August 21, 2025 • 11 mins
Many of hostiry's curious moments happen when groups gather to support a cause, as today's pair of stories illustrates perfectly.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of
the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
of these amazing tales are right there on display, just
waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
(00:36):
Alcatraz is a strange, one of a kind piece of
American culture. A large island off the coast of San Francisco.
It's infamous for its decades as a federal prison. The
legend of Alcatraz has spawned dozens of books, films, and
TV shows, usually about prisoners escaping, But in nineteen sixty nine,
a large group of activists did something rather curious there.
(00:57):
They didn't want to escape Alcatraz. They weren't even prisoners. Instead,
they wanted to force their way inside. Richard Oakes was
a member of the Aquazaus name Mohawk tribe and also
a student at San Francisco State University. He formed a
student organization with members of other Native American tribes from
other Southern California universities, calling themselves the Indians of All
(01:20):
Tribes Now Keep in mind that while Native American is
the more accurate term for Indigenous Americans, many tribal members
today still identify with the term Indian as they did
during the events that I'm about to share with you,
so you'll hear me use both terms depending on the context.
The Indians of All Tribes were dismayed at a wide
array of legislation that had been passed across the United
(01:42):
States over the previous few decades. Known collectively as the
Indian Termination Policy, it was an agenda aimed at ending
the sovereignty of many Native American tribes. Simply puts, instead
of having their own land and governments and being subject
to only federal law, the Native Americans were being formed
to disband their tribes and integrate into mainstream American society.
(02:04):
Richard Oakes and his Indians of All Tribes came up
with a plan to fight back. While at the universities
they study the history and treaties between the Native Americans
and the US government. In southern California, they found a
nineteenth century treaty that claimed unused federal land was supposed
to be returned to the Native Americans, and as it happened,
(02:25):
Alcatraz had been sitting empty for a few years, and
the government had yet to decide what to do with it,
and so, in a mission to force the US government
to actually honor a treaty for once, eighty nine members
of the Indians of all tribes chartered a bote from
San Francisco to Alcatraz. Once there, they declared the island
native land, saying that they were buying it from President
(02:45):
Nixon for twenty four dollars, the same price that early
European settlers paid for the island of Manhattan. The people
of San Francisco were immediately supportive of their cause. They
had seen in the news how many tribes were being
forced to give up their lands. Soon, shipments of food, water,
and other supplies were sent to the occupying Native Americans
on Alcatraz. Richard led them in forming their own governments,
(03:09):
where everyone had to vote unanimously on each decision. They
soon assigned themselves to different roles too. There were teachers,
security guards, cooks, janitors, and more. Everyone did their part.
They wanted the deed to the island, and they made
their intentions clear that they wanted to establish a safe
place for Native Americans. But the US government was not
(03:30):
willing to negotiate with them, and they largely left the
Indians of all tribes alone. But as nineteen sixty nine
turned into nineteen seventy, problems started to mount for the occupiers.
Richard Oakes suffered a tragedy when his twelve year old
child fell down a metal staircase on the island and
passed away. Richard then left the island, causing infighting as
to who would replace him as a leader. Non Indian
(03:53):
hippies also arrived on the island around this time and
started to openly use drugs, which undermined the mission of
the occupiers, and as the months rolled on, the US
government became less patient with the occupiers and cut off
power to the island. They also stopped shipments of water
from the mainland, and it was almost too coincidental when
a few days later a fire broke out on Alcatraz.
(04:16):
The occupiers were able to put it out, but only
after several buildings were destroyed. They felt that they had
been the victims of sabotage by the US government. In
January of nineteen seventy one, an unrelated ship collision in
the bay gave the government another excuse to want to
remove the occupiers. It seems they didn't like not having
access to the island during these kinds of emergencies, and
(04:38):
so by June of that year, President Nixon reversed course
on his previous policy and sent troops to retake Alcatraz.
By that point, there were only fifteen occupiers left, and
they were removed without incident. The occupation ended on a
down note, but its efforts were felt nationwide. President Nixon
gave a speech in full support of Native American sovereignty,
(04:58):
and soon many tribes, names and lands were restored. It
was a curious reversal, but by showing that they were
willing to fight for what was right, the Indians of
all tribes had finally forced the US government to honor
its word. If you are, like me, a fan of
(05:27):
Ben and Jerry's ice cream, you might have heard of
the flavor Cherry Garcia. It's named, of course, for Jerry Garcia,
the lead singer and guitarist of legendary jam band The
Grateful Dead. Cherry Garcia is the company's second most popular
flavor that has been a bestseller since it debuted in
nineteen eighty seven. But while it's a smash hit. It's
not the first time that Jerry Garcia's name has been
(05:49):
used to pedal dairy treats. More than fifty years ago,
he lent his star power to a very different kind
of product. It started in August of nineteen seventy two
when Chuck and Sukeise had a huge problem. They were
the owners of Springfield Creamery in Springfield, Oregon. They had
been growing their business for ten years, but had suffered
some financial setbacks, and now they were sidled with so
(06:10):
much debt that the creamery was in threats of closing.
