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Coastal Zone Information JUN 2 7 1973 1 Center CENTER fi 4, f L Historical &Archaeological Site Inventory PRELIMINARY REPORT FOR REVIEW ONLY 876 H57 1973 ne oastaI Zoj fo m io ,Ln at n r Cent r :@8 7 6 jH57 9 73 -A regon Coastal Conservation & Development Commission OREGON COA STAL CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION WILBUR TERNYIK, CHAIRMAN P. 0. Box N Phone (503) 997-8248 1111 BRENNAN, VICE CHAIRMAN Floi-ence, Oregon 9743@ ROBERT YOUNKER, SECRETARY-TREASURER JAMES F. ROSS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR March 11, 1973 TO THE READER: The Oregon Coastal Conservation and Development Commis- sion (OCC&DC) was charged by the 1971 Oregon legislators to develop a resource management plan for the Oregon Coastal Zone. One segment of the plan will include an inventory of historical and archaeological sites of statewide interest and a series of policies related to the management of those sites. This document is an initial inventory of major histori- cal and archaeological sites along the Oregon Coast prepared for OCC&DC by Stephen Dow Beckham, Associate Professor of History at Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. The report is a discussion draft and is being distributed to various individuals, groups and organizations for review and comment. Suggestions for additional historical and archaeologi- cal sites of statewide interest along the Oregon Coast would be welcome. Any suggestions forthcoming will be reviewed and evaluated for possible inclusion in the final inventory. Thank you for your interest and assistance. Sincerely, Wilbur E. Ternyik Chairman U S DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE NOAA COASTAL SERVICES CENTER 2234 SOUTH HOBSON AVENUE CHARLESTON , SC 29405-2413 Property of CSC@ Library TABLE OF CONTENTS COUNTY PAGES CURRY 1-16 coos 17-48 DOUGLAS (Western) 49-51 LANE (Western) 52-53 LINCOLN 54-60 -TILLAMOOK 61-63 CLATSOP 64-72 Introduction The Oregon seabo ard possesses a variety of sites of his- torical and archaeological interest.- Sadly, most of these are ignored, are poorly preserved, and are unknown to the public. They are a valuable resource which, if properly managed and developed, could prove of immense cultural and economic bene- fit to the region. This report covers the coast from the mouth-of the Colum- bia River to the California border and extends east to the crest of the Coast Range. On the Columbia River it reaches to Tongue Point; the Umpqua River is terminated for report purposes at Scottsburg; the survey goes up the Rogue River to Agness. This region was for several centuries the homeland of many different Indian groups. In Clatsop County resided the Clatsops, a Chinookan people. In Tillamook County dwelled the Coast Salish of Oregon. They included the Nehalem, Nes- tucca, and Salmon River Indians. Another Salish dialect group, the Siletz, resided in northern Lincoln County. The Alsea-Yaquina held the coast of southern Lincoln County and were neighbors of the Siuslaw of western Lane County. Closely akin to the Siuslaw were the Lower Umpqua, speaking Milluk and Hanis dialects. In Curry County and southern Coos County resided a dozen bands of Athapascan-speakers. Usually classed as the Rogue Indians, these people included.the Tututni,.the Mikonotunne, the Euquachee, the Chetco, and the Qua-to@mah- The fishing camps, berry-picking sites, and winter vil- lages of these peoples are among the archaeological sites surveyed. Very little professional archaeology has been carried out on the Oregon seaboard. Until excavations near Seaside-in 1971 and Seal Rock in 1972, the region had received but one major "dig" a decade. A few scientific excavations produced no published report; they, for all practical purposes, were thus little more than "looting" of a location. Amateur digging has seriously disturbed many sites along the coast. This illegal activity continues with increasing zeal as Ameri- cans grow in their interest in the Indian. Sites of historical merit gather at the southern and nor- thern ends of the seaboard. The unequal distribution is un- derstandable when one realizes that the Siletz Indian Reser- vation closed 125 miles of the central coast to white settle- ment in 1856. Incursions on these Indians' properties were not made until the late 1860's and not in a wholesale manner until the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 effectively threw open the unalloted lands in the 1890's. The gold rush and ensuing Indian wars of Curry County, the coal and lumber industry of Coos County, the commercial ties to the interior of Douglas County, and.the:fur trade in Clatsop County--these activities explain the preponderance of "historic" sites in those areas. The materials in this study have been collected from research in the following institutions: National Archives, Library of Congress, and Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.; Federal Records Center, Suitland, Md.; Bancroft Library, Huntington Library, and UCLA Research Library in California; the library of the Oregon Historical Society, the University of Oregon Library, and the State Library in Oregon; the Univer- sity of Washington Library in Seattle, Washington; the Public Record Office, the British Museum-, and the Hudson's Bay Record Society Library in London, England. Every site listed has been visited and studied (in different degrees of intensity and success) by the writer. STEPHEN DOW BECKHAM Associate Professor of History Linfield College McMinnville, Oregon Clatsop Sy 87 A PI14VI;@4,27 7t, i V_ t. Helens N', N Hood River kAInIi, 4 CO, BONNEVILLE DA. S2 nV Af 0 The Tillamook Bay "I 'A K AS GTO as H U M ;Ilsb-, L T.. R A HIL ity innvill ai M Warm IL) Dallas M 0 LK SALE M A R etrait Res. Sant Yacluina Bay Res. "'t CorVallis L I IN N Albany ree@ Peter Res- OL G Aw"g, F_NTON-@, oste- Res R. "Itu e R@ Re. iVe' Cougar Bend iage Res.. L A N Z '@7 7 :Z', EUGENE + r4 @fk eZ, Cron Res. Prairie Do'eu. Res. Res. wald. L I's Res. c1_ 2up R Res. avis F del L. sceM Te n, Dts Coos Bay U G L A S Res. RII Jul 0, Little Diamond Roseburq L.. yi@ +KlAmafk + V'. ma@rsh Crater L.: iza, M A T H KL.- Agency L. ,,05 "1' 0 A C K S an s L 's's OSEPHI E Pass' R es. U RY Upper C, L - larnath O'Woods Lake Medford Klarnath Falls Res, Res. p 4@ MAD 104AMAKeew GGARMAKIL OREGON COASTAL CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION 22 ---COUNTY LINE 44 - WATERSHED BASIN LINES CURRY COUNTY CHET-LESS-UN-TUN, OR CHETL-E-SHIN MIDDEN (PISTOL RIVER) Location: This site was once at the north side of the mouth of Pistol River. Within the past twenty years, however, the river entrance into the sea has shifted to the south a quarter mile. The site is traversed by Highway 101 and lies both east and west of the roadway. Classification: Archaeological Site. Significance: The Chet-less-un-tun band of the Athpascan- speakers held the watershed of the Pistol River--known as late as 1854 as Chet-less-un-tun River. They ranged as far north as Cape Sebastian and south to Mack's Arch near Crook Point. In the census of Rev. Josiah Parrish in 1854 these people to- talled.only 45. The Parrish report, however, is probably in- correct, for a larger number of these Indians survived the wars of 1855-56 and were removed to the Siletz Reservation. The village site has suffered from some of the most wanton pot-holing" by amateurs of any location on the Oregon sea- board. The decision of the State Highway engineer-S.to run the' Pistol River access road through the midden in 1967 brought further destruction. The use of the major part of the midden for road fill in construction of the new section of Highway 101 from Pistol River to Myers Creek removed some of the site's most significant deposits. For an assessment of salvage archaeological work see: Heflin, Eugene. The Pistol River Site of Southwest Ore- gon. Reports of the University of California Ar- chaeological Survey No. 67. Berkeley, Calif.: Uni- versity of California Research Facility, Department of Archaeology, 1966. 1 Current Status: Some of the site remains intact within the highway property. At least one house pit located atop the monolith rock at the old river mouth has not been excavated. FORT MINER Location: This site is in the northwest corner of the large sheep pasture immediately north of . the mouth of the Rogue River between Highway 101 and the ocean. Classification: Historic site. Significance; Sustained Indian siege warfare was most un- usual in the American West. Fort Miner was the site of probably the longest siege-confrontation between whites and Indians in the Pacific Northwest. With warfare raging in the valley and c@nyons of the upper Rogue since October, 1855, the coastal natives became restive and fearful. The forming of the Gold Beach Guard, a quasi-legal volunteer militia, and its taking position opposite the lar- gest Indian village on.the-lower river did not ease tensions. The Indians attacked on the morning of February 23, 1856. In theinitial massacre the Indians killed twenty-eight set- tlers and miners between Euchre and Hunter's Creeks. The sur- vivors, more than a hundred people, fled to a rude encampment --Fort Miner--constructed within an earthen embankment in a field of iris and salal north of the river's mouth. For more than thirty days these refugees were besieged in their out- post. One foraging party, journeying to the river bank to dig potatoes, ca me under heavy attack and lost some of its members. 2, Fort Miner was the site where Edward O.C. Ord, later a famous Civil War General, authored "Soldiering in Oregon," an article published in Harper's Magazine in 1856. The fort was also the site of two marriages between white settlers and Indian women. These were performed by William Tichenor in March, 1856, at the time of the arrival of the U.S. Army contingents from Cre- scent City. Fort Miner was U.S. Army headquarters for the coastal campaigns in the lower Rogue watershed in the spring of 1856. At dawn on February 23, 1856, the coastal Rogue Indians attacked the settlements near the mouth of the Rogue River. John,Geisel and his sons John, Henry, and Andrew were slain. Christina and her daughters, Anne and Mary, were taken captive. Held for more than two weeks,-they were eventually ransomed and took refuge in Fort Miner (q.v.). Anne later married a man named Pampanella and Mary became the wife of Harry Blake of Chetco (q.v.). Ghristina Geisel was widowed three more times; her last two hus- bands were Frank Bugey and Avery Edson. On September 20, 1899, while living near the south bank of the Rogue River on the. edge of Gold Beach, she was murdered by Coleman Gillespie. Her mur- derer stole her $25 pension check awarded by the state legisla- ture. He was hanged in Gold Beach for the crime. Christina Geisel Edson was buried at the site of the cabin where her first husband and sons were murdered in 1856. The location of their graves, marked by stones and wrought iron fence, is the Geisel Monument. Current Status: State Park. In 1963 the state owned 4.03 ac res at the site. SQUAW CREEK VIGIL SITE Location: The site is at the extreme summit of the sec- ond range of hills east of the Rogue River on the north side. The location is the far southern ridge to the West of Squaw Creek. The area is recognizable by its-open meadows. It can be reached by jeep trail turning west about two miles up the Squaw Creek road from its junction with the Wedderburn-Lob- ster Creek road. Classification: Archaeological site. 4 Significance: A feature of thelife style of the Indians in the Klamath sub-cultural area was the "spirit"' quest by,young men@and women. Usually at puberty boys and girls went to a.distant mountain top where they fasted, danced,*and dreamed in solitude. The Squaw Creek Vigil Site is one of these ceremonial grounds. Located atop a high range of hills east of the mouth of Rogue Ri- ver, the vigil site has extremely fine views of the sea, the -river's entrance in-to the ocean, and the distant shore as far north as Humbug Mountain. The location is one of natural meadows fringed .by stunted thickets of fir. A windswept point, the grass and trees almost moan throughout the day. The place is decidedly 11remote" and melancholy. The notable archaeological features at the site are sixteen rings of stone. Piled two to three feet high, these stone walls were small enclosures or shelters for the spirit-quest novice. They are most often found on the fringe of the forest and have vistas of the distant horizon. Sequestered in the stone shelter and seeking a spirit for as long as five days, the novice would, upon having received the proper "dream,", descend to the Tututni vil- lage at the base of the mountain (q.v.) and there display the powers of his or her new guardian. The site is very unusual and is probably the largest one on the Oregon seaboard. A small vigil area on the mountain at the south side of the river has but two stone rings. Another reported site is in the Quosatana Creek watershed some fifteen miles up the Rogue River from Gold Beach. Current Status: The vigil site is undisturbed and largely un- known. It is now enclosed in a seldom used sheep pasture. TUTUTNI INDIAN VILLAGE MIDDEN Location: This site is in the extreme eastern end of the meadow at the mouth of Edson Creek on the north side of Rogue River about five miles upstream from the river's mouth. The site i s commonly