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Bought with the income of the
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NEHALBM MOONLIGHT.
Copyrighted 1915 by Mayer.

STORIES OF ¦NEHflLEM

By,
S. J. COTTON

Chicago
M. A. DONOHUE & COMPANY

INDEX
PAGE.
Introduction  5
Nehalem Sunsets  11
Nehalem Valley  13
Indian Legendry  19
What Makes the Ocean Rough  20
Marine Hypnotism  29
Old Indian God  23
Bad Water  31
Old Indian God's Courtship  35
Treasure Ship  55
Indian History  41
Beeswax Ship  45
Neah-Kah-Nie Treasure  49
Early White Settlements  63
Population Increases  75
School Life  82
Lure of Coal  86
High Water  87
Advent of Industry  90
Few Early Events  94
Mail Service  97
Beginning of Lumber Industry  99
Events of Interest  104
Hotels of the Valley  107
The Fight for Shipping  109
Wrecks  115
Newspaper Pioneering  123
Banking  127
Metropolitan Days  128
Community Life  134
Wheeler  135
Other Centers  137
Coming of the Railroad  137
Beaches  141
Neah-Kah-Nie Trail  142

INTRODUCTION

To the Pioneer:
Few realize the importance of the labor, the
hardships and the courage of the pioneers, women and
men, who voluntarily isolate themselves from the rest
of the world and pave the way for civilization. There
is no tribute man can pay to these determined
members of our race; no laurel sufficient with which
to surround their memory. Their lives are spent
in a world to which the applause of hero-worship
has never come. They pursue their routine of life
without thought of what, either in praise or censure,
others may say. Each one to whom the name can be
appropriately applied is a hero or heroine. The story
of Robinson Crusoe, wrecked upon a desolate island,
is of no more interest and possesses no more of hard
ship and privation than is told scores of times in the
beginning of settlement in any new land. Each pio
neer, while not cast upon a desolate island, is so iso
lated from the world and all the grandeur it possesses
that the story of that life is filled with heart interest.
The woman and the man who turcTtheir back upon
civilization, who voluntarily surrender the pleasures of
modern life for the dull monotony and the rigid hard
ships of pioneering, are as much deserving of the med
als and acclaim of the multitudes as the man who saves
the life of another. The journey through the pathless
forest is filled with discouragements and disappoint
ments ; at every turn there are difficulties to overcome.
Place yourself, if you can, far from all civilization in
a spot surrounded by giant forest trees in which the

voice of man has never echoed and with the resolve
to spend a lifetime there; place yourself in this posi
tion, with no shelter save only what nature has made.
Before you are years of usefulness, and years you know
to be crowded with ceaseless toil. Your cabin must
be fashioned by hand from the trees about you; all
the things to make life pleasant or comfortable must
be the fruits of your own labor. Your garden spot is
to be wrested from the stumps of the trees from
which you build your home and in ground the sun has
never kissed.
It is a position from which only the most courageous
will not shrink with fear. You do not know what form
of death may lurk in the immediate forest. Perhaps
it is in the nature of a weakened tree or the dead
snag threateningly standing a short distance x away;
perhaps it may come from inhabitants of the unknown
forest. Who knows but it may come from starvation
or some slight injury? — an injury, which in the hands
of a physician would be unnoticed, but here, far from
the possibility of medical aid, it follows that law of
nature no man has been able to repeal.
We cannot but pause to say a word in the praise
of these determined women and men. They were the
ones who laid the foundation for the ease and com
fort in which we live today. They blazed the trail
and showed the wealth of which the world had never
dreamed ; they blazed the trail over which the footsteps
of education, religion and enterprise must travel, and
they blazed it in such a way that its course has never
been obliterated. What vast difference there would
have been in the appearance of this country of ours
today had it not been for the courage and faith of those
who came before us ! The pathway of civilization has
been laid out by the pioneer; it is not the man who
follows those early footsteps and builds the railroads

VI

and the factories to whom we owe homage, it is the
women and men who pointed the way.
The pioneers of the Nehalem Valley were of the
kind to which fear and labor were meaningless. I
shall never forget the meaning in the story told by
Mrs. Frances G. Scovell, wife of one of the earliest
pioneers of the valley, as she told of some of the dis
couraging remarks made by men who came into the
district along about 1870, and who subsequently left.
One of them remarked that there was no market here
for anything the farmers might raise. Mrs. Scovell re
plied: "The market is always far away to those who
have nothing to sell." Some said the country was
God-forsaken, but she replied that God never forsook
a country He had made. The difficulties encountered
by the earliest settlers might have lead the lover of
ease to think God had forsaken the Nehalem Valley,
but today they will be willing to admit that God cre
ated better than they knew.
Only two of the original pioneers of the valley are
residing here now — Mrs. Frances G. Scovell, wife of
Steven K. Scovell, and William Snyder. They each
came in the month of September, 1870. Mrs. Scovell,
with her husband and children, settled on a claim on
the North Fork of the river. An interesting story is
connected with this. Mr. Scovell paid a visit to the
valley during the summer and selected a homestead.
The family was then living in the Willamette Valley.
Accompanied by his son, he returned later for the pur
pose of building a cabin, but they were lost in the
mountains for a time and, on reaching here, decided
they could not complete the cabin in time to move in
during the fall. He had selected a spot on the river
bank where a beautiful knoll commanded a view of
the river, and was especially safe from the high water
of winter. Mr. Snyder, the other of the remaining
vii

pioneers, took up a claim at what is now Classic Ridge.
Among the other earliest settlers were George E. R.
Dean, who brought his family here and who thought
so well of the country that he induced his father and
brother Harry to cast their lot with the new country.
Mrs. Fred Zaddach (Lillian Dean) relates some inter
esting bits of history that add materially to the authen
ticity of the following pages. Mrs. George Dean is
now a resident of Aberdeen, Washington, but has not
withdrawn her allegiance to the beautiful valley in
which she spent so many years of her life.
The author is especially indebted to the pioneers
for the history contained in this volume. It has been
his endeavor to make all events as authentic as pos
sible. There have been differences, sometimes material,
in the information received from various sources, but
an attempt has been made to delve into the true narra
tive. The early Indian history and the stories of the
Neah-Kah-Nie Treasure and Beeswax Ship were se
cured to a great extent from Mrs. Ed. Gervais, now the
last of the older Indians, to whom this story was re
lated by the native fathers. Her memory goes back
beyond the days when the first white settlers came to
the country. Ed. Gervais, her husband, was a man of
keen interest and an exceptional story teller.
According to his own account, he is responsible
for the existence of the Nehalem River. When nature
constructed this part of the Oregon coast country, it
carelessly left out the means of irrigation. When Ger
vais first came here, the valley was dry and arid. No
streams from the mountains coursed through the for
est, and the beautiful Nehalem River was unknown.
He, together with some of the Indians living in the
valley, decided it needed irrigation. The nearest stream
or river of any importance was 'way up in the moun
tains many miles to the east. It was a difficult under-

via

taking to dig a trench from the nearest of these rivers,
but it offered the only solution. None of the men inter
ested in the project were engineers, but they had the
determination of an army. Gervais went over the
ground and decided a canal could be dug along the
mountain ridges and through specially constructed
passes. By this means the water could be diverted to
the west slope of the mountains and brought down to
the valley.
If Gervais is to be believed, the Nehalem River of
that date was flowing in an opposite direction from
today, and made its way into the Columbia. About
where the lumber manufacturing place of Timber is
now located was the nearest point to Nehalem and the
ocean. The pioneer irrigation canal diggers went to
this place — of course the city of Timber was not built
then — and began their work. They followed the course
of the Salmonberry River, continued on down the pres
ent South Fork of the Nehalem, and terminated the
canal at the beginning of the valley. The scheme
worked remarkably well. The Nehalem River changed
its course, and the constant wear of the waters, during
the years that have followed, resulted in the succession
of beautiful cascades and a river equal to anything
nature could have constructed herself. Ed. Gervais
was a wonderful story teller. The greatest misfortune
connected with the above story is that he is dead and
cannot verify it.
Much discussion has arisen over the question of the
origin of some of the names of important objects in
the valley. That of Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain has been
one of considerable interest, and there is some mystery
surrounding the origin of the name given the river and
valley. From Mrs. Gervais it is learned that the Indian
name for the river and valley was not Nehalem, but
Wa-laska. How the name Nehalem originated is not

ix

known, unless it comes to us from the Spanish left
here by those who came with the treasure and beeswax
ship. The Neah or Ne seems to have been the prefix
for several names along the North Pacific coast, but its
origin does not seem to be native.
Mrs. Gervais gives the Indian name for the moun
tain as Se-a-kah-no. That of Carney or Necarney, ap
plied by many, comes from the Spanish word carne,
meaning meat or fiesh. She says her people secured it
from the Spaniards wrecked here at the time of the
treasure ship. The men pointed to the elk grazing on
the mountain side and called them carne. It was
adopted by the Indians as a name for the mountain.
The prefix Ne does not seem to be Spanish unless it is
a contraction or misinterpretation of some prefix or
word of that language and left here by the wrecked
sailors.
Sam J. Cotton.
Nehalem, Ore., March, 1915.

Stories of Nehalem
with
Neah-Kah-Nie Treasure and Beeswax Ship

Nehalem Sunsets.
Had I the power to paint a typical Nehalem sunset
on canvas or by word I would spend my life beside the
peaceful summer waters of the bay or ocean, and give
to the world some of the grandest pictures man ever
beheld. There are those who rave over an Italian sun
set, but no clouds of evening were ever kissed with
such tenderness of color and design as those fringing
the horizon westward of this bay. One can stand for
hours gazing in wonder and admiration at the never
ending succession of beautiful plays of the evening sun
upon the clouds. This panorama of beauty and delight
lasts *f or hours, from late in the afternoon until the
sun has gone far down over the ocean, leaving a last
faint streak of red upon the lower edge of the tent of
night. It may be that nature has purposely assembled its
magic mirror of clouds here on the western sky that
the sun may deck them with gold and silver. It may
be that some fairy has drawn this wonderful curtain
as the last symbol of her favor to lull the beings of
11

12 STORIES OF NEHALEM
this valley to sleep by the sweet music of enchanting
loveliness. Now the sun disappears behind a bank of
clouds, casting its rays from every edge in a halo of
golden light; then it gradually glides farther to one
side, extending the delicate tinges from one cloud to
another, reaching out with fingers of gold to paint new
beauties, and, at last, it peeks out from an edge of
fiery brightness, slowly appearing to smile as at the
trick it has played with the color scheme which only
the sun can play; smiles down upon the waters in a
flood of matchless light, kissing the surface of the
ocean off in the distance, and wending its way in a
silvery path to meet the shore.
Sometimes, when the sun has gone far down beyond
the rim of water, one golden ray streaks back, as
though forgetting something, to caress a lower cloud
with a good-night kiss. The cloud reflects this depart
ing ray over the ocean in greeting to the coming night.
Gradually the silvery path across the water recedes
until only a faint gleam remains where the sun has
gone down, then the veil of night settles upon the
ocean and nature rests.
No more inspiring sight can be presented than when
the sun nestles down behind some distant peak, its
face hidden from view, but its glow brightening, in a
golden arc, like some great forest fire, its rays reach
ing high among the clouds tinting their under surface,
while above the darker shades are made blacker and,
occasionally, a ray strays up to penetrate the thinner
parts of the cloud. As the body of the cloud changes,
the lightness and darkness alternate in fantastic forms.
The strange and wonderful varieties of the shapes
and the magnificent plays of the setting sun upon the
surfaces combine to make a picture so rare and so
alluring that description is impossible. These are pic
tures found nowhere else in the world; pictures so

NEAH-KAH-NIE PROM THE RIVER.

Photo by Mayer.

Photo by Mayer,

WRECK OF THE GLENESSLIN.

NEHALEM SUNSETS 13
grand and inspiring that time will never efface them
from the memory of those who behold them. Travelers
from the land of magnificent sunsets say there are none
equal to those along the Nehalem Bay and Beach. The
famed Italian sunsets pale into objects easy of de
scription in comparison with these. They are but an
other example of what nature has done to make Ne
halem Valley and its setting one of the grandest of
earth.

Nehalem Valley.
Nature has placed the richest jewels in rough and
most common settings. About the diamond she has
constructed a formation so ordinary and uninviting
that only the expert is able to recognize the cradle of
this rarest of all gems. The same condition surrounds
this gem of all valleys, although we cannot say the
mountain walls are uninviting or that the Pacific fails
to add to the beauty of the scene. The lover of moun
tain scenery finds delight in the unsurpassed grandeur
of Neah-Kah-Nie and the range of mountain peaks
forming a wonderful panorama which surrounds the
valley on three sides. Nehalem Valley is a gem of the
rarest kind. Perhaps no spot can boast of so many
and so diversified wonders. Not only for the excep
tional climatic conditions and rich grazing grounds,
making it one of the finest dairy districts in the world,
but because of the delights it offers the lover of sports
of all kinds.
From the earliest date of its history the valley has
been a paradise for the cattle raiser. The seasons are
exceptionally mild ; the summers cool and the winters
so mild that cattle pasture the year round, and only

14 STORIES OF NEHALEM
on rare occasions is it necessary to feed them. The
valley and the mountain slopes offer limitless grazing
fields for thousands of cattle, and the climate so modi
fies the surroundings that it has become famous for
the richness and excellence of the cheese made here.
Two cheese factories are operated in the valley, and
they are able to care for the present production of milk,
but there is room for many thousand more cattle here
and the time is not far distant when the growth of the
herds will require more factories for the handling of
the products of the farms. From the beginning, cheese
has been the natural product of the district because
of the inability to ship any other product to the mar
kets until the railroad was constructed from Hillsboro,
and this product could be stored until a favorable
opportunity to ship it was offered. For this reason,
cheese is the natural output of the entire Tillamook
County and one that has made it famous throughout
the world.
But Nehalem Valley does not depend entirely upon
the products of the farms for its fame and inviting
qualities. No finer or more beautiful beaches are to
be found anywhere on the Pacific Coast. Nature, after
practicing from time unknown, made Neah-Kah-Nie
and the beach that stretches for five miles from its
base to the Nehalem River. After the architect of
Nature had tried and experimented everywhere else,
he decided at last to make the supremacy of his handi
work, and the Nehalem beach is the result. No one
can truly describe this rare scene. Poets have at
tempted it and thousands of verses have resulted, but
none have yet approached the rhyming and description
that satisfies the hearts of those who behold the place.
The mountain rises about 1,900 feet from the ocean.
A high and precipitous cliff faces the Pacific in sun
shine and in storm. The mountain itself is very steep

( NEHALEM VALLEY IS
and only the most enterprising have made the trip to
the top, but all the weary and tiresome steps are more
than repaid by the grandeur of the scene on all sides.
One can look for many miles out to sea, but this is only
one of the minor pictures in this moving picture of
beauty. To the north the grand stretch of beaches, nearly
to the mouth of the Columbia River, may be seen; to
the south is another stretch of beaches and rugged
coast line for twenty miles or more, to where the pre
cipitous mountain makes its way out into the waters
and marks the southern boundary of Tillamook County.
But, grand as these scenes are, they are surpassed by
the other scenes as one turns to look over the low
mountain ranges and across to the majestic peaks to
the east. The first is Onion Peak, which stands as a
grand sentinel at the doorway through which the
North Fork of the Nehalem River enters the valley.
Farther on is Steamboat Peak, a strange and wonderful
formation, looming up on the eastern horizon. Then,
spreading out at your feet is Nehalem Valley, with the
beautiful maze of forests as a setting for this gem of
opportunity for the homeseeker and for enterprise.
Anyone who loves the experience of mountain climbing
will find plenty of opportunity for this sport in the
peaks surrounding the valley and setting it off like the
spires of a Christian city.
The lover of nature will find more to lore in this
valley than in any other spot on earth. About two
miles above the City of Nehalem, the river forks. One
branch turns to the northward, piercing the mountain
range far up in the Clatsop County district. The other
leads onward toward the east and finds its head far up
toward the summit of the Coast Range of mountains.
Into each of these forks hundreds of streams and rivu
lets enter, each adding its mite to the gradually in-

16 STORIES OF NEHALEM
creasing flow and, more important to the lover of
nature and of sport, these streams are alive with trout
the year round. The South Fork, the one leading off
into the Coast Range, had been the lodestone, drawing
hundreds of fishermen from across the mountains each
season, but few have tested the delights of the North
Fork area. Not only are these streams and rivers well
stocked with trout, but, during the fall, thousands of
salmon trout are caught from them. But the supreme
sport of all to the fisherman is the opportunity for
trolling for big salmon during the late summer and fall
each year. The Nehalem River for three miles along
the Nehalem City front affords one of the best trolling
grounds on the continent. Experts, who have tested
all those offered by other sections of the country, are
enthusiastic in declaring that it is more sport to land
one of the big fellows than any form of gaming. It
is a particular and scientific job to land a thirty or
thirty-five pound salmon with a hook and line. The
fish are game to the last struggle and refuse to be
hurried in the least.
Added to all these is the other pleasure of deep sea
fishing. Off the Tillamook County coast is an excep
tionally fine halibut bank, and boats frequently make
the trip out over the bar and to the banks twenty
miles away. During the calm summer season the trip
is delightful and the fun of hooking a good-sized hali
but amply repays one for the time spent.
But it is not all fishing. Back in the foothills and
in the mountains are bear, deer, cougar and wildcat
to satisfy the demands of the most exacting hunter.
The God's Valley district, a part of the Nehalem Val
ley, is fast becoming the Mecca of hunters. Each year
an added number of these sportsmen visit the valley
and return with plenty of evidence of their skill and
the advantages of the place as a hunting delight.

NEHALEM VALLEY 17
Nehalem Valley is not a district of distances. In
this one particular it is alone. As an illustration : the
family will find the beautiful beach just the place for
the summer cottage, with the charms of beach life.
The women folks can devote their time to enjoying the
sea and trips to Neah-Kah-Nie, while father and the
boys hike a few miles out to the trout streams and hunt
ing grounds for a day of sport. It does not take all
day to get to a trout creek from the beach. A short
spin in the auto over the beautiful roads built for auto
mobile drives, or a walk brings the sportsman to the
spot he desires, and father and the boys need have no
fear of spending the day without results, for there are
plenty of fish for all. The North Fork district has
just come to the attention of the fishermen, and it is
the easiest of all to reach by auto or on foot.
The lover of romance will be at home at Neah-Kah-
Nie, for surrounding the mountain and the beach are
woven some of the mystic stories that refuse to be
solved. The story of the buried treasure and that of
the beeswax ship, related in following chapters, are
extremely interesting and, the best of all about them,
is they may always remain as mysteries. The belief in
the buried treasure is so strong and persistent that
many have dug at various places on the mountain side
and near the beach, and many more will dig before
the mystery finally comes to rest. The stories of early
wrecks upon this beach are extremely interesting, and
during the past few years some staunch vessels have
found a grave on this shore of the Pacific.
Pioneer life presented much of interest and was
more than typical of the hardships offered to those who
first made a home in the wilderness. The barrier of
mountains shutting the beautiful valley in on three
sides, and the Pacific on the fourth, made communica
tion with the outside world very difficult. The ocean

18 STORIES OF NEHALEM
was not always true to its name. Lashed by the severe
storms that sweep the coast, it presented no peaceful
aspect to the mariner or adventurer. Frequently dur
ing the winter the rough seas prevent vessels from
entering the treacherous, bar-bound harbors, and
months passed without the earliest settlers having pro
visions. With the advent of the railroad several new cities
have come into existence. Nehalem was the original
trading center of the district, and remains a leading
factor in the industrial growth. But the railroad
brought others, until now Mohler, Wheeler and
Brighton are the other industrial centers of the valley.
The vast forests covering the mountain slopes for miles
on either side are among the greatest bodies of virgin
timber in the country. There are more than twenty-
five billion feet of merchantable timber, offering em
ployment to hundreds of men for a century yet to
come. To give an idea of the immensity of this body
of wealth, it might be well to consider that the mills
in the valley will cut about 150,000 feet of lumber each
day, and to cut the timber now standing here will
require the service of seventeen mills, with equal ca
pacities of the present mills, and they will be forced
to run for forty years before the task is completed.
When one figures this immense wealth, he can readily
see that there is a future for this valley in the lumber
manufacturing line that is unsurpassed anywhere.
The salmon fishing of the Nehalem River is an
other source of wealth that was one of the first indus
tries developed. The first enterprise entering the val
ley came as a result of this wealth in the waters of
the river. Each fall thousands of these fine fish are
caught, and either canned or salted for shipment to
the markets of the world. The season begins about
the first of August and does not end until after New

NEHALEM VALLEY 19
Year's. Four different kinds of salmon are found at
the different intervals during the fishing season. First
comes the Chinook, then follow the Silverside, Chum
and Steelhead, the latter being a hardy fish, but rare
in numbers. The extent of this wealth never dimin
ishes, in spite of the number of men employed in catch
ing them and the immense quantities taken each year.

