LOTUS ISLE: AMERICA’S MOST CURSED AMUSEMENT PARK

[Music] on a small island in the columbia river known as tomahawk island there stands a small park called lotus isle park modest simple playground for the kids few walking trails some benches to look out onto the river from i visited the spot a couple of times and the locals obviously enjoy it but i wonder i really wonder if any of them know where this park got its name from or if they know the wild story that once happened here [Music] [Music] [Music] amusement parks the epitome of an oddity an amusement park is where you take the kids for the day a roll through the kitty rides or a group of friends to test their wits on a roller coaster these parks are one of the few places in the world that we all go to willingly even though there's the slightest chance your experience can end in tragedy for one american amusement park that only lasted three years there was no better word to describe it other than tragic tragic but what once had worlds worth of potential i've had my fair share of amusement park visits more than some less than others i've had my one disneyland experience a little overrated in my opinion i've done more than my share of trips to oaks park a southeast portland oregon landmark that's been up and running since 1905 making it one of the oldest still operating parks of its type in america it survived multiple floods among other natural disasters like the columbus day storm of 1962 and even our present day pandemic has not resulted in its closure some amusement parks just last forever while others vanish overnight like most things amusement parks developed on america's east coast first before gradually popping up in the west around the turn of the century oaks park opened on may 30th 1905 after a quote friendly race with the lewis and clark exposition to see who would be up and running first the oaks as the park was once known won the race by two days the massive success of oaks park scoring over 300 000 visitors in their first season which was double the city of portland's population at the time led to a blossoming of parks in and around the portland area exactly two years after oaks park opened an amusement park was opened on council crest in the hills of southwest portland known as the dreamland of the northwest the park made great use of its near panoramic view of the portland metropolitan area sites such as the oaks and council crest were chosen for such parks primarily to promote recently constructed streetcar lines and despite council crest's initial success its popularity faded over time the operators were clairvoyant enough to close down for good on labor day 1929 only weeks before the stock market crashed on the opposite side of things what would go on to become one of portland's most iconic amusement parks jansen beach would open for business in the summer of 1928. at 123 acres the jansen beach amusement park was regarded as the largest amusement park in america which may or may not have been true it was also known as portland's million dollar playground and equipped with everything one could want at such a place a massive roller coaster ferris wheel ballroom race track swimming pools bath house and an iconic merry-go-round which was the subject of great mystery up until a few years ago even at the start of the economic decline that would result in the great depression jansen beach was still the place to be this meant money and authority in a time where few others were experiencing such prosperity this would be the spark that would ultimately result in a new amusement park a paradise known as lotus isle you see the jansen beach amusement park was located on hayden island on the columbia river just on the oregon side of its border with the state of washington just a short distance east of hayden island was a smaller island known as sand island for a decade from 1916 to 1926 another amusement park stood on this little island that was called columbia beach amusement park like the others columbia beach was a gold mine drawing sometimes more than thirty thousand people a day even by its last season it could still draw thousands of people in a single day but still closed after tragically the park's dance pavilion was destroyed by a fire this would prove to be a foreshadowing event by 1927 sand island would be renamed tomahawk island after a legend that a native american stole a tomahawk that was on display during the lewis and clark exposition over 20 years earlier according to the legend he then buried this tomahawk somewhere on sand island despite this change however by the end of the 20s with columbia beach park gone tomahawk island was empty an empty island right next door to the most popular amusement park in the area jansen beach this gave a few local businessmen an idea [Music] in 1929 these men approached the proprietors of the jansen beach amusement park to tell them of their own plans to build a new amusement park on nearby tomahawk island called lotus isle but this was all a ruse these men never intended to actually construct a fully functioning park their objective in actuality was to force under the threat of stealing business away but this con was not as easy as making a threat and then collecting the cash to look legit these men had to invest some money and begin at least modest construction on the park but who cared they were going to make bank when jansen beach caved no joke they actually