known as Clarno's Spring. It is very near the "Ferry Hole" or former location of Bagnell's Ferry. Classification: Archaelogical site. Significance: The midden is of the principal village of the Tututni or the Too-too-tunne Indians, one of the major dialectic groups of Athapascan-speakers in southern Oreg on. This powerful village exerted influence over several other bands of the coastal people. In recognition of this condition, early settlers and Indian agents frequently used the word Tututni as a collective description for all of the coastal Athapascans in .southern Oregon. The village was the subject of a cursory excavation in the fall of 1875 by Paul Schumacher. Employed by the Smithsonian Institu- tion, Schumacher was seeking artifacts for the U.S. Centennial celebration in Philadelphia in 1876. Writing of the midden, Schumacher remarked: "Over the main rancheria, marked by a thick layer of kj6kkenmo''ddings, we find the usual-obstruction, an orchard; while across the rivulet (the efflux of a spring issuing but little over 150 yards far- ther up on the rocky rise), the house-sites re- mained well defined; which we also notice 150 yards farther up the river, in an indentation of the steep shore, and still in another similar nook at a distance of 100 yards farther on." 6 For fuller details see: Schumacher, Paul. "Researches in the.Kj6kkenm6ddings and Graves of a Former Population of the Coasts of Oregon," U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. Bulletin III, No. 1 (1877), 27-35. Current Status: The site is now partially subdivided and has about five dwellings upon it. Parts of the location are,' however, undisturbed. Surface intrusion was, of course, present as early as Schumacher's investigation in 1875. The site was then under cultivation. The two upriver village sites, adjacent to but slightly east of the principal village, have been destroyed by road construction. AGNESS INDIAN MIDDEN Location: One of the largest Indian middens on the Rogue River is located at that stream's fork or junction with the Illinois River. The site is known as Agness, Oregon. Classification: Archaelogical site. Significance: During the centuries that the coast Athapas- cans resided in southern Oregon, groups known as the Mikonotunne and the Shasta Coasta held the section of Rogue River at its forks with the Illinois River. On the north side of the Rogue, near Lucas Lodge, and on the south side of the Rogue but upstream from the Illinois mouth, are the locations of their largest villages. These sites were undisturbed until the 1960's when road construc- tion from Gold Beach to Agness abutted a bridge in the greatest 7 midden at the Illinois mouth (south side). Long the ranch of the Blondell family, the site in 1952 had remains of sweat houses near the shore and house pits at the top of the bank.-' It has yielded hundreds of arrowheads to surface hunters over the past, thirty years. The location yet has sufficient area to be very worthy of archao- ological excavation. The midden is deep, perhaps two meters (revealed by cat trails and cuts during construction in the mid- 1960's). Investigation would afford an interesting cultural study of the coast Athapascans who were not in a maritime setting. Current Status: Partly in road right-of-way and privately owned. Site has suffered some vandalism and considerable disturbance in sections. A roadway runs through the middle of the Illinois River site and has about forty feet of fill for bridge approach atop it. Open areas in the old village remain, however, both to north and south of the road. OAK FLAT VILLAGE SITE Location: The village site is at Oak Flat at the termi- nus' of the road which runs due south from the bridge opposite Agness, Oregon. It is about six miles up the Ill- inois River from the Rogue. Classification: Archaeological site; historic site. Sig nificance: The site was the location of a very large In- dian settlement, probably of the Shasta Coasta (Athapascans) through theyear 1856. It remains intact and vir- tually undisturbed. Still visible at the location are nine house pits. 8 Tr eaty negotiations between the Indians and the U.S. Army took place at the site-ih the early summer of 1856. The details of military events in the region can be found in: Beckham, Stephen Dow. Requiem For a People: The Rogue Indians and the Frontiersmen. Norman, Okla.: Univer- sity of Oklahoma, 1971. Ord, Edward other Cresap. Manuscript Diary. Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, Calif. Current Status: Privately owned. The most southerly portion of the village is presently covered by an un- improved dirt road. It has encroached on two, perhaps, three of the house pits. Disturbance is minimal. SISTERS ROCKS Location: These monoliths or "sea stacks" stand west of Highway 101 between Mussel Creek and Euchre Creek and are about midway between Gold Beach and Port Orford. Classification: Geographical feature; geological site. Significance: Notable monolithic rocks on the Oregon seaboard have not fared well with the advent of white settlement. One of the largest such monoliths, Tupper Rock, at Bandon, Oregon, has been entirely dynamited and hauled away for jetty construction. The Sisters Rocks, visible at sea and impressive by land, were known as early as 1853 as the Three Sisters. These sea stacks, extremely durable plugs in the earth's surface, have eluded ero- sion and wave action but are now in danger of destruction. 9 On the east side of the middle monolith is the harbor of Frank- port. A fair-weather port, the h arbor has been used as recently as the 1960's for lumber shipments by cargo vessels and barges. .Current Status: Danger of destruction of this site continues as quarrying of stone at the location has de- stroyed nearly half of the shoremost monolith. If this notable geographical feature of the coastline is to be preserved, some_ immediate action must be taken to halt quarrying. EU QUACHEE INDIAN MIDDEN Location: North side of the mouth of Euchre Creek, imme- diately adjacent to the ocean beach and the stream bank. The site is west of Highway 101. Classification: The Euquachee were a dialectic band of the southern Oregon coast Athapascans. The site is that of their principal village. The corruption of their name, in part because of its similarity to the popular nineteenth century card game euchre, is the derivation of,the creek name. In July, 1854,,Rev. Josiah Parrish visited this village and found ninety-two residents. The headmen were Ah-chess-see and Tus-lul. Mrs. Ida Bensell, the last basket maker.at Siletz (aged 94 in 1972), is an Euquachee. Current Status: The site is privately owned by the Starkwea- ther family and is used some years as their vegetable garden. Surface disturbance has thus obliterated the historic horizon, however, excavation in the lower layers should prove quite important. Dating of the coast Athpascans is yet un- certain. Investigations of sites such as this are important-in ascertaining the period of their settlement in the region. 10 BATTLE ROCK Location: The site is an island adjacent to the beach within the town of Port Orford. It is west of Highway 101. -Classification: Historic site; archaeological site.. Significance: The island was the scene in the summer of 1851 of a bloody confrontation between-@white set- tlers and the Qua-to-mah band of Athpascan-speaking natives on.this section of the coast. Capt. Will 'iam Tichenor had dredmed of devel- oping the small roadstead at Port Orford into a tox4n,to supply the mines of the Rogue River Valley and the upper Klamath River in nor- thern California. He set ashore a party of would-be settlers. Their residency was contested. For details see: Beckham, Stephen Dow. Requiem For a People: The Rogue Ro- Indians and the Frontiersmen. rman, Okla.: Uni- versity of Oklahoma Press, 1971. The island refuge of the settlers was the site of a hanging during the Indian war of 1855-56. Jake Summers, the first white man mar'- ried on southern Oregon's coast after the establishment of Curry Countyis buried on the rock with his Indian wife. At the building of the coast highway -- then named the Roosevelt Highway -- there was a proposal to erect a statue of The odore Roose- velt atop a horse on the island. The plan was not carried out. On the adjacent shore and at both sides of Gold RunCreek are mid- dens of a major Qua-to-mah village. Current Status: Property owned by State of Oregon. Part of Battle Rock State Wayside Park. BLACKLOCK POINT MIDDEN Location: The shell midden is located on the south side of the headland known as Blacklock Point. It is about one mile north of the mouth of Sixes River and is on the hillside between the edge of the timber and the beach. It is reached by jeep trail from the airport west of Highway 101 oppo- site Pacific High School. Classification: Archaeological site. Significance: The site, which has suffered from some surface digging by amateurs, is one of the largest vil- lage locations of the Sixes River band of coast Athapascans. Parrish classed the people in 1854 as a subdivision of the natives which also inhabited the Elk River watershed and the coast south to Humbug Moun- tain. The site is one with extremely good visibility of the sea and should, .with extensive excavation, reveal trade goods for the 18th and 19th centuries. Sailing along the coast in July, 1817, the English ves- sel Columbia traded with the natives in this location who paddled out in their canoes. Because of the fine green rock of the headland, the location was, in the late 19th century, the location of the Blacklock Stone Quarry. Vessels moored on the north side of the headland and carried cargoes of dressed stone to San Francisco for use in building construction. Current Status: Thesite is probably privately owned. Most of the property near the mouth of Sixes River on the north side is held by Piercy Sweet of Bandon, Oregon. 12 CATHOLIC CHURCH OF CAPE BLANCO Location: The site is at a section corner on the access road to the lighthouse reserve on Cape Blanco, some six miles west of Highway 101 south of Sixes, Oregon. Classification: Historic site. Significance: In 1860 Patrick and Jane Hughes, Irish immi- grants, settled at the south side of the mouth of Sixes River. For the succeeding 110 years their family has re- sided on this property. Catholic, Hughes found no church on this isolated section of the Oregon coast. In 1894 he hired a contractor and built a small frame building with bell tower on the headland above his ranch. Controlling over 1,000 acres, Hughes was one of the most prosperous ranchers in Curry County. Hughes, his wife, and several Irish employees on the sheep ranch were buried in the cemetery surrounding the church. Several years ago, however, his son, a priest in Portland, reportedly moved the graves of Patrick and Jane Hughes to a Catholic cemetery in Mult- nomah County. The Hughes home, sold by the family to the State of Oregon along with several hundred acres about 1970, stands near the river bank. It is under consideration for possible use as a museum or visitor's center. The Catholic Church fell down sometime prior to 1952. Current Status: The church is gone; the cemetery is in poor maintenance. Site owned by Oregon as part of Cape Blanco State Park. 13 ROBERT D. HUME SALMON CANNERY Location: Wedderburn, Oregon Classification: Historic site. Significance: Robert D. Hume was the pioneer of artificial salmon propagation on the Pacific Coast. He located on the lower Rogue River in 1876. Having gained experience in the canneries of his uncles on the Columbia and Sacramento rivers, Hume was determined to develop the salmon canning business in south- ern Oregon. By 1877 he had initiated artificial propagation of fish. He continued his hatcheries for many years. Hume was a "pygmy monopolist," by his own admission, and secured title to both banks of the Rogue River for twelve miles from its mouth. He ran a general store,shipped out tan bark, opened a race track, and edited the Wedderburn Radium. Before the turn of the century he located his canneries and residence at Wedderburn on the north side of the river. For details see: Hume, R.D. Salmon of the Pacific Coast. San Francisco: Schmidt Ta-bel all-d 'Lithiographing Co., 1893. Dodds, Gordon. The Salmon King of Oregon. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1959. Current Status: The cannery buildings, where once labored nearly a hundred Chinese workers, are now used as winter warehouse for storage of the Rogue River Mail Boats, the franchise held by Gary and Sue Combs. 14 PORT ORFORD HEADS MIDDEN Location: This extensive village site, covering more than an acre, is on the heads west of the town of Port Orford at the trail and stairway to the former U.S. Coast Guard life-saving station in Nelly's Cove. 7 Classification: Archaeological Site. ,7 Significance: This site was one of the principal villages of E the Quahtomah, a dialectic group of the coast 7 Athapascans of southern Oregon's coast.- At the time of white con- tact the chief was Tag-on-ecia. 171 The marine orientation of the village as well as its undisturbed M condition make it an excellent site for archaeological exploration. 71 Intrusion appears slight; a gravel road cutting along the western side of the site and a small parking lot are the only major "improve- 7 ments." Current Status: ownership unknown to the author but probably within the Coast Guard reserve at the Heads that is leased to Oregon State University as a field marine station. 