Freebie Travel Guide to Western Oregon: Historical, Cultural and Sometimes Macabre on the Cheap

The Freebie Travel Guide to Western Oregon escorts you to renown but sometimes obscure attractions that are available to savor without the burden of admission fees (unless indicated otherwise). Featured are attractions known to insiders with unconventional tastes that provide legitimate insight into what distinguishes Western Oregon. Many of the accompanying stories once made international headline news. Several of the profiles were once known exclusively only to locals.

This guide not only photographs each location, but also provides specific background commentary, addresses and locations where each profile may be accessed. There is no equivalent touring guide that exposes both the aesthetic and gritty in such explicit fashion.

If you are bored by limp and uninspiring travel advice, this guide is ideal for the restless searcher looking for something unique and different. Paranormal activity sometimes accompanies at no extra charge. The Freebie Travel Guide to Western Oregon includes:

Historical Sightseeing and Destinations
Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah Falls, Historic Columbia River Highway, International Rose Test Garden, Haystack Rock, Devil's Churn, Oregon Sand Dunes National Park, Battle Rock, Cape Meares Lighthouse, Seaside Carousel, Crystal Ballroom, Erickson's, Fish Peddler, Haceta Head Lighthouse, Highway 101 Roadway Collapse, Octopus Tree, Sand Lake Recreation Area, Tillamook Creamery, Whale Bones Sculpture and Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Scandals
Henry Alber's German Tavern Songs, Crystal Hotel, Dude Ranch, Portland's Great Fire of 1873, Michael Grave's Portland Building, Golden West Hotel, Lownsdale Park, Mayor Harry Lane, The Johnson Family, Liverpool Lil, Alice Oberle Celtic Burial Cross, Open Door Vice Reform, Oregon State Hospital, Club Continental Baths, 1917 Portland Mayor's Election, Richards Restaurant, Sambo's, Opium Trade and Vanport

Hauntings
Witches Castle, White Eagle Saloon, Astoria, Edgefield, Fairview Training Center, Hollywood Theatre and Kell's Irish Restaurant

Crime and Murder
Frank Akin Assassination, Tammy Albertson and Joan Leigh Hall's Disappearances, Murders of Ashley Benson, Nancy Bergeson, Rhonda Castro, Aaron Danielson, Laura Foster, Guy Phillips, Sergeant Jason Goodding, Wendy Hildreth, Diane Hank, Julie Herman, Kathleen Parks, Diane Wyckoff, Police Officer Chris Kilcullen, Anne Jeanne Tingry-Le-Coz, Tim Moreau, Roma Ollison, Jason Scott Williams and Eric Tamiyasu, Bowden Bomb, Clackamas Town Center Shooting, Portland's Court of Death, Pioneer Delaney Murder and Hanging, Diane Downs, Oregon Prison Director Michael Francke, Michelle Dee Gates, Superintendent of Police Holly Holcomb's Murder, Kip Kinkel's High School Shooting Rampage, Robert Paul Langley, Frank Kodat's Gang, Christian Longo, Seaside Thrill Killings, Oregon's Last Executed Killer, Skinheads Fatal Beating, Mystery Disappearance of Murderer Tyrom Theis, Abduction and Killing Under St. Johns Bridge, Wasco County Jail Strangling, 1946 Willamette River Floating torso, Brooke Wilberger's Abduction and Murder and The Zone Nightclub Shooting

Serial Killers
Bobby Jack Fowler, Ted Bundy, Jerry Brudos, Dark Strangler, William Scott Smith, Ward Weaver III and Eugene Serial Killer Mystery

Portland Institutions
Kelly's Olympian Bar, Dan and Louis Oyster Bar, Boneyard, Mary's Club, Merchants Hotel, Multnomah Hotel, Society Hotel and Blagen Building

Historical Figures
Political Fixer John Bourne, Writer Louis Bryant, Crime Boss Big Jim Elkins, Right to Death Advocate Brittany Maynard and Writer John Reed

Bridges
Astoria-Megler, Bullards, Cape Creek, Isaac Lee Patterson, Conde McCullough Memorial, Vista and Yaquina Bay Bridges

Auteur

Visual Artist, Writer and Photographer Marques Vickers is a California native presently living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington regions.

He was born in 1957 and raised in Vallejo, California. He is a 1979 Business Administration graduate from Azusa Pacific University in the Los Angeles area. Following graduation, he became the Public Relations and ultimately Executive Director of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce between 1979-84. He subsequently became the Vice President of Sales for AsTRA Tours and Travel in Westwood between 1984-86.

Following a one-year residence in Dijon, France where he studied at the University of Bourgogne, he began Marquis Enterprises in 1987. His company operations have included sports apparel exporting, travel and tour operations, wine brokering, publishing, rare book and collectibles reselling. He has established numerous e-commerce, barter exchange and art websites including MarquesV.com, ArtsInAmerica.com, InsiderSeriesBooks.com, DiscountVintages.com and WineScalper.com.

Between 2005-2009, he relocated to the Languedoc region of southern France. He concentrated on his painting and sculptural work while restoring two 19th century stone village residences. His figurative painting, photography and sculptural works have been sold and exhibited internationally since 1986. He re-established his Pacific Coast residence in 2009 and has focused his creative productivity on writing and photography.

His published works span a diverse variety of subjects including true crime, international travel, California wines, architecture, history, Southern France, Pacific Coast attractions, fiction, auctions, fine art marketing, poetry, fiction and photojournalism.

He has two daughters, Charline and Caroline who presently reside in Europe.