called this plan operation shakedown can't be much more obvious than that but this is where the justice became poetic either from the presumption that these businessmen were bluffing or simply out of a state of hubris jansen beech didn't take the bait as a matter of fact they welcomed the competition such left these businessmen in a tough spot they either had to admit to their scam which would have ruined their reputations and likely much more or they could suck it up and finish building lotus isle and that's just what they did construction was not only finished on the park but on the surface all of the stops were brought out the park was revolutionary marked by a massive hundred foot tall replica of france's eiffel tower at the park's entrance a replica covered in lights and graced with the park's name lotus isle this name was derived from the lotus water lily renowned for its mythological association with euphoria and enlightenment for 1930 lotus isle was most definitely a source of euphoric enlightenment one of the first attractions completed at the site was the park's rustic bathhouse finished two weeks before the park opened this building could hold thousands of people at once a state-of-the-art dance pavilion known as the peacock ballroom was also constructed on the site a beautiful piece of architecture that also seemed cursed almost from day one [Music] little was held back in terms of entertainment the park's merry-go-round was constructed at a cost of forty thousand dollars or roughly six hundred and thirty eight thousand dollars by today's standards equally the ferris wheel was built at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars which amounts to more than a quarter million dollars today parking was created to hold up to five thousand vehicles pretty impressive for 1930. a train line was constructed to circle around the park a small zoo was erected that promoted itself as containing quote rare asian animals the park had two roller coasters during its existence both wood structures the first was called the whiz which was closed down in 1931 and replaced by the alpine scenic railway but what was most iconic or at least most memorable about the architecture of this park was its bumper car concession this structure included supports and a roof in the shape of a bulldog pretty cool but also stuff of nightmares also check out this daredevil however for all its grandeur this park was a product of 1930 another time in america this made for some truly disturbing attractions to go along with the innocent ones in a park promoted as offering any type of entertainment imaginable this literally included a game that involved quote hitting the black baby doll in the eye and if that's not racially troubling enough the game used another word in place of the word black we all know what word that is and likely to rub salt in the wound upon its completion lotus isle was 128 acres in size five acres larger than jansen beach some tells me that wasn't an accident [Music] do [Music] the construction work leading up to the summer of 1930 was mired in controversy this led to one of the park's primary investors and edwin f platt to ultimately take over the project as the park's first owner apparently he had invested more than half a million dollars in the park already and there was no turning back now he had made his money as the president of the portland oxygen and hydrogen company the park officially opened on june 28 1930 to moderate fanfare dubbed the wonderland of the pacific northwest the park did not have the initial success that some were hoping for but it was still successful one could not deny the quirkiness of the place as well as its lavishness making it to the park was a quirk in and of itself a bridge had been constructed to carry people to the island people traveling by streetcar would get off at the philoma stop for those coming from washington they took the vancouver streetcar line which split with one line passing through the philoma station while just another part of portland today during this time phalloma was its own little town with its own school and post office the opening of lotus isle only served to bolster this area now more than 90 years after the opening of lotus isle there was only one still standing remain from those days the bridge to the isle remained standing despite falling apart until 1952 when it was finally demolished but to this day several of the wood supports for that bridge still remain conveniently they are most visible during the summer months with the river at its lowest levels at the same time of year that the park would normally be open for business equally the streetcar line that passed through philoma is long gone but the origin to the line is still traceable just south of marine drive along the columbia river there's a small stretch of grass between two fence lines this is where a part of the streetcar line ran through and if one turns 180 degrees from that they are looking directly towards where lotus isle once stood while most parks would open around memorial day at the end of may for their season the lotus found itself not opening until the end of june primarily due to construction starting so late this left them with only a two month long first season still in all by the end of august lotus island pulled off a successful initial run even without the explosive genesis that parks like the oaks council crest and jansen beach