Beauty vs History at Yaquina Head

The Oregonian reports on a conflict that often breaks out over historical sites:

Oregon lighthouse caught up in philosophical wrestling match: beautification vs. historical integrity

In this case, Ron Exeter, a well-meaning botanist at the Bureau of Land Management, wants to landscape with native plants around Yaquina Head Lighthouse, where the soil was killed by the acid wash used to remove the tower's toxic lead paint.

Long-time Yaqina Head volunteer George Collins is fighting BLM tooth and nail: "It was just plain grass and soil for years and years until this came along. There simply was nothing like that so it doesn't conform to the history." He objects to the utilitarian lighthouse being "made all frilly for visitors to stop by." According to the Oregonian, "state and federal agencies are working together to resolve the problems."

Here are excerpts from historic inspection reports (courtesy of the United States Lighthouse Society), which seem to support Mr. Collins's objections. Note the changes in acreage, soil, paths and garden size after 29 years. [All spelling sic; emphasis ours.]

From 1881:

Area of the entire site: 17.86 acres.
Character of surface soil: dark clayey loam.
Soil susceptibility: Grass grows well. Winds are too violent for shrubbery or trees.
Misc remarks: Wind at times sweeps across point of cape with great violence taking gravel stones from the cliffs 100' distant & hurling them against the dwelling with such force as to break the glass in the windows.
Paths and walks: Gravel walk around dwelling & from dwelling to tower.
Area inclosed: A board fence runs across point of cape from S shore to N shore, enclosing entire site. Keeper's dwelling is also enclosed by a neat picket fence.
Area of garden: About 1 acre.

From  1910:

Area of the entire site: 19.35 acres.
Character of soil surrounding the lighthouse: Sand.
Soil susceptibility: Yes, can be protected by grass.
Paths and walks: Cement around dwellings to tower.
Area inclosed: 12.08 acres inclosed with wire fence.
Area of garden: About 1/4 acre.

Illustration: Yaquina Head Light © Gerald C. Hill,  

from Northwest Lighthouses Illustrated Map & Guide.

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Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Oregon

Volcanic rock beach near the lighthouse:

Cape Meares Lighthouse, Oregon

Walking down the path to Cape Meares lighthouse, it became clear how vandals were able to do so much damage to the lantern room and Fresnel lens earlier this year. It's still a great one to visit, really cute, and in a great setting.

Views from the lighthouse:

104 Years Ago Today: Steamship Wreck in Alaska

The U.S. Lighthouse Service tender Armeria, assigned to Ketchikan, Alaska, ran aground off Cape Hinchinbrook on 20 May 1912 while delivering supplies for the Cape Hinchinbrook lighthouse. Courtesy US Coast Guard.

From the New York Times, Sept. 16, 1906:

ALL SAFE OFF THE OREGON.;
Passengers Take to Life Boats and Are Picked Up -- Steamer Doomed.

VALDEZ, Alaska, Sept. 15. -- Passengers and seamen of the steamer Oregon, which ran on the rocks at Hinchinbrook Island on Thursday night, took to the lifeboats the morning after the steamship struck, and were picked up several hours later by the lighthouse tender Columbine, which was surveying those waters for the lighthouse on Hinchinbrook.

The Columbine arrived at Valdez with the passengers and mail this morning. The revenue cutters sent to the wreck have not returned. The Oregon was three miles off her course east of Hinchinbrook and struck the rocks fifty yards from shore, where the bank is perpendicular. There was no chance to land. She slid off until she listed in a few feet of water with several fathoms under the stern. She is hard and fast aground, filled with water to the second deck, and probably will go to pieces in the first good swell from the ocean.

The Captain maintained good discipline and threatened to shoot men who were attempting to get off in a a lifeboat, after which his orders were obeyed without question, and all got off without accident.

If the weather remains calm there is a possible chance of lightening some of the Oregon’s cargo, but as the boat is on the ocean side of the island, exposed to the swell, such salvage is doubtful.

112-Year-Old News: Rescue in Alaska

Icebound in Alaska by AJ Fuller, from Jaws Marine.

Look what we found while researching the lost lighthouse at Point Hope, Alaska--more than 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle and one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in North America.