Chuck couldn't let that happen. This was his family's only
source of income and they had two kids to support. Besides,
he knew that the Springfield Creamery could be a success.
Chuck actually grew up in the dairy business. His dad
was the manager at Eugene Dairy Farm in Eugene, Oregon,
and got him a job there all through high school.
(06:32):
In college, he studied dairy science at Oregon State University,
which is also where he met Sue, his future wife.
After college, Chuck and Sue moved back to Eugene to
start their life together, and they soon learned of an
incredible opportunity. There was a small defunct creamery in the
next town over and it was available for lease for
just one hundred and fifty dollars a month. They jumped
(06:53):
on the deal and a few weeks later they opened
the Springfield Creamery. For the next decade, they made a
living hand delivering milk to stores, schools, and residential homes.
But over the years their sales went up and also down,
and Chuck knew that the dairy industry was changing and
if his business was going to survive, it would need
to adapt. And that's when he got an idea. You see,
(07:13):
back in college, he had studied live probiotics known to
support gut health, improved digestion, and bolster immune systems, and
he wanted to try and infuse these probiotics into a delicious,
tangy yogurt and eventually transitioned Springfield Creamery from a milk
supplier to a yogurt company. Chuck didn't know how to
make yogurt, but the creamery's bookkeeper, Nancy did so Chuck
(07:36):
and Nancy got to work and by the spring of
nineteen seventy two, they had created a batch of probiotic
yogurt and sold it at a local co op, and
the customers loved it, and soon the co op called
to order more of Nancy's Yogurt. Chuck laughed and decided
that he liked the name, and so the brand Nancy's
Yogurt was born. Unfortunately, it seemed like the new product
was too little, too late. By this point, Springfield Creamery
(07:59):
was just drowning in debt. They would likely be forced
to close their doors before nancy Yogurt had a chance
to catch on, so they needed cash fast, and Chuck
knew exactly who to call, his brother, Ken Keasey. For
the past ten years, while Chuck and Sue were building
their career, Ken had been in the Bay Area publishing
his best selling novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,
(08:20):
and he'd also been hosting a series of parties called
the Acid Tests. Several hundred hippies would show up at
his house, listen to live music, and take psychedelic drugs.
This was before LSD was illegal in California, and it
was in this scene that a local band showed up
to the first Acid Test party. They called themselves the Warlocks,
and they hit it off with Ken right away, so
(08:41):
much so that Ken invited them to headline the next
Acid test a week later. The band agreed, although by
the following Saturday they had changed their name from the Warlocks.
They became the Grateful Dead, and soon the Grateful Debt
amassed a following of loyal fans called Deadheads. Whenever the
band went on tour, thousands of dead Heads would follow.
But even as they rose to fame, Ken Kesey and
(09:02):
the band stayed close. Ken and Chuck would even go
to concerts together and hang out with the Dead after
the show. And now, all these years later, here was
Chuck in a bind, and he wondered if the Dead
would be willing to keep his business alive. So he
called to Ken and explained his idea, and then he
and Ken approached the band with a request. He asked
if they would play a benefit show for Springfield Creamery,
(09:25):
and to Chuck's surprise, the Grateful Dead agreed, and so
Chuck and Sue got busy hand drawing posters to advertise
the show. They rented a field in Venita, Oregon, outside
of Springfield, and they turned Nancy's yogurt labels into concert
tickets and they charged three dollars ahead. Twenty seven days later,
more than twenty thousand dead heads swarmed the open lawn.
(09:46):
It was over one hundred degrees that day, but the
grateful dead still played a three hour concert. They raised
more than fifteen thousand dollars for the Springfield Creamery, equivalent
to about one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars today. It
was more than an enough for Chuck and Sue to
pay off their debt and keep the creamery afloat. Soon,
Nancy's yogurt took off and began selling in stores nationwide. Today,
(10:08):
the company is a leader in the dairy industry, with
annual sales exceeding twenty million dollars. If you ask them,
the Keasy family will be the first to tell you
that none of this would have been possible without the
help from the dead, and for that they are forever grateful.
I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet
(10:30):
of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn
more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com.
