celebrations last long into the night. When the Timbers lose, the Timbers Army welcomes the team into the North End of the stadium to applaud their effort on behalf of the club and city. Not every experience is similar; in fact many are quite different. Yet these are the traditions in Portland that have helped bring the club up from the second division and into MLS. The game itself is fast-paced, tactical and wonderfully skillful, regardless of the environs.

What are you looking forward to next season?

2011 was an important year in the history of the Timbers as the club entered MLS and played a difficult 34-game schedule. Though Portland narrowly missed out on the playoffs, there are a number of players and coaches upon which the club can build. As the 2012 season approaches, I’m looking forward to seeing how the club takes the weaknesses from 2011 and augments the team so it can be more successful in 2012. I was able to attend twenty-two of the thirty-four games last season, so the absence of games during the offseason has been hard to endure. But regardless of how well the team performs, I’m just looking forward to supporting the team, enjoying the stadium and watching what is an amazing game.

The 1975 Portland Timbers: The Birth of Soccer City, USA by Michael Orr will be available in spring 2012.

What about New Mexico’s history do you think would surprise those of us who don’t live in the state?

Many people don’t realize that New Mexico is the only state that was once its own kingdom, which points to the antiquity of the historical record here. I think what I hear the most is that many people are surprised that history is still very contentious; very simple things like is someone a hero or a villain? Around the time of the Quatro Centenario, the 400th anniversary of New Mexico’s founding, Rio Arriba County built a Don Juan de Oñate Monument Resource and Visitors Center up in Alcalde, near Ohkay Owingue (formerly San Juan Pueblo). They erected a magnificent bronze statue of Oñate astride his stallion in front of the visitor center. Some people from Acoma came and cut the foot off, like Oñate had done to the Acoma men four centuries ago, after the Acomans had killed Oñate’s right hand man. The artist replaced the foot, but left the seam visible, to make it clear that not everyone thinks Oñate was so great. That’s an exaggerated example of how contentious things can be but it’s not an isolated one.

What characteristics make New Mexico part of or separate from the regional identity of the Southwest?

Since prehistory, people living in the region of what is now New Mexico have been connected with people in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Texas and Mexico, all the way down to the coast. Those ties were very slow to break, if indeed they have been broken, although modern immigration policy makes it harder to maintain ties with Mexico. The Spanish had settlements in all the borderland states but New Mexico had the most established governmental infrastructure, which allowed New Mexico to participate in Spanish politics to a far greater degree than the other Southwestern states. In the book, I explore some of the consequences of that; good ones, like sending a representative to the assembly in Spain, and troublesome ones, like the difficulty the US had in assimilating the New Mexican government.

Because New Mexico was so well established and well settled by the time it became part of the United States, the homesteading pattern here was very different than in the surrounding states. Anglos settled in southern and eastern New Mexico, when it became safe to do so. Central and northern New Mexico remained very traditionally Hispanic for a long time and it has affected both the balance of political power and the way that history has been interpreted here.

Was there a particular story or person who first drew you to study history?

I began to study history while working for the Public Lands Interpretive Association, a non-profit dedicated to interpreting western public lands through publications, products, events and computer-based interpretation. My mentor, Stephen Maurer, has degrees in New Mexico history and journalism and spent over a decade deepening my understanding of natural and cultural history (and improving my writing!).

My first deep exploration into New Mexico history was creating an interactive online map of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail, the royal road from Mexico City to Santa Fe, which was in use for centuries. It’s such an essential route that today an interstate highway parallels the ancient ox trail. Because the stories and places along El Camino Real reflect what was going on in New Mexico as a whole, it whetted my appetite for learning more.

The great thing about New Mexico history is that getting out to where things happened is really fun and wonderful; I am never happier than when poking around in a ruin that was bustling with activity at the time of the Crusades or wondering over a foundation or scraps of what was someone’s shot at the American Dream in one of the many ghost towns. New Mexico has great museums but the best parts of New Mexico history don’t fit indoors.

In your introduction, you talk about the complexities and controversies of New Mexico’s history. Can you explain that?