Indian Legendry.
No story can be complete without those mystic
tales of events long before true history was recorded,
and the story of the Nehalem Valley fails in its pur
pose unless it contains the record of happenings from
which it has derived many of its interesting features.
The earliest white settlers found the native residents
peaceful and indulgently pursuing their way of life ;
living in that simplicity that marks the beginning of
enlightenment. The Indian was honest in purpose,
simple in beliefs and customs, welcoming the stranger
as one whose desires were the same as their own.
While' the native population of the Nehalem River dis
trict was never large, it was a commingling of the
tribes from the north and the south — the Clatsops and
Tillamooks — and the histories of these tribes are
closely associated with that of the Nehalems. Their
legends are linked as was their life. The great ocean
offered, in the calm of summer, a playground for all
these children of the same God, and woven around the
grand old mountain of Neah-Kah-Nie and the surround
ing district are many stories common to all.
In relating these strange stories there is a feeling
of admiration for the inventive minds that first brought

20 STORIES OF NEHALEM
to life some of the wonderful tales they relate. There
must have been, in those crude and ancient days, minds
like that of a Washington Irving to supply to its peo
ple and preserve to this day some of the strange hap
penings and adventures of the days long before the
white race first penetrated the almost impassable for
ests and found a home here. But the Indian mind
was working, and their children of today tell us of
their legends. The Nehalem Valley historian is fortu
nate in having the privilege of securing this informa
tion at first hand, in listening to these stories from one
who heard them from her fathers before the white set
tler came in and added his embellishments. The stories
here related were secured from Mrs. Ed. Gervais, her
self nearly a century old, who brings them down to us
from the campfires of her father's home.

What Makes the Ocean Rough.
Old Indian God was prominent in the Nehalem
Country in the days far removed from the time and
memory of the last native resident, but his doings are
ipdelibly impressed upon the mind of every Indian
from the impressiveness of their telling as the family
was gathered at the evening campfire of long ago.
Like the child playing about the hearthstone of the
white family, the Indian child, active in mind and
body from plenty of exercise in the pure air and unin
cumbered with dolls and playthings, sought some story
from the father or mother to pass away the long even
ings. And the fathers of those native days were not
so completely enslaved to clubs and other affairs that
they could not devote a few hours to indulging the
slowly developing mind of the child by relating the

WHAT MAKES THE OCEAN ROUGH 21
romantic stories they had received from their fathers.
It is for this reason that we are privileged to learn of
much of the traditional life, fresh from the telling, of
those who took part in it or from those who received it
themselves at first hand from the first relator.
No white child has been able to learn from the
parent how the ocean happens to be rough. He is
obliged to await the time in life when a sufficient ad
vancement has been made in school work to study it all
out with the aid of a teacher. But the Indian boy and
girl learned the cause of this wonderful phenomenon
from a parent, and this is what the native child learned
to be the cause of all the unrest along the ocean front :
There is no knowing when Old Indian God first
made his appearance in these parts, and the time is
not necessary, but one day he was taking a stroll
along the beach at the foot of Neah-Kah-Nie Moun
tain. Some boys were bathing in the water. At this
time the ocean was as calm as a mill pond. Not a
ripple broke the surface of the Pacific. It had been
that way ever since the Indians could remember. Occa
sionally a summer breeze ruffled the surface, but the
breakers of today were unknown. The boys disported
themselves in the water for some time, watched by the
God. Either the comfort derived from the pleasure
angered the God, or it may be he thought the sport
very tame in such quiet water, but he made a vow
that the ocean should never be calm again. He went
down to where the boys were playing and told them
the ocean would soon be rough, and big breakers
should lash the shore. They would not again have the
privilege of swimming and disporting themselves in the
calm ocean. All would be changed.
The God then made his way up the side of the
mountain until he reached Treasure Cove. He looked
out over the calm waters and was impressed by the

22 STORIES OF NEHALEM
silent monotony. He decided to make the water rough
and the sea turbulent. Gathering a great mass of
wood, he built a fire on the slope overlooking the Cove.
It was a tremendous fire. The flames leaped high in
the air and heated the rocks around. When the coals
had formed in sufficient heaps, he tore rocks from the
side of the mountain and placed them on the embers
to heat. As a result of his Titanic work a broad de
pression on the west side of the mountain can be seen.
The boys watched the work of the God with fear and
trembling, and Indians from miles around saw the
great fire and wondered. The news spread throughout
the country that the God was angered at something
and he was preparing to make the ocean rough. No
one dared approach the spot, and the boys, soon
frightened out of their wits, ran to their homes and
told their parents what the God had said to them.
The God worked upon the ledge forming the moun
tain side, and piled the rocks high around the red hot
embers. The high cliff overlooking the ocean was an
ideal place for the undertaking the God had planned.
Precipitous walls of rock frowned upon the waters
and, so awe inspiring were they, that the bravest among
the Indians had always approached it with fear. But
the God had no such feeling. The place just suited
him and the purpose of his work. As soon as the rocks
had become red hot from the tremendous fire, he rolled
them to the brow of the cliff and dumped them into
the ocean. A boiling was immediately started and a
tremendous roar of hissing steam. Faster and faster
he worked until every rock had been dumped into the
ocean and the. water was boiling all around. It lashed
the foot of the cliff and extended its incessant beating
all along the shore in both directions. Gradually the
uneasiness and tumult, caused by the heated rocks,
widened in wonderful circles untiLthe whole ocean, as

WHAT MAKES THE OCEAN ROUGH 23
far as could be seen, was pitching and tossing in wild
confusion. The God was pleased at his handiwork.
At first, the new sound from the ocean — the con
stant roaring upon the shore — caused fear in the hearts
of the Indians dwelling there, but they were soon
assured by the God that it meant no danger to them.
It was a barrier to protect them from those who might
venture upon the great ocean and come to their land.
And thus it has continued from that day. The tireless
waters beat upon the rocks, sometimes in murmurs
during the calm days of summer, and lashing the shore
in fury when the God had cast more fiery rocks into
its bosom.

Old Indian God.

Old Indian God was a being of wonderful strength
and ability, but in many ways was just like the people
inhabiting the world at that time. He was all power
ful, and no deed was too great for him to perform. He
dwelt among his people, and did many things for them
and assisted them in their work. He was not an ex
clusive God. He loved and labored for his people with
all the diligence of one who sought to improve those
entrusted to his care. Tribes throughout the country
were frequently visited by him and, if things were not
running to suit him, he corrected them. Sometimes his
people were discontented; he made all right. Some
times they needed chastisement; they got it from him
to the limit. But, as a general rule, this supreme being
tried to make life easy and happy for everyone. He
spent his life, from birth, among those whom he influ
enced by his limitless powers, and was really one among
them, except that he was a God and was more of a die-

24 STORIES OF NEHALEM
tator than a playfellow. And he was a playful mem
ber of the race, if the stories handed down by the
natives who came in contact with him can be believed.
He was as human as the most human of them, and had
no objection to either playing a prank or having one
played upon him.
He was born on the north shore of Tillamook Bay.
A rough sandstone point, making its way out into the
bay, was the cradle in which he was rocked. Here
the God's mother lived in the days long before people
came to this country, and here was the realm sacred
to every native from the days long before the fathers
of the last tribes can remember. In the day of the
birth of the God, the country around was somewhat
different from the present. The great ocean glistened
in the sun in quiet peacefulness, the broad stretch of
country to the east was broken only by gradual slopes :
it was all a paradise in which gods could disport them
selves. The steep dividing line between the coast dis
trict and the valley country to the east was just as
sharp and well defined as at present, but the slope to
the crest of the mountains was more gradual until
the base of the incline had been reached. The Tilla
mook district — that included in the great sweep of
rich and fertile country from the Columbia River to
far beyond where the Nestucca enters the ocean — was
broad in fertile acres, and here the children of the gods
later found a rich harvest field.
But the sacred spot of the Indian was on the barren
point of rock jutting out into the bay and facing the
severe storms of winter. Here was the cradle, and here
the Indian fathers and mothers met to gaze in awe
and admiration. No one dared invade this place, and
natives passing the point turned aside to show their
reverence to the one who was their God. Until the
white man invaded the place and built a railroad along

OLD INDIAN GOD 25
the shore of the bay, the cradle could be seen, and was
frequently visited by the natives of this district.
When the Pacific Railroad & Navigation Company
built its road around what is known as Larson's Point
the workmen unceremoniously buried the cradle under
a heavy blast and it is lost forever to the Indians, who
looked upon it with religious reverence.
Here Old Indian God was born and cradled. Here
he spent his childhood and learned of the things his
people would desire. But he was not different from the
boys and girls of the race to which he belonged. He
played the same games the children played. It was he
who invented these sports and gave them to his young
companions. From his boyhood to the time when he
began to explore the country over which he ruled there
is little recorded. But in later life it is known that
he traveled extensively among the natives of the
country. One place held sacred by the Indians dwelling in
the Nehalem district is that located on the Scovell
homestead on the North Fork of the river, where the
God left a footprint as a memorial of his visit. This
spot is still in existence, and is indicated by the last of
the natives as one evidence of a visit here by the favor
ite of the Indians. Mrs. Gervais tells of the awe and
respect in which this spot was held by the older In
dians. Whenever she visited it in company with any
of them, they forcefully impressed her with the fact
that she should not trespass upon the ground for fear
of creating an enmity toward them in the breast of
their God. No one dared approach the place too closely
and, in the memory of the members of the local tribes,
no one had ever trod upon the spot.
But this was only one of the many visits the Old
Indian God paid to this district. The legends of the
people show that he was a frequent visitor here. Per-

26 STORIES OF NEHALEM
haps there can be no better illustration of the action
and the power of the God than to relate one trip he
made from the place of his birth in the Nehalem coun
try. All the incidents to be recorded in the following
pages are illustrative of a journey of this God through
the land of his people, and were related by the last of
the Indians to be born in this district before the white
visitor came to taint these records with the inventive
genius of his kind. As far as native records can be
considered reliable, this trip is truthful as regards the
events related.
Had it not been for the kindness of the woodpecker,
the God would not have been able to reach the land
of the Nehalem tribe. Old Indian God was just like
the rest of us. He loved sport. He saw some young
people playing in the water and stopped a while to
join in the fun. Of course, the ocean was not rough at
this time, and no breakers enhanced the pleasure of
bathing, but the God and his young companions en
joyed some time in the sunlit waters. Finally the God
was chilled by the cold of the water and could stand
it no longer. He went upon the beach to rest in the
sun and to permit its rays to warm him, but he was
chilled to the bone and the cold did not leave. There
was no fire on the shore, and nothing with which to
build one, and the God made a wish that a wall of
rock should be formed about him to break off the
chill winds. Presently the God fell asleep and rested
for hours. At last, he awoke with a feeling of suffoca
tion. He was too warm, for some reason, and it was
not until he fully aroused himself that he found the
cause. His wish had been granted, but to a greater
extent than he had planned.
The spirit performing the job of building a wall
about the God had overdone the operation, and the un
fortunate found himself completely surrounded with a

OLD INDIAN GOD 27
mass of rock he could not move. Not only this, but
the top was covered. The God was enclosed in a vault
of rock, and there was no means by which he could
escape. Learning the predicament resulting from his
wish, he began to cry for help at the top of his voice.
The birds of the surrounding section came at the sound
of his voice to learn the trouble. None could assist
the unfortunate God from his situation except the
woodpecker. Miss Woodpecker had a long sharp bill
and, on solicitation of the other birds, began pecking
on the wall to liberate the God. It was a difficult
undertaking, but she worked industriously. A small
opening was finally made in the rock wall and the God
could see the sunlight again. At last, the hole was
large enough for the God to protrude his head.
The God was just as human and natural as the rest
of us. Miss Woodpecker was a beautiful creature, and
her beauty attracted the God. He resolved to show his
appreciation to his fair liberator by playing sometime
with her upon the beach. Miss Woodpecker was a shy
creature and, for some reason, did not like the God.
On discovering his intention, she decided the easiest
way of disposing of an objectionable companion was
to, keep him in the vault, and refused to continue the
work. The God begged and pleaded ; he promised that
he meant no harm, but the beautiful bird refused to
believe him and flew away to a near-by rock.
That certainly was a predicament for a God to be
in. He could see out to the world and its sunlight;
he could see the birds flitting about and the beautiful
Miss Woodpecker, whose loveliness had caused him
to occupy this new position. He could see the ocean,
and discovered the question of food was one soon to
be confronting him. Something must be done, and
the girl who had partially freed him now refused to

28 STORIES OF NEHALEM
assist any longer. It was necessary for the God to do
something for himself.
Old Indian God had certain powers differing con
siderably from those we possess. He could take him
self apart and rebuild himself, and this is what he had
to do. He took out his eyes and put them through the
opening in the rock. Instantly Miss Woodpecker saw
an opportunity to teach the God a lesson and deprive
him of the part of his body that had caused him trou
ble, and she flew down and stole the eyes of the God.
Not knowing his predicament, the immortal one con
tinued his process of dismemberment, and soon had
entirely removed himself from the prison, but he was
surprised and grieved when he started to put himself
together. His eyes were gone and he could not see.
He asked the birds to help him find them, thinking they
had been misplaced in some manner, but Miss Wood
pecker had warned her bird friends against the God
and none of them were willing to assist.
After long begging and entreating, he discovered
that his loss had been occasioned by his evil thoughts,
and made haste to leave the place. He continued along
the beach until he reached the Nehalem River, where
he made his way to the cabin of a lonely Indian. He
found the man at home and asleep. It was not the
right thing for a God to do, but he took the eyes from
the man and hastily left. He evidently liked the Ne
halem country, as viewed through his new eyes, for
he moved to the place, married, and lived there ever
after. He made frequent trips to the land of the Clat
sop and Tillamook natives, but he never after molested
Miss Woodpecker. On one of his trips to the Colum
bia River he saw some boys making their way across
the river. They were on their way to visit some young
women residing at Ilwaco. The God became angered
at them for some reason, and called to them to come

OLD INDIAN GOD 29
back. They refused, and he turned them to stone.
They can be seen standing in the river just as the God
left them, a number of stone images. This is the ex
planation for the rocks standing out in the water a
short distance from Ilwaco.

Marine Hypnotism.
The history of the Indian brings to us some amus
ing incidents and some very strange natural conditions.
No one ever dreamed that an underground passage
once existed leading from the North Fork of the river
to the ocean, coming out at the bald rocky bluff near
Ecola, but it once existed. The terminal in the Neha
lem country was somewhere on the Buchanan place,
and that section was really an inland ocean, with clam
beds and sea life all about. It is in this manner that
the Indian explains the presence of the great number
of petrified clams found in the district. According to
some native authorities, this passage connected this in
land body of water with the sea before the Nehalem
River was built by Ed. Gervais.
Only one Indian ever made the passage through this
canal and, according to those who tell the story, it was
an unintentional trip. Anyway, the natives tell of an
Indian residing at Ecola. He was a spiritualist of the
old school, and about the first one ever known in these
parts. It is known that he never visited the Nehalem
country except on this trip, and his description of the
country was so complete and true that the natives
have never doubted his story. This man was in the
habit of going to the bald knoll near his home and
spending much time gazing into the great ocean at his
feet. It is said he communicated with the spirits re-

30 STORIES OF NEHALEM
siding in the water and talked for hours with them.
He always carried a long pole.
One day, while he was gazing into the water, he
leaned over too far and fell in. Some of the Indians
watching him saw him fall, and heard his wild cry for
help as he went. They rushed to the beach, and some
of them put out in their canoes. Reaching the spot
where the man had gone down, they could find no
trace of him. They hunted all that day and all the
next, but his body could hot be seen. Finally, late in
the afternoon of the second day, someone saw the pole
always carried by the native protruding from the
water, and a canoe was hurried to the place. One of
the natives grasped the end of the pole and began to
pull. There was something on the submerged end of
the pole, and the Indian had to exert all his strength
to raise it. On bringing it to the surface they were
surprised to find the man clinging to the pole, and
apparently dead. On taking him ashore, they found
the body was warm and it was rushed to one of the
cabins. A fire was hurriedly built and skin blankets
packed upon the body. Soon the man recovered and
told of his strange journey.
When he fell into the water, a sea lion took him
in tow, and they made their way through the long
passage to the Nehalem country. He described the trip
and everything he saw. Indians who had visited this
section asserted his description of everything was
exact, and he could not have told the story so well
without actually having been there. He told of the
seals and sea lions inhabiting this country.
The Indians assert that a seal or sea lion will exert
a sort of hypnotic influence upon a person should one
rub against the body while in the water, and say the
ability of the man to make the trip under water is due

NO. 2. THE NEAH-KAH-NIE TRAIL,.

MARINE HYPNOTISM 31
to this fact. An aunt of Mrs. Ed. Gervais was once
swimming in the lower river and a seal rubbed against
her. She immediately began to feel drowsy, and hur
ried to the shore for fear of being overcome by the

Bad Water.