The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership
with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show
called Lore which is a podcast, book series, and television
show and you can learn all about it over at
(10:51):
the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of
the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
of these amazing tales are right there on display, just
waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
(00:36):
Alcatraz is a strange, one of a kind piece of
American culture. A large island off the coast of San Francisco.
It's infamous for its decades as a federal prison. The
legend of Alcatraz has spawned dozens of books, films, and
TV shows, usually about prisoners escaping, But in nineteen sixty nine,
a large group of activists did something rather curious there.
(00:57):
They didn't want to escape Alcatraz. They weren't even prisoners. Instead,
they wanted to force their way inside. Richard Oakes was
a member of the Aquazaus name Mohawk tribe and also
a student at San Francisco State University. He formed a
student organization with members of other Native American tribes from
other Southern California universities, calling themselves the Indians of All
(01:20):
Tribes Now Keep in mind that while Native American is
the more accurate term for Indigenous Americans, many tribal members
today still identify with the term Indian as they did
during the events that I'm about to share with you,
so you'll hear me use both terms depending on the context.
The Indians of All Tribes were dismayed at a wide
array of legislation that had been passed across the United
(01:42):
States over the previous few decades. Known collectively as the
Indian Termination Policy, it was an agenda aimed at ending
the sovereignty of many Native American tribes. Simply puts, instead
of having their own land and governments and being subject
to only federal law, the Native Americans were being formed
to disband their tribes and integrate into mainstream American society.
(02:04):
Richard Oakes and his Indians of All Tribes came up
with a plan to fight back. While at the universities
they study the history and treaties between the Native Americans
and the US government. In southern California, they found a
nineteenth century treaty that claimed unused federal land was supposed
to be returned to the Native Americans, and as it happened,
(02:25):
Alcatraz had been sitting empty for a few years, and
the government had yet to decide what to do with it,
and so, in a mission to force the US government
to actually honor a treaty for once, eighty nine members
of the Indians of all tribes chartered a bote from
San Francisco to Alcatraz. Once there, they declared the island
native land, saying that they were buying it from President
(02:45):
Nixon for twenty four dollars, the same price that early
European settlers paid for the island of Manhattan. The people
of San Francisco were immediately supportive of their cause. They
had seen in the news how many tribes were being
forced to give up their lands. Soon, shipments of food, water,
and other supplies were sent to the occupying Native Americans
on Alcatraz. Richard led them in forming their own governments,
(03:09):
where everyone had to vote unanimously on each decision. They
soon assigned themselves to different roles too. There were teachers,
security guards, cooks, janitors, and more. Everyone did their part.
They wanted the deed to the island, and they made
their intentions clear that they wanted to establish a safe
place for Native Americans. But the US government was not
(03:30):
willing to negotiate with them, and they largely left the
Indians of all tribes alone. But as nineteen sixty nine
turned into nineteen seventy, problems started to mount for the occupiers.
Richard Oakes suffered a tragedy when his twelve year old
child fell down a metal staircase on the island and
passed away. Richard then left the island, causing infighting as
to who would replace him as a leader. Non Indian
(03:53):
hippies also arrived on the island around this time and
started to openly use drugs, which undermined the mission of
the occupiers, and as the months rolled on, the US
government became less patient with the occupiers and cut off
power to the island. They also stopped shipments of water
from the mainland, and it was almost too coincidental when
a few days later a fire broke out on Alcatraz.
(04:16):
The occupiers were able to put it out, but only
after several buildings were destroyed. They felt that they had
been the victims of sabotage by the US government. In
January of nineteen seventy one, an unrelated ship collision in
the bay gave the government another excuse to want to
remove the occupiers. It seems they didn't like not having
access to the island during these kinds of emergencies, and
(04:38):
so by June of that year, President Nixon reversed course
on his previous policy and sent troops to retake Alcatraz.
By that point, there were only fifteen occupiers left, and
they were removed without incident. The occupation ended on a
down note, but its efforts were felt nationwide. President Nixon
gave a speech in full support of Native American sovereignty,
(04:58):
and soon many tribes, names and lands were restored. It
was a curious reversal, but by showing that they were
willing to fight for what was right, the Indians of
all tribes had finally forced the US government to honor
its word. If you are, like me, a fan of
(05:27):
Ben and Jerry's ice cream, you might have heard of
the flavor Cherry Garcia. It's named, of course, for Jerry Garcia,
the lead singer and guitarist of legendary jam band The
Grateful Dead. Cherry Garcia is the company's second most popular
flavor that has been a bestseller since it debuted in
nineteen eighty seven. But while it's a smash hit. It's
not the first time that Jerry Garcia's name has been
(05:49):
used to pedal dairy treats. More than fifty years ago,
he lent his star power to a very different kind
of product. It started in August of nineteen seventy two
when Chuck and Sukeise had a huge problem. They were
the owners of Springfield Creamery in Springfield, Oregon. They had
been growing their business for ten years, but had suffered
some financial setbacks, and now they were sidled with so
(06:10):
much debt that the creamery was in threats of closing.
