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Oliver Tatom

Oliver Tatom is an independent filmmaker and writer. He grew up in Bend, Oregon, playing among the sage and pine of the Deschutes National Forest. He studied film and American history at the University of Southern California and served an eight year sentence at a major studio in Los Angeles. He now lives with his wife in New Haven, Connecticut, where he is writing a book on the Oregon Land Fraud Trials.

Author's Entries

  • Binger Hermann (1843-1926)

    Binger Hermann was a Roseburg attorney and politician who represented Oregon in the U.S. House of Representatives for sixteen years and served as commissioner of the General Land Office (GLO) under presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. His public career ended in scandal with his indictment in the Oregon Land …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • Charles Bellinger (1839-1905)

    Charles Byron Bellinger was an Oregon newspaper editor, politician, and lawyer. He served on the federal bench as Oregon's U.S. district judge from 1893 until his death in 1905. Born on November 21, 1839, Bellinger was among three generations of his family who traveled to Oregon from Illinois in 1847. …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • Francis J. Heney (1859-1937)

    Francis Joseph Heney was a California lawyer, judge, and politician during the Progressive era. He was the chief prosecutor of the Oregon Land Fraud trials from 1904 to 1910 and served as U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon from January 9 to December 3, 1905. Born in Lima, New …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • John Hipple Mitchell (1835-1905)

    John Hipple Mitchell was a Portland lawyer and politician whose long career as a U.S. senator was overshadowed by scandal. He was convicted on charges of bribery connected to the Oregon Land Frauds in 1905, just five months before his death. Born John Mitchell Hipple in Pennsylvania on June 22, …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • Matthew Deady (1824-1893)

    Matthew Paul Deady was a lawyer, politician, and judge in the Oregon Territory. When Oregon became a state in 1859, Deady was named Oregon's first U.S. district court judge, and he sat at the federal court in Portland until his death more than three decades later. Born in Talbot County, …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • Oregon Land Fraud Trials (1904-1910)

    During the summer of 1905, while visitors enjoyed the amusements of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, one of the most sensational trials in Oregon's history was taking place at the Pioneer Courthouse in downtown Portland. The defendant was John H. Mitchell, then serving his fourth term …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • Stephen Puter (1857-1931)

    Stephen Puter was the self-described King of the Oregon Land Fraud Ring, whose cooperation with federal investigators led to the indictment and conviction of U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell in 1905. Puter was born on January 6, 1857. His criminal career began in 1875, after he helped the U.S. surveyor …

    Oregon Encyclopedia

  • William L. Finley (1876–1953)

    Oregon's birds have had few better friends than William Lovell Finley. As a biologist, photographer, writer, filmmaker, and public official, Finley spent his life tirelessly advocating for the protection of wildlife, especially birds. His efforts led to the creation of three National Wildlife Refuges in Oregon, and a fourth was …

    Oregon Encyclopedia