Part of the answer is that New Mexican oral history is very strong and documentary history is very slim. There are terrible things that happened to the historical documents, particularly during the Pueblo Revolt and during the American occupation. There are even modern horror stories of documentary devastation, like the mouse damaged Indian Trust documents that caused years worth of furor in Department of Interior. But storytelling is persistent and sometimes—as I wrote about Governor Manuel Armijo–there are a lot of rather biased historical documents going up against oral family tradition and the clarity of hindsight. Although so much was lost from the state archives, the Spanish were very careful about filing their paperwork and sometimes duplicate and triplicate copies of reports lost in New Mexico have shown up in Mexico City or Seville. These documents shed new light on what we thought we knew.

Often, oral histories give a solid sense of what things were like for people who weren’t the governors and viceroys and Fathers Superior. Some of it sounds wild, like the cosmological stories that explain many of the geological formations of New Mexico’s landscape. But much of it offers alternate interpretations from whatever has been accepted in the canon. I was reading some oral histories from Navajo elders about the Long Walk to Hwéeldi, and many of them were quite convinced that their trouble stemmed from a tragic incident involving the sheep of the Jemez governor and that the Americans protected them from the fierce reprisals of the Pueblos. Any textbook you pick up will tell you differently,  but the two versions are not incommensurate; the Pueblos were actually quite mad about the insult to the Jemez and helped the Army to hound the Navajo through years of flight and starvation, and the Americans did offer rations to anyone who surrendered. The point is that everyone was fighting their battles for different reasons, and disparities in language and culture prevented anyone from understanding  it at the time.

As someone with an interest in interpretation, how did you go about balancing storytelling with historical accuracy in Forgotten Tales of New Mexico?

Interpretation starts with the facts — primary source documents if they exist — but focuses on making connections in an effort to reach a deeper meaning. Individuals have ways of reflecting the great events of their time in their daily lives. People like Padre Martínez, the great priest of Taos, was perceived by his compatriots as a rogue and as a saint. The groups who saw him one way or another tended to fall into either pro-American or pro-Mexican camps, and so Padre Martínez’ story in Forgotten Tales is a nice way to illustrate the turmoil and upheaval of the Mexican Revolution and the Mexican American War, and how people did or did not reconcile their conflicting values systems.

Who are some of your favorite scoundrels or schemers from New Mexico’s history? 

Manuel Armijo was always my favorite until I learned that perhaps he wasn’t such a great scoundrel after all. He certainly was a schemer, though!

Of all the characters in Forgotten Tales, my favorite is  Dr. John Robinson. Robinson was a nice doctor who, in my estimation, went quite off the rails trying to topple the Spanish government, ruining his health and reputation in the process. His letters to James Monroe, as well as the manifestos he managed to publish, are unbearably long and ranting, but elegantly written. I think no one quite knew what to make of him because he was such a passionate and intelligent charlatan.

Luckily for me, New Mexico keeps producing scoundrels and schemers! Since I came to New Mexico half a lifetime ago, I’ve seen public officials arrested and indicted for all kinds of offenses, from abusing funds and smuggling marijuana to lesser offenses like drunk-dialing all the members of the Board of Education. I fervently hope some day someone writes a history about the time that Mescalero Apache governor, Wendell Chino, stared down Governor Gary Johnson and the New Mexico legislature over his tribe’s fabulous casino resort, the Inn of the Mountain Gods. I am guessing that the whole story is chock full of schemers and scoundrels.

New Mexico is approaching its centennial. Are there any events or celebrations you’re involved with, or excited about?

I worked with the New Mexico Humanities Council to build one of the Centennial projects, an online Atlas of Historic New Mexico Maps. I believe that the companion volume will be out next year, and that’s very exciting. I have also been training history teachers around New Mexico to use the Atlas in their classrooms, because it’s got some great features that I designed specifically for use with students, including a feature where kids can add their own historical maps and media. Many of the stories I share in Forgotten Tales are ones I learned while researching the Atlas.

Were there any forgotten tales that you wish you’d had room enough to include?