Many people have wondered what impression the
first drink of whisky and rum had upon the Indian.
This child of nature had never taken a drink of any
thing stronger than water until the visit of the white
man, and just how the strange stuff affected him and
what explanation he had for its taste has been a source
of wonder, but it can be supplied from the story of the
first ship visiting the Nehalem beach. Some Indians
have called it "fire water" and others by other names,
but a chief of this country gave it the name of "bad
water," and, according to the story, it must have been.
The Indians were attracted to the beach by a mon
ster canoe out in the ocean. All its sails were set, but
it lay motionless upon the calm water. None of them
had ever seen a canoe rigged like this, and they de
cided to investigate. They could not see any of the
sailors on the ship and thought the strange craft de
serted. The chief, accompanied by about twenty of
his men, launched their canoes and paddled out to the
ship. The chief climbed up the side ladder, followed
by his son. When they reached the deck they saw a
strange white man, and he greeted them with delight.
Among the other signs of greeting was a long-
necked bottle and a cup. The man turned a generous
drink from the bottle and handed it to the chief. His
royal highness, thinking it to be water, hurriedly drank

32 STORIES OF NEHALEM
it, but the expression on his face indicated it was some
thing entirely new and surprising. He had drank too
quickly. It was water the like of which he had never
tasted. Part of it had gone down to his stomach, and
he was not able to get rid of the rest. Down it had
to go, but it was an awful job. He coughed and sput
tered; he almost choked, and the agony was fearful.
He happened to look up in time to see the man passing
a drink of the same water to his son, and he raised his
hand in protest. It was some time before he was able
to get his voice and explain to his son.
"Do not drink that water," he at last succeeded
in saying. "Do not drink it, my son. It is bad water.
It tastes bad. It has been carried around the ocean on
this big canoe for so long it has spoiled. Do not
drink it."
It certainly was spoiled water, and the chief warned
his son in time. Soon the effects of the liquor were
felt. He felt drowsy and sleepy, but it was no place to
sleep where men carried water so long that it spoiled.
Spying a new object laying close at hand, the chief
sneaked it under the skin blanket with which he was
dressed, and told his son they must be going. It was
an axe, but the chief did not know of what use the
thing might be. He had stolen something from the man
who gave him the bad water, and that was all he
wanted. The pair went over the side of the ship, the
chief carefully handling his prize. In spite of the
bad water he had drunk, the chief took a liking to the
big canoe and decided to take it ashore. He directed
his men to tie a line, made of elk hide, to the chain
hanging down the side of the ship and pull the canoe
ashore. Neither the chief nor his men had ever heard
of an anchor and, if they had, would not have known
its use. They did not know the ship was anchored and,
in their ignorance, devoted much time and a great deal

BADWATER 33
of strength in their effort to move the big canoe. It
would not budge, however, and the natives were forced
to return to the beach without the ship.
The Indians thought the God had become angered
at them for invading the ship and would not allow
it to move when they pulled. It was the wonder of a
lifetime to them. They had never seen anything of
that kind before, and that it was manned by men of
white skin and, speaking a language they could not
understand, caused great awe among them. The high
sails set and towering for a long way above their
heads ; the ship itself, larger than any water craft they
had ever seen, and the fact that they could not move
it in spite of the efforts of the twenty braves, filled
their minds with strange sensations. At this time, the
native mind had not conceived the idea of a sail, and
the Indians could not see the paddles with which the
ship was navigated. They could not believe it pos
sessed any motive power other than paddles, and that
none were aboard was a surprise. It must have trav
eled by magic was the only explanation they could
give. It was the ship of the Gods, but the water, with
the strange taste, was beyond their comprehension.
They could explain it in no other way than that it had
been carried around on the vessel for so long that it
had spoiled. But the chief little thought how popular
this fiery drink would become with the future genera
tions of his tribe.
But this chief and his followers were not so sur
prised as their children were doomed to be later, when
another ship paid a visit to these shores. Another of
these wonderful canoes anchored off the beach, and was
a source of wonder to the natives. They paddled about
it in their canoes, and examined its every detail.
Finally one of them spied the ladder stretching down
its side, and decided to make a closer examination. He

34 STORIES OF NEHALEM
scampered up the side, followed by others of the tribe.
They did not see anyone about the decks, and took
their own time in inspecting everything. Anything
movable they saw greatly interested them. In fact,
it interested them so keenly that axes, hammftrs and
other movable articles began to disappear beneath their
skin blankets. It was a wonder to them that no people
appeared to inhabit this strange craft, and they made
themselves perfectly at home. About every member of
the party had several articles appealing to their fancy,
and some were making their way to the ladder in an
ticipation of returning ashore.
Suddenly a most unearthly noise split their ears. A
cannon was fired by some unseen member of the crew.
In the smallest fraction of a second every Indian was
in action. It was a wonder to see the great assort
ment of axes and other articles the natives shed from
their blankets at the report. But they did not stop to
pick them up. There was no time for anything but
flight, and fly they did. Not one of them waited to
leave by the ladder. Over the side of the ship they
went into the water : some landing in their canoes, the
impetus of the fall smashing the frail craft, and in no
time many Indians were struggling in the water, some
too excited to bother about, the direction they were
going so long as they could get away from the canoe
that made such noises. On going to the deck, the
members of the crew found an odd assortment of arti
cles, blankets some of the natives had dropped in
their wild desire to get away from the vessel, and many
articles the Indians had stolen. Below was an active
collection of natives in the water.
Those on shore, who had been watching their com
panions, asserted that the ship threw smoke at them
and a big noise accompanied it. But until the mystery
of the first cannon was explained to them, generations

BAD WATER 35
of Indians told of this weird experience to their chil
dren as one of the events to be preserved among their
people.

Old Indian God's Courtship.
Old Indian God, as he was called by the natives
dwelling in the territory of the Nehalem deity, was a
playful sort of fellow. He was not called the Great
Spirit and the other names familiar to tribes in other
sections of the country, but maintained the name by
which the chapter is introduced. Even from his boy
hood he was just as mischievous and sportive as the
average boy, and showed none of those traits indicative
that he was other than one of the every-day kind of
boys making things interesting on this earth. He both
ered his parents, ran away at every opportunity, and
spent a great deal of time about the rivers of his
native district. About the only thing to be said of this
young deity is that he was a boy from the ground up.
When he had reached that period of youthfulness
when all boys begin to look upon some girl as a neces
sity in life, the Old Indian God had his fancy set upon
a maid living over toward the place where the Colum
bia and Willamette rivers unite. He was too young
for the serious consideration of becoming the head of
a family, and his parents objected to his childish
devotion. They refused him the right to visit the land
of the maiden, and kept a careful watch over his every
movement. His education, in the way of his people
and in preparation for the mission he was to perform
in life, seemed more important to them than paying
tribute to the beauty and attractiveness of a girl and,
in this particular, their opinions were shared by the

36 STORIES OF NEHALEM
parents of the maiden in question. But the youthful
god thought differently.
He stood the strict regulations of his parents for
some time, but his spirit was too unconquerable to sur
render easily. One day, when the ducks were upon
the waters and all the native boys were hunting, he
stole off to the bay for the purpose of planning out his
future. Of course, he told his parents he was going
hunting, and they offered no objection when he took
his hunting equipment, including a large bag. They
did not know he had been secreting a supply of food
in the forest in preparation for a journey to the home
of his lady love. For several days he had been quietly
gathering a stock of supplies, and laid his plans to
quietly slip from the land of his fathers before anyone
would miss him from the home.
Making his way down the bay to the point where
he had secreted his quantity of supplies, he hastily ar
ranged them in his hunting sack and started up the
beach toward the Nehalem country. He followed the
river to its forks, and turned to follow the North Fork
toward the north. It was a long, hard trip for a youth
of his age, the God then being only sixteen years old.
He spent one night in camp far up toward the head
waters of the river. At this time, the present ridge of
mountains did not stand in his path, but the country
was a gradual rise from the river until about midway
to the Willamette River, whence it dipped toward the
north in a gradual slope to where that stream joined
the Columbia. Occasionally a rise in the surface of the
country approached the magnitude of a hill, but no
abrupt mountain peaks broke the monotony of the
country. Late in the afternoon of the second day the God
reached the land to which he was bound, and sought
the one who had attracted him. To his grief and sur-

OLD INDIAN GOD'S COURTSHIP 37
prise, he learned that his place, or the place he desired,
at the side of the maiden, had been usurped by a brave
from up the Columbia, and his hard journey had been
made for nothing. Not only had he lost the girl, but
he soon became aware of an enmity his visit had
caused. The unknown lover of the maiden was one
of those who considered a dead rival was less trouble
some than a live one, and he planned the extermina
tion of the visitor. During his visits to the tribe, he
had made friends with many of the youths of the
village, and to these he told his scheme. It was that
they should induce the visitor from the Nehalem land
to begin his home journey that night, and they would
waylay him in the forest.
But the God from the Nehalem had a friend in the
village. It was no other than Bluebird, whom he had
befriended one day in the forest. Bluebird heard, the
plans of the young braves and listened to their coun
cils. She immediately made known the plot to the
God, and told him how he could save himself from the
uncalled for revenge. That night the God proclaimed
his intention of returning home, and announced it in
such a manner that his rival and his friends would
hear and not suspect that he had been warned of their
plans. Before darkness fell, he made his way out of
the village and into the dismal forest stretching for
miles between himself and home. Only a short dis
tance, however, did he follow the accustomed path.
As soon as he had made his way far enough out of the
settlement that his movements would not be observed,
he took a side path and met the Bluebird on an aban
doned trail ; one that had not been used by the people
of that country for years. Reaching this trail, he made
haste to place as much distance between himself and
the land of his new enemies as possible. The Bluebird
was his constant companion, but frequently made side

38 STORIES OF NEHALEM
trips across the forest back to the village of the Wil-
lamettes, and to the path his pursuers followed and
back to her companions, keeping him informed of the
movements of those who had planned to pursue.
On and on he pushed. The trail had overgrown
with brush and progress was slow, but he succeeded
in reaching the low divide at the headwaters of the
Nehalem before it was time to camp for the night.
Next morning he found the old trail so overgrown
that it was impossible to make time any longer, and
he decided to continue his journey by the path he had
come. It was hard work to reach this path over the
rough and log-strewn ground, but he finally succeeded ;
not, however, without taxing his strength to the limit,
and a very sore ankle, bruised on a rock, not only both
ered him in walking, but was exceedingly painful. To
add to his other troubles, Bluebird came to him and
gave him the information that his enemies from the
Willamette were rapidly approaching. They had re
solved upon revenge for the deception he had practiced
the night before in taking the other path, and were
determined to overtake him before he had reached the
land of the Nehalems. The God told Bluebird of his
predicament, and asked her to keep a close watch upon
the approaching avengers.
The God now saw he could not hope to outstrip his
pursuers in the trip, and his only salvation was in
battle. But how could he, a lone traveler, unarmed,
expect to cope with the number approaching? His
mission to the land of the fair maiden had been peace
ful and he did not carry the accustomed hunting equip
ment. His ankle, too, was paining him all the more,
and the prospect was discouraging. His only safety
was in building a barricade of rocks between himself
and his pursuers to such a height that he cquld reach
a place far down the river where friends lived before

QLD INDIAN GOD'S COURTSHIP 39
they could climb over it. He tackled the job with
a vim. Gathering all the rocks from the country
around, he arranged them in a long barricade stretch
ing from the Coast Range of mountains to the ocean.
Rocks from miles around were gathered, and so com
plete was the work performed by the God, assisted by
Bluebird, that none can be found in the -country round
about to this day. Huge cliffs, towering hundreds of
feet above the surrounding formations, can be seen
where the God broke off immense chunks of rock to
use in building his barricade. And his work was not
in vain. Bluebird, watching the progress of the pur
suers, brought the glad tidings that the enemy had
become discouraged at the sudden appearance of the
almost impassable mountain and turned back on their
way home.
The God sat down to rest after the great exertions
and, for the first time, a new and more potent danger
confronted him. He remembered that it had been
three days since he left home to go hunting for a few
hours, and the paternal wrath was something to be
considered. When he started on the expedition he had
not thought of this. As a matter of fact, he had been
determined to go out into the great world and make
his own way, accompanied by the maiden of his choice,
but the maiden had had other plans, and now he must
return home to receive whatever punishment his father
should invent. Between the impossibility of returning
to the land of the Willamettes and his natural fear of
the paternal moccasin, the God was in an unfortunate
predicament. The longer he studied the matter the
more distant was the solution. He was getting hungry
as well. Holding a council with his friend, Bluebird,
he decided to go down to the ocean and secure a supply
of clams, and there spend the approaching night. On
the way he revolved all the plans of a lifetime in his

40 STORIES OF NEHALEM
mind, and finally came to the conclusion that he had
better spend a long time on the North Fork of the
river, and let his parents learn that he was large
enough to take care of himself. Clams were plentiful
near the ocean, and the God had no difficulty in secur
ing an immense supply. These he carried up the river
and made his camp at the base of Onion Peak.
The disappearance of the God from his home had
created a sensation among the people of the Tillamook
Bay district, and the news rapidly spread to the Neha
lem country. Searchers were sent out in every direc
tion to make inquiry and hunt for the lost boy. Mr*
Seagull had told all his people to search the ocean;
Woodpecker and the rest of the birds promised to hunt
in the forest, and Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear notified
everyone they met to send in word should news of the
lost boy be heard. All over the Nehalem country the
news spread, and one day as Bluebird was winging her
way down the river she met Woodpecker, who told her
the terrible news. Bluebird hastened back to where her
friend was encamped and told of the great search be
ing made for him. Then, at the direction of the God,
Bluebird made the long trip across the hills to the
boy's parents to ascertain if they were angry. It was
happy tidings she brought back to the disheartened
God. His parents were bewailing their loss, and prom
ised to receive him with open arms upon his return.
The camp was abandoned in haste, and the God
made the journey to his home without losing a moment.
The great store of clams he had carried to the camping
place from the ocean can now be seen in the vicinity
of Onion Peak and along the shores of the North Fork
of the river, although today they have turned to stone,
and are gathered by the white people visiting the sec
tion as rare souvenirs of their trip, little knowing they
were placed there centuries ago by Old Indian God.

INDIAN HISTORY 41
Indian History.
The earliest story of the Nehalem country, that
dealing with the Indians dwelling here before the ad
vent of the white people, is so closely entwined with
that of the Clatsops, to the north, and the Tillamooks,
to the south, that its separation is almost impossible.
The natives, belonging to the true Nehalem tribe, were
few and rather roving in their life. They visited the
Clatsops and Tillamooks, intermarried with these tribes
and never formed what might really be called a settled
tribe. Very few there were of the true Nehalem blood,
if such a strain could be discovered.
This district seemed to be a camping and hunting
ground between the two powerful tribes, and was a
Garden of Eden of which they voluntarily deprived
themselves, as far as making a permanent settlement
was concerned. There never was a time when some
natives could not be found here, but never a great
number of settled residents at one particular time. The
reason for this is not known. Game was here in great
abundance. Elk and deer were more easily secured
and found in greater numbers, according to the pres
ent Indians, than cattle today. There was no trouble
to secure all the meat one desired, and the natives
never killed for slaughter. In this one respect, the
Indian was far superior to his white brother. He killed
only that which he needed for present use or for the
necessary season's supply. On the other hand, as soon
as the white settlers came, they began to kill indis
criminately. It is said the needs of the natives never
depleted the number of elk and deer sufficiently to be
noticed. Hunters from the north came here; natives
on whose grounds these supplies were not found. They
spent some time in the foothills securing the season's
supply of meat, and departed for home laden with a

42 STORIES OF NEHALEM
wealth they could not find elsewhere. Fish came in the
rivers so numerously there was no difficulty in spear
ing them. In comparison with former conditions, the
earliest settlers say there are no fish in these waters
today. The keen desire for wealth possessed by the
whites has depleted the runs. There was no necessity
for hatcheries or closed seasons. Other game, as well,
could be found a quarter of a century ago where cities
now stand. Bear, wild cat, and mountain lion supplied
furs. Clams were so plentiful that, as one of the
natives said, in digging one a person secured a whole
mess. Nehalem Valley was a paradise in which few
of the Indians made a permanent home.
The earliest settlers found merely a handful of
natives, and these hospitable. William Snyder, who
came here in 1870, relates that the number of Indians
actually residing in the Nehalem country was from
twelve to twenty. These had no objection to the com
ing of the whites. They had no particular settlement,
but were scattered along the river banks and the sand
spit where food and shelter was best combined. Fre
quently parties of them came from the north or the
south and made campgrounds for a short period at
Dean's Point, at the present site of Wheeler, at the
forks of the river, or at Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain. They
came to fish and hunt, or spent short intervals of time
along the Nehalem on visits with neighboring tribes.
He says the natives here claimed to be a branch of the
Siletz tribe, but how they came here is not explained
by them. They were particularly friendly to the white set
tlers, and claimed to be pleased to have them come, as
long as they did not interfere with the natives living
here or their customs. One thing of all others to arouse
the enmity of the Indians was interference with their
dead. The mode of burial was simple. The deceased

INDIAN HISTORY 43
was placed in a large canoe, the bottom of which had
been pierced to permit the rain to escape, all the be
longings decorated the sepulcher, and a smaller canoe
placed over all. These places were sacred to the
natives, and keen resentment was held against anyone
molesting them. One early settler is said to have taken
a fancy to a particular canoe which served as the
resting place of the departed. He removed every
thing from the craft, patched it and proceeded to
use it. The natives told him to return it and place
the remains and decorations where they belonged.
He refused and a few days later the man awoke to
find his canoe smashed so completely that there was
not enough left "to make kindling wood." His life
was made unpleasant by the natives and he did not
stay long in these parts.
The natives lived to a ripe old age and preserved
their youthful appearance until very late in life. It
was not infrequent to find Indian women in the Ne
halem and Tillamook districts who claimed to be more
than 100 years old. When Mr. Snyder came here,
there were two women said to be 109 and 112 years
of age respectively. The latter was named Sugar
Labush. Had it not been for an unfortunate acci
dent in which she was drowned, she might be living
today. The only thing interferring would have been
William Snyder's rifle, as he came near shooting her
twice ; which will be related later.
The Indians residing here had no particular form
of government and their laws were interpreted to
them by a council appointed from the body of the
tribe. There was no chief as far back as the present
native residents know and disputes were settled more
by arbitration than any other way. These matters,
as well as rules governing social relations, were de
cided by a council of the wisest men of the tribe.

44 STORIES OF NEHALEM
They were selected by the people for their wisdom
and judgment. All matters were submitted to them
and their decision was never over-ruled. The people
accepted it as the will of the entire body by which
they had been selected. It is pleasing to discover
that few matters demanded the calling of these coun
cils. The people were peaceful and worked for the
interest of all. There appears to have been no serious
difficulties, either among themselves or with their
neighbors, and scarcely any necessity for a form of
government. Their customs were derived chiefly from
association with neighboring and larger tribes and,
from them, they secured all the guidance particularly
needed in their simple life.
There was such an abundance of game and fish
and such rich fields in which to feed their horses that
property laws were scarcely needed. In their do
mestic relations, they followed the custom of the tribes
to the north and a great per cent of the Nehalemites of
that day either secured wives from the Columbia
River tribes or the maidens were won by the northern
braves and went there to live. The mutual interests
binding the people together and the one desire to live
in peace and plenty did not occasion an array of legal
formality such as entangles the white residents of the
section today. There was, in those days, no cry of too
much law. The rules laid down by the councils of
wise men, when such were necessary, were simple and
easily understood. To the mind of the few Indians
now living here, the idea that their white successors
have representative bodies to make laws and another
either to interpret or unmake them is a joke. There
was no question in the mind of the early natives what
would happen in the event he stole his neighbor's pony
or ran away with his squaw. The law of the tribe was
simple and well defined, and no lawyer could get him

INDIAN HISTORY 45
out of the difficulty. He must take his punishment
without expectation of pardon.
But there were few breaches of the laws in those
days. Crime, as we know it, was practically unknown.
The shiftless members of the tribe were easily handled
and in a manner that broke them of any worthless
habit.

The Beeswax Ship.
Romance plays an important part in the story of
Nehalem. No part of the coast of Oregon breathes so
much of mystery or holds the mind of the story teller
so completely in its spell as this. It is, beyond all
else, a series of stories so completely baffling that the
mind of an Irving would be lost in the skein of un
raveled tales. A suggestion here, a hint there, and an
unconnected bit of evidence over, yonder leads the
lover of romance into a maze of possibilities until be
wilderment confuses the entire story. There is just
enough of realism surrounding the beaches of Nehalem
to make any story possible and, to please the mind
of the fanciful, writers have indulged their imagina
tions in wonderful plays, dramas and grand operas
to such an extent that no history of this section is
complete without these stories; a sort of mythology
connecting the unrecorded past with the present.
Whether these stories are correct may never be
known, but sufficient credence has been given them
to lead many to follow this rainbow in quest of this
pot of gold. Even the doubting members of the com
munity leave a question of their entire belief in the
falsity of the tales. There are many suggestions point
ing to the truth of some of these stories and there is

46 STORIES OF NEHALEM
just as much evidence to the contrary, so it is left
entirely to the wish or imagination of the reader
whether that individual shall accept them and leave
them in our history. Perhaps in the Nehalem Valley
and among those who have had the first and best op
portunity to examine into the reality of this part of
our story, there is an equally divided sentiment about
it. But there is one certainty, the story of Nehalem
would be a hollow tale without these bits of imagina
tion-stirring incidentals.
No story has more conflicting details, nor so many
doubts surrounding it as that of a ship laden with
beeswax which was wrecked upon the long finger of
sand stretching from the north mainland and separat
ing Nehalem Bay from the Pacific Ocean. The
earliest stories brought down to us by the Indians are
replete with incidents connected with it and the early
white settlers placed a great deal of confidence in these
tales. That a ship carrying much beeswax was
wrecked here is without question. No story of the
Nehalem country has ever been told without reference
to it and all these are substantiated by the immense
quantity of wax found scattered along the beach.
There seems to have been some difference in opinion
among scientists regarding the true character of the
substance, some claiming that it is a form of mineral
wax, while others positively say it is beeswax. Most
authorities hold to the latter opinion and this story
adds to the belief among the earliest residents of the
valley. The wax has been found in the sands forming the
seawall from near Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain to a point
three miles toward the Nehalem River. The first
white settlers say there were great chunks, some
weighing as high as two hundred pounds, either par
tially buried by the sand or completely under ground.

vS

&V>~3at,

NO. 3. FIGURED ROCKS OP NEAH-KAH-NIE.