had there still had to be reason to believe that the lotus isle could be a long-term success over time this place stood a chance to achieve iconic status as that bizarre but gripping park along the great river it was the next to the last day of the opening season and the park was winding down things were still busy busy enough for a child to go missing an eleven-year-old named ronald ralston had wandered off down by a diving board leading into the river when it's presumed he slipped into the water and drowned there were no witnesses it was considered that the child may have climbed onto and then fell off the diving board into the river or that he just fell off the ladder while climbing up onto the diving board i tend to believe he fell as he was reportedly found in shallow water barely high enough to cover his body making me think he fell was then knocked unconscious and then drowned in that shallow water resuscitation efforts were administered upon his discovery and were unfortunately unsuccessful in reviving the child in the years since this tragedy this story has been altered or rather elevated to the status of legend a change that has spread so much that even bloggers and informational sites still report it this way in this retelling of what happened to ralston is expressed that he was thrown from the park's roller coaster sending him flying in the air before crash landing and drowning in the columbia river i can safely say i found the articles and reports on this case and this retelling of the story is nothing but a legend because apparently a child drowning by simply slipping into the river isn't exciting enough an almost full opening season without a blip had been totally overshadowed by this tragic death the park went through and closed for the season the following day august 29th shortly before midnight the owner edwin platt's brother-in-law walter mcknight went into platt's office to discover him dead with a gunshot wound through his heart a revolver laid on the floor at his feet on his desk a note addressed to his wife mabel it simply read sweetheart my mabel you know i love you e f platt 8 15 pm the case appeared to be an open and closed case of suicide but the possibility of murder cannot be fully dismissed the motivation for platt suicide was thought to be out of guilt over the death of ronald ralston mcknight said that when he last saw platt around 7 pm platt appeared to be despondent over how things had been going at the park this was an odd possible motive as lotus isle had been relatively successful in its first run but this theory was still considered as platt had also reportedly been troubled by his financial situation after dumping so much money into the park but still this motive was supplied by mcknight himself who just happened to be the last person to see platt alive and the first person to discover him after death others said that platt and mcknight had been engaged in a rather fierce argument that night and that around the time there had been a great deal of internal conflict going on amongst workers closest to platt the suicide angle is still suspicious the quote suicide note mentions nothing of suicide and is dated presumably at the time platt killed himself also it's much more common in committing suicide with a revolver to shoot oneself in the head as opposed to the chest i could find no detailed information about the wound to plat was it deemed a shot at point-blank range did the bullet match with his revolver did anyone hear a gunshot around 8 15 pm these questions unfortunately remain unanswered but the brother-in-law is still someone of suspicion in this case especially since he'd been engaged in some kind of internal struggle with the very man who turned up dead while the death of ronald ralston was considered lotus isles first great tragedy it was not in fact the first time that death had brushed up against the park a week before ralston's death august 21 1930 an attorney named charles wiggfall was visiting the park shortly before it closed for the day after driving only a short distance from the park wig fall picked up a hitchhiking transient during their drive together wig fall glanced down at his watch at which time the transient grabbed his watch off of him and tried to flee the car with it a scuffle broke out at which time the transient shot wig fall in the chest with a 38 caliber revolver before fleeing the scene this was at least wiggfall's own story as after being seriously wounded he still drove home before being taken to the hospital where he gave his story wig fall did ultimately succumb to his wounds and passed a 38 revolver was found in the kenton neighborhood which is located right across the river from tomahawk island tragically law enforcement was quick to say the shooting was really a suicide after they claimed wig fall owned a revolver exactly like the one that was found however there were no reports that the revolver was definitively established as being wig falls or that it was used in the shooting and if it was wig falls revolver what if he kept it in his car keeping it there the transient could have easily gotten his hands on it wig fall was not known to be depressed or suicidal but he was known for picking up hitchhikers it was also strange that if he did try and commit suicide that he would drive the rest of the way home it appears there was never a full resolution to this case whose origin was at lotus isle the