I left out many tales because there wasn’t enough room: stories of buried treasure, powerful priests and villainous Texans.  I was able to squeeze in some of the priests and Texans, but it seems there are always more. There are also lots of wonderful stories from more modern history like the scurrilous doings of the Santa Fe Ring.

Forgotten Tales of New Mexico will be available from The History Press in spring 2012.

Polina Olsen stands at a Lair Hill intersection and points to the site where a Jewish mail-order bride from Ukraine once lived with her husband, a Jewish farmer from South Dakota.

They lived not too far from a barn that housed the horses of the many Jewish junk peddlers who lived and plied their trade in the neighborhood. These early recyclers would pile their wagons high with rags and bottles and whatever else they could find, then sell them to the junk dealers who lined Front Avenue…

Follow this link to read more of Rebecca Koffman’s article “A walk in South Portland with Polina Olsen, author of ‘Stories from Jewish Portland.’”

Uncovering the hidden stories of Oregon’s forgotten heroes has been a long-standing passionate avocation for Randol Fletcher, a fifth-generation Oregonian who recently made his debut as historian and author with his first published book this fall: the Hidden History of Civil War Oregon. “I grew up in a family where my father was a descendant of Oregon pioneers while my mother was a fusion of western and southern heritage…”

To read more, follow this link to K.C. Piccard’s Oregon Herald review of Randol B. Fletcher’s Hidden History of Civil War Oregon.

Fresh from events at San Diego’s Upstart Crow and the Save Our Heritage Organization in Old Town San Diego, author Richard W. Crawford will be presenting on local history at San Diego’s Central Library. Pick up a signed copy of his book, The Way We Were in San Diego, and bring your local history questions to the third floor auditorium on December 7 starting at 6:30 pm.

Polina Olsen, author of Stories from Jewish Portland, will be rubbing shoulders with Jean Auel and other great Oregon authors at the Oregon Historical Society’s annual Holiday Cheer event on Sunday December 4 from noon to 5 pm.

Oregon Civil War historian Randol B. Fletcher is fresh from a whirlwind of author events. See the photos and test your knowledge of Civil War trivia on his Hidden History of Civil War Oregon Facebook page.

Steven C. Levi, author of The Clara Nevada: Gold, Greed, Murder, and Alaska’s Inside Passage, has a forthcoming article in Lost Treasure Magazine that coincides with his book about the Gold Rush-era steamer that may have fallen prey to a captain’s get-rich scheme.

Ski historian Ingrid Wicken is currently working on a History Press book for 2012. In the meantime, her extraordinary collection of ski publications and ephemera at the California Ski Library will receive mention in the forthcoming winter edition of Fine Books and Collections Magazine.

Tacoma historian and radio personality Karla Stover is putting the finishing touches on Hidden History of Tacoma: Little-Known Tales from the City of Destiny. A woman of many talents, her short story “The Law of Inverse Consequences” is featured in the recently published West Coast Crime Wave, a crime fiction anthology.

It’s a year-long party in Arizona and New Mexico as both states prepare to celebrate their centennials in 2012. Following on the success of its previous Southwest titles, the History Press is gearing up to publish Forgotten Tales of New Mexico by Ellen Dornan, Capitan: Home of Smokey Bear by Gary Cozzens, Saving the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad by Spencer Wilson, and A Historic Guide to Arizona’s Farm Stays and Ranch Vacations by Lili DeBarbieri.

This is just a taste of what’s happening. Check back soon for more information about new History Press titles and author events here in the West.

In 2011, the History Press added to its list of landmark department store histories. These books chronicle the evolution of consumer culture through business biographies, anecdotes from past employees, customer memories, recipes from the tearoom, and more.

Burdine’s: Sunshine Fashions & the Florida Store

by Seth H. Bramson

Join Miami historian Seth Bramson as he relates Burdine’s storied history, when the likes of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor perused elegant displays and customers frequented the tearooms for a slice of the famous—and decadent—pecan pie.

