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Last week, we revisited one of our biggest episodes ever: How the West Was Stolen — The Oregon Land Fraud King, our 2024 deep dive into the Oregon Land Frauds featuring Allison Gill (The Daily Beans) and Shea’s brother Jason. If you want the full “how the scheme worked” breakdown — the dummy entrymen, the timber grabs, the scale of the theft — go listen to that episode first. It’s the foundation. But you can still enjoy this week's episode even if you missed last week.

Because this week… we’re zooming in on the slipperiest character orbiting the whole mess: U.S. Senator John H. Mitchell.

John H. Mitchell was the kind of politician who didn’t just survive scandal — he collected it. Name changes, personal controversy, corruption accusations, railroad money, political sabotage, courtroom drama… and through it all, he kept finding his way back into power. Not once. Not twice. Four terms.

In this episode of Rainy Day Rabbit Holes, Shea takes you through Mitchell’s entire chaotic arc — from early reinvention and reputation-building, to the legal landmark case Pennoyer v. Neff, to the factional warfare of Oregon politics, all the way to the moment the federal government finally stopped looking the other way.

And as we join the MSW Media Network, this story feels like a perfect kickoff for the next era of the show — because if you’ve ever looked at modern political headlines and thought, “Wait… how is this allowed?” — you’re going to feel extremely at home here.

🎧 In this episode:

• John H. Mitchell’s rise from reinvention to influence
• The Pennoyer v. Neff case and what it reveals about his methods
• The 1866 “bolting caucus” and Oregon’s political chaos
• Bribery accusations and the shadow of railroad power
• Deadlocked legislatures, backroom deals, and a Senate seat held hostage
• The Oregon Land Fraud fallout… and the scandal that finally stuck

If last week was the crime, this week is the politician who kept skating past it — until he couldn’t.

🎙️ Rainy Day Rabbit Holes — unhinged history, corruption, and the uncomfortable reminder that some things never change… especially in politics.

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