From the New York Times, Sept. 14, 1898:

THE BEAR SAVES WHALERS
Revenue Cutter Rescues 116 Men from the Vessels
Crushed Off Point Barrow.
CAUGHT IN THE ICE FLOES
Government Vessel Unable to Move Through the Frozen Seas
for Thirteen Days—On Her Way South.

ST. MICHAEL, Aug. 26.—The revenue cutter Bear arrived in port this afternoon with 116 whalers belonging to vessels of the fleet that was crushed in the ice pack while in Winter quarters off Point Barrow on July 28, the first vessel of the season to arrive. She found the surviving members of the steamers Orca and Jessie H. Freeman and the schooner Rosario, and took them on board, giving them the first full meal they had enjoyed in many days.

The rescuing party found that provisions on the Belvidere, Newport, Jeannette, and Fearless, the vessels which escaped destruction in the ice floes, were getting low. Each vessel was supplied with sufficient until the arrival of tenders from the South.

On Aug. 17, having fulfilled her mission of rescue and relief, the Bear started South on her journey to St. Michael with the 116 whalers whose ships were lost. Shortly after her arrival at Point Barrow the Bear was caught in the ice, and the pressure was so tremendous that some of her planks started, and preparations were made for abandoning the ship. Fortunately the pressure subsided, but the Bear was unable to free herself from the pack for thirteen days after first being pinched.

The Bear left St. Michael for the north on July 5, to rescue nine miners whose boat, a large steam launch, had been wrecked five miles south of Cape Ramanoff, while making the trip from Rampart City, on the Yukon River, to St. Michael, for provisions and supplies. All the miners were saved and the Bear proceeded on her way to Point Barrow. On the way several stops were made, and bills contracted by Lieut. Jarvis of the overland relief expedition were paid in goods wanted by the natives. At Point Hope, Lieut. Bertholf reported that the thirty-four reindeer which had strayed from the Laps’ herd while crossing Kotzebue Sound on the way to Point Barrow, had been brought back to Point Hope, and, although several had been killed for food, the herd had increased by the birth of fawns to forty-nine.

Capt. Sherman of the wrecked whaler Orca boarded the Bear at Point Day. He reported the wreck of the Rosario and the serious condition of the Belvidere. It being impossible for the Bear to pass the ice barrier, food was sent to the Belvidere’s men by a native in skin boats in charge of Lieut. Hamlet, who successfully accomplished his mission and reached Point Barrow only eighteen hours after the Bear’s arrival there.

The Newport, Fearless, and Jeannette arrived before Aug. 3, when the Bear became fast in the ice, where she remained for thirteen days, it being found impossible to blast her way out. Stores were, however, transferred to the whalers on sleds. Finally, on Aug. 17, the Bear got loose from the ice, and with the rescued whalers started on her way south. A stop was made at Point Hope on the 20th, where the schooner Louise J. Kinney was found on the beach, where she had been wrecked the day before. Her officers and crew were taken on board. After making several stops the Bear arrived at St. Michael on Aug. 25 and left on the following day.

99 Years Ago Today: Shipwreck in Alaska

Surf roars over Cape Decision, courtesy of NOAA.

From the New York Times, September 13, 1911. (Note the references to "the dangerous inside passage"--a popular route for today's cruise ships.)

SAVED FROM ALASKA WRECK.;
Fishermen Rescue Thirty Passengers on Sinking Steamship Ramona.

SEATTLE, Sept. 12. -- A brief wireless message received here to-day tells of the loss of the steamer Ramona, which struck the rocks near Cape Decision in Frederick Sound, about 200 mi this side of Ketchikan, Alaska, late Sunday, in a dense fog, and was slowly pounded to pieces.

Wireless messages sent out for hours by the Ramona were finally picked up, and the crack liner of the Alaska Steamship Company, the Northwestern, Capt. J.C. Hunter, took aboard the passengers and crew.

The Ramona is a total loss. The Ramona had a long list of first-class passengers, including many Eastern tourists. She was proceeding to Seattle via the dangerous inside passage. The Pacific Coast Company officials, owners of the Ramona, are unable to tell who was on board, and will not know until the ship’s records are received here.