crime in the park may have been more closely connected together had it not been dismissed as a suicide [Music] another element of intrigue around this time was a man named thomas henry or t.h.slick who had also put a great deal into the park along with pratt [Music] by 1931 he would be relieved of his duties there esslik had an extensive background in working amusement parks over the course of his entire life by the time of lotus isles opening esslik had been involved in establishing parks all over the world from australia to india to egypt to russia he'd worked the lotus in a managerial capacity and considering the park's sudden string of tragic events around the time of his dismissal esslik was a frighteningly perfect fit there who may very well have been cursed just by being connected to the park up until 1929 esslik had a relatively successful run in the amusement park industry which meant he'd had a fairly successful run in life the lotus isle seemed to change all that one could argue that it all began in december 1929 shortly before construction of the park took off esslik had been married to a woman named vancil eslick who worked as an actress in california under the name of vancil viking esslik had also worked in the film industry working publicity for australia on behalf of paramount pictures von seal appeared in at least one credited film the fighting forester in 1928. on december 2nd 1929 she died when her car collided with another in the town of banning just east of los angeles we all know the 27 club right well not only was vancil 27 when she died but the director of the fighting forester joseph levagard also died at 27. and for those interested in more satanic oddities i did notice that the lead actor in the fighting forester edmund f cobb performed in exactly 666 films 666. his grandfather just happened to be the man who cast the deciding vote in the impeachment of president andrew johnson but we're getting way off topic now so before lotus isle even opened its head manager lost his wife in a tragic car accident after departing from the lotus by 1938 essex began pursuing a massive project in australia he'd been a key figure in the construction of luna park in melbourne australia in 1912 and now he wanted a new luna park in the town of brisbane and it seems the curse of lotus isle came along for the ride a promise to have this project done in a couple of months became more than a year facing a plethora of issues things came to a peak in 1940 when a fire broke out in the ballroom which was still under construction at the time a security guard saw a man fleeing the scene and opened fire blood was later found at the scene suggesting the suspect was hit but he would never be identified and many believe the fire was set intentionally it had been insured for 12 000 pounds and eslick definitely was facing money troubles at this time despite there being minimal damage done esslik reportedly got a full payout of his insurance then months later the railway being constructed for luna park was destroyed in a windstorm by the onset of world war ii only the ballroom dubbed cloudland had been completed and esslik found himself bankrupt at this point much of what was being worked on was auctioned off and the ballroom would ultimately be used as an army headquarters during the war in its aftermath it would be revived as a dance hall and a pretty popular hangout spot before being sold off and demolished in 1982. eslick was again dismissed after the 1931 season and by december of that year he filed a lawsuit against lotus isle over matters involving his salary the park was already facing serious financial problems by this point and eslick's lawsuit only made those problems worse and we're not quite done with th slick by the way we'll be getting back to him later despite the tragedies at the end of the 1930 summer season lotus isle was fully set to push on and have an even more successful season in 1931. to lead this push a promoter named al painter was brought on to run the park this would prove to be a very regrettable decision in many regards but at the time a man like painter was in high demand and he was as shrewd as they came even though there were claims that he was involved in organized crime painters tenure running lotus aisle was primarily remarkable for two reasons walkathons and elephants al painter had found success in walkathons which were really just dance marathons because of this he focused in on utilizing the peacock ballroom as a site for these events these particular events were relatively new to the pacific northwest and so the locals ate it right up there were also a great incentive to take part in events such as this as there were major prizes to be won including automobiles however painter did have a reputation that was generally unknown by local portlanders of not always paying up this shady reputation literally left him ostracized from several u.s states three in total of these again quote walk-a-thons were successfully performed sometimes lasting days at a time at lotus isle participants would be given a 10-minute break every hour before these events went on and on and on the ballroom would often have a line outside of excited onlookers waiting for the chance to dance and win while the peacock ballroom had a max capacity of approximately 666 people these walk-a-thons often included more than 8 000 participants inside the fad caught on so well that local