THE BEESWAX SHIP 47
They varied from this size to small candle-shaped
pieces, evidently intended for use in the missions along
the southern coast. The Indians tell of a greater ex
tent to which it was found. Mrs. Gervais tells of the
time when she was a small girl when the beach was
strewn for miles with this wax. She frequently visited
the beach and found many candles and gathered them
with which to play. They had the "rope" in them,
she asserts,- meaning that the wicking had not com
pletely totted away. This was more than three-quar
ters of a century ago. Her brother was in the habit
of packing much of the wax with him on each visit
to Astoria; where he sold it to the stores.
Other Indians followed his example, and the wax
was a source of revenue to many natives from which
they secured comforts of life. The first white settlers
soon learned the value of the substance, and many tons
were shipped to the Astoria and Portland markets.
From the date of the earliest shipments to the present
time thereis no telling how much of the wax has been
marketed, but* if all stories are correct, it would run
into scores of. tons. Even summer visitors to the
beaches now are fortunate enough to dig up samples of
various sizes. Two hundred pounds were secured a
year ago by a pair of industrious diggers. Securing
these samples is a difficult job. The sands have cov
ered the places to considerable depth, and just where
to dig is the question. At present, it is a matter of
guesswork, and the successful hunter is forced to ex
cavate a hole several feet in depth, but even this dis
couraging undertaking does not deter scores from try
ing their hand and considering a small piece a satis
factory reward for their labors.
But whence came this great amount of wax! This
is a part of the romance. Many different stories have
been told, but that secured from the last of the natives

48 STORIES OF NEHALEM
and one upon which the most reliance can be placed,
connects the coming of the beeswax with the equally
interesting mystery surrounding the treasure said to
have been buried on the sides of Neah-Kah-Nie Moun
tain, and which will be told in the following story.
Even the romancer has taken a hand at the wonderful
tale, and added the air of piracy to it. Whether the
fated ship, whose bones have partially rotted on the
sands of the beach, was navigated by pirates, or
whether it was one on a peaceful mission to the Orient,
will never be known. Large quantities of teakwood
have been found on the beach near the scene of the
wreck, but whether this is a part of the wax and
treasure ship, or of some other unfortunate craft, is
still a mystery. Should this wood have been a part
of the ship, its origin must have been in the Oriental
countries, as this almost indestructible product of na
ture is found chiefly in the forests of the Philippine
Islands. But the source of the ship and whence it was
bound is inot particularly a part of our story.
One tale, told to an early settler by Indians residing
here, brings three ships in deadly conflict off the Neha
lem Beach. It claims the natives were hunting on the
slope of Neah-Kah-Nie when they noticed three strange
craft far out in the water. As they neared the shore,
the watchers could see that the ships were throwing
smoke at each other. "Poof, poof," is one way in
which they described it, and throwing smoke was an
other. The battle continued for some time and, at last,
two of the ships sank. The other was. badly damaged,
and forced to make the beach for repairs. The native
mathematician figured a crew of thirty men aboard the
boat. As soon as the repairs were completed, the ship
was pulled from the beach and an attempt made to run
it through the breakers. It was a fatal attempt, for
it was wrecked before the outer breaker had been

THE BEESWAX SHIP 49
reached, and the beach was soon strewn with its equip
ment. But this latter ship was not the one carrying
the beeswax. It was the mysterious treasure ship from
which came the story found in the following chapter.
The wax was a part of the cargo of one of the ships
which was sunk during the battle.

Neah-Kah-Nie Treasure.
The story told by Mrs. Gervais, and confirmed by
stories told by other natives in years gone by, brings
but one ship here. Its nature and the place from which
it sailed is still hidden in the distant past. One morn
ing the natives went to the hunting ground along the
mountain in quest of game. To their surprise, they
found a large quantity of a strange substance; some
thing they had never seen before. It was the beeswax
of our story. A little further along on the beach they
discovered the wreck of a monstrous "canoe." None
of them had ever seen an object of this kind before.
Its sails were flying in the wind, and objects of every
description, new to the Indians, were found on the
beach. To add more mystery to the whole affair, there
was a number, told to have been thirty, of men whose
faces were white and whose dress and language was
new to them. By signs, they learned the men had
come from across the ocean and their ship had been
wrecked during the night.
The date of the wreck is thought to have been about
the year 1679. Markings on the wax seem to indicate
this assumption is correct. Many pieces have been
found with figures, both Roman numerals and Arabic,
of this date. One of these, with the date 1679, is now
in possession of the Nehalem Valley Bank. The last
of the Indians, in relating the story, said she heard

50 STORIES OF NEHALEM
the story from her father; it had been told to him by
his grandmother, and she heard it from her grand
mother. This would carry the story back for four gen
erations of the Indian life, and bring the date not far
from that cut upon the chunk of wax recovered.
Every story told by the natives shows that a great
number of candles were scattered along the beach, fol
lowing the wreck, and gathered by Indians to the last
generation. Early white settlers found many broken
pieces, and some have been preserved. Some of them
are the size of our present candles, others larger, while
many have been worn to a tapering shape by the action
Of the breakers upon the shore where the wax has
rolled. None have been found with the wicking in
them, but the hole it once occupied is still plainly
seen. The natives did not know to what use they
could put these candles, for they had not outgrown the
campfire as a source of light for their evenings about
their homes.
Many conflicting stories have been told of what
became of the crew of this strange vessel. All stories
agree that the number was not more than thirty.
Some claim the men were all lost while they were try
ing to rescue a part of the cargo of the wreck, but
again we are forced to go back to the most authentic
story told by the Indians. Of the number, four are
said to have taken the trail to the north, and probably
made their way to the vicinity of the Columbia River,
where they might have been picked up by a vessel land
ing there. The remaining twenty-six decided to cast
their lot in the beautiful country surrounding the
mountain. They built cottages on the slope overlook
ing the ocean, and attempted to continue the friendly
relation with the Indians that had started when they
were wrecked. This intercourse did not remain friendly
very long. Depredations upon the honest and innocent

NEAH-KAH-NIE TREASURE 51.
inhabitants of the country caused ill feeling. Finally
their actions became so unbearable that a battle was
fought between the white men and the natives in which
all the whites were killed.
Previous to the complete destruction of the ship,
the men are said to have taken a heavy "box" far up
on the slope of the mountain and buried it. This box,
as the Indians described it, is the famed treasure chest
of the following story :
Beeswax Story Doubted.
Scientists, like doctors and lawyers, disagree. The
same conditions and the same substance looks differ
ent when viewed through scientific eyes and, as a re
sult, the world keeps wagging between two theories.
Scientists can even find an argument on whether a cow
is vegetable or animal. She eats hay, and why is she
not vegetable? The meat on the cow's body derives
its substance from the vegetable matter absorbed by
the cow, and she is about as much vegetable as any
thing, although she does not grow in the ground. But,
of course, the composition of a cow has nothing to do
with the beeswax substance found all along the Neha
lem Beach.
The extent to which this substance has been found
and the wide area over which it is scattered give
reason for the belief that it is not beeswax, but a min
eral wax deposited in the ground during the ages that
have passed. It has been found on the beach down
where the waves of the ocean can play with it ; it has
been found just as extensively along the seawall that
holds back the mighty breakers during the highest
waters of the year, and many pieces have come to light
far back where the waters of the ocean have never

52 STORIES OF NEHALEM
washed. In fact, some of it has been discovered
more than a mile from the nearest beach. It comes
to light on the surface, and deep in the sands along
the seawall. It is very erratic in the places of its
concealment. From under logs and stumps men have
dug it, and much has been turned up by the plow
during the work of making gardens. From the base
of Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain to far down the sandspit,
a distance of miles, this strange substance comes*
Chunks of this wax have been found on the Tubbesing
place, more than a mile away. Probably one of the
strangest places in which it has been found was re
cently exposed by workmen while clearing for S. G.
Read some distance back from the Tavern at Neah-
Kah-Nie. They were unearthing a monstrous stump which
had become a nuisance in the garden. From under one
of the roots, itself about two feet in diameter, a chunk
of the wax was dug. It was in such a position as to
preclude the theory that anyone could have placed it
there. The tree probably was cut from this stump a
half century ago, and it must have been many hundred
years old at the time it was felled. Judging from the
size of the root under which the wax was found, the
tree must have been a monster. It was far back from
the beach, and in a beaver-dam meadow where the
tide had never been. It is impossible that the wax
could have floated there, and had it been carried to
the place by human hands its position was such to in
dicate it came there before the date estimated at which
the beeswax ship was wrecked on the beach.
This great variety of positions, and the disagree
ment of scientific men as to the nature of the sub
stance, has caused serious doubts in the minds of many
who have studied the problem whether it is beeswax
or mineral wax. Those holding the latter theory assert

BEESWAX STORY DOUBTED 53
it is the residue of petroleum, of paraffine base, which
has been forced up through the soil by the pressure
underneath, and gradually evaporated away, leaving
these wax relics of the event. And this theory has
more than one supporter. There are scientists who
boldly assert that beeswax would not stand the test of
the ages since it is supposed to have been left there
by the unfortunate wreck of the ship; that it would
decay and disappear when affected by the action of
the elements. Furthermore, they claim the substance
is not of the same nature as beeswax.
This difference of opinion has divided the residents
and visitors, and as many can be found to support one
theory as the other. So deeply has this mineral wax
argument become impressed upon the minds of many
that work of drilling for oil has actually been pursued
for many years. The promoters of this enterprise,
with J. J. Walter as the leading spirit, believe that
there is a channel of oil somewhere beneath the sur
face and, once reached, it would supply a practically
inexhaustible quantity of this valuable kind of oil. A
complete drilling outfit was installed in the sand hill
district, and about a half mile back from the ocean,
under the direction of an expert. The appearance of
this outfit enthused the residents of the valley, and
raised the hope that oil would be discovered and the
channel tapped. It was in September, 1910, that oper
ations were started, and the drilling machinery was a
source of much curiosity and interest to people for
miles around. The expense and inconvenience of ship
ping the outfit to the scene was a discouraging under
taking, but the men behind the project had faith in
it, and spared no expense in making a thorough test.
One feature that handicapped the operation of the drill
was the distance from repairs and the time required to
ship new material from Portland to the scene. Extra

54 STORIES OF NEHALEM
equipment was kept on hand all the time, but well
drilling is not entirely a picnic.
The drill penetrated to the depth of about 700 feet
when oil indications were first observed. A pressure of
gas was discovered, and flame from the mouth of the
well frequently burned high in the air. This encour
aged the operators and spurred them to renewed vigor.
Day after day the work continued, frequently inter
rupted by the lack of material, but these delays only
increased the ardor of the people interested. The oper
ations attracted visitors from far and near, and, from
the indications, no one doubted the presence of oil in
richly paying quantities. Farther down in the earth,
through rock formations and sandstone, the drill sank,
until at the depth of about 1,000 feet indications were
found again. This time they were even better than at
the higher level. More gas forced its way to the sur
face, and sheets of flame reached high in the rigging of
the drill when fire came in contact with it. Here, also,
some oil was taken from the drillings, and everyone
thought the drill was in close proximity to the rich
channel. And it might have been, as far as can be
told. It might be that the drillers made a mistake in
not blasting at this point, with the hope of breaking
through the wall that separated the drill from the
channel. But the operations were continued. The drill sank
deeper and deeper into the oil-bearing formations until
they were finally lost. At the depth of about 1,500 feet
it became apparent that the drill was not following the
proper course. It was removed, and tests showed it
had been turned to one side. This condition arose from
the fact that the experts had not expected it would be
necessary to go deeper than a thousand feet, and had
not carried the hole to a diameter to permit deeper
penetration. An attempt was made to pull the casing,

BEESWAX STORY DOUBTED 55
and it broke at the depth of 600 feet, completely block
ing any plans for continuing operations.
The company planned to continue drilling at an
other place a short distance from the former hole.
Considerable money had been spent in the work up to
this time, and lacked more to carry out its plans.

The Treasure Ship.
Indian narrative brings to us a story hinting of
buried treasure on the slope of Neah-Kah-Nie Moun
tain. It is enough of a hint to fire the imagination
of the story writer and the seeker for gold, and in this
speculative quest for wealth we can equal in zeal the
old-time followers of the Golden Fleece. For more
than a half century the treasure of Neah-Kah-Nie has
been the lodestone for multitudes. It began with the
day the natives living in the Nehalem Valley told the
first white settler of the wrecked beeswax ship and
the chest or box packed by several stalwart sailors from
the ship to the mountain side, where it was buried with
a ceremony differing in detail according to the imagi
nation of the teller.
The Indians living today relate a story, as told to
them by their fathers, of the beeswax ship, and add
the further fact that a chest or box was taken from
the ill-fated vessel and buried on the mountain. Some
natives seem to have told the earlier settlers of three
ships engaging in battle. It was presumed from this
that one of them was a pirate ship and carried the
treasure; while the others were merchant ships, one
of which carried the beeswax. The story, as told by
Mrs. Gervais, accounts for only one ship, and that car-

56 STORIES OF NEHALEM
ried both the mysterious cargoes. Whether it was a
pirate vessel or one destined for the Orient, or from
the Orient, will always remain a mystery. Weird tales
of piracy have frequently crept into the story. Some
claim it was laden with treasure stolen from the
churches of Mexico, South America and Oriental coun
tries. According to the most authentic story from the
Indian ancestors, there was only one chest taken to the
hiding place on the mountain side.
Many men have been engaged in the hunt for the
treasure and, as a result, several indications of visits
from white men in the centuries past have been found.
Not far from the shore, and near the Tavern, the hotel
conducted by S. G. Reed, owner of the mountain and
adjoining property, is a rock upon which strange mark
ings have been found. Most of these markings were
put there a long time ago, and offered the first hint
to the earliest searchers, a clue to the hidden gold.
This rock weighs more than two hundred pounds and
could not have been placed there by some mischiev
ously inclined individual, because it is too much of a
load for a practical joke. On the flat surface oi the
rock the mysterious characters were chiseled. The
letter W with a cross on each side, the letters D E
with eight dots beside them, and below all an arrow
pointing to the slope of the mountain are the first of
the keys discovered by the hunters with which they
hoped to unlock the secret. A short distance from this
rock, a smaller one was found with an arrow and two
dots, the arrow pointing to the larger rock mentioned
above. Farther up on the slope of the mountain other rock
markings have been found, all of which are thought to
be associated with those discovered nearer the beach.
Pat Smith, one of the hunters devoting the greatest
amount of time in quest of the treasure, found a rock

THE TREASURE SHIP 57
buried on the mountain side not far from the higher
markings, upon which a plat had been cut. Taking all
these strange markings together there is no wonder
men have drawn the conclusion that they can solve the
mystery of where the treasure is buried. Those who
pursued the search, while the last of the Indians were
here, found little assistance from them. All they could
tell was the story, vague and doubtful, which they had
received from the generations that were gone. No
Indian is supposed to have been sufficiently acquainted
with the value of gold and silver to associate the chest
or bbx with wealth. Besides this ignorance of values,
there is another reason explaining why the natives did
not bother the treasure. It was the natural fear these
people had of the dead.
One of the members of the crew of the treasure ship
was a negro, the color of whose skin was as much a
mystery to the Indians as the white flesh of the other
members of the crew. Up to this time, neither white
man nor negro had been seen by the natives. Ac
cording to the Indian story, the crew dug a deep
hole in which the treasure chest or box was lowered.
Then they killed the negro and placed his body upon
the chest; a scene that impressed the Indians more
than any other thing could have done and one that
assured the safety of the treasure from them. No
people have a more sacred fear of the dead than these
natives and, somehow or other, the white visitors dis
covered this fact. The chest and body of the negro
were then covered with earth and the crew separated,
four going north and the remainder building cabins.
From this point in the story, the narrative of the
Indian is silent. Whether the remaining members of
the crew ever visited the burial place of the treasure
or whether it was later visited by others, is a blank
as far as native history is concerned. Whether the na-

58 STORIES OF NEHALEM
tives ever told the subsequent white men coming here,
causing them to search for the gold, is not known,
but the new comers, during the past century, have
been given all the information possessed by them, but
it is so meager that nothing can be gained.
The history of the search for the treasure is as
interesting as the story itself. It begins way back in
the days of the first white visitor to this valley. It
has not ended yet and will not end until some con
vincing proof has been offered. Just who did the first
work on the mountain side is hard to tell, but the
labors have not been confined alone to people living
in the neighborhood. Men have come from Idaho,
Iowa, Missouri and many of the coast states. Some
have spent a summer in their endeavors; others have
devoted years. Other than the markings upon the
rocks, little encouragement has been found for any
of them. Nearly every device known to man has
been tried to locate the spot where those shipwrecked
mariners placed their gold, but, so far all have proven
in vain. Spiritualism, higher mathematics and about
everything else were the mediums by which the men
worked. The side of the mountain can testify to
their persistency and convictions.
Many years ago, a stranger from Idaho appeared
in these parts and made his way to the mountain. He
confided his secret to only a chosen few, but it did not
take the residents long to discover his object. He
knew just where the treasure was buried. Those to
whom he had confided spread the news that the
spirits were guiding this hunter and he knew the
exact location of the chest. The result of his announce
ment was the frequent gathering of a large audience to
witness the labors of the gold hunter. Local sports
men saw a chance to speculate a little and bets were
made that he would or would not find the treasure.