The Northwestern had passed the scene of the wreck, which is quite out of the beaten path. Local marine men marvel at Capt. Hunter’s feat of turning the big Northwestern around in the dangerous inside passage and picking his way back to the wreck.

This is the third steamer the Pacific Coast Company has lost this season.

The passengers of the Ramona, who barely escaped with their lives, so speedily did the ship sink, saved nothing but the clothing they wore. Thirty of the passengers and crew were picked up by the fishing steamer Grant. The remainder landed on Spanish Island, which is timbered but uninhabited, and remained there a day and a night. The freight steamer Delhi came along, and the ship-wrecked voyagers rowed out to the Delhi and were taken aboard. Subsequently the Northwestern took the passengers from the Grant and the Delhi, and all are on their way to Seattle.

The Ramona left Skagway Sept. 8, and was calling at the various canneries to take passengers and freight. The vessel was valued at $200,000.

Cape Decision Lighthouse, by Tuggerdave

Sea Monster on the Umpqua River!

While researching the Umpqua River Lighthouse for our forthcoming Northwest Lighthouses map, we found this delightful tidbit from October 28, 1888, in the New York Times archives:

THE SEA SERPENT AGAIN.
From the San Francisco Alta, Oct. 12.
The regular annual sea serpent has made his appearance again. He is a little out of his latitude this time, having been seen in a place where heretofore he has never been known to roam. There is no doubt as to the identity of the creature, as it is vouched for by several parties who are known as strictly temperate men, whose eyes have not been accustomed to seeing every variety of snakes floating in the air and in every conceivable position. Capt. Edgar Avery of the bark Estrella, while coming from Tacoma to this city with coal, descried the monster when the bark was passing the Umpqua River. The serpent, for such the Captain solemnly declares it to be, was swimming on the surface of the water in a southerly direction. The bark at the time was headed south-southeast, and when the Captain first noticed the reptile it was about 200 yards off, and was apparently not the least disconcerted by the proximity of the vessel. As it was 10 o’clock in the morning, and the sun was shining brightly, the startled Captain had a good view of the serpent. When he was satisfied that he beheld a real live serpent, and not a creation of his imagination, the Captain sprang below and got his rifle, calling to his wife and crew to come on deck and view the wonder. The lady and several of the crew came on deck and plainly saw the monster swimming by. He appeared to be about 80 feet long and as big round as a barrel. He rode over the waves with his head and about 10 feet of his body elevated above water, every now and then dipping his immense head into the water, the body making gigantic convolutions while gliding caterpillar-like over the waves. The head was flat, or “dished,” as the Captain described it, and the body appeared to be covered with scales. About 10 feet of what might properly be called the neck, was covered with coarse hair, resembling a mane. After viewing the monster for a time, the Captain raised his rifle and fired several shots at it, but the bullets fell short. The sea serpent seemingly paid no attention to the shooting, but kept on his way. The excited spectators kept it in view for fully a half hour, when, without any apparent flurry, it sank out of sight in the sea, and was not seen after.

"Terrible Tilly"

Tillamook Rock Light, by Gary D. Moon. Source: City of Cannon Beach.

After more than two years of arduous construction, during which a supervisor was drowned, Tillamook Rock, Oregon, went into service on January 21, 1881. Two weeks before, The New York Times reported these stories:

San Francisco, Jan. 7 – An Astoria dispatch says: “Wreckage is coming ashore on Clatsop Beach which indicates the total loss of the British ship Lupata. Buckets, barrel-heads, and other articles bearing the name ‘Lupata’ have come ashore. She is supposed to have gone to pieces near Tillamook Rock.”

