4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL June 8, 2016
O PINION
Offbeat Oregon History
Albany’s “Queen of Fakirs” belongs in
con artists’ hall of fame
BY FINN J.D. JOHN
For the Sentinel
W
hen D.C. Davis fi rst met Hazel
Petterson, she was lying, frail
and sickly, in a hotel bed in Yacolt, Wash-
ington. She’d been taken there following
a horrifying mishap on the Northern Pa-
cifi c Railroad on April 9, 1909.
It seemed someone had left a suitcase in
the aisle, and the train’s crew hadn’t no-
ticed. As the train had pulled into Yacolt,
there had been a sudden lurch, and poor
Mrs. Petterson, her baby in her arms, had
been thrown forward and tripped over
the suitcase. Crashing to the fl oor with
a dramatic scream as she held her baby
safely away from harm, she’d writhed
there in agony, spitting teeth and blood
and clutching her side.
Hastily removed to the hotel bed in
which she now rested, they had learned
the extent of her injuries — and they
were astonishing. Her ankle appeared to
be broken, with a bone out of place, al-
though it had not yet started swelling. She
appeared to have at least one broken rib.
One of her pupils was dilated while the
other was normal — a known sign of ei-
ther eye injury or brain trauma. And she’d
spat two teeth out upon the fl oor of the
train amid a welter of blood, the appar-
ent result of a lung hemorrhage, possibly
punctured by the broken rib.
This was bad. And it seemed to be get-
ting worse. Davis learned that Mrs. Petter-
son was a wealthy widow from Calgary,
the sort of person who could be expected
to take legal action against the railroad if
she felt unfairly treated. So Davis spent
nearly a week attending to her. A local
doctor examined her, confi rmed her inju-
ries and set her ankle in a plaster cast.
Davis’s fi rst priority was to forestall
any litigation and attendant bad public-
ity. So as soon as he could, before any
additional symptoms could appear, he
hurriedly started negotiating a settlement
with the injured woman. She fi nally ac-
cepted a payment of $1,250, and he wrote
a bank draft out on the spot.
Then he set about getting her ready to
go back to Calgary. She was loaded in
a stretcher on a baggage car and sent to
Vancouver; then she was placed in an au-
tomobile and gingerly driven down into
Portland, in the care of two nurses hired
by the railroad. They fi rst took her to the
railroad’s banking house, where Davis
vouched for her identity and she cashed
the draft — taking most of it in gold. This
was probably the moment when the fi rst
hints of doubt started to cross Davis’s
mind. Why would a wealthy widow faced
with nothing more than a week-long train
trip home want the trouble of lugging all
that gold along with her?
Mrs. Petterson checked into a hotel.
Davis went out, at her request, to fi nd an
attorney for her, make an appointment
with an eye specialist and arrange accom-
modations on a train back to Calgary. She
then sent one of the nurses to make travel
arrangements.
Immediately after the nurse departed,
Mrs. Petterson hopped out of bed and
made a phone call. Within minutes she’d
left the hotel — having somehow made a
miraculous recovery — and disappeared
into the night.
When Davis returned, she was gone.
Following a quick series of inquiries to
Calgary by telegraph, the dismayed Mr.
Davis learned that there was no recently
widowed Mrs. Petterson. He also learned
that a very odd thing had been found in
Mrs. Petterson’s hotel room in Yacolt: A
small packet of red powder, which had
been recognized immediately as fake
blood.
There could now be no doubt: D.C. Da-
vis had been taken for a ride. And, worse
yet, he knew exactly who had conned
him. All the railroad claims agents, all
over the West, had been talking about her.
She could be none other than the “Queen
of Fakirs,” Maud Myrtle Johnson — a
smooth and talented actress who over the
previous few years had bilked railroads
and streetcar companies all over the west-
ern United States to the tune of at least
$200,000.
