Who was Opal Whiteley?
By Michaela Bancud The Portland Tribune, Nov 18, 2003, Updated Oct 30, 2009 Pint-sized genius from tiny Oregon logging town writes amazing nature diary. The diary in which logger girl claims that she is the lost child of French royalty raised by foster parents is published in 1920 to wide acclaim. The facts of the literary starlet’s life prove difficult to verify, and she is discredited as a hoax. Waif goes mad, travels the world and dies in an English mental institution in 1992 at age 95. File it under bizarre but true tales from Oregon. Opal Irene Whiteley was born in 1897 in Colton, Wash. When she was 5 years old, her family moved to Oregon, settling in a small logging town near Cottage Grove. Much has been written about the enigma of Opal Whiteley. Documented accounts show that nearly all who met her were struck by her affinity for nature and knowledge of plants and animals. Her earnest, slightly touched demeanor seemed to embody much of what is good in human nature. Men were espec
