At the museum: Whale bone of a tale

Gene Wobbe and Dick Smith present their research during the museum’s Story Time.

What do the backbone of a whale, Shelter Cove subdivision and a man born in Scotland have in common? Local author and historian Dick Smith and a cast of characters connected the dots Friday night during the Siuslaw Pioneer Museum’s Story Time.

Smith told a large crowd how in the throes of his historical research about local canneries, one name kept cropping up, Duncan, a man that Smith knew little about.

He became obsessed with finding out more about the elusive Duncan, whose first name, he learned, was George.

“It absorbed me,” he said.

Duncan’s sojourn in Florence was only a blip on the screen of history — a few years — but his contribution to the start of the town and its industry was significant.







Share on Facebook

For the complete article see the 02-27-2013 issue.

Click here to purchase an electronic version of the 02-27-2013 paper.

Share on Facebook