7 FORT ORFORD Location: Fort Orford's site lies within the present town of Port Orford. The former military reservation was west of Highway 101 and near the cliff's edge be- tween Battle Rock State Park and the harbor at the town. Classification: Historic site. 71 15 r7 Significance: The rapid influx of settlers and miners into the southern Oregon-northern California area in 1851 brought immediate confrontation with the Indians who held that area. Thinking that Port Orford was but a short distance from the "diggins" at Jacksonville in the Rogue Valley and Yreka in the Klamath watershed in California, the U.S. Army established Fort Or- ford as a garrison to protect that frontier. The fort was occupied on September 14, 1851. Its commanding offi- cers until its abandonment in October, 1856, included Horatio Gates Gibson, August Valentine Kautz, and Powel T. Wyman. Gibson and Kautz later had distinguished military careers and became generals. Development of the post was most significant in 1855-56 when more than $8,000 were expended through Congressional appropriation for barracks and buildings. The fort was the location of the first hospital service and medical dispensary on the southern Oregon coast. Among its surgeons were Dr. John J. Milhau and Dr. Rodney Glisan. These graduates of east- ern medical schools brought unusual expertise to a rugged region. Glisan's Journal of Army Life (San Francisco, 1879) ranks as one of the finest diaries of 19th century frontier life in Oregon. A ma- jor portion of it was written during his tenure at Fort 0 rford. The fort was the headquarters during the Indian hostilities of 1855-56 on the southern Oregon coast. Near the military establish-, ment stood a citizens' blockhouse. In addition to the Glisan vol- ume see: Beckham, Stephen Dow. Requiem For a People: The Rogue Indians and the Frontiersmen.* Korman, Okla.: Uni- versity of Oklahoma Press, 1971. The buildings from this post were removed in 1856-57 and relocated at Fort Umpqua (q.v.) in western Douglas County. Current Status: Military reservation abandoned. The sitelis now partially covered with private residences and is within the street grid system of Port Orford. 16 C 0 0 S C 0 U N T Y TOWER HOME Location: The home Stands two blocks north of Highway 240 in the Empire District of Coos Bay. Classification: Historic Home. Significance: The home is the longest continually occupied dwelling on the southern Oregon coast. it has always been owned and lived in by the Tower family or its de- scendants. The oldest wing of the house was built in 1869 as a living quarters and office of Dr. Charles W. Tower (q.v.). A lean- to addition on the back was his drug store. When he began con- struction of his new residence in 1872, he moved the office quar- ters to its present site where it became the home of his brother, Morton Tower. Major Morton Tower, veteran of the Civil War and a Union officer who escaped from Li bby Prison, was born in Massachusetts in 1840. He settled in Empire in 1874 and served as an engineer in the government works on the harbor and the bar of Coos Bay. He was Collector of Customs and chief officer for the U.S. Census Bureau in the county. He married in 1869 to Anna M. Loudon, who was born in England. In 1892 Tower hired contractor Peter Loggie to build the two and -a half story wing that is the principal part of the home. It con- tains four bedrooms and a large living room. The oldest wing of the home, dating from 1869, is used as the library and the kitchen. The entrance contains double glass doors with frosted glass and the etched letter "T" on each panel. The home contains all of its original furniture; some is Federal period and was shipped from the Tower home in Massachusetts to Empire. The remainder is Victorian. There are complete bedroom suites in walnut, bronze wall sconces, and bronze sculptures by 17 the French artist Isaac Bonnheur. Bonnheur's daughter, Rosa, was the painter of the popular "Carnival of Horses." The Tower library contains many early works on Oregon. Among the volumes is George Bennett's History of Bandon, Ireland. Bennett was the founder of Bandon, Oregon, and a friend of Major Tower. Also in the home are fine collections of prints, china, and cut glass. I Current Status: The home is in great danger. Its owner is Mr. James Maple, the husband of the grand- daughter of Morton Tower. Since Mrs. Gwenedde (Tower) Maple's death some four years ago, Mr. Maple has resided alone in the home. He is now age 95 and is unable to make repairs. Vandals have broken many windows in the residence. He has stuffed rags in the holes. His mother-in-law, the widow of Morton Tower, Jr., is 99 years of age and resides in Alameda, California. TOWER-FLANAGAN HOME Location: Adjacent to Highway 240 in.Empire District, Coos Bay. Classification: Historic Home. Significance: The home was constructed by Dr. C. W. Tower. It is wooden frame construction, two story and in a T-shape. It is the last remaining home on Coos Bay with its original carriage house. The windows are of country Gothic style. Dr. Tower was born in Massachusetts in 1842. Educated at Harvard University, he studied medicine in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York as well as at Harvard Medical School. He 18 settled on Coos Bay in 1868 and engaged in additional study in the medical department of Willamette University. At his marriage to Minnie Burrell of San Francisco in 1872, he built the home in Empire. His brother-in-law, Samuel Stillman Mann, was a pioneer resident of the coast, having,settled at Umpqua City, site of Fort Umpqua, (q.v.) in 1850. Dr. and Mrs. Tower moved to Marshfield in 1874 where he continued his prac- tice until his death in 1920. The home was purchased in 1874 by Patrick Flanagan, pioneer coal mine operator and partner of Samuel Stillman Mann who was mar- ried to Ella Tower, sister of the builder. Flanagan had jour- neyed to Oregon in 1850 as a member of the Winchester or Umpqua Exploring Expedition. His son, James Flanagan (q.v.), published in serial form his father's biography and related his many adven- tures. The home was also occupied by one of Coos Bay's early bar pilots. Current Status: The future of the home is in doubt. Although very sound structurally, the site is now planned for a service station. The property is owned by Miss Alpha Pederson. NASBURG-LOCKHART HOME Location: 687 North Third, Coos Bay, Oregon Classification: Historic Home Significance: The home is one of the finest dwellings da- ting from the 1870's yet standing in Coos Bay. It was built by merchant Andrew Nasburg who was born in 19 Significance: This home was the finest in.Marshfield (Coos Bay) when it was constructed in-1904. Its builder, Henry Sengstacken, had emigrated to California from Hann- over, Germany, in 1865 when he was fourteen. His traveling com- panion was Claus Spreckels, foreman on the Sengstacken farm in Ger- many. Locating in San Francisco, Se ngstacken worked for eight years as a clerk and attended Heald's Business College where he studied bookkeeping. To represent Spreckel's interest in coal mines on Coos Bay and to open a general merchandise business, Sengstacken settled in 1874 in Empire. He opened a branch store in 1879 in Marshfield. He sold out this business in November, 1903, and opened a drug store. For many years he was Wells Fargo Agent and a real'estate sales- man. 'At his death in 1922 he was one of the largest landholders in Coos County. Shortly after his election as mayor of Marshfield in 1903 he began construction of his home. Sengstacken was married twice; his wives were sisters and the daughters of the County's first white family. Lillias and Agnes Ruth Sengstacken were brought to Coos Bay in 1853 by their par- ents, Freeman and Esther Ruth Lockhart. The Lockharts were mem- bers of the Coos Bay Commercial Company. Agnes Lockhart Seng- stacken wrote two books in the home on Third Street. The first, a romantic poem, was the Legend of the Coos. The second, a his- tory of her childhood, was Destination West. The Sengstacken home had on its third floor a study and housed Mrs. Sengstacken's collection of minerals and Indian baskets. The latter collection, 160 baskets, is preserved in the Lowie Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. On the second floor are six bedrooms. on the first floor are seven principal rooms. They include: (1) Entry Hall (2) Kitchen (3) @Butlerls Pantry (4). Dining Room 21 (5) Living Room (6) Sun Porch (7) Music Room ,,In the entry hall is a myrtlewood staircase. once mounted on its newell post was a French bronze lamp, signed J. Causse. It is now owned -by one.of the Sengstacken daughters and is not in the home. The living room was originally furnished in "mission style," popu- lar at the turn of the century. the chairs and sofa were oak, covered with leather. They were sold to the Sengstackens by the Hill Brothers Fur niture Company of Portland, Oregon. The home has a full basement. During World War I the residence was the scene of much entertain- ing of the officers and engineers of the U.S. Army's Spruce Divi- sion. These men were stationed on Coos Bay for white cedar produc- tion. For more than forty years the home was a meeting place, usually about once a year, of the Progress Club, Coos Bay's oldest literary society. Mrs. Agnes Sengstacken was a charter member and founder. She was also responsible for the forming of the Coos Bay Public Library and helped secure Carnegie grant funds for the construction of the institution's first building (now the city art gallery). Current Status: The home was sold in 1946 to Lloyd and Eliza- beth Flanagan Kuni. They sold it to Carl Carlson who, in.,turn, sold the residence to Dr. and Mrs. Pennington. The Penningtons sold the home in 1971. It is a pri- vate residence. SIGLIN-FLANAGAN HOME Location: 474 Park Avenue, Coos Bay, Oregon 22 Classification: Historic home Significance: Like many coastal cities, Marshfield (Coos Bay since 1944), assumed an aura of Victorian re- spectability in the latter nineteenth century. Civil War Major J. M. Siglin, attorney, added to that atmosphere when in 1889 he con- structed his imposing two and a half story residence on the hill overlooking the town. The structure had large bay windows with vistas of the harbor, ornamented eaves, and a heavy cupola or tower providing a full third story for views of the city. Siglin was born in Monroe County, Pennsylvania; he settled in Coos County in January, 1872. He was a partner in publishing the Coos Bay News, one of the region's first Democratic newspapers. At the death of Mrs. Siglin the home was purchased in April, 1901, by James H. and Alice Flanagan. Son of Oregon coast pioneer Pat- rick Flanagan, James Flanagan was a banker and real estate promotor on Coos Bay. He and his wife resided in the home for forty-five years, then moved to San Francisco where both were still lving in the mid-1960's. Flanagan wrote, over a period of years, numerous articles for local newspapers on southern Oregon history. The Flanagans developed the gardens about the home, and, during their residency, it was a place of noteworthy beauty. The home has had several owners since the Flanagans sold the pro- perty in 1946. The cupola was removed in 1962. Current Status: Privately owned. Condition poor. MARSHFIELD SUN BUILDING Location: The building stands at the corner of North Front and Fir in Coos Bay. It is located adjacent to Highway 101 northbound on a trapezoidal lot. 23 Classification: Historic site. Significance: The building houses the entire property of the Marshfield Sun Publishing Company. Exactly as they were in the nineteenth century, the Washington Hand Press, Chandler & Price Job Press, proof press, paper cutter, foundry plant, and the sixteen cases (twelve drawers to a case) of type face are housed in the structure. The building was the site of the longest continuous publication of a newspaper under one owner, one editor, in Oregon. Jesse Luse wrote, edited, and printed the Marshfield Sun from February, 1891, until.June, 1944. At his death in that latter year the press build- ing was closed. The Marshfield Sun was the last handset newspaper in Oregon. The building houses the files of the newspaper, its original office furniture, posters, handbills, and imprints produced by the company. It has dozens of type faces and fonts, ornaments and borders, col- umn rules and "wood furniture." The last issue of the newspaper., June 19, 1944, is yet set in type in the chaises on the marble top composition tables. The building is one of the few surviving commercial structures on Coos Bay's Front Street. It is the sole remaining wooden frame building and probably one of the last on the coast to still house all of its original contents. It has known no other use than that of publishing office. Current Status: The building is condemned by the city of Coos Bay. Citizens groups are working to save it as a museum and make minimal repairs to bring it up to code. It has a newly tarred roof, foundation an concrete blocks, locked doors, and shuttered windows. It has not suffered vandalism or break-in. It is listed on the Oregon Building's Inventory and will come up for final consideration on the National Historic Landmark's Register on December 7, 1972. 