THE TREASURE SHIP 59
He did not, but he was one of those with the courage
of his convictions. He staid at the task like a dog to
a root; spent a whole summer digging high up on the
side of the mountain where the spirits had mapped
out the location for him. The result of these opera
tions was his arrival at solid rock where digging was
temporarily suspended. The depth of this shaft was
close to thirty feet, a distance no sea loving pirate or
sailor of any kind would go to bury treasure. But
the spirits had located the treasure there and there it
must be, according to his idea.
Others came and went. Cattle buyers from the
regions of the Columbia took turns until the side of
the mountain was gophered with holes of various
depths, depending entirely upon the enthusiasm of the
diggers. The most persistent of all the chasers of this
elusive storehouse of wealth was Pat Smith, who fol
lowed a course of mathematical precision. He spent
about nine years in all hunting for the location and
did some extensive excavating in the spots his
arithmetical deductions lead him. Smith appeared on
the scene early in the game. E. H. Lane, owner of
Manzanita Beach, gave him the use of a piece of land
where he built a cabin in which he spent his summers,
either following the trail of his calculations or ex
cavating at the end of the rainbow they caused him
to chase. Visitors at the Lane cottage and neighbors
in that section tried many times to follow him to dis
cover his system of reckoning or learn of the place
where he was working, but he lead them a merry chase
before finally eluding them. He never confided his
secrets to any; not even to Mr. Lane, with whom he
was most friendly because of the many favors the lat
ter had shown him. He kept his plans and scenes of
operations to himself and, apparently, was jealous for

60 STORIES OF NEHALEM
fear someone should discover his secret and forestall
him before the treasure should be uncovered.
Year after year, through nine laborious summers
and the same number of winters, he toiled at the work
with the determination to win. The long winters
were frequently spent in the neighborhood of Tilla
mook Bay, where he gathered the grubstake for the
succeeding campaign after treasure. Many people
came here to witness him at work; the news of the
determined fight he was making spread throughout the
country. The newspapers featured the story and this
brought others to seek the Eldorado, all of whom had
a special theory of his own upon which to work. At
intervals through this long siege of the mountain side
there were varying numbers of competitors in the
field, but Smith was the only one to back his theory
by actual bull-dog tenacity. Even to this day, he still
dreams of the pursuit. Though old and somewhat
enfeebled, he has figured the rough plat he dug from
the mountain side through and through and now has
the spot located within a very small area. He feels the
itching for the pick and shovel again and longs to
hear the clank of metal against the hidden rocks — a
sure sign that the fever of the quest for the mysterious,
once fastened upon a person, never dies.
Perhaps the nearest one who ever approached secur
ing the treasure, of all those taking a hand at the
game in the early days, was William Snyder. He had
it once, but — well, it slipped away. Snyder tells of
how he secured the treasure and how he gave up the
search. It was many years ago when he decided to
cast his lot among those who wanted to get rich by
simply digging up the huge chest buried there centuries
ago. He studied the two engraved rocks near where
the Tavern now stands and decided it possessed the
essential key to the situation. Eight dots in the di-

THE TREASURE SHIP 61
rection of the arrow meant something. Whether these
were eight feet, paces, rods or miles, no one could
tell, but the second rock had two dots and an arrow
pointing to the larger rock and this meant something
as well. The only way to find out and, incidentally,
to secure the treasure was to dig, and dig he did. He
did some scientific excavating around the larger rock,
but found nothing. He then went to the smaller rock,
the one with the two dots upon it, and dug some more.
The result was the same. Then he dug a sizable
trench between the two rocks. He went as deep as
he thought any sailor would dig — he had met sailors
before and knew their love for work on shore — and
spent several days exercising his muscles. It was in
the summer, but the breezes from the ocean cooled his
brow and invigorated him. He was not in the least
secretive about his plans and invited inspection.
His labor of connecting the two rocks with the
trench was about completed when his pick hit a rock
buried quite deep. He removed some of the dirt from
the top of it and hit it again with his pick. A deep
hollow sound was the result. He had found the
treasure. Rocks with hollow sounds were not found
under ground and this must be the sign that the work
was to end in success. He redoubled his efforts and
the dirt flew from the trench in clouds and the rock
was soon uncovered. It still continued to give forth
hollow sounds as though to encourage him. Then, with
all the strength he could muster, he lifted the rock.
It was a heavy one and some task for one man, but he
lifted it and underneath he found — a beaver had
tunnelled under the rock, leaving a hollow space which
had caused the sound when his pick hit the rock.
Snyder threw his 'pick and7 shovel from the trench as
far as he could, slowly climbed out and has since left
the field clear for anyone desiring the treasure.

62 STORIES OF NEHALEM
But those with theories of their own have not all
tried their luck. Each summer finds someone "casu
ally" meandering over the beautiful slope of the moun
tain, once in a while drinking for a moment of the
magnificent view out over the Pacific, but most of the
time glancing around for some new mark they had
figured would be the key. Before this story shall be
given to the public, one or more treasure hunters may
be following the footsteps of others and adding other
interesting chapters to the story. One of them may
find it; someone may yet laugh at those who have
scorned the quest. The entire property is owned by S.
G. Reed, but those desiring to try a hand need have no
fear that he will compete with them. Mr. Reed has
both hands full assisting nature in making Neah-Kah-
Nie one of the most beautiful summer resorts on the
coast. The breadth of imagination injected into the different
phases of the story is interesting and wonderful. The
early pioneer had plenty of time during the winter
months to ponder over the mystery and, as a result,
one can find any kind of story to suit his needs. One
pioneer tells, with all the certainty of truth, of meet
ing a man who had come here from Missouri, lured by
the treasure story, and this man had a half sack full
of gold coins. He asserts the Missouri stranger told
of the search, of his success and of his inability to pack
out the entire harvest of wealth at one trip. The pio
neer was informed where the remainder of the treasure
could be found, but he did not care to secure it. The
truthfulness of the pioneer is sadly questioned by the
most gluttonous of story seekers. Others go so far as
to hint that the treasure was removed by a company
interested in the early founding of Astoria.
There is sufficient of interest, plenty of food for
imagination, and certain earmarks of truth about the

THE TREASURE SHIP 63
story to lend an enchantment to the spot. It invites
the imaginative or the realist to such a degree that
time can never efface the belief that somewhere, on
the broad slope of the mountain, there is a mystery
awaiting solution. The natural love of romance and
desire for the picturesque will hold all humanity to this
belief, and there will always be those who will refuse
to doubt the story until some better explanation of
these odd signs has been given. There have been no
attempts to discover the treasure during the past ten
years. Most of the heavy work is done in the cottages
dotting the five miles of beach, at the pleasant summer
hotels during dull days, or at E. G. Kardell's store,
where the lovers of romance linger by hours in un
satisfied speculation.
The treasure of Neah-Kah-Nie may never be un
earthed; there may be no treasure buried there. But
sometime in the dim past someone visited this shore and
left these signs.

Early White Settlers.
The valley of the Nehalem River was early recog
nized as one of the richest in the west, but the rugged
mountains on three sides and the Pacific on the fourth
made its conquest difficult and slow. Like a stage, set
for a great industrial opera, the Nehalem Valley forms
an amphitheater. The mountains to the north, east and
south form the seats from which the world can watch
its development, and the rich and fertile valley offering
the stage where the skill, the enterprise and the wealth
of a nation can play. It was this great natural barrier
of mountains that held back the tide of conquest and
stopped the forward march of the pioneer in his ad-

64 STORIES OF NEHALEM
vancement to the west until about 1862. Even though
the wealth of agricultural land, timber and fisheries
was known years before, the possibility of overcoming
these obstacles and placing these wealths in the mar
kets of the world was small. The Coast Range is pre
cipitous, affording few passes through which enterprise
would dare to enter. In fact, in the early development
of the valley, the pioneer was forced to make his
weary way along the ocean front, across the rugged
sides of Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain and through the path
less forests to Astoria or Skipanon, near the present
city of Warrenton — either this long and rugged road,
or await the appearance of a small schooner plying'
the coast and daring the dangers of Tillamook bar, an
incident happening not more than twice a year.
The Astor Company sent agents into this section
trading with the Indians, but their visits were spas
modic ; their trips only for trade, and offered no oppor
tunity for permanent settlement. They served, how
ever, as messengers, carrying to the outside world the
story of wealth contained here. Whether other white
visitors came here in the earlier days no one can tell.
The Indians only refer to one company of men wrecked
on the beach, the survivors of the fabled Treasure
Ship. But beyond these even the native legend is
silent. The first permanent settlement cannot be fixed with
any degree of certainty. The earliest pioneers to make
their homes here were John Crawford and Jack Keaton.
The former took up a homestead on the sunny slopes
of Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain, and the latter settled
on the east side of the river between the present loca
tion of Wheeler and Mohler. Crawford proved up on
his claim in 1867, and moved to Tillamook. Keaton
came here from Tillamook, where his folks resided,
and devoted his attention to cattle raising. Just which

EARLY WHITE SETTLERS 65
of these two pioneers came to the valley first is hard
to tell, but it seems a certainty that they were the real
and earliest of the white people to brave the disadvan
tages of the little paradise that was almost shut out
from the rest of the world.
In 1868, there was quite an addition to the popula
tion of the valley. Henry Downing came here and
settled at the mouth of Coal Creek back of the tide-
lands, on the place taken up a year before by Charles
Robinson and where A. S. Tilden now resides. John
Hunt came here that year also, and took up a claim
on the tidelands between Nehalem and Mohler. He
and Downing devoted their time to hunting, and found
the district especially adapted to this business. They
packed the hides out over the mountains to Astoria
or to Tillamook, from whence they were transported
to the eastern markets. Hunt is said to have com
mitted suicide while on a hunting trip to the God's
Valley district after he had been here a few years.
About the same time George Dean took up a claim at
the forks of the river, and later went to Neah-Kah-Nie.
He spent some time here, and then settled at what is
now Dean's Point. The first real settlement in what
is now Nehalem was by Sam Corwin and Sam Richard
son. The former made his home on the north slope
of the hill, his house standing near the log house ruin
on J. W. Thompson's block. Corwin lived there for a
short time, but did not remain long enough to prove
up. He made a deal with Henry Ober whereby the
latter took the place and lived there for several years.
This claim included the present townsite of Nehalem.
Until 1870 there were no other additions to the
residents of the valley. During this year William Sny
der, Robert Crawford and S. K. Scovell entered the
paradise and took up claims. Snyder settled at the
lake on what is now known as Classic Ridge; Craw-

66 STORIES OF NEHALEM
ford decided to brave the forests and took up his claim
about six miles from the present city of Nehalem on
the north fork of the river, and Scovell also cast his
lot up the North Fork, on the place now occupied by
his son, Steven Scovell. These additions to the new
district made the terrors of pioneer lonesomeness less
discouraging, and a social attitude was assumed. It
was not an easy matter to travel from place to place.
Roads were unknown and paths through the forest were
hard and dangerous. Climbing over fallen trees and
penetrating the heavy undergrowth was neither inter
esting nor pleasant ; yet the pioneers laughed at these
inconveniences. With the same grim determination
that has overcome all difficulties, they cleared the
heavily timbered land and built their homes. In this
conquest, millions of feet of the finest fir and spruce
timber was cut down and burned, there being no other
way of disposing of it. The first saw mill erected in
the valley was furnished logs free in order that the
settlers could more easily dispose of the immense tim
ber that was withholding their agricultural develop
ment. The same timber, which is of such great value
at the present time, was a nuisance then.
It was not until 1870 that the government recog
nized this district as one of sufficient importance to be
given mail service. In August of that year, weekly
mail was delivered to the settlers. The carrier fol
lowed the old Seaside Trail and crossed Neah-Kah-Nie
Mountain, following the same route used for so many
years until the railroad invaded the valley. It was a
tough trip and required nerve and hardihood to with
stand the rigors of winter on this lonesome stretch of
country after leaving the little Indian settlement of
Skipanon on the Columbia River. The first habitation
after leaving the big river and for miles before reach
ing the Nehalem country was that of John Crawford,

EARLY WHITE SETTLERS 67
at Neah-Kah-Nie, and, after he abandoned his place,
that of William Snyder, at Classic Ridge, was the
haven. The same service extended through to Tillamook,
following Garibaldi Beach to Garibaldi, where it was
transferred in bay boats to the various points in that
district. It was not until about ten years later that
the Tillamook County settlers increased in numbers
sufficiently, to warrant the government increasing the
service to two deliveries a week.
The difficulty in securing provisions and necessary
supplies was one handicap to the rapid settlement of
the valley. The housewife who now goes to the store
to buy the household supplies and a few luxuries does
hot realize the hardship of the housewife of forty years
ago. That pioneer mother found few extras in the .
family larder, and the boys and girls knew little of
the taste of candies and the sweetmeats of our pres
ent life. Supplies were hard to transport here, and
every pound counted when the head of the family had
to pack it for miles through the dismal forest or along
the lonesome beach. The pioneers assert that, while
the actual cost of supplies was greater then, they saved ,
more money in proportion than at present, for luxuries
were tabooed; nothing but the actual needs of life
were secured. Two means of getting supplies were
opened to the settlers, either one of which would have
discouraged the present generation. About twice a
year a small schooner made its way across the Tilla
mook bar and tied up at Garibaldi. The approximate
date of sailing of the vessel was made known to the
settlers, and they sent their orders to Portland and
Astoria in time for shipment, and unfortunate was the
man who failed in this important task. This once in
six months, perhaps, freight service was something to
be considered. Should a settler fail to place his order
in time to be shipped on the schooner, it was six months

68 STORIES OF NEHALEM
before another came, and he was forced to resort to
the long and tiresome trail across the mountains to the
Columbia River for his supplies.
Each settler secured six months ' supplies at a time,
and it was remarkable to note how closely they could
figure on the amount needed. When you come to con
sider that every article to be used, which was not pro
duced on the farm, must be provided for a half year
ahead, it took some close figuring and a good memory
to include them all in just the proper amount. There
were flour, beans, cloth, thread, pins, needles and a
score more of kitchen and household needs, even down
to spices and extracts, if mother wanted to make a
cake for some special event. There were sugar, molasses
and all those other things, even to that necessity of the
master of the house — tobacco. Who could go through
six months of hard grubbing around stumps and clear
ing the rugged land without the solace of a chew or
smoke ? But few luxuries were brought into the valley,
and Santa Claus seldom found the little folks in the
almost unbroken wilderness. The girls and boys, who
torment father and mother today for more of the
luxuries and finery to which they are accustomed,
should remember the hardships of the young folks in
the infancy of their community and the privations
they underwent in laying the foundation for the pres
ent ease and comfort. Many a boy has spent his days
helping his father clear the land and withstood the
hard labor of the farm; while the youth today is de
voting his time to pleasure and profitless pastime.
Girls, too, gathered the roses in their cheeks helping
their mothers about the house or in the garden, and
did not have to resort to the red paint and powder
to augment the work nature does. They exercised
their muscles at the washtub instead of in gymnasiums ;
learned to cook and wash dishes instead of the art of

EARLY WHITE SETTLERS 69
the conquest of man, and blossomed into natural beauty
and health without the assistance of the drug store.
Those were the days that made real manhood and
womanhood. The pioneers were undaunted. The dangers of Ne
halem bar had not been solved by the small boats
plying the Oregon coast. Only the Indians had dared
the uncertain waters, and the only means of trans
portation was to Garibaldi, on Tillamook Bay, and
packing from there up the beach. For this reason,
the settlers did not order anything unnecessary to in
crease the weight of the burden. From Garibaldi, the
shipments for Nehalem were conveyed to the Smith
ranch, near the present life saving station, by boat,
and from there it was a case of packing along the long
stretch of beach to the Nehalem River at what is now
Brighton. Here it was again placed in boats and
taken to Nehalem. It was a hard and expensive job.
Packhorses were not frequent along the beach, and
most of the goods were conveyed on the backs of the
owners or those they could hire to do the work. In
dians were the chief residents whose services could be
secured for these events, and most of them were none
too willing to over-exert themselves. Should the vessel
miss its usual visit to Garibaldi, it meant another long
six months before provisions could be secured, or the
settlers were forced to the other, and more arduous,
task of packing supplies from Skipanon, on the Co
lumbia. To the courageous pioneer this alternative was a
nightmare. The long journey around Neah-Kah-Nie,
the stretch of beach to Elk Creek, and the uninviting
trail from this place to the Columbia were sufficient
to cause even the best of them to consider. The trail
around the mountain was dangerous and constantly
obstructed with fallen trees. In summer it was bad

70 STORIES OF NEHALEM
enough, but, when soaked by the rains of fall and win
ter, it was almost impassable. But necessity was the
goad; the prospect of a season without supplies, much
less luxuries, was discouraging. Occasionally an In
dian could be secured to pack supplies into the district,
but the expense was great. One pioneer, when the
boat had failed, paid an Indian five dollars to pack
a fifty-pound sack of flour from the Columbia to his
home. This inconvenience was suffered for nearly fif
teen years before relief came in the form of reliable
and more frequent boat service. The establishment of
stores at Tillamook was of some help to the mountain
and ocean-bound homeseekers. It was many years be
fore mercantile dealers invaded this valley,
The uncertainty of the boat service was the cause
of another inconvenience, that of delaying the market
ing of local products. Most of the settlers devoted
their time to clearing land and raising cattle. Butter
was the chief product of the valley. The day of cheese
factories was yet to dawn. The farmers packed their
butter and held it until an opportunity arrived to ship
it to the markets. Portland was the main market, and
it was growing out of its youth and assuming consider
able importance as a shipping center for the products
of the great Oregon district. This, together with furs,
were the great medium of exchange between the pro
ducers and store keepers. Money was not particularly
plentiful. It was not such a great necessity. The prod
ucts of the farm represented the cash in hand from
this section, and the necessities supplied by the stores
was the money at the other. Whatever difference there
might have been was paid in coin. The fur trade
from the valley was considerable. The pelts of bear,
wildcat, mountain lion and elk brought many com
forts to the homes in the new country.
The development of cattle raising soon caused buy-

EARLY WHITE SETTLERS 71
ers from along the Columbia River to pay attention
to Nehalem Valley. Agents came here and secured
great bands to be driven over the Neah-Kah-Nie trail
to the north, and local residents frequently handled
the buying for outside firms. This served as an in
centive for more cattle raisers to settle here! and, in a
short time, the valley made a reputation as a dairy
center, a reputation it has never lost. The butter from
the ranches found ready demand in the Portland mar
ket, as well as at Astoria.
From 1870 to 1883 there were few new members
added to the Nehalem Valley household. Henry Ober
had taken up the claim including the present city of
Nehalem, and secured his patent from the government
early in the seventies. This was the claim formerly
occupied by Sam Corwin. The building constructed by
Ober has been partially wrecked. It was a log house
of modest dimensions, and located upon the hillside
overlooking the river far up to its forks. Many others
came in these thirteen years of trials and hardships,
but they surrendered to the rigid life and left. It was
a period of try-outs. Those with the courage and de
termination remained to reap the harvest due the pio
neer, while the weaker ones retraced their footsteps
to the land of ease and comforts. The law of the sur
vival of the fittest was operating to the limit. The
man who sought the path of roses found thorns in the
road leading through this garden, and he turned his
back on the land of opportunities. Thus it has ever
been. i
There was much grazing ground in the valley. The
early Indian residents, unappreeiative of the wealth in
the timber, burned it to suit their own convenience.
Grazing ground they desired for their ponies, and the
torch started the clearing process. Year after year
they burned over the ground. Year after year, in the

72 STORIES OF NEHALEM
fall, when the underbrush was dry, they built the fire
that did not die out until rain checked it or material
was completely exhausted. So well did they do this
work that to this day, fifty years after, there is not a
sign of vegetation, save only salal brush, on thousands
of acres of side hills. Their constant burning de
stroyed all form of plant life, but the succulent grasses
soon found their way in. This cleared area offered an
other boon to the natives. They did not possess fire
arms with which to bring down the fleet deer and elk.
To pursue them through the forest, overgrown with
underbrush, was a> task uninviting to one who so
keenly desired a life of ease. The deer and elk made
their way from the forests into these cleared areas
where they were partially concealed from view by the
growth of salal bushes. And these same bushes served
also as a shield for the native hunter. With the pa
tience of his race, the man-animal slowly and cau
tiously crept upon his prey. Carefully parting the
bushes he, foot by foot, gained upon the unsuspecting
game. Now advancing, now pausing to note the ac
tions of that which he sought, the hunter often spent
hours in this advance. Finally, gaining the position he
desired, near enough to send the crude shaft into the
tender flesh of the deer, there was a dull twang of
the bow, and the luckless animal felt the pang of
death. It was then a test of endurance. The deer,
fleet and powerful, madly fleeing from the danger,
plunged through the slender growth of bushes, fol
lowed by the less agile man. It left a trail of blood
to mark the course it pursued. Eagerly following,
yet never taxing his strength to the utmost, the hunter
made his way. Experience in the forests and on the
brush-grown hillsides had taught him to conserve his
strength, for it might be many miles before the wound
ed animal would lay down beside a log in the last

EARLY WHITE SETTLERS 73
struggle of life. Often this chase continued for hours,
and far into the hills and forest it led. But the native
knew his well-directed shot would conquer, and he
would find the victim beside a fallen log — weakened
from the loss of blood, the animal would make the last
supreme effort in its try for life and fail to leap the
obstacle in its path.
This was the only method of securing game in the
days before white men came to this country and intro
duced the rifle. The race for life, on the part of the
deer, and for food, on the part of the man, was fre
quently run; and the victor was invariably the keen
and persistent hunter. Throughout the entire Tilla
mook County, in those parts bordering on the ocean
and bays, this same evidence of native methods of
clearing are found. The slopes of Neah-Kah-Nie Moun
tain show the work, and the growth of beautiful trees
now there is the product of a later generation in
plant life. This burned area was not only a boon to
the Indian long before the white settlers came, but it
served a still greater purpose to the whites in provid
ing grazing grounds for their cattle. Luxuriant
growths of grass matted the hillsides and afforded
unlimited pasturage for cattle. These grazing grounds
became the Mecca of cattle men all along the coast
from the Columbia River to the southern line of the
Tillamook country. The industry once introduced has
grown and prospered until today it is of world-wide
importance. But before we consider the further increase in
population of the valley, there is one feature of this
history not to be overlooked — the discovery of coal,
from which Coal Creek was named. Back in 1867, vis
itors to the country had noticed float coal in the creek
which entered the North Fork at the Robinson place.
Just who made this discovery is not definitely known.