radio station 1190 kex would broadcast these dance-a-thons live painter was definitely in a spot to make a lot of money in this endeavor however almost as quickly as it began the jig was up with the park not even open yet for the 1931 summer season these walkathons were deemed in violation of oregon state statutes their reasoning was somewhat questionable but since participants were performing for the sake of profit or rather prizes as opposed to pure amusement these walkathons were deemed subject to state labor laws these laws required women specifically to have at least a nine hour rest between shifts of work so to speak the fact that legal minors were also performing in these walkathons only made troubles worse and due to the fact that these events could last for days at a time our painters walk-a-thons were investigated for possible health or safety violations ultimately the oregon state attorney general i h van winkle stepped in and deemed these walkathons illegal this was huge as these events were the primary thing keeping lotus aisle going leading into their second year in response to this our painter promised to end any walk-a-thons by june 2nd 1931. there was just one problem with this by the time he was supposed to stop there was a walkathon still going with eight participants left who refused to quit to soothe things over with midnight approaching painter offered the remaining participants 250 bucks each to quit these eight people collectively refused and would not leave the ballroom so ultimately in his own way painter allowed the walkathon to continue leading to his arrest for violating labor laws he paid a hundred dollar fine and using his shrewdness adjusted his walk-a-thons to have a 12-hour break period for women thus allowing these events to continue however shortly after agreeing to this it seems painter gave up and got out while the getting was good like in other places he left multiple walkathon participants unpaid for their efforts however painter may have had other reasons for getting out of portland aside from just screwing over locals during these walk-a-thons painter decided to spice things up by adding vaudeville performances two vaudevillians earl mossman and ray vance were on their way down to la when they stopped off briefly in portland in february of 1931. while in the city they performed at one of these walkathons both men reportedly had contract film work awaiting them in l.a suggesting a bright future ahead for both of them on the evening of february 24th 1931 ray vance visited some family in the area before being driven to lotus isle specifically to meet with al painter the driver dropped vance off around midnight and vance walked up to the ballroom only to find it locked the driver tried to get vance to leave with him but fans said the walkathon was in progress and that he'd just wait to get inside ray vance wouldn't be seen again until june 12 1931 more than three months later his decapitated body was found in a slough near ridgefield washington some 20 miles north of lotus isle vance's wife violet identified his body it was clear that he'd been murdered and with al painter being the last known person he was supposed to see certainly made painter look pretty suspicious a possible witness an m.a tealing said that around 1 30 a.m roughly 90 minutes after vance was last seen at lotus isle he saw two men in a sedan stop abruptly on the morrison bridge by downtown portland these two men pulled a large object from the car and threw it off the bridge into the river tealing felt it might have been a body they threw but the men sped off before he got a closer look at them or the car if this was two men getting rid of a body it's hard to say it was vance's if it was this means his body would have had to flow some 25 miles north turning down multiple waterways before being discovered months later lodged in a slew it's possible but i still think it unlikely it was later reported that vance's vaudevillian companion earl mossman had quarreled with him over money at which time mossman reportedly threatened to get a gun [Music] [Music] it is important to realize that vance was last seen at lotus isle at a time when the park was closed and it seems only al painter knew he would be coming so was it painter was mossman performing at the walk-a-thon that night and had his chance to scare vance out of some money like in the charles wiggfall case it doesn't seem there was ever a legitimate resolution to this case and its origins also trace right back to lotus isle and then when there's not walk-a-thons there's elephants to help bolster attractions at lotus isle owl painter purchased a show elephant for twenty eight hundred 800 from john ringling of the famous ringling brothers known as a circus attraction for years this elephant was named ned but better known by his performance nickname of tusco the magnificent tusco had been dubbed the largest animal in the world standing more than 10 feet tall and weighing in at some 17 000 pounds but tusco was also known to have an attitude and it seems painter did not do his research when he made this purchase he first tried to sell off tusco to the local zoo but they knew about tusco's reputation and painter was stuck with him at the aisle what was wrong with this and what exactly did it mean saying tusco had an attitude well the eight and a half ton creature had wreaked havoc practically everywhere he went damaging