Chuck couldn't let that happen. This was his family's only
source of income and they had two kids to support. Besides,
he knew that the Springfield Creamery could be a success.
Chuck actually grew up in the dairy business. His dad
was the manager at Eugene Dairy Farm in Eugene, Oregon,
and got him a job there all through high school.
(06:32):
In college, he studied dairy science at Oregon State University,
which is also where he met Sue, his future wife.
After college, Chuck and Sue moved back to Eugene to
start their life together, and they soon learned of an
incredible opportunity. There was a small defunct creamery in the
next town over and it was available for lease for
just one hundred and fifty dollars a month. They jumped
(06:53):
on the deal and a few weeks later they opened
the Springfield Creamery. For the next decade, they made a
living hand delivering milk to stores, schools, and residential homes.
But over the years their sales went up and also down,
and Chuck knew that the dairy industry was changing and
if his business was going to survive, it would need
to adapt. And that's when he got an idea. You see,
(07:13):
back in college, he had studied live probiotics known to
support gut health, improved digestion, and bolster immune systems, and
he wanted to try and infuse these probiotics into a delicious,
tangy yogurt and eventually transitioned Springfield Creamery from a milk
supplier to a yogurt company. Chuck didn't know how to
make yogurt, but the creamery's bookkeeper, Nancy did so Chuck
(07:36):
and Nancy got to work and by the spring of
nineteen seventy two, they had created a batch of probiotic
yogurt and sold it at a local co op, and
the customers loved it, and soon the co op called
to order more of Nancy's Yogurt. Chuck laughed and decided
that he liked the name, and so the brand Nancy's
Yogurt was born. Unfortunately, it seemed like the new product
was too little, too late. By this point, Springfield Creamery
(07:59):
was just drowning in debt. They would likely be forced
to close their doors before nancy Yogurt had a chance
to catch on, so they needed cash fast, and Chuck
knew exactly who to call, his brother, Ken Keasey. For
the past ten years, while Chuck and Sue were building
their career, Ken had been in the Bay Area publishing
his best selling novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,
(08:20):
and he'd also been hosting a series of parties called
the Acid Tests. Several hundred hippies would show up at
his house, listen to live music, and take psychedelic drugs.
This was before LSD was illegal in California, and it
was in this scene that a local band showed up
to the first Acid Test party. They called themselves the Warlocks,
and they hit it off with Ken right away, so
(08:41):
much so that Ken invited them to headline the next
Acid test a week later. The band agreed, although by
the following Saturday they had changed their name from the Warlocks.
They became the Grateful Dead, and soon the Grateful Debt
amassed a following of loyal fans called Deadheads. Whenever the
band went on tour, thousands of dead Heads would follow.
But even as they rose to fame, Ken Kesey and
(09:02):
the band stayed close. Ken and Chuck would even go
to concerts together and hang out with the Dead after
the show. And now, all these years later, here was
Chuck in a bind, and he wondered if the Dead
would be willing to keep his business alive. So he
called to Ken and explained his idea, and then he
and Ken approached the band with a request. He asked
if they would play a benefit show for Springfield Creamery,
(09:25):
and to Chuck's surprise, the Grateful Dead agreed, and so
Chuck and Sue got busy hand drawing posters to advertise
the show. They rented a field in Venita, Oregon, outside
of Springfield, and they turned Nancy's yogurt labels into concert
tickets and they charged three dollars ahead. Twenty seven days later,
more than twenty thousand dead heads swarmed the open lawn.
(09:46):
It was over one hundred degrees that day, but the
grateful dead still played a three hour concert. They raised
more than fifteen thousand dollars for the Springfield Creamery, equivalent
to about one hundred and fifteen thousand dollars today. It
was more than an enough for Chuck and Sue to
pay off their debt and keep the creamery afloat. Soon,
Nancy's yogurt took off and began selling in stores nationwide. Today,
(10:08):
the company is a leader in the dairy industry, with
annual sales exceeding twenty million dollars. If you ask them,
the Keasy family will be the first to tell you
that none of this would have been possible without the
help from the dead, and for that they are forever grateful.
I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet
(10:30):
of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn
more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com.
The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership
with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show
called Lore which is a podcast, book series, and television
show and you can learn all about it over at
(10:51):
the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.
Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities News
Host
Aaron Mahnke
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