24 EL DORADO TAVERN BUILDING Location: The building stands at the corner of Commercial and Front Streets in Coos Bay. It is between the north and south bound lanes of Highway 101. Classification: Historic site. Significance The El Dorado Building, const ructed of brick in 1891, is one of the earliest and most substan- tial business structures surviving on the Coos Bay waterfront. Most of the buildings in that area--constructed during Coos Bay's boom after 1867--were destroyed by fire in 1922. The building houses the El Dorado Tavern. The saloon reportedly has the oldest Blitz Beer tap in the state. The tavern is purely "mauve decade" in appearance, possessing an enormous mahogany back bar with mirrors and columns, a front bar, high ceilings and card tables. About all that is lacking is "Miss Kitty." The building has housed a bank, the Red Cross Drug Store, doctor's offices, and the El Dorado Hotel. Current Status: Owned by the estate of Gus and Chris Antone. The building is in line for condemnation by the city of Coos Bay which intends to destroy this entire block of buildings as part of its harbor-mall,development." It is miss- ing its original ornate wrought iron balcony which connected the many chimneys at its roof. The brick exterior has been covered with stucco. The building is substantial, sound, and presently occuped on the main floor by the El Dorado Tavern and the Rainbow Cafe. 25 REORGANIZED CHURCH OF LATTER DAY SAINTS SANCTUARY Location: Seventh and Maple Streets, Myrtle Point, Oregon Classification: Historic building. Significance: The building was erected in 1910 by the Reorgan- ized Church of Latter Day Saints as a sanctuary. Samuel Giles of Myrtle Point had seen the Latter Day Saints' taber- nacle in Salt Lake City and decided that he could build a structure with identical acoustical refinement. Giles' building is forty- five feet in diameter with a skylight of twenty-four feet. The. structure was built with the men framing and shingling; the women put up the lath. Used by the church until November, 1927, the building was sold to the Four Square Gospel movement. During this occupancy a burlap ceiling was added sixteen feet above the floor. In 1961 the Amer- ican Legion put in a c6ling at ten feet and covered the exterior with composition shingles. Conferring with two of the original carpenters in 1966, Verlin Hermann wrote: "Of structural interest is the framing system. The ribs or staves, continuous from floor to cupola, are laminated of three 1 x 4's nailed up in forms to the proper curvature. Set to sixteen inches on center at the floor, the ribs form a solid wall in the upper part of the cEiling. The sheathing was sprung around the ribs for a smooth surface." Current Status: Building owned by Legion Post. It stands in fair condition but altered from its original construction. 26 ANDREW J. SHERWOOD HOME Location: The home is in Coquille on the hill to the east of the Georgia-Pacific sawmill. Classification: Historic Home. Significance: The home is one of the finest examples of late nineteenth century "pretentious" architecture in the valley of the Coquille River. It was built in the 1890's after Sherwood had established his law practice in Coquille. According to Gretchen Sherwood Cake, daughter of the builder, the home was designed by a mid-western architect. Sherwood was an 1883 graduate of the University of Iowa. The home, built on a full city block, was constructed of seasoned Port Orford cedar. Con- struction took eighteen months. Among the five Sherwood sisters to grow up in the home was Emma Sherwood Liljeqvist Browning. Like her sisters, she was married in the home. Her first husband, Lawrence A. Liljeqvist, was Coos County district attorney and Assistant Attorney General of Oregon. Her second husband was Dr. Andrew Browning. Current Status: The home is owned by Delia Sherwood Bonney, daugh- ter of the builder. Born in the home, she has maintained the residence in excellertcondition with only minor alter- ations. YOAKAM POINT DARLINGTONIA BOG Location: The bog is located east of State Secondary Highway 240 between the Cape Arago Lighthouse and Bastendorff Beach south of Coos Bay. The site is at the top 27 of the hill above Bastendorff Beach and opposite the former Weltz- heimer Rhododendron Gardens. Classification: Unique ecological meadow of Arctic and subarc- tic plants. Significance: This bog, opposite the properties purchased in 1971 by the State of Oregon from the Bennett Trust Estate Company--a location known as Mussell Reef or Yoakam Point--can best be described as an "ecological island." It was the subject of a major ecological study in the 1950's by Mary Lancaster Young Seibel, who now lives in retirement at Saunder's Lake north of Coos Bay. The bog contains two carniverous plants: Sundew Darlingtonia The bog has representatives of many Arctic and subarctic plants which include the miniature dogwood (Cornus'canadensis), the Squaw Grass, and the Arctic alder. The location is fed by a sluggish fresh-water stream and is filled with spagnum moss. Current Status: The site is threatened. It is owned by Eleanor Forrest Grappe of Salem, Oregon. Speculating in real estate, Mrs. Grappe has sold recently several sections near this site for home development. A large part of the bog--to the south-- has been cleared and drained for home construction. WHISKEY RUN--OLD RANDOLPH Location: Whiskey Run Creek enters the Pacific Ocean about . five miles north of the Coquille River. It is reached by turning west from the Seven Devils Road which runs be- tween Charleston and Bandon. 28 Classification: Historic site; geological feature; archaeolo- gical site. Significance: Whiskey Run Creek was the location of one of the richest beach sand mines of the 1850's. In 1853 half-breed brothers, John and Peter Groslius--sons of a French trapper for the Hudson's Bay Company--discovered fine gold in the black sands at the mouth of this stream. Within weeks hun- dreds of miners gathered along the shore north of the Coquille River and extracted in excess of one million dollars in gold. The miners built a "boom town," Randolph, the site of which is usually called today Old Randolph, about one quarter mile south of Whiskey Run Creek. The town was on the bluff about seventy feet above the beach. Whip saw pits, broken glass, pieces of clay pipe, and other debris indicate the site. Erosion has dropped several parts of the location onto the beach. For contemporary events at Whiskey Run and Randolph see: Giles, Daniel. "A Pioneer Struggles," in Alice Wool- dridge's Pioneers and Incidents of the Upper Coquille Valley. Myrtle Creek, Ore.: The Mail Printers, 1971. pp. 248-286. The shore at Whiskey Run is extremely popular with "rock hounds," Agates and petrified palm wood are among the most common specimens. North of the creek mouth at a point due east of the reef (Five Mile Point) which breaks the surf is a large midden once occupied by the Coos Indians. Crossed by a jeep track the midden has been disturbed by "pot-holers" who have ransacked sections of the site. Its depth is probably at least one meter and its promise makes it worthy of further investigation. Current Status: The writer has heard various reports about the land at the mouth of Whiskey Run. Presently a county road makes beach access possible. The land north of the 29 stream is private ly owned. The location at the creek mouth is occasionally mentioned as a reserve site for a nuclear power station. BANDON LIGHTHOUSE Location: The lighthouse stands on the north spit of the Coquille River opposite the town of Ban- don. It is reached by a partially improved road by turning west from Highway 101 at Bullards Beach State Park about five miles north of Bandon. Classification: Historic site. Significance: The Bandon lighthouse is one of the most sce- nic on the Oregon seaboard. Abandoned more than fifteen years, its forlorn appearance has attracted tourists, artists, and photographers. The brick building, covered with stuc- co,.is in poor repair, suffering the ravages of storm and vandal. Increasing commerce on the Coquille River in the 1880's made aid to navigation at the harbor's narrow bar essential. The develop- ment of coal mines at Riverton, shipbuilding at Parkersburg and Prosper, and sawmill operation at several locations along the estu- ary compelled the government to act. The lighthouse was built in 1896, footed on a large rock on the north side of the channel. A two story keeper's quarters, a duplex of almost exact design to that at Cape Arago station, served the staff. During the great Bandon Fire of September, 1936, hundreds of citi- zens fleeing the burning city crossed to the lighthouse for refuge in the dunes and open sands of the Coquille's north spit. The keeper's quarters have been razed. 30 Current Status: The lighthouse is within state park lands and is presently under study for restoration. The circular steel stairway to the tower has been removed and is owned by a citizen in Coos Bay. EDWARD FAHY HOME AND SAWMILL SITE Location: This home and site are one half mile west of Highway 101 and one half mile north of the entrance to Bullards Beach State Park. A small access road enters the property. Classification: Historic site. Significance: With the gold rush boom on the ocean beaches north of the Coquille River in 1853 an imme- diate need developed for lumber. Pressing-demand for planks for houses and sluice box construction encouraged George Wasson and his partners Stacey and Fundy to build a dam, waterwheel, and saw- mill on the Fahy site. Beginning operation in 1853 this mill was the first in Coos County and cut the lumber for the mining town of Old Randolph and the mines at Whiskey Run. Irish born Edward Fahy brought his German wife to Port Orford in the spring of 1854. An apprentice in the Tichenor mill at Gar- rison Lake, he removed to the lower Coquille River in the 1850's. Rebuilding the Stacey, Wasson, and Fundy mill, he operated it for many years. The large undershot waterwheel rests in the creek in front of the Fahy house. In 1880-81 Edward Fahy and his sons constructed the present family home. The two story frame building with small paned windows has an 'lair" of "country Gothic" styling, largely because of the or- nate eave decorations cut by Edward Fahy, Jr. 0 f the nine Fahy children but two married. Most of the other seven lived in the home until their death. Four died past age ninety-one and three 31 others lived in excess of 83 years each. Charles and Molly Fahy, collectors of the vast Indian artifact and basket collection housed in the Coos-curry Museum, were the last of the family to live in the old home. The property was sold by their niece, Hazel Fahy Fetters, about 1968. Current Status: Since the death of Francis J. Fahy in 1967, the last of the old generation of this family, the contents of the home have been dispersed. The building is unoccupied and in steadily worsening condition. The 1,200 acre Fahy sheep and cattle range is now owned by a Coos County land speculation firm. BULLARDS BEACH MIDDENS Location: These village sites, the southernmost occupa- tion areas of the Miluk-speaking Coos Indians, are located on the north bank of the Coquille River between the Highway 101 bridge and the unforested sand spit on the north side of the mouth of the Coquille River. Classification: Archaeological site; historic site. Significance: Midden sites on the lower Coquille estuary should prove of special interest in studies of the occupancy and migration of Indians on the Oregon seaboard. South of the Coquille. River were the dozen dialectic bands of the Athapascans of southern Oregon. They are classed in the Klamath sub-Cultural Area, a complex with its most intensive flourish on the lower Klamath River in northern California. The Coquille River is a marginal or "break" point in the divisions of the North- west Coast Culture Complex. Archaeological investigation will thus have some influence in drawing of conclusions on cultural patterns and their relationships. 