Denholms: The Story of Worcester’s Premier Department Store

by Christopher Sawyer & Patricia A. Wolf

When William Denholm and William McKay teamed up in 1870 to form a dry goods store in the factory town of Worcester, Massachusetts, they couldn’t have imagined the 103-year legacy that would make their store a beloved New England landmark.

Look to Lazarus: The Big Store

by David & Beverly Meyers & Elise Meyers Walker

For more than 150 years, F&R Lazarus & Company was the heart of downtown Columbus. Headed by the “first family of American retailing” with an eye for flair and a devotion to the customer, this uniquely midwestern institution won the hearts and minds of a community.

Gimbels Has It!

by Michael J. Lisicky

With fond memories from family members and Gimbelites, a few classic recipes and celebrity interviews from the likes of Gene London and Dick Clark, retail historian Michael J. Lisicky celebrates the remarkable history of this beloved department store.

Jacobson’s, I Miss It So!: The Story of a Michigan Fashion Institution

by Bruce Allen Kopytek

The brainchild of a retail genius, this deluxe specialty store gave customers a peerless social, shopping and dining destination. Experience anew the refined beauty of its Williamsburg-style Grosse Pointe store, the chic designer world of its Birmingham ensemble or the charm and allure of its original Florida branch in Sarasota.

Wolf and Dessauer: Where Fort Wayne Shopped

by Jim & Kathie Barron

From its humble beginnings as a dry goods store in 1896, Wolf and Dessauer grew to provide customers with revolutionary services and previously unheard-of amenities: personal shoppers, in-store models, escalators, an open-air French café and the magical Christmas WanDerland—home to Santa and his precious elf, Wee Willie WanD.

In 2012, History Press West looks forward to new titles that chronicle the development of Weinstock’s department store in Sacramento, California, and the evolution of the Missoula Mercantile in Montana.

Have a story to share about one of the West’s landmark department stores? Visit our ‘about’ page and contact us.

A Haunted History of Denver’s Croke-Patterson Mansion by Ann Alexander Leggett and Jordan Alexander Leggett

An ominous air hangs about Capitol Hill’s historic Croke-Patterson Mansion. Rumors of spirits and strange events have cast a shadow across its elegant Gilded Age façade… and dark specters in the basement prevent even the heartiest souls from staying for too long.

Haunted Manitou Springs by Stephanie Waters

Haunted tour guide Stephanie Waters uncovers the stories behind some of Manitou’s most famous ghostly tales: the historic spirit lights on Pikes Peak, the specters of Red Stone Castle, where poor Emma’s sister went mad, and the phantoms of the stately Cliff House and Briarhurst manor.

The Haunted Heart of Denver by Kevin Pharris

The Gates of Hell are rumored to lie below a Denver hotel, and there are tales of restless spirits in Cheesman Park. Even the stately mansions of Millionaires’ Row hide their own secrets…

Have a line to the other side?

History Press West is looking for Haunted America authors for our 2012 list. Contact us or check out our ‘For Authors’ page at www.historypress.net.

What was the strangest or quirkiest story you uncovered while researching your “The Way We Were” column for the San Diego Union-Tribune?

The story of celebrity evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson’s mysterious disappearance in May 1926 has a strange San Diego connection. McPherson reappeared a few weeks later and claimed she had been kidnapped. This was too much for newspaperman Abe Sauer, the editor of a small San Diego weekly who published what everyone was whispering: that Aimee’s “kidnapping” had actually been a runaway affair with a church employee. When Sauer printed a lurid column that described Aimee’s “ten days in a love shack” he was prosecuted in Federal court for sending obscene literature through the mails. Sauer was acquitted but his publication received national attention.

What inspires your choice of topic for each week’s column? What is your research process like?

While I’ve written columns on characters and events that are familiar to students of local history, I’m most interested in fresh, unknown topics that may surprise readers. Such as the appearance of magician Harry Houdini in San Diego, the laying of the first sewer system in the city, a daring art heist from the Carnegie Library, or plans for a floating sports stadium in Mission Bay.