74 STORIES OF NEHALEM
But from the year 1867 there has been a great deal of
prospecting along the creek, and several good beds of
coal found. The indications on the surface promise a
wealth of undeveloped resources awaiting necessary
transportation. The history of this work has been
varied. During the years following the discovery,
many men have worked in an effort to open a com
mercially wealthy body of fuel to induce transporta
tion, but no concentrated effort has been made. Many
tunnels mark the enterprise of forty years ago. Coal
claims were taken up all along the creek with the ex
pectation of an early development of the hidden
wealth. But during the past ten years the deposits
have practically been forgotten. Among the early set
tlers to work there was George Dean, who spent con
siderable time prospecting and tunneling at various
points. He unearthed good evidences of commercial
deposits, but the question of transporation was an
ever-present discouragement. The development of
transportation facilities in the valley during the recent
years and the prospective lines for the immediate fu
ture promise to open this district to enterprise and
determine the extent of this hidden wealth.
The story of early white settlers will not be com
plete without the mention of one who came here long
ago. The date cannot be reckoned to a certainty, as
only the Indians tell of his coming and going, and
give to us the name of a creek with which to carry
his memory down through time. Long before any
of the last settlers can remember a man by the name
of Foley came here and settled near where the creek
of that name enters the South Fork of the Nehalem
River. He is said to have lived there for some time,
but must have become tired of the lonesomeness of life
without white friends around him, and took his de
parture before anyone else came. The natives tell of

EARLY WHITE SETTLERS 75
him and speak of his friendliness to all. He built a
cabin near the creek now bearing his name, but only
the ruin was left to mark the spot when the people of
his race first came here. From whence he came and
where he went is not known.
Another early settler was Thomas Gallagher. The
date of his arrival is not known, but he was living in
a cabin on the South Fork of the river when the white
folks made their advent here, and he became very pop
ular among them. He remained until the middle of
the, eighties. He was old and somewhat enfeebled
when the settlers came, and evidently had been here
several years. Friends missed him from his accus
tomed haunts one day, and inquiries led Henry Tohl
to send men to see what was the trouble. To their sur
prise, the aged pioneer was found dead, and had evi
dently passed away about the time his absence was
first noticed.
Among the early cattle raisers and shippers were
the four Seely brothers, who resided at Neah-Kah-Nie
at the time George Dean was occupying his home at
Manzanita. The brothers staid only a short time.

Population Increases.
Another notable addition was made to the popula
tion of the valley in the year 1867, and one' that will
ever be recorded as a part of the true history of the
district. While permanent settlers were slow in realiz
ing the importance and opportunity here, the stork
found its way in October of that year, and on the
twenty-ninth day of the month brought Charles Dean
to the Harry Dean household. This was the first visit

76 STORIES OF NEHALEM
of the famous bird to any of the white settlers of the
valley, and Charles has the honor of being the first
white child born here. He was a true pioneer and the
original native son. It was rugged pioneer life for the
boy. Playmates were not plentiful, and he soon
learned that this kind of life meant two things — hard
work and fishing.
It was not until four years later that the stork
again visited the valley and left Albert Crawford at the
residence of Robert Crawford. This was in September,
1871, and the boy was raised on the North Fork, where
the fish were most plentiful. If there is anything to
make the life of a boy worth living it is fishing, and
Albert indulged in this form of sport to his heart's con
tent. The North Fork, where his parents lived, and
the creeks flowing into it were alive with trout, sal
mon trout and salmon. Albert would rather go fishing
than eat, in spite of the fact that pioneer life induced
a hearty appetite.
The first residents of the valley to be married were
Harry Dean and Miss Lavina Keaton, on December 16,
1866. It was to this couple that Charles, the first
white child in the valley, was born. At this time there
was no one in the Nehalem Valley with authority to
marry couples, and they were forced to go to Tilla
mook, where the ceremony was performed.
It was not until 1883 that immigration to the Neha
lem Valley district assumed such an importance as to
convince the early settlers of the wisdom of their se
lection. The thirteen years preceding were filled with
hardships and discouragements, but the summer of this
year added materially to the population. Of course, it
was no sensational growth, nothing to startle the world
by its magnitude, but it was that steady, plodding
growth that lays the securest foundation for the fu
ture; the same steady growth that has been the step-

POPULATION INCREASES 77
ping stone for the development of every community,
state and nation since the day when man first began
to migrate. Those who came and departed saw the
wonderful wealths in the valley, and told of them to
those they met, and there were people among the lis
teners who would not be discouraged by the vicissi
tudes of life, when such opportunities were offered,
combined with such climatic conditions. Those leaving
could only tell interesting stories of the country and
recount its possibilities, even though they had to ex
plain their quitting because of the harder side of life
here. And those who heard, knew of the means of
overcoming these difficulties, and were willing to
chance an early development. It was through this
courage and belief that the growth during the few
years following 1882 came about.
During this period the residents of the valley had
extended their area of development. E. K. Scovell,
who came here with his father, took up a ranch on
the North Fork almost adjoining that of his parents.
He began clearing and developing the land, and took
his place among the pioneers of that district. Mr.
Scovell is now occupying the place he took up more
than forty years ago, and has one of the finest ranch
homes in the county. Others followed this example
until, with the addition of the settlers of 1883, the
river, from far up the North Fork to the ocean, was
a succession of slowly developing ranch homes and
cattle ranges. The hand of enterprise had not been
felt as yet. The stubborn pioneers had cut the trees
of the forest and fashioned them into houses. Less
than fifty miles away were finished lumber houses, with
shingled roofs, arranged for the comfort of the in
habitants. Over the mountains were mills cutting hun
dreds of thousands of feet of lumber with which man
could build as he desired. But here, in this paradise

78 STORIES OF NEHALEM
of the stubborn home-builder, every shake and every
piece of lumber must be fashioned by hand. Trans
portation of building material was impossible; it was
unthought of, and the wealth in timber about them
was a source of annoyance and toil instead of wealth.
A six and seven foot tree was a problem of energy to
the man who was building his home on a tract of
land where such monsters were common. Even the
grit and love for labor of the pioneer stood in awe at
this insignia of work. The same tree that aroused the
anger and produced highly explosive language from
the very heart of the early settler, would be worth a
ransom today. But the men who laid the foundation
of Nehalem Valley's progress and development did not
figure on the wealth of the coming day; it was the use
and purpose of his day, and when the monsters stood
in his path he either removed them or diplomatically
went around, and in the latter case no one can blame
him. The year 1883 brought several more permanent set
tlers to the valley and established it as one of the most
populous districts of Tillamook County. Henry Tohl
came in the summer of that year and took up his home
on the place now owned by Charles Christensen. He
staked out a claim and lived on it for five years, after
which he leased the Ober place (now Nehalem) and
made his home there. About the same time, J. M.
Alley and family took the homestead now occupied by
H. V. Alley on the north side of the North Fork. Her
man Scholmeyer was another to make a home here at
this time. He settled on a claim on the South Fork of
the Nehalem, where he now resides. Another to come
here during the summer of that year was Herman Tub-
besing, who followed the footsteps of the others and
settled on the North Fork near the claim of Henry
Tohl. In the spring of 1884, William and Herman

POPULATION INC. R EASES 79
Tohl came here with their father and mother and took
up the present William Tohl place. Later, Herman
Tohl decided to branch out for himself, and settled
west of the present City of Nehalem on the ranch he
now owns. It was here where the first schoolhouse in
the valley was built, and the fifth in Tillamook County.
Two other permanent settlers came in 1884, Fred Long
and William Scholmeyer coming from the old country
and occupying claims. The former settled west of
the present City of Nehalem on the ranch he now owns.
His selection favorably impressed Mr. Scholmeyer, who
hoinesteaded on an abutting claim and has lived there
since. These additions to the population of the valley
awakened the settlers to the fact that metropolitan
advantages were necessary. The number of children
of school age had increased to such an extent that in
struction by competent "teachers was imperative. At
first, schools were opened in the residences of some of
the settlers and taught by them. It was not uncommon
for the teacher to leave his task of grubbing about a
stump, or some equally interesting occupation, and
take up the duties of book and rod on the appearance
of the children and, when the school was out, resume
the healthy occupation of a pioneer. He did not need
gymnastics to keep himself in training for a proper
wielding of the alder rod over the unruly pupils, for
his muscles were constantly hardened by the excess
labor on the claim. The books of instruction were such
as accidentally found their way into the luggage of the
pioneers when they moved into the country, and one
can easily see that they were not plentiful. The teacher
frequently possessed a few books of his own, and these
were judiciously cared for and cautiously handed
around among the pupils. Some were so extravagant
and actually modern that they sent to Portland or

80 STORIES OF NEHALEM
Astoria for books for their children. This, however,
was not the practice of most of the settlers until later
in the history of school life. In the earlier days, the
boys were not as often spared from the farm as at
present, and the school year was rigidly modified.
Three months was deemed sufficient in which the chil
dren should crowd their minds with learning, and by
the time the next school year came around most of
them had succeeded in forgetting the lessons of the
previous term.
The first schoolhouse was constructed of logs hewn
from timber cut from the adjoining land. It is indeed
an interesting speculation for us, who are so accus-,
tomed to see mills cutting thousands of feet in an hour
— lumber sufficient to construct a house of average pro
portions — to look back to the days when every
piece of lumber was fashioned from the log with an
axe. It was a lucky pioneer who found a few lengths
of stray lumber washed ashore on the beach. Even
a few pieces meant a saving of many hours ' hard work.
Probably one of the best illustrations of the old-fash
ioned hand lumber mill can be found on the sidehill
overlooking the river on the Thompson tract, and on
what was the first homestead in Nehalem City area.
The walls are of hewn timbers, all the rafters hewn
from the tree with an axe ; the boards were split from
the log, and even the shingles were the product of the
hand shingle mill. The old pioneer spent several days
splitting out enough shingles to keep a supply ahead
for one man to lay in one day. One can almost realize
the number of backaches the preparation of the lumber
for the early cabin caused. And, when we consider
it was hardly more than a quarter of a century ago
when all this work was done by hand, the great change
in the community in which we live is apparent. Less
than thirty years ago no vessel of even moderate cargo-

POPULATION INCREASES 81
carrying proportions had entered the Nehalem River.
It was impossible to convey lumber here in any other
manner, and the pioneer had to get along the best he
could. But timber was here in plenty, and all he had
to do was to cut it himself.
Those living today assert they enjoyed life as well
during those early times as we of the present day,
and many of them say they were better off financially.
"We did not have luxuries in those days," said one
of the earliest settlers. "They cost too much, and it
was too much trouble to get them in. When we made
out our list of supplies for the next six months, for we
had to plan that far ahead, we only included the goods
actually needed. Today we go to the store and see so
many delicacies" that, often, we spend more for them
than some of the pioneers paid for the actual necessi
ties of life. ' ' Those were not the days of boiled shirts
and stand-up collars. There is no telling what the
early settlers really would have thought of a man
arrayed in an outfit of that kind. The blue jumper
and overalls for men and plain dresses for women
were all that one considered necessary.
Socially, there was little happening in those days.
Parties were not frequent, but there was never such
enjoyment and real pleasure as when the neighbors all
got together for an evening of fun. The distance be
tween the homes and rough trails discouraged social
functions. Fourth of July was really the biggest day
of the year, bigger by far than we make it. There
were no big fire crackers, fireworks or modern inven
tions of that kind with which to celebrate, but the en
tire population of the valley gathered at some con
venient place and the day was passed in games, fes
tivities and eating. The old basket picnic can never
be outclassed in our modern life. Try as hard as we
wish, no day can contain so much of real enjoyment

82 STORIES OF NEHALEM
and accomplish so much good as those time-honored
picnics of a quarter of a century ago. They were
events for the young and old, and the pioneers are
never tired of telling of the good times those days
afforded. The forks of the river offered the ideal place
in which the picnics were held, and around these
events are woven many of the most interesting points
of the early history of Nehalem Valley.

School Life.

If the school boy and girl of years ago possessed
the same love for the task of acquiring education as
the average pupil of today there is a great wonder
there were not more truants among those following
the painful pathway up the hill of knowledge. There
were many reasons contributing to the delinquency in
those trying times. The school house was a long, long
way from home. Frequently it was three or four miles
and the uninterested student had a long time to think
over the usual excuses for taking a day off. Many of
the earlier students of the original school in the Neha
lem Valley trudged miles along wooded trails and the
treacherous rivers in the quest of learning. All along
were many streams in which the trout were merrily
sporting on those pleasant days, and there is hardly
a boy who did not know the real delight of fishing.
It took an urchin of true convictions and determined
purpose to surrender such sport for the drudgery of
school exertions. The hewn seats and benches and the
rough "comforts" of those earlier houses of learning
did not invite the nature-loving boy and girl to ex
perience their inconveniences. Everything was against

SCHOOL LIFE 83
the students of a half-century ago. There were long
and dubious paths through the woods, and bears dwelt
in the underbrush. The schools days, too, came in the
dismal hours of the long winter. The idea of trudging
through the rain, soaked to the skin, and spending
hours over books, whose pages contained nothing to
interest the mind of youth, was discouraging.
The first school in the valley extended over the
five months of winter weather. Later it was cut down
to three months because it cost too much to educate
the young folks. The routine studies of early life,
reading, writing and arithmetic, were the main stand-
bys. Books were scarce, and the knowledge of the
teacher seldom extended beyond these. There was no
attempt to over-exert the brains of the teachers, and
the danger of brain fever among the pupils, from over-
study, was entirely eliminated. The first school was
conducted at the home of Jacob Cromwell, on the slope
of Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain, a short distance from the
cottage of S. G. Reed. Miss Luella Cromwell was the
teacher, and fifteen students attended a greater part
of the school year of five months. It occupied one of
the rooms of the Cromwell home, and the question of
grading the pupils did not enter into the curriculum.
This was in 1879. Mr. Cromwell was living at the
foot of the mountain, and George Dean occupied a part
of the Manzanita Beach property. The next neighbor
was at the lake on the present Classic Ridge property,
where William Snyder lived, whose five stepchildren
were attending the school. Three children of the Ten
nyson family, who moved from the forks of the river
for the purpose of giving their children the advantage
of school, were also among the pupils. Two children
of William Dean, four from the Cromwell homestead,
and Miss Lillian Dean, now Mrs. Fred Zaddach, com
prised the pupils of the first school established in the

84 STORIES OF NEHALEM
valley. Miss Lillian Dean was the daughter of George
Dean, who was prominently identified with the early
history of the Nehalem district.
The increased number of pupils from the forks of
the river district, and the distance to be traveled, had
an influence in locating the school for the next year
closer to the river. A log house had been built on
what is now the Herman Tohl place, near the creek,
and this was the center of attraction for the studious
ones for the three months of instruction during the
next season. Dr. Young, who combined his medical
profession with that of uplift for the younger genera
tion, opened the school. After six weeks of the term
had passed, he was accidentally drowned at Fisher
Point while on a visit to a patient. The unfortunate
accident happened during the New Year holidays, and
the remainder of the term was completed with Charles
Pye as master.
Whether the task of instructing during three
months of the year was too much, or the teacher moved
away, is hard to say, but the change in instructors was
frequent. The year 1881 found Thomas Alley wielding
the rod of authority at the school. At this time the
number of pupils had increased materially, and many
were attending from the North Fork and South Fork
districts. The children from the Scovell homestead
made the long trip from their home, and the Crawford
home added more. Albert Crawford was among those
who withstood the inviting trout creek and opportunity
to hunt squirrels, and made his painful way to school.
Steve Scovell was another youth who spent the weary
hours on the trail up the hill of knowledge. School
conditions drifted along with a gradual increasing
number of those in attendance until it became neces
sary to increase the facilities. The district was divided
and a school established in the North Fork section.

SCHOOL LIFE 85
The first teacher of this school was E. K. Scovell, and
the school house was no pretentious affair. At present
Mr. Scovell is using the former school house as a
chicken coop, and it testifies to the disadvantages of
school life in the valley thirty-five years ago. He had
a well-attended school during this year.
The district had been augmented by children from
the Alley household, and several new ones had moved
in and taken up their home. The year following the
school was in the hands of William Batterson. The
people of the district have since built a fine new build
ing, and the school year corresponds with that of all
other sections of the country, with grades in which
every branch of study to the high school is taught.
The school house on the Tohl place has disappeared
entirely, and later was replaced by a more modern
building, but this did not correspond with the fast-
growing community, and this year a model house of in
struction was built at Classic Ridge.
Other sections of the valley have kept apace with
these two districts, and the growth in houses of learn
ing has been in advance of the industrial development.
A high school building was built in the summer of
1910 and opened that fall. It has been most successful.
It is centrally located in the valley to accommodate
the pupils from every section who may desire to take
advantage of the opportunity to prepare for college
or receive a little more education in preparation for
a future life. The course of study is identical with the
high schools of the state, and special care is taken to
make the work as practical as possible. Special courses
have been introduced and, under the principalship of
Prof. C. E. English, who is in charge this year, a prac
tical course in commercial law has been inaugurated
in which the students in this department are given
local and practical instruction.

86 STORIES OF NEHALEM
Between Upper and Lower Nehalem a model gram
mar school house has been built, with an extra room
for primary pupils. This building was constructed in
1912, and opened for work that year with Miss Sadie
E. McKenzie as principal, who has introduced a fea
ture of school life that is designed to place the pupils
in a position to becomee more self-responsible. In con
nection with her civil government work she has formed
the school into a municipal corporation, and the con
duct and deportment of the pupils is placed in their
own hands. A charter has been adopted which con
forms with the city charters of the state. Following
the adoption of the charter, a mayor, councilmen, re
corder and treasurer were elected at a city election.
The appointment of the marshal, street commissioner
and health officers has been placed in the hands of the
mayor, and a city attorney elected by the city council.
The object is to permit the children to manage their
own conduct in the school and on the play grounds,
and the plan has worked most successfully.
A school has been established at Mohler; a graded
school, with grammar courses, at Wheeler, and an ex
cellent school at Brighton.

Lure of Goal.