32 Further, the intrusion of more than thirty villages of Mishik- hwumetunne, an Athapascan dialectic group on th e Upper Coquille, may indicate that the Miluk-speaking Lower Coquille Indians (properly Coos) were the original or earliest inhabitants of that watershed. They were, at white contact, holding the strongest village sites--the food-rich locations at the mouth of the river. Comparative studies between lower and upper river sites (within the intrusion area) will provide valuable insights which are pre- sently not possible. These villages were the scene of two tragedies in the 1850's-- events that befell white men and Indians. On September 14, 1851, the T-Vault exploring party, lost on its attempt to open a trail from Port Orford to the Oregon-California trail west of the Coast Range, descended the Coquille River. The Indians guiding the party turned their canoes ashore at Bullards Beach. The Indians attacked and murdered five white men. On January 29, 1854, miners, idled by winter storms, attacked without provocation the peaceful Nasomah village. In the pre- dawn raid they murdered fifteen men and one woman. The Indians had but three guns in their possession. The T-Vault massacre has been frequently recounted in Oregon history; the massacre of the Indians has been ignored this past 120 years. For full details of these bloody encounters see: Beckham, Stephen Dow. Requiem For a People: The Rogue Indians and the Frontiersmen. Norman, Okla.: Univer- sity of Oklahoma Press, 1971, pp. 59-63, 135. For details of one inconclusive archaeological excavation in this area see: Leatherman, Kenneth E. and Alex Q. Krieger. "Contribu- tions to Oregon Coast Prehistory,", American Anti- quity, VI (1940), 19-28. Upriver about one half mile, again on the north side and nearly opposite the Rogge Lumber Company sawmill, are remains of vast fish weirs that once reached across the nearby farmlands (then tidal flats). The weirs are visible at any low or minus tide. 1 33 Current Status: The villages and middens are largely withi n the property of Bullards Beach State Park. Part of the location, however, is held privately and includes the tract of land on the river front between Highway 101 and the park. Erosion and surface disturbance of the sites by tourists are the major threats at this time. SHORE ACRES STATE PARK Location: The site is approximately twelve miles south- west of North Bend, Oregon, and is traversed by the Cape Arago secondary Highway 240. Classification: Historic site. Significance: Shore Acres was once the property of pioneer settler Jacob Evans. In 1905 he sold the land to Coos Bay lumberman and entrepreneur Louis J. Simpson. Simpson built the largest mansion in southern Oregon at the estate and laid out formal gardens, tennis courts, a truck garden, and a dairy ranch. The site was one of lavish entertaining and was headquarters for Simpson's bid in 1918 to become governor of Ore- gon. For a full assessment of the history see: Beckham, Stephen Dow. The Simpsons of Shore Acres. Coos Bay, Oregon: Arago Books, 1971. Of the Simpson buildings only one structure remains from the ini- tial construction at the state. This "cottage," originally posses- sing a gambrel roof, is occupied by one of the state park employees and is located in the garden. It was the Simpson home following the burning of the first mansion in July, 1921. It again became a gardener's residence when the second mansion was built in 1926-27. 34 Current Status: State Park ownership has brought a partial restoration of the gardens and grounds at Shore Acres. In 1972 state park landscape architect Joseph Paiva completed a master. plan, based on historic photographs, of the original plantings in the gardens and the principal features of the estate. Reconstruction of the arched bridge in the oriental gardens has been the first step in re nnovation of the property. CAPE ARAGO /KND CAPE ARAGO MIDDEKN7 Location: At terminus of secondary State Highway 240 approximately fifteen miles southwest of Coos Bay, Classification: Geographical feature: archaelogical site. Significance: This prominent headland was sighted and named Cape Gregory on March 12, 1778, by Captain James Cook. It was renamed in 1850 during the coast hydrographic work by the survey vessel Ewing and has since been officially listed as Cape Arago. It is named in honor of the French physi- cist and geographer Dominique F.J. Arago. Louis J. and Lela Simpson of Shore Acres gave the cape to the stat e for a-park in 1932. The location had originally been the ranch of the Coos County pioneer Collver family. A small tomb- stone of one member of that family remains within the park boun- daries. On the north and western sides of the cape are extensive middens, largely shell remains of former Coos Indian habitations and sum- mer camps. These sites are partially disturbed by black top paths and picnic table construction. Sufficient midden remains, however, for satisfactory excavation. 35 North Bay on the north side of the ca pe has an extensive inter- tidal zone that is accessible to Shell Island and almost to Simp- son Reef at extreme minus tides. South Bay is an equally fine marine site. current Status: Because of heavy tourist use the marine speci- mens within this state park need protection. The accessibility of the tidepools with minimal danger and their known richness has attracted busloads of school children that "loot" the area. Controls are needed. Among the more spectacular marine specimens readily available at the site are the giant orange urchin (Stronglyocenturs fransi- canus), the giant or many-legged star, and a variety of species of Nudibranchs. MARLOWE CREEK MIDDEN Location: The village s ite is at the mouth of Marlowe Creek at its junction with the east branch of the North Fork of Coos River. It is a large tree-covered mound between the road and the river. Classification: Archaeological site. Significance: The site is one of the most substantial Indian mounds in the Coos watershed. It is a midden that rises some twelve feet above the surrounding meadow. The site is particularly promising, for it has had minimal distur- bance and is a location of the Coos Indians, probably Hanis dialect, more than fifteen miles from the ocean. The definite "mound" fea- ture to the midden may indicate that it was a burial as well as habitation site. Current Status: Property owned by Mrs. Jane Terry, Coos Bay. 36 SUNSET BAY Location: The bay is located eleven miles southwest of Coos Bay and is adjacent to Cape Arago Light- house reserve. It is disected by state secondary Highway 240 that terminates at Cape Arago. Classification: Geographical feature; marine site. Significance: Recreation is the most significant use of Sun- set Bay. As early as 1890 the location was a popular summer camping and swimming site for white residents of the Coos Bay area. In the 1920's and 1930's Louis J. Simpson and William Conrad operated a hotel and cabins at the bay. These were destroyed by a tidal wave. In 1948 the area was acquired by the state for a park. Its,size has been increased by acquisition of properties on Big Creek to the east and by purchase of the former Barker ranch on the headland to the south. It has overnight facilities, safe swimming, and picnick- ing use. The north and south promontories at the entrance to the bay are important intertidal zones with marine specimens in abundance. A dangerous but accessible "collecting" area fronts the bay on the west and can be reached at minus tides in summer after crossing to and scaling Squaw Island. Current Status: State Park. SQUAW ISLAND Location: The island is located north and west of the entrance to Sunset Bay and about one-quarter mile south of the Cape Arago Lighthouse island. 37 Classification: Geographical feature; historic site. Significance: Timbered coastal islands are very unusual on the Oregon seaboard. Containing a surface area of approximately one-half acre, Squaw Island is densely covered with spruce and salal. It has partial coverage with salmonberry and twinberry. It is a totally "natural" island with no structures of "improveme@nts." During the years 1856-59 following the Indians wars in southern Oregon, U.S. government policy required the removal of all Coos Indians from their homeland. Although the Coos had not been at war and were not signatories to ratified treaties, agents and soldiers came to drive them north to the Umpqua Sub-agency. After 1859 they were relocated at Yachats in the Alsea Sub-agency. De- siring to remain in their homeland, Coos Indian women and children hid on the island where the sound of the su rf drowned the cries of infants. Undetected in their lonely refuge, they remained on the rock until the Indian men came to tell them that the soldiers and agents had left the area. For many years treasure stories persisted in the Coos Bay area. Squaw Island, perhaps because of its wild and scenic appearancep was the focal point of these buried treasure tales. The late Otto Schetter of Coos Bay probed the island for many years with a metal rod, seeking buried treasure. Current Status: Ownership of the island is not known to the writer. The site may be within the Cape Arago Lighthouse reserve or may be included in Sunset Bay State Park. Access to the island is possible only at low tide and preferably, for safety, at a summer minus tide. A large but usually inaccess- ible sea cave is located at the southern end of the island. 38 CAPE ARAGO LIGHTHOUSE Location: The lighthouse is on an off-shore island about two miles south of the Coos Bay harbor entrance and one-quarter mile north of Sunset Bay. The lighthouse reserve includes acreage on the mainland for keeper's quarters, garage, warehouse, and water tank. Classification: Historic site; geographical feature. Significance: The lighthouse first displayed its beacon on November 1, 1866, as a guide to navigation at the reefs near'the Coos Bay entrance. Originally the lighthouse was an octagonal wrought-iron tower standing on the island's far- thest western promontory. Later bricked in, remains of the build- ing yet stand on the eroding tip of the island about one-quarter mile west of the present lighthouse. In 1908 the government built a wooden frame lighthouse on the ex- treme eastern end of the island. At the time of this beacon's illu- mination, the island was logged so that no forest could interfere with the signal. This building was used as a lighthouse until 1934. At that time its tower was removed and it became the keeper's office until it was razed in 1960. The present concrete lighthouse was constructed in 1934. It has a forty-four feet high tower. The beacon is automatic and is main- tained by minimal staff of the U.S. Coast Guard. From 1866 to 1958 the keeper's quarters were located on the north end of the island. The original frame house was razed about 1895 and replaced by a wood frame two-story duplex. This building was burned in 1959 when erosion threatened to topple it,into the sea. Quarters of concrete block were constructed on the mainland in 1958. In 1880 the U.S. Life-Saving Service established a station in the narrow channel between the island and the mainland. An ornate frame building with boat ways was constructed at the base of the 39 cliff. The captain, the station's only crewman, occupied quar- ters in the attic of the building. In 1890 the station was re- moved to two and one-half miles north of the Coos Bay entrance. In September, 1891, a wire rope tramway was constructed between the mainland and the island to provide the keeper and his assistants with twenty-four hour accessibility to the mainland. After an accident in which the assistant keeper had his leg amputated when the tram car dropped with him into the sea, the government de- cided to build a bridge to the island. It was completed on July 28, 1898, and is maintained to the present. Current Status: All historic buildings within the reserve have been destroyed within the past dozen years. The location is now closed to the public though it has one of the finest views of the Coos Bay harbor entrance. Re- moval of all ground cover except grass and wild strawberries on the island has undoubtedly aided in its erosion. The site is owned by the U.S. government. CAPE ARAGO LIGHTHOUSE MIDDEN Location: This midden is located within the Cape Arago Lighthouse reserve and is on both the island and the adjacent mainland. Classification: Archaeological site. Significance: The reefs near the lighthouse are an extremely rich intertidal tone. Mollusks and Crustaceans live there in abundance'. Nearby is the "coarse" sand beach of Mus- sel Reef (Yoakam Point). This is a spawning ground from May-Aug- ust for the smelt. The abundance of foodstuffs made the lighthouse reserve a popular village site and encampment for the Coos Indians. The location is one of the largest middens in surface area in the littoral zone of 40 those people. It far exceeds the midden at Yoakam Point in depth and size. Several burials have appeared in the midden. S keletal remains have dropped to the beach over the years as parts of the midden have eroded. Depth may be as great as one meter in several places. Current Status: major portions of the midden remain undisturbed. Surface paving of the path to the island bridge, the warehouse parking lot, the warehouse floor, and the keeper's garage cover parts of the midden. For many years a section of the midden, approximately fifty by one hundred feet, was the keeper's garden.