property and lashing out at trainers quite possibly his most wild rampage occurred on may 15 1922 while his circus was in the small northern washington town of cedro woolley tusco threw his trainer aside breaking several of his bones before escaping his tent and proceeding to obliterate parts of town he toppled cars like they were pebbles and shook buildings practically off their foundations but the story only gets crazier from here as several locals many of whom reportedly chugged down some moonshine to heighten the excitement began chasing the massive beast as he ran out of town and into the hills thirty miles from town tusca was finally tracked down in a place romantically known as the garden of eden where he succumbed to recapture it was generally believed that tusco had imbibed a bunch of alcohol which fueled his actions multiple reports over time expressed that tusco was frequently given moonshine to deal with any ailments that he might have had suggesting his quote violence was really just drunkenness his rampage cost the circus twenty thousand dollars in damages but this was only one instance of tusco's quote attitude coming out there were numerous other instances this was the kind of stuff that could happen at any time on lotus isle once tusco had arrived but all seemed all right at first then on a date that remains in mystery but would have been before june 1931 a local stunt pilot named tex rankin flew over lotus isle from his plane hung a banner promoting the park rankin was a local hero who ran his own flight school on swan island and promoted flight as the travel method of the future as he flew he swerved down dive bombing over the park and alas got a little too close his plane frightened tusco sending him into a tirade as he tried to flee the area but he was trapped on an island a fun family event was replaced by madness people fleeing in all directions some were so frantic that they simply dove into the columbia river to escape as tusco traipsed about the island destroying everything in his wake spectators tried to wave rankin's plane away however rankin took these waves as cheers from the crowd below and he continued to do dive bombs over the island only further enraging this massive pachyderm rankin only finally stopped when his plane was getting low on fuel eventually an oregon infantry division had to be called in to help calm matters what's almost worth a laugh from this event is that in his destruction set many of the park's zoo animals free as the damaged park was left closed down for several days tomahawk island was a mess of various animals who passively roamed the island and raided the concession stands for food the monkeys from the zoo took refuge in the island's trees where it was reported they could be heard for weeks after at the same time tusco's rampage was truly the beginning of the end for lotus isle barely into its second season and not only at the park sustained severe and costly property damage but the experience traumatized patrons likely scaring many of them away from the park permanently this event however was not the only instance in 1931 of a plane being related to property damage at the park on march 23rd 1931 three men in a small plane decided to fly low when they began experiencing turbulence they ultimately went too low crashing into what was described as a paper mache mountain at lotus isle severely damaging it the three men in the plane managed to escape with minor injuries in some instances this particular event has been inaccurately reported as the situation that led to tusco's rampage but it was an entirely different event altogether must be remembered that al painter was still running the park during this time when tusco's rampage occurred and like the crooked fellow he was he immediately sold him off to th slick told you we'd be getting back to that guy eslick would get his pound of flesh out of tusco showing him off at various sideshow style events before taking him to salem for the upcoming state fair in october 1931 then esslik returned to portland with the understanding that he would return to salem soon but he never came back he just abandoned tusco in salem the way the story was reported was simply tusco failed to yield eslick a profit at the state fair and when the ferris people presented him a bill to pay he shrugged his shoulders broke as he was and he just simply said keep the elephant wow i'm kind of glad his luna park failed he tried to claim that the elephant was still painter's responsibility but by this time painter was long gone leaving lotus isle and its desolate state behind tusco's story from this point on was as tragic as it was entertainment fodder for newspapers he became known as tusco the unwanted state attorney general van winkle put a lien on tusco giving esslik 60 days to pay off his debts or the pachyderm would go up for auction obviously eslick had no intention of paying off this debt so at the start of november 1931 tusco went up for auction the auction took place on november 3rd was a complete flop when the offers for tusco peaked at a paltry 12 the head auctioneer left his platform in disgust and a fresh auction was scheduled for two days later at this auction a hairy plant of the salem boxing commission put up the only bid at two hundred dollars and suddenly tusco had a new owner the plan was to ultimately get tusco to the 1932 world's fair in chicago but before then he was loaded up and