Many of the earlier settlers in the valley were lured
here by the stories of the coal deposits found along
Coal Creek. They figured that a rich deposit of this
valuable fuel located so near the growing city of Port
land would mean a boon for someone, and resolved
to try a hand at mining in this inaccessible district.
While solution of the question of transportation was

LUREOFCOAL 87
a long way off, and at that time there was no induce
ment for anyone to build a railroad, the discovery of
a large field of coal would be the incentive for capital
to push a line across the mountains. Many men tried
their hand at prospecting. Among the first to do any
work was A. J. Cloutre, a half-breed, who spent con
siderable time on his own account and in labor for
others. Thomas Dean was among the first to come "from
the outside," as was the expression among those who
came to the Nehalem Valley from the districts of the
Columbia or Willamette rivers. He came here about
1870, and did considerable scientific prospecting along
the river. He was assisted in the work by George,
his son, and later was joined by another son, Harry.
Probably the Deans did more consistent work in open
ing the veins and discovering the extent of the deposits
than anyone else. They worked along the creek for
several years, and knew more of the real nature of the
coal to be found than any here since, but their labors
were not rewarded sufficiently for them to seek trans
portation and enter the business commercially.
Henry Tohl is another that was drawn here by the
lure of the stories of the coal deposits, but he could
not see a future in staying with the miner's pick. He
abandoned it for ranching, and later was among the
first to begin business in the valley, and has been so
closely associated with its development that the story
of his life and the story of the growth and development
of the valley are closely associated.

High Water.

Some of the early settlers here were not familiar
with the manner of tides. The daily going and coming

88 STORIES OF NEHALEM
of the waters of the ocean were known to them from
the meager stories found in the geographies of the
period following the Civil War. Any spot upon which
grass grew was terra firma to them, and the idea of
reckoning with high water was foreign. Some had
come from the inland where tides never ebbed and
flowed, and cared little how the ocean chose to act.
The ocean could take care of itself.
Among those settling here was one of the latter
type. He was not familiar with the matter of tide flats
and things of that kind. In the Nehalem River, oppo
site the present city of Nehalem, is an extended flat
which, during low water, is a most inviting place upon
which to build an abode. This settler discovered the
spot during low water, and was not informed that
the place was covered to a depth of several feet at
certain times. A house was hastily built, and the fam
ily moved in. The father, for there were two small
children in the family, was away at work one after
noon shortly after the home was completed. The tides
were gradually changing to the high point, and con
tinued rains had swollen the river to some extent. Dur
ing the late afternoon the mother noticed the tide was
gradually creeping up toward the house, and became
alarmed. Her husband's father was residing in the
vicinity at the time, and the mother asked him if there
was any danger. He laughed at the idea and assured
her the water would not come as high. When her hus
band returned she told him of her fears, but he was
equally as positive of their safety.
The two children slept in a trundle bed at the side
of that of their parents, and close enough so the fond
mother could reach out during the night and see if
they were all right. Quiet settled on the home with
the darkness of night, and everyone had been wafted
to slumberland. The mother, as was her custom,

HIGH WATER 89
reached out during the night to see if the children
were properly covered and, to her horror, found they
were not in their accustomed place. She reached lower
and her hand came in contact with the cold water of
the ocean. She was frightened and called tq her hus
band. He was sleeping the sleep the pioneer father
always slept after a hard day at work, and was not
easily awakened. And, just like a man, he was indig
nant at being awakened for such a foolish thing —
such a strange notion of woman as that water would
get into the house. He soon became convinced that
his wife was in earnest and there would be no sleep
for him until he responded to her silly whim, and again
admonishing her that her ideas were groundless, he
jumped from the bed. Well, there was probably no
more surprised man ever lived in the whole country.
He landed in cold and icy water that came above his
knees before his feet settled on the floor. He was not
only surprised, but thoroughly awakened at the shock.
He groped about and found the heavy wooden trundle
bed had drifted around the room and came to anchor
on the opposite side to where it was originally placed.
The family moved next day.
Another incident of this nature is brought down to
us by Fred Zaddach. It is a story of a landlubber who
built his cabin up the North Fork on the high tide-
lands. He was a lumberjack and had spent most of
his time in the mountain regions where tides did not
operate. Fred was working at the place, and was in
vited to share the landlubber's abode. He had ob
served the action of the tides, and was aware of the
fact that it was likely to sneak up on a fellow when
he was not looking.
"Don't you think there is danger of the water
coming into the cabin during the freshet season?"
asked Fred.

90 STORIES OF NEHALEM
The landlubber looked at him with such a show of
scorn that Fred resolved to let the matter drop. Late
one night, while both men were gathering the much-
needed sleep after a day of toil, Fred was awakened
by the heat in the cabin. He remarked to the land
lubber that it was getting exceptionally warm, and he
was feeling uncomfortable. He was sleeping in the
upper bunk.
' ' Warm ! ' ' said the landlubber. ' ' Well, I will make
it warm for you if you get up and put water in my
bed again."
With this remark, he leaped from the bed. There
was a splash of water, a swish, some gasps, and a thor
oughly wet and chilled landlubber climbed into the
upper bunk where Fred was in less time than it would
take to tell it. After that a much wiser landlubber
removed his effects to higher ground and camped be
neath the trees until a new cabin was built.

Advent of Industry.
The introduction of industry in the valley is closely
associated with the story of struggles and disappoint
ments in overcoming the difficulties which checked the
early navigation of the Nehalem bar and river. Up
to the year 1887 the rude-shapen craft of the Indian
was the only means of navigation known to the coun
try. The possession of a canoe was one of the necessi
ties of the native existence, and many of them pos
sessed several of different proportions. The native
crafts ranged from the small dug-out, used by the lone
hunter or fisherman upon the river, to the large canoe,
commodious enough to accommodate an entire family.
It was no simple matter to make one of these vessels.

ADVENT OF INDUSTRY 91
The tools possessed by the Indian workman were crude
and awkward. A stone hammer, fashioned from the
hard flint rock found along the beaches, and a rude
chisel, made from the same material, were all the ship
builder of those days possessed. The hammer was
from eight to twelve inches in length and shaped simi
larly to a wedge. Frequently these were elaborate in
design, and passed from father to son for generations.
One now in the possession of Mrs. Gervais, of Wheeler,
has been handed down through three generations, and
is in excellent condition. Of course, the introduction
of tools of the white people did away with the cumber
some instruments of a century ago, and the hammer is
as much a curiosity to the younger Indians as it it to
their white friends. Fire was one of the best and most
useful agencies of the natives in the work of ship
building. The first navigation of the Nehalem bar is so far
back in the unknown history of these waters that it is
impossible to ascertain. We do know, however, that
the Indian braves have for centuries paddled out from
the Nehalem to the ocean, and made frequent trips to
Tillamook and northward to the Columbia River. One
of the first experiences remembered by a native woman
now living near here is of sitting in the prow of the
big family canoe in which they all took a trip to Sea
side to visit Relatives. The entire family, with a gen
erous supply of household goods, were packed in the
canoe, and the trip was made without incident. It is
safe to presume, however, that these trips to the big
ocean were made only during the calm and pleasant
days of summer, for no native, however reckless, would
brave the bar dui'ing a storm. These canoes were of
excellent model and design. Even though they were
made from a singlo log, and fashioned by the crude
tools of tfa? §ar]|e§t i'ndian days, they were unexcelled

92 STORIES OF NEHALEM
in model and outclass those of the white man of today,
with all his high-class instruments of woodcraft. The
modern boat builder seeks to pattern after the design
of the native, but, somehow or other, cannot become
perfect in imitation.
The first of the freight carriers built by white men
to enter the river was the 0. K, a small two-masted
steam schooner. It was built on the model of a scow
and came in with a cargo of lumber and supplies for
the cannery built by M. J. Kinney. The ruins of the
first industry erected in the valley can be seen on the
river front a short distance from the Wheeler Lumber
Company's plant, about a quarter of a mile toward
Brighton. The O. K. came into the river and tied up
at the cannery site on July 4, 1887. It was an event
of great importance to the residents of the district.
On that day one of the accustomed picnics was held at
the forks of the river, and the announcement that a
steam vessel had entered the harbor and tied up with
a load of lumber was sufficient to cause considerable
elation among the picnickers. At last, the outside
world was no longer shut out from them. The vessel,
though diminutive in size and not sufficiently rigged
to cause the least notice on the river today, was a
seven days' wonder to the settlers. It meant more to
them than anything else — it meant a solution of the
troublesome question of transportation. During the
next two days many visited the craft, and predicted
that the time was not far distant when the presence of
a ship or schooner in the river would be a common
affair. But that dream was doomed to disappointment,
as will be told later — doomed for some time to come.
The Nehalem River had always been a harvest field
of salmon. The natives found no difficulty in catching
all they needed, and many hard winters were made
more comfortable by a well-filled larder of smoked and

ADVENT OF INDUSTRY 93
dried salmon. The earliest settlers realized the wealth
offered by the river, but were unable to reap the
harvest. The same question of transportation, the one
that had retarded the development of the valley in
the past, presented itself again. How could this wealth
reach the market ? It was not solved until the mystery
of the bar had been discovered. It was a story of
trials, death and disappointment. But Mr. Kinney was
persistent in his convictions that the river offered an
excellent opportunity for the development of this in
dustry. The cannery was constructed in the summer
of 1887 and put into operation that fall. Native and
white fishermen agreed to man the boats on the river
and handle the nets. It was a profitable occupation,
for salmon commanded a high price, and the introduc
tion of this industry meant a great deal to the resi
dents. The equipment was modern for those days.
Many tons of fish were canned and packed that year,
and the enterprise proved a success. It continued
under the ownership of Mr. Kinney until 1899, when
the business was sold to the Elmore Packing Company,
of Astoria. Later the location of the cannery was
changed to Upper Nehalem, where a large plant is now
operated. The story of these early fishing days is not one of
a path of roses. There were disappointments and hard
ships coming, to a great extent, from the troubles in
shipping the product to Portland and Astoria. The
two fishing seasons following the construction of the
cannery were exceptionally good, and the industry be
came profitable to the operator and fishermen. In the
year 1889 the cannery was leased to the Elmore Pack
ing Company, which was operating at the same time on
Tillamook Bay, and closed for that season. The fish
were conveyed from the Nehalem River along the
beach to Garibaldi, and many of the fishermen found

94 STORIES OF NEHALEM
objection to this plan. During that fall an accident
happened which discouraged the navigators of the bar.
H. V. Alley, Justin Schumaker, Albert Weigerman
and Watchman Bishop, of the Kinney Cannery, de
cided to branch out for themselves in packing and
curing salmon. They succeeded in putting up a big
supply of fish, and sent to Astoria to have a boat come
here to take their product. The schooner Augusta was
sent to the river for the purpose, and with the under
standing that local fishermen, familiar with the bar,
should pilot her in. There was a treacherous changing
of the channel they could not solve. Three of the part
ners, Bishop, Schumaker and Weigerman, undertook
the work, and started out over the bar with a fishboat
to meet the schooner. As they were trying to cross
the bar, their boat was capsized and all three were lost.
The captain of the Augusta was disheartened by the
accident, and decided not to attempt an entrance. The
remaining partner engaged in the enterprise of pack
ing salmon was unable to send the pack to the market
and it resulted in a total loss.
The Kinney cannery was again in operation in the
year 1890, and continued until the plant was sold to
the Elmore Company. Another cannery made its ap
pearance on the river during the summer of 1893. It
was built by E. G. E. Wist at Upper Nehalem, and its
history was brief. Mr. Wist had been engaged in the
mercantile business at the same place during the pre
vious year, and when his store was consumed by fire he
built a small cannery, which later became the property
of the Elmore Company.

Early Events,

The Nehalem Valley has the honor of starting one
of the first factories for handling the products of the

EARLY EVENTS 95
dairy ranches in Tillamook County. Its history is not
particularly flattering, but it shows that enterprising
men from the outside early recognized the importance
of this industry. Up to the year 1893 the farmers
packed their butter and awaited a favorable oppor
tunity to ship it to Portland or Astoria. Every home
was a butter factory and, at this early date, there was
an immense amount of this product made and shipped.
It was one of the great mediums of exchange between
the merchants on the Columbia and Willamette rivers
and the residents of the valley. It was, in fact, about
the only product of their farms they could depend upon
in dealing with the markets. Because of the lack of
transportation the question of market gardening was
not considered. A small patch of ground was cleared
and here the family supply of vegetables was produced,
but there was never an attempt at raising a surplus to
meet the demands from other districts.
In the year 1893 there was a movement started for
the purpose of doing away with the family churn and
manufacturing butter by modern process. Armstrong
& Hickinbottom, the local men, decided to build a but
ter factory at Nehalem as a central point for the
ranches of the producing district. They secured the
co-operation of T. S. Townsend, of Portland, who had
a ready market for the entire production of the valley,
and who agreed to furnish the machinery. Mr. Town-
send made trips here from Portland to look over the
field and was enthusiastic over the prospects of the
enterprise. The building was built about four hundred
feet back from the river on what is now Tohl's Avenue,
and is now standing, though fast going to decay. Mr.
Townsend shipped the machinery from Portland and
it was installed by the local operators. In order to
handle the milk and cream more easily, a tram road
was built from the factory to the river bank and an

96 STORIES OF NEHALEM
improvised car used to transport it. This, by the way,
was the first railroad ever built in the valley. The
farmers living along the river for miles around Neha
lem were accustomed to bring their cream to the fac
tory in boats and the tram was necessary.
Farmers from the beach district, from the North
and South Forks of the river and across toward where
Wheeler now stands made frequent trips here, and for
one season the factory turned out a product that placed
Nehalem more securely on the map as a dairy district.
But the enterprise was not a success, and after one
season of operation it suspended. Several local ranchers
became interested in the venture, but butter was not the
best means of disposing of the products from the farm.
It was not until a few years later that the advan
tages of making cheese were impressed upon the ranch
ers. The unfortunate venture with the butter factory
caused a lull in the enthusiasm of the people in this
line for some time. But the fire of enterprise broke
out again, and a cheese factory was built this time.
Its operation proved to be a success from the start.
Cheese was the more logical production of a district
so handicapped by the lack of transportation. The
period required for maturing it, and the added fact
that the longer it stood, up to a certain period, the
better the cheese, worked to the advantage of this form
of enterprise. There was nothing lost by storing the
product until a favorable opportunity to ship it came,
and the factory soon became too small to handle the
product. It inspired the ranchers to keep more cows.
They soon found that there was an advantage in taking
their milk to the cheese factory. This advantage was
both financial and in reduced labor. In a few years
the number of cows in the valley was materially in
creased, and it was necessary to enlarge the plant.
This industry has grown to such an extent that two

EARLY EVENTS 97
large model factories are now required to handle the
product of the ranches.

Mail Service.

The first mail route established in Tillamook County
was in August, 1870. It followed down the coast from
Astoria, winding around Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain
to Nehalem. Here it crossed the river to Garibaldi
Beach, thence to Garibaldi, where the mail was placed
aboard a boat and transported to Tillamook. The in
habitants of the Nehalem Valley were few and far be
tween at the time of the establishment of this route.
John Crawford, at Neah-Kah-Nie, was the first after
leaving Skipanon, and the next was found at the loca
tion of the present city of Nehalem. This was Sam
Corwin, who acted as postmaster at this place and was
the first to represent Uncle Sam here in this capacity.
No other homes were found by the lonely mail carrier
until he reached Garibaldi. He crossed the river in a
canoe and made his way down the beach from where
Brighton is now located. At this time, Garibaldi was
quite a settlement and one of the most important ship
ping points on Tillamook Bay.
George E. W. Dean was the first to carry the mail
from Astoria to Tillamook by way of Nehalem. The
service at this time was only once a week, and it was
often enough for the carrier employed. It was no easy
matter to pack a sack of mail from the Columbia to
Tillamook. Trails were scarcely worn and the trip
was rough and tiresome. Few people had made the
journey over this uninviting road; the dismal forest
path was encumbered with fallen trees, the streams and

98 STORIES OF NEHALEM
rivers north of the Nehalem had to be forded, and dur
ing certain seasons of the year were swollen by rains
and freshets. The trip from Astoria to Cannon Beach
was through an unbroken country and, while the trail
was well marked, it was none too good. Along the
beach it was a pleasure during low tide in comparison
with the remainder of the journey. Around the moun
tain, before coming to the Nehalem country, the trail
was exceptionally discouraging. The rain-soaked
ground dried out very slowly in the forest, and mud to
the knees was encountered for miles at a stretch.
Around the mountain the trip was frequently a dan
gerous one. The trail led higher up on the side than
the present road and slides were the danger to be con
stantly watched.
While the duties of mail carrier were particularly
hard, the residents of Nehalem Valley had an exciting
game of tag with the postmaster. Not that the officials
were hard to catch, or did anything of which they were
ashamed, but the frequency with which the postmaster
was changed and the office was moved kept the folks
busy hunting their letters and papers. The post office
was conducted in the home of the official, and the lati
tude in which the office was moved made the prospect
of where one should go to receive mail more of a specu
lation than whether one would receive a letter. One
day it was located at Nehalem; another time it was
across the river about half way between where Wheeler
and Mohler are now located; another time the people
were forced to travel to the North Fork ; later it was
moved to Upper Nehalem. Thus it went around the
circle and about every community in the valley has had
the honor some time or other of possessing the post
office. The mail route in and out of the valley, to the north,
has been changed at times. For a while it came around

MAIL SERVICE 99
the mountain, and later was changed inland and came
down the North Fork. The trail during the latter pe
riod led down the Hecanicum, past what is known as
the Russian Settlement, followed the North Fork of
the Nehalem to a point where it was navigable with
canoes, and from there to the mouth of the river. The
mail carriers planned their trips to cover just so much
distance in a day, and had their regular places to stop
for the night. This inside route was abandoned when
the post office switched back to the vicinity of Neha
lem again. The Neah-Kah-Nie Trail was in use most
of the time, as it was shorter and much easier, and re
mained the favorite until the railroad relieved the dull
monotony of a daily hike around the mountain, for in
later years the service was daily.
In those early days the amount of mail carried was
much different from the present. Even though the car
rier brought all the mail for the district as far south
as Tillamook, he was able to pack it on his back and
find it no heavy burden at any season of the year. As
the service grew, the mail carriers employed horses,
but that was long before the parcel post service was
inaugurated. It was a lucky thing that the railroad
entered the field before the parcel post, for the horse,
laden with an assortment of hats, dresses, suits and
the usual miscellaneous assortment of parcels now re
ceived, would have had a busy time getting around the
mountain on a windy day.