- Most of this area of cultivation and consequent surface disturbance are, however, presently covered by the garage and keep- er's quarters. Greatest danger to the site is continued erosion. The midden is totally within the lighthouse reserve. LIBBY COAL MINES Location: The mine portals are located at Libby at the head of Coalbank Slough about three miles south of Coos Bay. Classification: Historic site; geological site. Significance: Geologist J.S. Diller who examined the Coos County coal fields in 1897 assessed the signi- ficance of the Libby deposits in his report of 1899. He wrote: "The Newport Basin is named from its principal mine, the Newport, at Lsbby. Its length north and south from Yoakam Hill to the neighborhood of Marshfield is about three miles ..... The Newport Basin has only one bed of coal extensively worked. The bed is generally known throughout the region as the Newport bed. It contains about 6 feet of coal in three 41 benches, yielding 5 feet of workable coal. The basin originally contained over 6,000,000 tons of coal, a large part of which was available." This mine was opened in 1855 and in continuous production until World War I. By 1877 gangways in the mine ran as far as 2,000 feet. Its original owners and operators were Patrick Flanagan and Samuel Stillman Mann, pioneers of 1851. Since San Francisco was the destination of most sales, Mann located in that city. By the 1890's the mines were owned and operated by Goodall, Perkins & Co. of San Francisco. The mining community at Libby, served by a post office of that name from June 11, 1890, to July 5, 1892, contained representa- tives of many ethnic and minority groups. Chinese, black, Irish and Italian laborers lived and worked at Libby. For details of Diller's analysis see: Diller, J.S. "The Coos Bay Coal Field, Oregon," U.S. Geo- 9- logical Survey 19th Annual Report, Part 111 (1 99), pp. 309-370. Current Status: The Libby mines are inoperative. Several buildings, largely dwellings of miners from the 1880's and 18901s, yet stand at the portals. Surface areas pri- vately owned by Flanagan family. Mineral rights in various owner- ship. FOSSIL POINT Location: This site is immediately west of secondary State Highway 240 which runs between Coos Bay and Charleston. It is a sandstone bluff adjacent to the lower Coos Bay estuary. Classification: Geological site. 42 Significance: Fossil Point is a uniquely rich deposit of Late Lower and Middle Pliocene materials. Re- mains deposited in this sandstone formation are largely faunal. The conglomerate is often used as a field teaching laboratory by students from the University of Oregon Department of Geology. Current Status: Privately owned but open to the public upon request. MUSSEL CREEK MIDDEN SITE Location: This midden is located at the mouth of Mus- sel Creek one and a quarter miles north of the mouth of Fivemile Creek at Sacchi Beach. The Sacchi Beach can be reached by automobile from the Seven Devils Road and is nearer to Charleston than to Bandon. The midden can be reached only by hiking and is an extremely inaccessible region. It is two miles south of Cape Arago, however, access from that point is virtually impossible. Classification: Archaeological site. Significance: The midden at Mussel Creek is probably one of the largest totally undisturbed village sites on the Oregon seaboard. Its inaccessibility in a rugged and heav- ily forested location without roads is responsible for its condi- tion. It was occupied by Miluk-speaking Coos Indians. Reports on the condition of the midden in the spring of 1972 are that it is several meters deep and is located on a stream which has excellent trout fishing. Current Status: Property title unknown to the writer. Midden in excellent preservation. 43 SOUTH SLOUGH INDIAN MIDDEN Location: Robert Younker property on Indian Bay Road near Charleston, north side of South Slough estuary. Classification: Archaelogical site. Significance: This village site of considerable extent, measuring approximately two meters in depth, is one of the last remaining estuary villages on Coos Bay that is undisturbed. The only excavation at the site has been a test dig of not more than twenty centimeters depth by Professor Suggs of Southwestern Oregon Community College, Coos Bay. Proximity of this site to estuary resources as well as to.the near- by marine tidepools of the heads at the harbor entrance would indi- cate it was undoubtedly a flourishing village. Current Status: Robert Younker, the owner, fully realizes the scientific and historic value of this site. He has it designated for preservation and eventual scholarly in- vestigation in his master plan of his South Slough properties. BELIEU CREEK MIDDEN--ENCHANTED PRAIRIE Location: This Indian village site is adjacent to High- way 42, located at the junction of Belieu Creek and the Middle Fork of the Coquille River near the place known as Enchanted Prairie. classification: Archaeological site. Significance: Enchanted Prairie is a serpentine outcropping of perhaps 300 acres. On its open slopes that ramble along the north side of the Middle Fork of the Coquille River grow the edible Camas lillies. For centuries these meadows 44 were the gathering place of the Indians of the region to dig the Camas. At the mouth of Belieu Creek, a small stream which cuts through the prairies, is the former site of a large Indian village. Sur- face finds include dozens of arrowheads and other..stone implements.... The site is of archaeological interest because of its location so far from the sea but within the realm of a maritime-oriented people. Current Status: Privately owned. About 1953 a home was con- structed on part of the midden. In later years a trailer court has covered the location as well. Cursory examina- tion indicates that archaeological investigation may still be worthwhile. COQUIL.LE.RIVER,FORKS-.-HOI,'[email protected] Location: This site is traversed by Highway 42 and is about three miles east of Myrtle Point, Oregon, at the junction of the Middle and South forks of the Coquille River. Classification: Historic site. Significance: This river junction was a village site of the Athapascan-speaking Upper Coquille Indians, the Mishikhwumetunne. As a result of the massacre of members of the V- -Vault exploring party at the mouth of the Coquille River in September, 1851, the United States army outfitted an expedition to "punish" the natives of that region. After an abortive beachhead landing at the river's mouth, the expedi- tionary forces marched from Port Orford up the Oregon coast. Assem- bling pontoon boats the contingents under Colonel Silas Casey and Lieutenant George Stoneman, later governor of California, paddled for several days up the Coquille. on November 22, 1851, the United States Army engaged the Indians in a fierce battle at the river forks. 5 Fifteen Indians were killed as were two privates, French and Wil- liams of the army dragoons. In 1885 Abraham Hoffman settled at the site and operated a ferry. On October 21 of that year Indians burned his cabin. At the con- clusion of hostilities in the summer of 1856 Hoffman returned to the site. His descendants yet live on part of his initial clai m. For details see: Beckham, Stephen Dow. Requiem For a People: The Rogue In- dians and the Frontiersmen. Norman, Okla.: Universi-Ey of Oklahoma Press, 1971. pp. 65-67. Current Status: State Park wayside. No notice is made in any way of the historic events that occurred at this place. HENRY HERMANN HOME Location: The home stands at Hermannsville on the west side of the south fork of the Coquille River near.Broadbent, Oregon. Verlin Hermann, greatgrandson of the builder, lives near the site. Classification: Historic site. Significance: This wooden frame house of one and one-half stories is covered with a board and batten exterior. It was erected in 1861-62 and is one of the oldest dwel- lings in the valley of the Coquille River. Writing to a friend in Baltimore, Dr. Hermann said: "Our buildings we put up ourselves and cut, split, pre- pare and plane all timber and boards with not a plank from a sawmill. All our shingles we made with our own hands and the aid of a crude instrument. Brick we made and chimneys we build. For in a settlement like 46 ours without a market and without roads and wagons to transport to the tidewater stream and to the mar- ket place, it behooves us to do all the work we can ourselves, and as Franklin says: 'Bore with the saw with the augur." Hermann was born in 1812 in Hesse-Cassel, Germany. He entered the University of Marburg in 1831 where he eventually became a Demon- strator in Anatomy. A participant in the abortive Revolution of 1835, he fled to the United States and became a physician in Mary- land. In May, 1859, Hermann led his wife, children, and dozen other German immigrant families to the valley of the Coquille River where, known as "The Baltimore Colony," they settled and laid out farms. Hermann, his wife, and several of his family are buried in a grave- yard near the house. His son, Binger Hermann, served in the House of Representatives from Oregon and was appointed U.S. Commissioner of Lands. Under charges of land fraud he resigned from his office at the turn of the century. He was twice tried for his alleged par- ticipation in Oregon's timber fraud cases. Current Status: The home is in very poor condition. Some years ago its windows were removed and its stands un- occupied. It is on privately owned property (Hermann family) but under lease. In spite of its poor condition the interior stairway and built-in desk next to the fireplace are in good repair. BEAVER HILL COAL MINE Location: The mine is located near the mouth of Beaver Slough and its junction with the Coquille River. The portals.and town site are west of North Bank Road which runs be- tween Highway 42 and Highway 101. Classification: Historic site; geological site. 47 Significance: Beaver Hill is one of Oregon's vanished towns. Possessing some 300 residents, a school, hospi- tal, and a major industry with rail connections, the town has to- tally disappeared. Bottles, a brush-filled cemetery--these alone attest to Beaver Hill.' The mine opened in the fall of 1894 at the time of the building of the Coos Bay, Roseburg, and Eastern Railway. It operated continuously, with a brief closure in 1900, until 1923. The first mine or Graham mine extended 415 feet below sea level. At closure of mine shaft three in 1923 laborers for the Southern Pacific, owners of the mine, were then laboring at the far end of a 3,013 feet long shaft and were 1,414 feet below sea level. This mine had high level production, averaging about 200 tons per day for its entire period of operation. High production was reached in the spring of 1905 at 500 tons a day for some twenty days. All time record production was 600 tons a day. Current Status: Abandoned and forgotten. 48 I I I I I I , I I DOUG LAS COUNTY I I I I I I I .. I I I HEDDEN STORE AND HEDDEN HOME Location: The store is on the south side of Highway 38 in Scottsburg, 0regon. The home is on the north side of the road. Classification: Historic sites. Significance: With the settlement of the upper Umpqua region in present Douglas County, (than Umpqua County) in the period 1848-51, the residents of the area looked toward the sea for commerce and markets. Discovery of gold in the Rogue Valley and northern California in 1851 made that quest for access routes even more important. Scottsburg was laid out by Levi Scott at the head of ti dewater on the Umpqua River as a port for southern Ore- gon's interior. The town was temporarily the site of the custom's collection station, the place of publication of the Umpqua Gazette, one of the first news- papers issued south of the Willamette Valley in Oregon, and the depot of commerce for the mines at Jacksonville and Yreka, California. Cyrus Hedden, a gold seeker who came to Port Orford in 1851, arrived in Scottsburg in the fall of that year. He had been exploring a route to the interior from Port Orford (see Battle Rock, q.v.).. Hed- den journeyed for days up the Oregon coast, carrying on his back his severely wounded fellow explorer, Lorin L. Williams. Rescued when arriving at Umpqua City, Hedden brought Williams to Scottsburg where he opened a general merchandise store. The Hedden store is operated in 1972 by Emma Hedden, the 81-year old granddaughter of its founder. It is the oldest continuously operated one-family business in Oregon. The store building, constructed about 1925, is the third to house the firm. Miss Hedden's home, across the highway from the store, was built by her grandfather in 1861. The only older structure in the town is the Gus Mitchell building which adjoins the Hedden store; it is in critical disrepair and is unoccu- pied. 49 Current Status: The store is yet open but in a limited way. Miss Hedden is aged, her merchandise--some of it dating from the 1860's--is not appealing to customers, excepting bottle hunters and antique shoppers. The store will probably close when she is unable to operate it. Scottsburg, with the-close of mill and lumbering after a post-World War II boom, has but 30 or 35 resi- dents. The store no longer houses the post office. miss Hedden was compelled to retire in 1960 after serving as postmistress since 1915. UMPQUA LIGHTHOUSE Location: The lighthouse stands approximately one mile west of Highway 101 at the mouth of the Umpqua River. Classification: Historic building. Significance: The site of the lighthouse is near the location of the first government aid to navigation con- structed in Oregon. In 1857, after successful lobbying of the pro- motion interests of the Umpqua harbor as a waterway to the interior, Congress approved construction of the station. Completed in 1857, the building was undermined and toppled in February, 1861, when fresh- ets changed the course of the river. The present building dates from Congressional action in 1893. The building is a simple brick tower. The original quarters have been replaced by a newer structure. The lantern was first illuminated in 1894. It is 165 feet above the sea. The tower is 65 feet. Current Status: U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse station. 