A SHIP'S WHOLE CREW LOST; WRECK OF THE BRITISH SHIP LUPATA ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
San Francisco, Jan. 8 – A dispatch from Astoria says: “By the arrival of the Lighthouse tender this evening from Tillamook Rock, the loss of the British ship Lupata is confirmed. Capt. Wheeler, Superintendent of the Tillamook rock Light-house, arrived here this evening, and reports that on Monday evening, Jan. 3, about 8 o’clock, the weather being very thick and the wind blowing hard from the south-west, the workmen on the rock suddenly heard loud voices shouting, and on emerging from their houses saw the ship’s light just inside of the rock, and immediately after heard the command given, “hard aport.” Capt. Wheeler ordered lanterns to be placed in tower, and as speedily as possible a large bonfire was started, which revealed a large vessel apparently not 200 yards from the east side of the rock, with a red or port light in sight about five minutes, when it gradually disappeared, those on the rock concluding that the Captain had backed ship and successfully steered his vessel out of danger. This morning the fog had disappeared and it was found that the Captain, instead of rounding the rock to the westward, had run his vessel ashore on the reef running out from the Tillamook side, the topmast being plainly visible from 6 to 10 feet above the water. The shore line being a bold bluff rock for a considerable distance from the scene of the wreck, it is more than likely that the whole ship’s company were lost.

Lighthouse keepers, who had to be hauled up for duty via a breeches buoy, soon called the station "Terrible Tilly." A NYT report from 1894 shows why:

The Wreck of the Tillamook Light.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 – Some details of the terrific storm on the Pacific coast, when the great lighthouse at Tillamook, Oregon, was wrecked, are contained in an official report received to-day by Capt. Wilde of the Lighthouse Board. The lighthouse is on a rock 91½ feet above high-water mark. The waves lashed the rock with such fury and violence that pieces weighing as much as 167 pounds were rent from its sides and hurled into the air about 140 feet, shattering thirteen panes of glass about the immense lens, and falling upon the wooden structures beneath, caving in the roof. The damage amounted to $1,200. A new light has been placed in position.

Still unimpressed? From a Dec. 26, 1897, NYT story on DESTRUCTIVE OCEAN WAVES:

A few years ago a heavy gale swept along the Oregon coast raising a sea that broke completely over Tillamook Rock Lighthouse. The two boats kept on the rock were swept away. The platform where stores and visitors were landed, which was anchored to the rocks with iron bolts, was swept away, a steam boiler and engine bed were carried off, and the tramway, though bolted to the rock, was torn up and destroyed. A few days afterward the waves got up to such a tremendous height that salt water, not spray, but solid water, poured down the dome of the lantern situated 157 feet above sea level.

From a July 6, 1902, NYT Magazine article on THE NEW "OCEAN GRAVEYARD":

Tillamook Rock is eighteen miles off the mouth of the Columbia River. There is a lighthouse on the rock which is called the high school of the Lighthouse Service. Two men have gone insane there from the loneliness and the peril of the elements. What happens occasionally to Tillamook will show just what a northwest storm can do. The rock is eighty feet above sea level, and water roundabout is ninety feet deep.

The house where the watchmen live is on the summit, and the light itself rises 136 feet above sea level. Yet during big storms the water often actually washes the plate glass of the light. Worse still, the keepers are compelled continually to be on the lookout for the rocks which are often hurled high above the island’s surface by the waves. The storm which sent the Lupata to the bottom was not the worst in the history of Tillamook. It is a fact vouched for by Chief Keeper Peronen that on Dec. 9, 1894, the waves broke off huge pieces of rock from the shore and hurled them high up against the light.

And from 1934:

5 BESIEGED BY SEA IN LIGHTHOUSE SAVED; Boat Crew Shoots Line Over Oregon Coast Rock Where Men Were Held 6 Weeks.
ASTORIA, Ore., Dec. 2 (AP). – Delivered at last from a storm-besieged lighthouse in which they had been marooned six weeks, five men scurried to their homes today.

Their rescue was accomplished by the lighthouse tender Rose, which manoeuvred through treacherous seas to a point near Tillamook Rock Light, one mile off the Oregon shore. The crew of the Rose shot a line over the rock, set up a breeches buoy and removed the five.

Two hours were required to take off the five men and place two more on the half-acre rock. Two more hours were needed to land 1,500 pounds of fresh groceries and other supplies on the rock.

The men were brought here to recuperate from their illness. Most seriously ill were Henry Jenkins and E. La Schenger, who had been at the lighthouse for several months and twice had seen and heard the raging seas break waves which rolled up the sides of Tillamook Rock and completely over the 133-foot lantern tower.