relocated back to portland here he was placed in an old boiler works building that was once located on southeast maine and water across the river from the downtown area in an area that's mostly parking now tusco lingered in limbo in portland for several months but a christmas day fiasco nearly ended the poor creature's life tesco went on another one of his rampages breaking all but one of the chains that held him down an escape in the middle of the city could have spelled unspeakable tragedy and so the police with sharpshooters carrying submachine guns were called to the scene as tusco thrashed about taking out one of the walls of the building the one-time iconic as well as notorious portland chief of police leon jenkins clamored to just shoot him dead but portland mayor george baker via telephone called in and told the police to stand down killing tusco was a last resort and after several hours tusco would end up getting distracted enough to be chained back down crisis averted the christmas rampage made headlines and in the aftermath a massive crowd gathered paying admission to see the massive beast that had nearly been loosed in their city local officials contemplated taking responsibility of the animal but mayor baker expressed that it would come at too high of a cost as 1931 gave way to 1932 tusco had mainly been left monitored by his two trainers jack o'grady and baynard sleepy gray on february 2nd 1932 gray would be arrested after a drunk driving accident and kept on one thousand dollars bail gray managed to strike a likely not wholly legal deal to exchange tusco to cover his bail money it appears o'grady was never consulted on this matter likely creating some bad blood it was reported on february 18th that one of tusco's trainers had threatened to kill him and burn down his barn this led to round clock protection for the pachyderm since gray was still in jail at this time i can only assume these threats came from o'grady when this exchange was completed the two bail bondsmen who dealt with gray a william brennan and ed mosher suddenly found themselves in possession of one of the largest creatures in america within a few days they sold off tusco again and by april tusco was loaded up and taken up into washington to start his gradual trek towards chicago for the world's fair history would just end up repeating itself as the man who was in possession of tusco a ben myers would try and make some cash on him during their travels with no success once they reach the town of chehalis washington myers abandoned tusco just like t.h.s like did before tusco bobbed around the seattle tacoma area before finally finding a home in a zoo in seattle in october 1932 this was done so as to protect the pachyderm from a eugene oregon man named dr m bell who for whatever reason threatened to execute tusco publicly but even after finding yet another home within months the seattle zoo discovered they could not afford the bill of taking care of such a massive creature and then while the zoo was still trying to manage what to do with tusco june 10th 1933 the 43 year old tusco passed away while the reason for his death was initially reported as unknown it ultimately came out that he'd suffered from deep vein thrombosis that caused his death [Music] less than two years of existence and the park was hanging on by a thread it was only more apparent that this park had clearly been cursed and not just the park but many of those who had passed through it it was even suggested that a native american burial ground may have once existed beneath tomahawk island providing a possible spiritual cause for why the park was experiencing ongoing misfortunes but then again columbia beach park existed in the same spot unabated for 10 years why weren't they cursed who knows there also were of course stories of the paranormal effects that there may have been on the park and possibly that the spirit of the ralston boy was in fact haunting the park the isles still intended to open up again for the summer of 1932. they just needed to escape the 1931 season unscathed from here on out considering everything discussed up to this point would anybody be shocked to hear that this is not what happened much like the year before it was late august and the park was nearing its closure for the year things had calmed since the tusco incident and repairs were being made even though many of the structures that tusco destroyed were never actually rebuilt but at least everyone could stop slow down and take a breath the newspapers would report it as the result of faulty wiring but the official cause was never established but whatever the case the beautiful peacock ballroom went up in flames the flames were so strong that people across the river in vancouver hundreds of feet away could feel the distinct heat coming from the fire considering the park's weakened financial state there were of course the whisperings that the fire had been intentionally set to collect on insurance money but if this was the case it blew up in management's face the destruction of the peacock caused ninety thousand dollars in damages of which the park was only partially covered for just for the record ninety thousand dollars in 1931 would amount to almost one and a half million dollars today a more serious considered motive suggested the fire was intentionally set as an act of sabotage against al painter who not only had helped further destabilize the park's