And, in what must have been a particu-
larly bitter revelation to poor Mr. Davis, it
turned out that the train she’d been riding
on had been carrying Maud Johnson away
from the courthouse in Seattle, where
she’d just been acquitted on charges of
soaking the Seattle streetcar company for
$600 in precisely the same way.
Maud Johnson was born Maud Myrtle
Wagnon, on a farm near Albany. After
her mother died, her father left her in a
convent in Salem and moved to Portland,
where, in an ironic twist, he became a po-
lice offi cer.
Maud seems to have been something of
a hellion. When she was 14, she sued a
man for seduction under promise of mar-
riage, and at 16 ran away from the con-
vent to which she had been committed
with another man.
She soon drifted into a life of crime —
and, it seems, of Vaudeville. At the same
time she was becoming well known to the
police departments of Salem, Portland,
and Pendleton, she was also acquiring a
very unusual set of skills.
By 1906, Maud could dislocate an an-
kle, a knee, and a rib at will. Born with
a slightly misshapen chest, she learned
to pose it to maximize an illusion of bro-
kenness. One of her eyes was noticeably
different in appearance than the other
— possibly the result of some old injury
— and she could exacerbate that by dilat-
ing its pupil at will. And she developed a
macabre ability to bite on her gums in a
way that produced blood on demand.
So Maud took her show on the road.
Adopting a foundling baby from an or-
phanage to use as a prop — she knew a
settlement would be far more likely if a
baby were involved — she took her show
on the road with a small group of accom-
plices, bilking railroad and streetcar
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
More on the Airport
Thanks to Jon Stinnett for a great
article about the Cottage Grove Air-
port welcome center. I want to thank
the Woodard Foundation and City of
Cottage Grove for their generosity
and belief in this project.
Our Airport is the aviation gateway
to Cottage Grove, which makes it a
perfect match for a tourist informa-
tion center for pilots and their pas-
sengers. It has almost 10,000 visitors
a year, and recently the Department
of Aviation invested in a new multi
million-dollar runway.
For about 20 years there has been
no real bathroom for visitors or local
tenants. What does that tell visitors
CONTACT YOUR
ELECTED
OFFICIALS
Cottage Grove City Hall: 942-5501.
www.cottagegrove.org/
Cottage Grove Mayor Tom Munroe:
942-5501.
Cottage Grove City Councilors:
Mike Fleck, At Large: 942-7302
K. Michael Roberts, At Large: 942-
5501
Jake Boone, Ward 1: 653-7413
Jeff Gowing, Ward 2: 942-1900
Garland Burback, Ward 3: 942-
4800
Amy Slay, Ward 4: 942-5501
about Cottage Grove? How many of
those 10,000 visitors came to down-
town or even knew we had one? We
are missing a great opportunity to
promote business and recognition of
the treasured assets in our commu-
nity. We will encourage pilots and
their passengers to visit our city and
return for future visits. The City of
Cottage Grove is providing a courte-
sy car for transportation into down-
town. We will also have bicycles
available for their use along with bus
and taxi information.
The 432 sqare foot Airport wel-
come center will promote tourism
and economic vitality and attract po-
tential aviation business to the Cot-
tage Grove Airport. It will contain
information about restaurants, ho-
tels, golf courses, shops, museums,
events, bike trails and more, as well
as a providing a much needed bath-
room. The Airport welcome center
will aid in the desirability to build
more hangars and add to the prop-
erty tax revenue for the city.
We have hit the halfway mark of
our fundraising. Tax-deductible do-
nations can be made to: Welcome
Center-OAHS, PO Box 553, Cottage
Grove, OR 97424.
I am proud to be part of this great
project.