The process for writing the columns begins with the topic, of course, followed by collection of as much research material as I can find in newspaper articles, diary entries, reports, original documents, and more—all gathered in a couple evenings each week, usually in the library at San Diego State University or from Special Collections at the Public Library. On Saturday’s I stake out a quiet spot in the San Diego State library and compose the columns. Sunday’s I keep free for Chargers football.

As a librarian, how have you seen technology impact collections and research?

Technology has really enhanced our ability to find “the small stuff.” For example, newspapers such as the historical Los Angeles Times are now available in online databases. The San Diego Union may be available that way within a couple of years. These databases are key-word searchable and show complete pdf reproductions of news articles going back into the late 1800s. This is a revolution for local history research, but the databases are only available in well-funded libraries.

Researchers often make the mistake of assuming that everything is available on the Internet and that brick and mortar libraries are passé. This is ignorant and naïve, I’m afraid. The resources available only in libraries are invaluable, particularly when accompanied by the advice of experienced librarians and archivists.

As a kid, did you frequent a library or bookstore, or was there a particular experience that sparked your interest in history?

I’m the son of a college history professor who loved books. I inherited every bit of my father’s interest in books and libraries. As a kid I spent much of my summers in my local branch library in Long Beach, or at our downtown Carnegie Library. As a special treat, my father and I would go to the main Los Angeles Public Library and spend the day there. Or we would visit incredible used book stores, such as Acres of Books in downtown Long Beach.

Do you have a favorite story from your collection The Way We Were in San Diego?

The tale of “Russian Mike” might be my favorite. Michael Rose was a seaman from the Ukraine that settled in San Diego’s red-light district in the 1880s. He was a bar keep but more often a bar fighter. In 1899 a drunken Mike shot his friend—the owner of a notorious saloon. The story of the slaying and the court trial of Mike is a memorable chapter in our history.

Who do you think are some of the most interesting San Diegans through history?

I’ve written about several remarkable San Diegans. Till Burnes was a popular saloon owner in the notorious “Stingaree” district of San Diego. George Horatio Derby was an Army engineer who came in the 1850s to build a dike on the San Diego River but is remembered as a humorist who left entertaining writings about the town. Perhaps my favorite character is Abe Sauer, the editor of the San Diego Herald in the early 1900s. He enjoyed attacking the rich and powerful and was sued unsuccessfully eighteen times for libel.

I’ve also looked at notable characters that had only brief appearances here but left lasting legacies. Richard Henry Dana, Jr., the author of Two Years Before the Mast, described San Diego of the mid-1830s. Charles Lindbergh spent only a few months here but his airplane, the “Spirit of St. Louis,” was built in San Diego, and, of course, his famed trans-Atlantic flight began from a San Diego airfield.

What made San Diego the self-proclaimed “Air Capitol of the West”?

We all know San Diego for its wonderful climate. For pioneer flyers in the early 1900s our climate meant year-around flying weather. It just couldn’t be beat anywhere. As flying developed here we had a slew of famous aviation firsts: the first successful seaplane flight, the first aerial loop, and the first air mail service—even the first successful commercial airline.

Airplane manufacturing also drifted here because of the weather. Reuben H. Fleet’s Consolidated Aircraft moved here from Buffalo, New York in 1935 and eventually became the Convair and General Dynamics remembered today.

Are there areas of San Diego’s history that you think have been significantly overlooked?

There are two periods of time that are a bit dark in our history. In the 1860s the population was quite small and there was not a single newspaper in town. First-hand accounts and records are sparse for that era, and writers have largely ignored those years. After the San Diego Union started up in late 1868 we had uninterrupted reporting of local events that continues to this day. Most of the Union’s reporting was indexed years ago by librarians at the San Diego Public Library. That card index has always been a boon to researchers but there’s gap in the indexing from 1904 to 1930. The predictable result has been that historians tend to shy away from “the gap” years because helpful topical indexing is unavailable. San Diego in the 1910s and 1920s is fascinating and quite overlooked.

Richard W. Crawford’s The Way We Were in San Diego is available from San Diego bookstores, the History Press website, and Amazon.