reputation but he also had a lot of enemies he'd left in his wake over the years [Music] maybe when it was columbia beach there were a little curse as well i guess after all they too lost their dance pavilion to a fire maybe that was part of the curse or maybe that was just a portland area thing it seems a lot of dance halls have burned down around here in the past another one i can recall is one that was located on the secluded elk rock island in milwaukee just south of portland this pavilion burned down in november 1916. i've personally visited elk rock island a few times and each time had the chance to see the still existing staircase that would lead people from their boats onto land so that they could go to the dance hall it's because the water's so high yeah oh yeah the staircase goes down into the water it's it's probably four or five steps uh given how low the water gets during the summer for the following year a barge known as the blue swan was brought in and docked along tom hawk island to be used as a new dance hall now that's classy following in the footsteps of so many others before the blue swan decided to associate itself with lotus isle and that was a dangerous decision shortly after the barges use was fulfilled on the isle it ended up sinking into the columbia river mysteriously the circumstances that led to its sinking were never determined still efforts were made to revive the park leading into this 1932 season it was going to be a deal breaker a 30 000 project was slated to put in a new raceway at the park among other efforts to revive it the proprietors of the park knew full well they needed a very successful season to stay afloat considering prior events this seemed unlikely it was also the great depression not a lot of spare change in people's pockets this season would end up starting off passively and the turnout would only decrease over time long before the end of the summer the realization was clear lotus isle would not last another season as an almost hallmark to all that had gone wrong in september 1932 shortly after the park had closed for good another fire of mysterious origin broke out in the park destroying much of the remaining structures still standing like the peacock ballroom fire this fire also came under suspicion especially since the park's owners had lost money and were facing bankruptcy in their future the final removal of the park as a whole was likely a cathartic event for those involved the park did go into bankruptcy leading to much of whatever was left there being sold off and whatever scraps were left behind on tomahawk island were permanently destroyed by a massive bonfire that had been set up it was almost as if those who ran the park wanted to completely erase its memory they didn't want anybody to know that it had ever even existed and that was it as quickly as lotus isle had materialized it too then disappeared [Music] but you can never fully remove history the alpine coaster that was there was relocated to a park in vancouver bc where it remains today and the park's carousel originally built in 1914 was relocated to san francisco's golden gate park where it too remains today and even wood from the structures that once stood at lotus isle were used to make tables and benches for ken's artesian pizza at 28th and pine in southeast portland in the end however the jansen beach amusement park won the war lasting on until 1970 before it too closed down and was replaced by a shopping mall that still stands there today and while the bridge to tomahawk island would ultimately be demolished ending the method of reaching the area the space between the island itself and hayden island would eventually be filled in during the 1950s turning the two islands into one today's tomahawk island is hardly what it once was it's now primarily semi-expensive housing with some gated off communities and lots of homes floating right on the river nothing is remotely the same but at least we still have one little reminder of what once was i paid my first visit to the current lotus isle park in the summer of 2016 only days after learning of the amusement parks existence and its bizarre history i returned to the site in the spring of 2017 to do a brief youtube video on the park's history but at 13 minutes in length that was hardly enough to tell the full story of one of america's most cursed and doomed amusement parks therefore i always knew i was gonna make this project someday it was too fantastical and yet too forgotten as well to not have its story told and sure there are other amusement parks that have had accidents that have had strange events happen or that have had to close down but these events are often spread out over years and years in time but in the case of the cursed lotus isle where so much strangeness happened this was a park that was open less than nine months in its whole existence put that into perspective i wonder i really do wonder if they know what happened here [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Steve the Amateur Historian

Views: 93,903

Keywords: History, Amusement parks, Documentary, Crime documentary, Amusement park documentary, Oregon, Washington, Tragedy, Travel, Jantzen beach, Columbia, 1930s, True story, True crime, Tusks, Fire, Danceathon, Crime, Scam, Fraud, abandoned, death, replica, recreation

Id: bMg3eaO3Ys4

Length: 65min 2sec (3902 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 10 2021