The workers had been placed there to repair damage wrought six weeks ago by a storm which ripped away the regular landing derrick.

Tillamock Rock Light was deactivated in 1957 and eventually sold to be used as a columbarium (repository for human cremains). But as the Times reported in 2007, "the departed rest not quite in peace" because the columbarium owner's license was revoked and the lighthouse--now accessible only by helicopter--is succumbing to the elements and bird droppings.

In a Fog

From “The Light-Houses of the United States” in Harper's New Monthly Magazine (Vol. 48, Dec. 1873 to May 1874):

Fog-signals, many of which are required at different points on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, are of several kinds. Some are steam-whistles, the sound of which is made deeper or louder by being sent through a trumpet; but the most effective is probably the Siren. This ingenious machine consists of a long trumpet and a steam-boiler. The sound is produced by the rapid revolution past each other of two flat disks pierced with a great number of small holes; a jet of steam under high pressure is projected against the disks, which revolve past each other more than a thousand times a minute; as the rows of small holes in the two disks come opposite each other, the steam vehemently rushes through and makes the singular and piercing noise which a Siren gives out. One of these machines, of which a drawing is given [above]; costs about $3500 complete, with its trumpet, boiler, etc.

Daboll’s trumpet is worked by an Ericsson engine, and requires no water for steam.

From the 1893 Light-House Board Annual Report (note the vast quantities of fuel):

Fog Signals Operated by Steam or Hot-Air Engines

913. Tillamook Rock, Oregon.—The first-class siren, in duplicate, was in operation some 316 hours and consumed about 16 tons of coal.
914. Columbia River light-vessel No. 50, Washington.—The 12-inch steam whistle was in operation some 802 hours and consumed about 71 tons of coal.
969. Destruction Island, Washington.—The first-class steam siren, in duplicate, was in operation some 825 hours and consumed about 49 tons of coal.
970. Cape Flattery, Washington.—The 12-inch steam whistle, in duplicate, was in operation some 520 hours and consumed about 32 tons of coal and about 100 feet of wood.
974. Point Wilson, Washington.—The 12-inch steam whistle was in operation some 157 hours and consumed about 16 tons of coal.
980. West Point, Washington.—The Daboll trumpet was in operation some 195 hours and consumed about 2 tons of coal and about 76 feet of wood.
982. Robinson Point, Washington.—The 12-inch steam whistle was in operation some 56 hours and consumed about 5 tons of coal.
1011. Turn Point, Washington.—The Daboll trumpet was in operation some 54 hours and consumed about 1 ton of coal.
1012. Patos Islands, Washington.—The Daboll trumpet was in operation some 90 hours and consumed about 1 ton of coal.

Cape Blanco Lighthouse, Oregon

Before we started Bella Terra, I think we both would say we liked lighthouses, but never thought much about them. Now that Our Publisher is deep into researching and writing about them, we've learned a lot already. I had never heard of a Fresnel lens. Now at Cape Blanco I was inches away from one, and it was fascinating!

Yes, that's me!

Coquille River Lighthouse, Oregon

The lighthouse, removed from service in the 1930s, is located within Bullard's Beach State Park, near the cute town of Bandon. Bandon is famous for its cranberries. There are great ocean views in the area, including stunning Face Rock (pics below). Lighthouse tours include a climb to the lantern room.

Face Rock at dusk

Face Rock in the morning

Heceta Head Lighthouse, Oregon

Yes, it was pretty windy that day. There are several great distance viewpoints for Heceta Head.

There is also a nice beach below it (last pic). From the beach parking lot ($3 fee payable at machine), it's a moderate 1/2 mile climb to the light. The keepers house is operated as a B&B

Umpqua River Lighthouse, Oregon

When visiting this lighthouse near Reedsport, be sure to also see the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. The Forest Service operates an information center in "downtown" Reedsport. We had time for only a short hike and got a great recommendation. If you're into it, there are dune buggy rentals in the area.

Cape Arago Lighthouse, Oregon

The viewpoint is a mile away, however there are trails that will get you closer.