50 FORT UMPQUA-UMPQUA CITY Location: The site is at a small bend in the Umpqua on the sand spit at the north side of the river entrance. It is within'the Siuslaw-National Forest and Oreg,on,Dunes Seashore Park. it can be reached by boat from Winchester Bay or by taking a jeep trail to the Gardiner Pulp Mill Effluent Pipe, proceeding down the seacoast, crossing the dunes to the river bank, and hiking to the bend covered with pines. Classification: Historic site; archaeological site. Significance: Umpqua City was laid out in 1850 by the Winchester Exploring Expedition from San Francisco. These promoters thought the treeless dunes at the Umpqua's mouth an ideal town site for a great city. Their dreams were not realized. In 1856 the location became the headquarters of the Umpqua sub-Indian agency and the site of the U.S. Army's Fort Umpqua. Materials for construction were shipped from Port Orford with the disassembling of FortOrford (q.v.). The new post had a sutler's store, hospital, billiards hall, blockhouse, officer's quarters (3 homes, plastered), barracks, and quarters for baker and laundress. For details of its construction and history see: Beckham, Stephen Dow. Lonely Outpost: The Army's Fort Umpqua. Portland, Ore.: Oregon Historical Society, 1971. The post was abandoned during the Civil War with the withdrawal of troops for the eastern theater. It was constructed to guard the south- ern end of the Siletz Reservation. In the first three decades of the twentieth century the Umpqua Life- saving Station stood near the site. Current Status: Site unoccupied and largely forgotten. Unmarked Park. location within the new Oregon Dunes Seashore 51 L A N E C O U N T Y DEVIL'S ELBOW MIDDEN Location: The village-site is adjacent to the beach in the "improved" part of Devil's Elbow State Park on Highway 101. The location is immediately below the Heceta Head Light house. Additional village remains are on the steep bank immediately below the former lighthouse keeper's quarters within the lighthouse reserve. Classification: Archaeological site. Significance: The site is probably the southernmost village of the Alsea Indians. It occupied a break-point be- tween the Yakonan dialect and the Siuslawan dialect. The village was comfortably located out of the,coast wind--protected by the surround- ing bluffs and mountains--and well furnished with fresh-water and a rich intertidal zone. The site was of such importance that it appeared as a special feature in the Alsea creation myth involving the cultural hero Suku. Current Status: State park and U.S. government land. Some destruc- tion by park "improvements." HECETA HEAD LIGHTHOUSE Location: The lighthouse stands on the headland west of Oregon. Highway 101 about eight miles north of Flor ence, Classification: Historic site. Significance: Built in 1894, this lighthouse was one of several constructed in the 1890's to complete the aids to navigation along the Oregon coast. From an appropriation of $80,000, crews built the brick tower on the headland 205 feet above the sea 52 and two separate keeper's quarters. one of the dwellings has been razed. Current Status: The lighthouse is on automatic beacon. The wri- ter believes that the former keeper's quarters are now occupied by a caretaker of Devil's Elbow State Park. 53 I I I I I I L I N C O L N C O U N T Y I II I I I 'I YACHATS MIDDENS Location: The middens are present at both the north and south sides of the mouth of the Yachats River. On the south bank they are adjacent to the shore near the Shamrock Lodges. On the north they are within the village of Yachats on the hillside opposite Beulah's Restaurant, or, to the east of Highway 101. Classification: Archaeological site: historic site. Significance: The middens are the village site remains of the pre-white contact Alsea Indians as well as the shell deposits of the Coos and Lower Umpqua (Kalawatset) people who were forced to locate at this site in 1859. Although not at war with the government and not signatories to ratified treaties, the Coos and Lower Umpqua were compelled to gather at Fort Umpqua (q.v.) in 1856 and in 1859 were removed to Yachats. From 1858 to 1876 they were the Indians of the Alsea sub-agency. Dur- ing this period they were compelled to clear the meadows that follow the shore north of the Yachats River and farm those properties. [email protected]. though there were repeated crop failures, the government policy was to grow wheat at this site. Having built homes and labored for years on this land, these natives were driven from it in 1876 when the government threw open the Alsea sub-agency to white settlers. Current Status: Sites have suffered some intrusion and distur- bance. The midden within Yachats has a gravel street cutting through it and is covered in places by houses. Land is privately owned. The sub-agency site is unmarked. 54 YAQUINA BAY LIGHTHOUSE Location: The lighthouse is within the city of Newport in the Yaquina Bay State Park at the north end of the Highway 101 bridge. Classification: Historic site. Significance: Built in 1870-71, the two story frame lighthouse was to serve the shallow bar of the Yaquina River. The coast in that section was then undergoing a boom with the opening of a corridor along Yaquina Bay for white settlement. The land had been part of the Siletz Reservation since 1856. The oyster trade, lum- bering, and prospects of a railroad from Corvallis in the Willamette Valley spurred development. Atop the lighthouse, in a third story cupola, was the lantern. Its illumination was limited in use for harbor traffic. It did not warn vessels of the headlands and reefs to the north at Yaquina Head and Otter Crest. The lighthouse was used from July, 1871, to October 1, 1874. It was decommissioned with the construction of Yaquina Head Lighthouse in 1874. During the late 1870's stories persisted that the old lighthouse had been the scene of a murder. In 1888 U.S. engineer James H. Polhemus and his family resided in the building while he superintended construction of the jetties at the harbor entrance. Abandoned again until 1906, the building then housed the Yaquina Bay crew of the U.S. Life-Saving Service. The men had a practice tower and surf boat on the beach below. Again abandoned, the lighthouse building became the property of the state of Oregon in 1934 when the 32 acre lighthouse reserve became park land. The structure then housed for many years the park care- taker and family. Through the efforts of the Lincoln County His- torical Society partial rennovation in 1953 saved the building. Current Status: Museum; property of the State of Oregon. 55 YAQUINA HEAD LIGHTHOUSE Location: The lighthouse is on the eastern promontory of Yaquina Head, west of Highway 101 in the town Agate Beach. Classification: Historic site; archaeological site. Significance: The lighthouse, built of brick is a graceful tower with small quarters adjoining and in the construction style popu lar with government engineers in the late 19th century. The station was built in 1873 and the light first displayed its beacon in 1874. Its first keeper, S.L. Wass, was appointed November 11, 1872. Near the station on the northern side of the promontory is a large but eroding midden of the Yacona band of the Alsea Indians. Since the site is very exposed, it may have been a summer camp rather than a permanent village. Current Status: The lighthouse is an operative station of the U.S. Coast Guard. Yaquina Head is greatly endangered by the continued quarrying of stone and gravel. Over a period of several years contractors have laid waste to the head and have created vast craters in what has, for cen- turies, been a remarkable natural feature of the Oregon seaboard. Since much of this material removal has been within the lighthouse reserve, the writer suspects that the project has been a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers undertaking for the construction of the Yaquina Bay jetties. 56 SEAL ROCK MIDDENS Location: The middens at Seal Rock, in the territory of the Alsea Indians, are located between Highway 101 and the ocean near the small community known as Seal Rock. Classification: Archaeological site. Significance: These middens were the village site of a band of Yaquina or Yakona Indians. General.1y they are referred to as the Alsea. The site is a rich one for it is conti- guous to the coastal rocks where gather each year hundreds of seals and sea lions. During the summer of 1972 an archaeological team from Oregon State University worked at this site and excavated three house pits. In the mid-1850's the site drew many beach miners. There is pos- sible intrusion of materials from the historic era because of this occupancy. The location-was then left undisturbed as part of the coast Indian reservation until the late 1870's when the Yaquina estuary was opened to white settlement. Current Status: Part of the midden has been excavated. As yet there is no publication of findings or announce- ment of age of the occupation. BOILER BAY One mile north of Depoe Bay on Highway 101. Location: One mile north of Depoe Bay on Highway 101. Classification: Historic site; archaeological site. Significance: The coastal freighter J. Marhoffer, a steam schooner of 174 feet, wrecked at the cove in May, 1910. The boiler from her engine room, long a landmark of the narrow shore at low tide, gave the name to the location. 57 For details see Oregonian, February 13, 1972. Within the Boiler Bay Wayside, a 31.9 acre tract on the promontory at the south side of the cove, is an archaeological site of consid- erable size but shallowness. The location was used by the Indians of the Siletz Reservation through 1940 for annual "potlatch" puw- wows. It falls within the Siletz dialect region of the Coast Sa- lish people. Current Status: The midden is partially obliterated by blacktop roadways. owned by State of Oregon. SILETZ Location: The village of Siletz is approximately twenty- eight miles up the-Siletz River from Coast Highway 101. It is more easily reached from Toledo, Oregon. Classification: Historic site. Significance: As early as 1854 Oregon Superintendent of In- dian Affairs, Joel Palmer, was contemplating a vast coastal reservation where he could concentrate western Oregon's native people. The eruption of warfare in the southern part of the territory in 1855 hastened him in this resolve. He selected two reserves. The Siletz or Coast Reservation ran from the mouth of the Umpqua River to the mouth of the Salmon River and reached east to the crest of the Coast Range. The other reservation, Grand Rhonde, was east of the Coast mountains and in the South Yamhill River water- shed. In 1856, Siletz, a site of open meadows distant from any white set- tlements, was chosen as agency headquarters for the coast reserva- tion. The United States Army which built Fort Umpqua (q.v.) to guard the southern boundary of the reserve also built a blockhouse at Si-- letz. In succeeding years the government constructed agency super- 58 intendent's quarters, a school, a sawmill, a grist mill, a black- smith shop, a boarding-rooming house for pupils, and other struc- tures. The community was inhabited by the refugees of the Rogue Indian wars of southern Oregon. Virtually all of the Salish Siletz-speak- ers perished in the epidemics of 1828-32. As early as 1849 but one or two families of them remained. The reservation Indians, num- bering more than 2,000 in the 18801srepresented more than twenty different dialectic groups and at least three language families. At Siletz stands an Indian Shaker Church, one of the by-products of John Slocurds messianic cult of shamanism-Christianity that emerged in the 1890's. The tribal status of the Siletz peoples was terminated by govern- ment action in the 1950's. Current Status: Most land in the town of Siletz is privately owned. Some buildings of historic interest remain. NEPTUNE STATE PARK MIDDENS Location: The middens are located within Neptune State Park between Highway 101 and the sea. The northernmost village site is bisected and partially covered by the coast highway. The southern midden is partially covered with park- ing lot at the viewpoint. Classification; Archaeological sites. Significance: The middens at Neptune State Park were formerly villages of the Alsea Indians. Located in a region of basaltic cliffs and a scenic "splash zone," the site af- forded easy access to abundant marine invertebrates. 59 The northernmost midden rises ten to fifteen feet above the sur- rounding meadow. Although it is partially a deposit of sand, its site and depth may indicate that it is a location of long habita-. tion or importance. Current Status: Owned by the State of Oregon. Some surface disturbance by tourists and curio seekers. 