Lane County
Commissioners:
Salem, OR 97301-0001
Phone: (503) 986-1704
Fax: (503) 986-1080
Email: sen.fl oydprozansski@state.
or.us
Faye Stewart, East Lane Commis-
sioner
Lane County Public Service Build-
ing
125 East 8th Street
Eugene, OR 97401
Phone: (541) 682-4203
Fax: (541) 682-4616
Oregon State House of
Representatives:
Rep. Cedric Hayden (REP)
District: 007
900 Court Street NE
Suite H-288
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 986-1407
Fax: (503) 986-1130
Email: rep.cedrichayden@state.
or.us
Oregon State Senate:
Sen. Floyd Prozanski (DEM)
District: 004
900 Court Street NE
Suite S-319
Please see OFFBEAT, Page 11A
Nadine Kelley
Project Mgr., CG Airport welcome
center
Governor:
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, Oregon 97301-4047
Phone: (503) 378-4582
Fax: (503) 378-6827
United States House of
Representatives:
Rep. Peter A. DeFazio (DEM)
District: 004
United States House of Representa-
tives
2134 Rayburn House Offi ce Build-
ing
Washington, DC 20515-0001
Phone: (202) 225-6416
Fax: (202) 225-0032
Email: http://www.house.gov/form-
defazio/contact.html
Preventing osteoporosis with excellent nutrition
BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD
For the Sentinel
B
one health is directly
linked to nutrition. Cer-
tain foods promote breakdown
of bone and osteoporosis. Other
foods, such as fruits and veg-
etables, supply your body with
the nutrients necessary to build
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
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RON ANNIS, Graphics Manager
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and main-
tain healthy,
s t r o n g
bones and
prevent os-
teoporosis.
A number
of substanc-
es in foods
promote
the loss of calcium in the urine,
which leads to bone loss and os-
teoporosis. The foods we should
avoid to protect the health of our
bones include animal products,
salt, soda and caffeinated bev-
erages. Salt and caffeine are
known contributors to calcium
loss. Also, high caffeine intake
is associated with increased
bone loss and osteoporotic frac-
tures. Animal protein and other
high-protein foods leave acidic
residues in the blood, and the
body responds by dissolving
bone to release basic calcium
salts to neutralize the acid. This
results in loss of calcium in the
urine. Many studies have found
animal protein intake to be as-
sociated with low bone mass. In
contrast, plant protein intake is
associated with decreased hip
fractures in the elderly. Natu-
ral plant foods do not leave an
acidic residue in the blood or
promote urinary calcium excre-
tion. Soda, including diet and
decaffeinated soda, is associ-
ated with bone loss. Soda con-
sumption increases parathyroid
hormone (PTH) in the blood,
which increases blood calcium
concentrations by stimulating
bone breakdown. This increased
blood calcium is then excreted
in the urine.
Whole plant foods are the
best foods for bones. Studies
show that individuals with the
highest consumption of fruit
and vegetables have the stron-
gest bones. A diet full of greens,
beans and seeds provides the
calcium required to maintain
healthy bone. Green vegetables
in particular are rich calcium
sources. For example, one four-
ounce serving of steamed kale
has just as much calcium as
one cup of milk. Broccoli, bok
choy, sesame seeds and gar-
banzo beans are also excellent
calcium sources. Furthermore,
the body absorbs about 50 per-
cent of the calcium in many
green vegetables, compared to
only 32 percent of the calcium
in milk. Green vegetables are
also high in vitamin K, which is
a crucial component for main-
taining healthy bones. Nuts and
seeds are rich in magnesium, an
essential mineral for the forma-
tion of bone tissue. They also
help maintain adequate calorie
and protein intake to maintain
muscle and bone mass without
having to rely on high acid-
forming animal products.
Also, don’t forget about exer-
cising and supplementing with
vitamin D. Both of these prac-
tices are extremely important
for bone health.
Dr. Fuhrman is the #1 New
York Times bestselling author of
Eat to Live and Super Immuni-
ty, and a board certifi ed family
physician specializing in life-
style and nutritional medicine.
Visit his informative website at
DrFuhrman.com. Submit your
questions and comments about
this column directly to news-
questions@drfuhrman.com.
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