6Q I I. I I I I I I T I L L A M 0 0 K C 0 U N T Y I I I I I I I I I I I TILLAMOOK LIGHTHOUSE Location: Tillamook Rock in the Pacific Ocean off the nor- thern Oregon coast. Classification: Historic site. Significance: The lighthouse was built on this lonely seastack under Congressional appropriation of June 20, 1878. The building of the station was accomplished with great difficulty and expense. Construction required 575 days and was c ompleted in January, 1881, at an expense of $123,493. The lighthouse is a combination tower, dwelling, and foghorn. The building is fastened to the rock at ninety feet above the sea. For full details see: Gibbs, James A., Jr. Tillamook Light. Portland: Binfords & Mort. Current Status: The station was decommissioned in 1960. It is privately owned after sale through competitive bidding. The building is in very poor condition. Part of the roof has caved in after the sea tossed boulders through it. The station has had no maintenance for 12 years. Recommendation: The rocky island is in extremely dangerous coast- al waters. The site has always been of hazardous access. The station, because of its condition and inaccessibility0l should probably not merit any consideration as a public historic site. KILCHIS RIVER MIDDEN Location: The former Tillamook Indian village site is lo- cated at the entrance of the Kilchis River into 61 Tillamook Bay. Classification: Archaebl ogical sitel. Significance: The site was one of the principal occupations of the Tillamook or Killamoux Indians, Coast Salish of western Oregon. The village was used as late as the 1890's. Illga Adam, one of the last Tillamook headmen, was buried there in October, 1890. Reportedly the midden is very deep and has abundant artifacts. Current Status: The midden is in definite danger from "pot-hun- ters." Local amateur diggers from Tillamook have within the past twenty months been looting the site. The pro- perty is privately owned. CAPE MEARES LIGHTHOUSE Location: The lighthouse is located on the state secon- dary highway between Oceanside and Tillamook. Classification: Historic site. Significance: The cape was named to honor British Navy lieu- tenant John Meares who expl-ored and mapped the Pacific coast in the eighteenth century. The lighthouse reserva- tion is adjoined on the east by Cape Meares State Park in which is located the Octopus Tree. The lighthouse was constructed in 1889-90 of iron. It is forty feet high but is located 217 feet above the sea. The keeper's quarters located farther up the cape (about 1/4 mile east) were built of brick fired at the site. 62 Current Status: The beacon i s automatic. The keeper's quarters have been destroyed for construction of a parking lot and viewpoint. NETARTS SAND SPIT MIDDENS Location: The middens are located on the Netarts Sand Spit to the North of Cape Lookout State Park. Classification: Archaeological site. Significance: These village sites were partially excavated in the 1960's by Thomas Newman of the University of Oregon. Although his site reports remain unpublished, the Newman excavations are the only scientific dig in the former Coast Salish area on the Oregon seaboard. Newman found an occupancy of approxi- mately 450 years and concluded that the people at Netarts represented the Tillamook culture at the time of white contact. Newman's thesis is at the Univeristy of Oregon. Current Status: The sites are fairly inaccessible and partially excavated. CASCADE HEAD MIDDENS Location: The middens are located at the north side of the Salmon River within the development known as Cascade Head Ranch. They are immediately adjacent to the Club House and Swimming pool and below the home occupied by Frank and Jane Boy- den. Classification: Archaeological site. 63 I I I I I I I I C LA.TSOP COUNTY I I I I I I I I I I I DANIEL KNIGHT WARREN HOME Location: Warrenton, Oregon Classification: Historic Site. Significance: The Daniel Knight Warren home stands adjacent to the Columbia estuary at Warrenton, Oregon. War- ren was born in New York in 1836. In 1852 he journeyed overland with three older brothers and went to the mines in the Rogue River Valley. He located in Astoria in June, 1853, where he began working in the lumber trade. From 1860 to 1863 Warren was in the East where he married Sarah Eaton. Returning to Clatsop County, Warren operated a meat market and merchandise business. In the 1870's he located at Warrenton where he built his home in 1885. He purchased his property in the area in 1870 and embarked on rapid development. Dorothy Whitney has written: "Hiring Chinese laborers, he built a dike two and a half miles in length, along the Skipanon, as a pro- tection against flooding. This dike was completed in 1878. He planted trees along each street and offered a bonus of $1,000 to every citizen who would build a residence costing not less than $3,000. Any man who built a $1,000 house recelved a choice lot free." Warren was also a builder of a shortline railroad, a banker, a lum- berman, and a rancher. In 1966 the family yet occupied the home and it was, then largely filled with its original furnishings. The writer visited the place in the spring of 1963 and found it then, however, in poor repair. Warren died September 4, 1903; his wife died in 1922. They are bur- ied on the estate near the home; Current Status: Privately owned. In the spring of 1972 the pro- perty appeared deserted. The home looked to be unoccupied. 64 FLAVEL HOUSE Location: 441 Eighth Street, Astoria,@Oregon. Classification: Historic home; museum. Significance: The mansion built circa 1884 by Captain George Flavel in the center of Astoria is presently the museum of the Clatsop County Historical Society.. The building, ac- cording to Florence S. Flavel, a granddaughter-in-law of the captain, was completed in 1887. The house has two complete floors, a partial third floor, and a three story tower and cupola. Construction is wood frame. The interior of the home mirrors the taste of the late nineteenth century. The ceilings are cavernous, perhaps fouteen feet high. The woodwork is dark and the rooms are ornate. Each of the six fireplace mantels in the home is different and possesses a hand- carved mantle. The ornamental tiles facinq the cast iron fireboxes were imported from Italy and The Netherlands. The rear staircase is black walnut; the one in the cupola .-;.s maple. The home occupies a full city block and has a stable or carriage house. Many plantings are in the grounds. Wrought-iron railings decorate the second floor balcony above the first floor porch. The windows have interior shutters. Captain Flavel was the first licensed and most famous of the Colum- bia River bar pilots. Born about 1824, Flavel came from Norfolk, Virginia, to Oregon in 1849. He was president of the First National Bank of Astoria. Captains William Tichenor and Charles White may have preceded him in service on the Colu@rtibia bar. Flavel was a part- ner with Captain Asa M. Simpson, San Francisco shipping magnate whose son built Shore Acres at Coos Bay (q.v.). in 1884 Flavel sold out all of his interest to Simpson who had built the tugs used in the pilot service. 65 Current Status: Property of.Clatsop Coun ty Historical Society since 1952. SEASIDE GOLF COURSE MIDDEN Location: Golf Course, Seaside, Oregon Classification: Archaeological site. Significance: The midden is one where lived a Chinookan people. Tentative dating of the site is 500 B.C. George Phebus of the Smithsonian Institution, who excavated the site in 1971, theorized an occupation of 800 years, or until about 300 A.D. The site is most significant, for it may hold valuable information about cultural patterns on the Oregon seaboard and their relation to those farther north and to the interior. No reports have been published as yet from the investigations carried out by the Smith- sonian. Current Status: Private property; partially excavated. TONGUE POINT Location: The peninsula or monolith is adjacent to the federal installation at Tongue Point near Astoria. Classification: Geographical feature. 1 Significance: Known to the Clatsop Indians as Secomeetisuc, this monolithic feature of the southern Columbia 66 River estuary, was noted by early cartographers and explorers of the region. During World War II it was used as a bunker for 119 ammuni- tion and bomb shelters. It has one of the last stands of old growth timber in Clatsop County. The property was transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1921 and used until November, 1961, when it was given surplus status. In 1963 it went under the General Services Administration management but was trans- ferred in 1965 to the office of Economic Opportunity. Current Status: Federal government property; closed to public access. FORT STEVENS Location: Hammond, Oregon Classification: Historic site. 'Significance: The fort was first improved with Congressional appropriation in February, 1862, of $100,000 to secure the site in case of Confederate designs on the Columbia River settlements. In 1895 the fort was considerably developed and was fixed with large gun emplacements for the Spanish-American war. The site was occupied during World War I and World War II. It was shelled by a Japanese submarine on June 12, 1942. The fort was de- clared surplus property by the qovernment on March 28, 1947. Current Status: Property status unknown to writer. Many of the buildings and batteries in disrepair. 67 HAMMOND CATHOLIC CHURCH Location: Hammond, Oregon Classification: Historic.site. Significance: The missionary Catholic church is a simple frame building covered with shingles and shakes. It is patterned after St. Mary's church at McGowan, Washington, and is per- haps a mission structure for fishermen. Its age is unknown but con- struction perhaps occurred in the first decade of the 20th century. Current Status: The building is in poor repair. It is owned by Jeriminia Hefner who purchased it in 1968 from the Portland Archdiocese. It was last used for services in the early 1960's. CHARLES V. BROWN HOME Location: 1337 Franklin, Astoria, Oregon Classification: Historic home. Significance: Captain Charles V. Brown constructed this home in 1854 in the Adair development of East Astoria. Disliking Adair and the "neighborhood," Captain Brown moved his home on skids to a barge and relocated it in Astoria proper. Over the years the story and a half frame house has had four additions. The house has five bedrooms, two parlors, dining room, kitchen, pan- try, billiard room, and bathroom. The staircase bannister is black walnut. 68 Current Status: Privately owned by Paul and Wilma Williamson. The house has been nearly completely restored and is in fine preservation. GRAY HOME Location: 17th and Grand, Astoria, Oregon Classification: Historic home. Significance: The home was the dwelling of the first white child born in the Pacific Northwest. John H.D. Gray was born in Lapwai, Idaho, 20 March, 1839, the son of Rev. and Mrs. W.H. Gray. The Grays located at the Clatsop Plains mission in 1846. Gray was a boatman, plying his trade on the Fraser and Columbia rivers. He served in the State Senate in 1886. He was elected county judge in 1894 and 1898. His home, constructed of cedar, is a two story frame building of simple and unpretentious lines. Gray died there in 1902. He and his wife, Laura, had nine children. Current Status: Privately owned. GUST HOLMES HOME Locat ion: 682 34th Street, Astoria, Oregon Classification: Historic home. Significance: The home was built about 1890 by Gust Holmes, the owner and operator of one of Astoria's salmon can- 69 neries. It is a very large two full-story frame dwelling. One of its front bay windows is topped by a third floor cupola for views of the city. Current Status: The home is owned by Capt. and Mrs. R. H. Collins. JOHN HOBSON HOUSE Location: 469 Bond Street, Astoria, Oregon. Classification: Historic home. Significance: The two story frame house is the oldest home in Astoria of continuous occupancy by members of one family. Built in 1863 by John Hobson, the home has large sash win- dows, clapboard siding exterior, and an ornamented front porch. Its builder was a banker, custom's collector, and cattleman in Clatsop County. Current Status: Private residence, the property of the builder's great granddaughter, Miss Marjorie Halderman. BENJAMIN YOUNG HOME Location: 3652,Duane Street, Astoria, Oregon Classification: Historic home. Significance: Benjamin Young (Benjamin Youngquist) was a native of Lomma, Sweden, a village west of Malmo on the Baltic seacoast of Skane. Born in 1840, he joined the merchant ma- rine and by 1868 had sailed to San Francisco. He returned to Swe- den in 1871, married, and located in the United States. In 1874 he 7Q settled in Astoria where he became a fisherman. In Astoria, Young organized the Fishermen's Packing Company, known later as the Scandinavian Packing Company. From 1886 to 1896:..he operated a salmon cannery on the Fraser River in partnership with his brother, Andrew. He later built a cannery on the Skeena River in Alaska. He then formed the Alaska Packing Company. Selling out in British Columbia in 1896, Young increased his Oregon invest- ments in railroads, steamboats, and the Astoria Savings Bank. One of the wealthiest citizens of Astoria, Young built in 1888 a large "Victorian" mansion in the easter n part of the city. The structure has interior shutters, stained glass windows, a wrought iron fence, and a stable. The home was occupied after Young's death by his daughter, Clara. A graduate of the Leipzig Conservatory of Music and a student at the University of Lund, Clara was a medical doctor. Her husbands were Dr. Reams and a man named Waffle. Clara's daughter, Josephine Swan- son, today owns the home. . Current Status: The home is privately owned by the builder's granddaughter, Mrs. Harry Swanson, and is one of the most immaculate and well-preserved residences in the city of Astoria. ASTOR COLUMN Location: The column stands on Coxcomb Hill above the city of Astoria. Classification: Historic site. 71 Significance: The column is a unique monument on the Oregon sea- board. Erected in 1925-26, the 125 feet high . tower was dedicated on July 22, 1926. it was built with money given by Vincent Astor and the Great-Northern Railroad Company. Designed by Electus Litchfield, a New York architect, the monument which honors.0regon history, was patterned after Trojan's Column in Rome. The murals which decorate the outside of the tower were exe- cuted by the Italian painter, Attilio Pusterla. Near the column was the first broadcast of educational television in the Pacific Northwest. The site has a panoramic view of the mouth of the Columbia and the Clatsop Plains. Current Status: City park. The column is deteriorating rapidly and its murals are weathering severely. 72 D TE A DUE GAYLORDIN.. 2333 RINTEDINU.S.A. p 3 6668 14107 1961