Beginning of Lumber Industry.
The first saw mill established in the Nehalem Val
ley was set up on the homestead occupied by an early
settler. It consisted of an axe, strong muscles and

100 STORIES OF NEHALEM
backbone, and a grim determination to build a cabin.
With this simple equipment the first settler set the
"wheels" of industry in the valley going and made the
shavings fly without the keen noise emanating from
the saw mill of our day. The first shingle mill con
sisted of the same equipment, and both proceeded with'
out a great deal of improvement for a decade or so,
until some of the enterprising residents decided condi
tions were ripe for the modern affair and interested
outside capital.
The first stick of sawed lumber coming to this dis
trict floated onto Nehalem Beach from some passing
ship and was eagerly seized upon by the finder as a
souvenir of the outside world. It was not particularly
a curiosity to the residents, but a novelty for the val
ley. During the construction of the first homes at
Neah-Kah-Nie and Manzanita the builders were fortu
nate enough to find quite an amount of ship wreckage
and floating lumber to relieve the strain of hewing
the needed supply from the giants of the forest. Lucky
indeed was the man who found any quantity of build
ing material from the real world, and it was a source
of pride to the owner of a house possessing some of
this rarity — like a Persian rug from real Persia or the
painting of a dog by Landseer. Anyway, this bit of
wreckage brought them closer in touch with the places
where the hum of industry really hummed.
It was twenty-five years, however, after the first
settlement in the valley before the cry of the circular
saw echoed along the river. The introduction of sawn
lumber in the construction of the cannery by M. J.
Kinney was a starter for the demand of such modern
products. The fact that the channel leading into the
river from the ocean had been solved by steamboats
was another incentive for this desire. While there was
so much timber, and machinery could be shipped here

BEGINNING OF LUMBER INDUSTRY 101
by boat, there remained no reason why the hope for
a saw mill could not be realized.
Representatives of Nehalem took up the question of
building and equipping a saw mill here with men at
Astoria and, after much dickering and necessary in
spection, a company was formed for the purpose.
Among those interested in the project were Ford &
Stokes, merchants of that city, and three men by the
names of McGregor, Johnson and Smith. The ma
chinery was shipped in during the late spring of 1890
and set up on the island opposite Nehalem. The plant
was first erected on a platform or float in the river
and the lumber for the real mill buildings sawed out.
The first board was sawed on May 30, 1890, and a slab
from it is now in the possession of Henry Tohl. At the
same time the work was being rushed on the mill on
the island, Robert Krebs had a crew of men industri
ously constructing a mill at the forks of the river. It
was a race between the crews constructing the two
plants to see which would be in operation first. The
island mill construction crew won the race by a narrow
margin of a few hours, and got out the first lumber.
The beginning of operation of this first mill was
marked with great interest by the residents of the val
ley. Many came for miles to see the wheels start and
actually hear the saw yell through the log. It marked
the starting of the industry that was some day to
make the valley famous and bring millions in gold to
its people. As an inducement to secure the construc
tion of these industries, the timber owners along the
river agreed to sell their logs for the modest price of
fifteen cents per thousand, but the question of shipping
the product of the mill to market became a serious
one. The owners of lumber schooners were backward
about sending their boats into the river and expecting
to get them out again with a paying cargo. The bar

102 STORIES OF NEHALEM
was the death blow to the industry. This inability to
ship its products forced the company owning the mill
on the island to close, and for several years it remained
idle. But the enterprising people of Nehalem were not
discouraged. They wanted the mill started and sought
someone who would become interested and run it.
The mill was not a very pretentious affair at the
time of first construction. Finally it was purchased by
Roseburg & Callender, who enlarged it considerably
and increased its capacity. Again the mill began oper
ations, and again disaster followed the attempt to es
tablish an industry at this point. The hum of enter
prise sounded good to the residents all along the river,
and a new life was given to every part of the valley.
But the joy was short-lived. Two weeks after the
wheels had begun to turn the entire plant was de
stroyed by fire and never rebuilt. A few years later
the property upon which the fated mill stood was sold
to C. H. Wheeler.
But the mill constructed by Robert Krebs had a
more fortunate existence. It continued operations for
several years and proved a success. It was not a large
plant and did not cut lumber for shipment. The local
demands of the people of the valley were supplied here
and, in fact, the mill proved to be an impetus to more
and better buildings upon the farms. The lumber for
most of the farm buildings constructed in this section
following the year 1890 and for many years after was
cut in the Krebs mill. The ruins of this plant can now
be seen a short distance from Upper Nehalem.
A few years after the Krebs mill began operations
and the question of navigating the bar had been par
tially settled, Himpel & Wheeler built a mill at the
location of the present big plant at the City of
Wheeler. This was the foundation upon which the big
million dollar plant was laid. A part of this mill was

BEGINNING OF LUMBER INDUSTRY 103
dismantled to give room for the present structure. The
machinery for the mill was brought here from Clats-
kanie, on the Columbia River. This mill continued in
operation until about three years ago, when it was
forced to give way to a larger and more modern struc
ture. In 1905 Joseph Effenberger built the present mill in
the City of Nehalem and began manufacturing lumber
for the local trade. The great number of salmon
shipped fresh from the river to the market and the
establishment of cheese factories in the valley created
a great demand for boxes, and later the mill was en
larged to include the manufacture of goods to supply
this demand. The mill is located on the water front
in the city limits of Nehalem and has had a successful
history from its first establishment. Upon the death of
Mr. Effenberger, it has since been conducted by his
estate. About two years earlier a mill had been built
further down the river, about half way from Nehalem
to Dean's Point, by D. H. Vedder. It was later sold
to C. H. Foster, who operated it until the year 1914,
when he sold the property to Mrs. Anna Mattley.
An interesting feature connected with the construc
tion of the first two saw mills in the valley, the Krebs
mill and that on the island opposite Nehalem, was the
intense rivalry between the builders of the two plants.
The company from Astoria was the first on the ground
and began building operations about two weeks before
Robert Krebs made_his appearance. From the first
appearance of the Krebs crew a defy was sent forth,
and it soon became known from one end of the valley
to the other that there was to be a pretty race between
the rival millwrights to have the honor of blowing the
first whistle. The residents watched the construction
operations with much interest. Sides were formed and
bets made on the skill and ability of the different

104 STORIES OF NEHALEM
crews. While the Krebs outfit had been handicapped
by a two weeks' start by their rivals, the men were
not discouraged, and went at the work with a will.
Day after day the two structures grew with equal pro
portions. The Krebs plant was smaller, which par
tially overcame the handicap of the two weeks in favor
of the other.
The race continued without pause for holidays, and
every available hour for labor was used. On Memorial
Day the island mill crew bent their energies for the
final effort, as word had come that the upper plant
was practically completed. The holiday was over
looked, and the men got up early in the morning to put
on the finishing touches. By dint of hard labor they
succeeded in winning the race by one day, and the first
saw mill whistle broke the primeval stillness of the
valley, carrying the dull news of defeat to the men up
the river who were straining every effort that their
whistle should be the first.

Events of Interest.
The settlement in the Nehalem Valley attracted the
attention of church workers at an early date. Several
devout Christians resided here, and they frequently
met to hold services at the homes of the neighborhood.
Prayer, singing and bible reading composed the serv
ices, and frequently some of the members of the little
band of worshippers talked from bible texts. No at
tempt was made to secure the services of a pastor, as
there was not a sufficient number of people to become
members of a church organization to support it. Luther
T. Woodard, the presiding elder of the western district
of Oregon, with headquarters in the Willamette Val-

EVENTS OF INTEREST 105
ley, paid a visit to this section in the year 1872. He
found the few church members intensely enthusiastic
and gave them much encouragement. He spent several
days among the flock and accomplished a great deal.
His visit stimulated the work among those interested
and added much to spread the sentiment throughout
the entire district. Shortly after this visit, Rev.
Woodard moved to Seattle and never after paid a visit
to the valley.
The field was left unencouraged, as far as outside
aid was concerned, for ten years following this visit.
During this time a sufficient number of church-going
people had moved in to augment those already here
and caused them to consider the advisability of secur
ing a leader for Sunday services, during a part of the
year at least. Other sections of the county were simi
larly situated. At Bay City there was a small but
growing community. It was decided that the wor
shippers of these two places should unite and together
employ someone to conduct the church work. A con
ference of the leading spirits of both places was held
and, as a result, Rev. W. A. Kemp was employed as
pastor of the combined church work. He spent a part
of his time in the Nehalem Valley and the remainder
at Bay City. No church had been built here up to this
time, and the services were continued at the homes of
some of the leading members of the little flock.
It was about this time that an organization was per
fected among the religious population of the valley,
and a serious campaign waged to increase the member
ship. The main difficulty found to any plan of central
ized worship was the extent to which the church-going
population of the valley was spread out. Many earnest
workers lived in the North Fork district, several in
the South Fork area and more at Nehalem and the
beaches. The visiting pastor held services in some

106 STORIES OF NEHALEM
home at these different parts of the valley, and occa
sionally was fortunate enough to have a combined
meeting at which all districts were well represented.
The condition of the roads and trails through the forest
were such that even the most ardent worshipper was
prevented from traveling any great distance to attend
the religious services.
This condition continued for twelve years. About
the year 1894 the membership of the church had in
creased to such an extent that serious talk was in
dulged in in the consideration of plans for the con
struction of a house of worship. The attendance at
the Sunday services had become so great that the
capacity of the largest homes of the district were taxed
to the limit, and some plan was imperative by which
this congestion could be relieved. The members had
been desirous for some time of securing a centrally
located place in which to worship, but the main diffi
culty was in selecting the place at which all could be
accommodated and a medium in distance from all.
After much talk and a considerable amount of work
among the members, it was decided that Upper Neha
lem would be the most convenient place for the house
of worship. A committee was appointed for the pur
pose of raising funds and making plans. This action
encouraged the members to a wonderful extent. A
church of their own would be a source of pride to the
residents of the valley.
It did not take long to raise sufficient funds to war
rant the success of the plan to build, and active prepa
rations were made. J. M. Alley, who came to the val
ley in 1882, was one of the hard workers for the new
building. Everyone did something for the new edifice,
and many donated material and labor. As a result of
the enterprise and work the church was completed and
dedicated in 1894. Steven Scovell "hewed" the cor-

EVENTS OF INTEREST 107
nerstone for the church from a chunk of cedar. This
relie of the enterprise of the worshippers is now pre
served in the modern edifice built a few years ago at
Nehalem. In this cornerstone a bible, some church
data and interesting papers were placed. The church
building is now standing at Upper Nehalem. The
cedar cornerpost in which the relics were placed was
taken out when the building was raised, and is now/
preserved as a reminder of the early church members.

Hotels of the Valley.
During the fall of each year many fishermen from
the Columbia and other waters came to the river to
reap a harvest during the season. Strangers frequently
made their way across the trail and spent days in the
Nehalem district, or stopped over night on their jour
ney to Tillamook or to the outside. As the number of
these travelers increased it became necessary to pro
vide some accommodations. Residents of the valley
were always ready to extend the hand of welcome to
those coming here, but guests did not look upon this
form of accommodation as satisfactory. It was not
until the year 1888, however, that the number of vis
itors came in such numbers as to require special atten
tion or to warrant anyone in conducting a hotel.
During this year Henry Tohl, who had purchased
the Sam Corwin place from Henry Ober and was living
in the log house, the ruin of which is now standing on
the side hill, decided to extend the hospitality of the
place to strangers in the valley. Many fishermen
eagerly seized the opportunity to board there, and soon
the demands on the hotel became so great that help

108 STORIES OF NEHALEM
was needed. Mrs. Joseph Effenberger, a sister of Mr.
Tohl, took charge of the hostelry and conducted it dur
ing the year 1888. The next year it came under the
care of Mrs. Andrew Klein, who conducted it until
the patronage outgrew the building and a new hotel
was necessary. In 1892 a new hotel building was
built on the site of the present Nehalem Hotel, and it
continued in operation under the management of Mrs.
Klein for several years. When Mrs. Klein retired from
the business the property was purchased by H. W.
Tohl, the present proprietor. Misfortune visited the
place in the year 1911, when the building, with several
adjoining, were destroyed by fire. This was in April.
Mr. Tohl was not discouraged. Plans were at once
made to construct a larger and more modern building.
Work was rushed on it during the summer, and it was
opened to the public in August of that year.
Two years after Henry Tohl opened the hotel at
Nehalem, Ira J. Holmes built a building on the river
bank at Upper Nehalem and conducted it as a hotel.
At this time the mill construction race was on between
the Astoria company and Robert Krebs to see who
would have the honor of blowing the first whistle on
an industry in the valley. Many fishermen, as well as
mill laborers, resided at this place. The building con
ducted as a hotel by Mr. Holmes is now used as the
Grange Hall. The next hotel to be built at Upper Ne
halem was that of John Larsen. He selected a beauti
ful and sightly location for the place. It stands high
above the river, on the county road, and commands
a grand view of both forks of the river and the valley
beyond, as well as a long sweep of the most picturesque
Nehalem River scenery. For a long time this hotel was
an attraction to visitors on account of its unequalled
view. This hotel was built in April, 1892.

THE FIGHT FOR SHIPPING 109
The Fight for Shipping.
The beginning of navigation into the Nehalem River
was a story of almost disheartening discouragements.
Had it not been for the faith and courage of the early
pioneers of shipping on the Oregon coast, a part of
this story could not have been written. While the
Nehalem River itself offered one of the finest stretches
of water for miles from where it enters the ocean,
there was a serious drawback at the mouth. Tons upon
tons of sediment brought down the river found its way
to the sea, and on meeting the adverse currents of the
ocean was deposited, until a dangerous bank of sand
and mud had accumulated. This process of filling was
continually going on, but during the high water pe
riods another danger was found.
When the snow was melting in the mountains and
the rains of winter adding greatly to the creeks enter
ing the Nehalem River this stream was a torrent. It
overflowed its banks for miles back in the valley,
sweeping trees along in its mad rush, and eating away
the banks on either side. Each mile the torrent trav
eled added materially to the burden of sediment it
carried. The high water, furthermore, had a tendency
to sweep the deposits farther out into the ocean, and
frequently the channel was changed when the volume
of water met some unresisting place. Thus, one fall
the channel was located in one place, and after the
freshets of winter had subsided it was found to be in
another. The bar and the changing channel offered
dangers to cautions navigators and they hesitated in
risking their property.
In this manner the residents of the valley were
thwarted for many years in their attempt to secure
water transportation direct to the markets along the
Columbia. Even after the channel had been con-

110 STORIES OF NEHALEM
quered by daring pilots, nature seemed to be working
against man in his efforts to win. The first steam
vessel to enter the river was the schooner 0. K., which
came with supplies for the Kinney cannery. It was in
charge of Captain J. W. Gearhart, who cautiously
picked his way across the bar and entered on July 4,
1887. As has been mentioned previously, the day was
being observed by the people of the valley by a picnic
further up the river. A part of the program of that
day has been preserved and is interesting to remember.
Prayer was offered by Rev. J. M. Alley; the Declara
tion of Independence was read by Miss Lilly Dean,
now Mrs. Fred Zaddach; a poem was read by T. J.
Alley, and an oration appropriate to the occasion de
livered by William Batterson.
Shortly after the exercises had been given a mes
senger appeared on the scene. He was excited and
evidently had wasted no time in making the distance
from down the river to the picnic grounds. He brought
the news that a steamer had entered the river and
tied to the dock already constructed for the Kinney
cannery. The news was received with the same ex
cited enthusiasm as the American people, ten years
later, received the news of the victory of Admiral
Dewey at Manila, or the destruction of the Spanish
fleet at Santiago. Some could not await the comple
tion of the festivities of the day, but hurried to the
place where the stranger was tied. July 5 saw prac
tically everyone in the valley on the scene. It meant
much to them, and a general feeling of elation was
noticed everywhere. The 0. K. unloaded her cargo
and made a safe trip out over the bar and to Astoria.
This encouraged other pilots to tackle the previ
ously considered impossible channel. The Queen of the
Bay entered the river that fall with more supplies for
the cannery, and negotiated the bar on her way out.

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MRS. ED GERVAIS.
Copyright 1915 by W. L. Mayer.

THE FIGHT FOR SHIPPING 111
But disaster awaited her on the second trip. This time
she was in charge of Captain Grounds. In some way
the vessel got out of the channel and struck the bar.
She drifted upon the beach, and was soon a total
wreck at the hands of the breakers. This was in the
fall of 1887. The old feeling of fear overcame the
bravest of the ocean pilots following this disaster. The
Queen of the Bay was a sailing schooner, and her
wreck served as a warning to vessels of her type
against attempting the passage without proper pilotage.
The Augusta, which was sent from Astoria in 1889
to receive the cargo of fish salted the year the cannery
did not run, was prevented from making the passage
into the river by the unfortunate accident to the three
men sent out to pilot her in, but after the successful
trip of the 0. K. her owners were willing to chance
her in the hands of Captain Paul Shrader, and she
came into the river in the fall of 1892 with a cargo
of miscellaneous supplies for the valley. Among those
coming in on that trip was the family of Alex. Ander
son. Mr. Anderson had been here several falls in
charge of the Kinney cannery, and decided the valley
was good enough in which to live. He moved his
family, after purchasing the ranch where he now lives.
At the same time he shipped in the lumber for the
house now standing on the place. On her return trip
the Augusta took out a cargo of cured salmon.
Following the Augusta, the river was frequently vis
ited by other steam vessels, but the question of nego
tiating the bar was ever a bugaboo when attempts
were made to have lumber-carrying crafts come in.
The owners of vessels entering the river did so at
their own risk, and the captain of one of the first to
come in was fined by the government for violation of
navigation laws. This attitude of the government was
a great hindrance until the regulation was removed

112 STORIES OF NEHALEM
and the river opened as a safe and navigable water
in which vessels could enter without fear of fines from
the federal authorities.
But the people of the valley were not discouraged.
They sought to overcome the prejudice among ship
ping people and perfect the harbor conditions in order
to have communication with the outside world. The
vast forests of timber were awaiting the hand of enter
prise. The mills built and operated on the river were
shipping cargoes out, but the schooners daring the
dangers of the bar were few. One of the largest
bodies of standing timber in the whole country be
decked the slopes of the mountains overlooking the
valley, and invited industry to come here and reap a
harvest of wealth. At this time there was no railroad
communication with the outside world, and the pros
pect was not bright for any for some time to come.
The precipitous mountains did not offer a promising
field of operation for this form of enterprise, and it was
to the sea, the natural outlet for the Nehalem country,
that the people must look for transportation relief.
The furious storms of winter, lashing the ocean to fury,
the dangerous condition of the bar and its shiftings
as the freshets of winter brought down fresh bur
dens of silt to deposit wherever conditions directed:
all these combined to retard the progress, but did
not lessen the determination of the people to win in
the fight for an opening.
The fight to secure water transportation for the
enterprise sure to come to the Nehalem Valley has
been one worthy of remembrance. It was a long and
disheartening one; it was a determined battle against
nature, against all odds that could have been placed
in the pathway of those seeking to improve their con
dition in life. The dairy industry had grown to such
an extent that it demanded a better opening to the

THE FIGHT FOR SHIPPING 113
markets. Nature had favored the valley with an
abundance of wealth. Here she had given rich and
fertile valleys in which the cattle could graze and a
climate unexcelled, for the dairy business, by that of
any place on earth. It is the ideal cattle country, and
the products from the ranches bring annually a great
revenue to the farmers. But nature apparently des
tined this great producing power to be utilized at home,
for she shut it in by barriers that only the greatest
determination and skill have overcome. The forests of
timber, are vast, but they are relatively as far from
the destined market as though they were in another
hemisphere. But people with the realization of the wealth at
their feet will not easily become discouraged. At least,
this has been proven by the determined fight Nehalem
Valley has made for harbor improvements. Back about
in the year 1909 the matter had become so serious that
a party of determined and interested men resolved
that it was not necessary to wait longer. An attempt
was made to have the government assist in construct
ing a jetty for the purpose of carrying the sediment
of the river farther out into the ocean and cut a better
and more permanent channel across the bar. These
men figured and talked, estimated and argued, until
they were convinced the plan could be carried out, but
the government was not as enthusiastic as they. The
federal authorities decided upon a waiting policy, but
the Nehalemites would not wait. They wanted the
jetty and other harbor improvements, and wanted them
while they were alive; ,they wanted them to assist in
building up industries that could convert the wealth
into money. They knew the present was the time, and
there was no reason for putting it off.
Finally, disheartened at the idea of the government
not taking immediate action, the enterprising spirits in

114 STORIES OF NEHALEM
the movement took the question up with the people of
the entire valley and with those who were financially
interested. It did not take long to point out the way
in which the work could be started and by which aid
from the government could be more easily secured.
During the year 1910 considerable work had been done
by the moving spirits, among whom were C. H.
Wheeler, Henry Tohl, H. V. Alley and Fred Zaddach.
When the legislature provided for the organization of
ports by the communities of the state, which could in
clude the watersheds bordering on navigable waters,
the workers saw their opportunity. The Port of Neha
lem was organized and the four men above named ap
pointed as commissioners. It was then that the work
started. A tax was levied and money raised with
which to begin the construction of a jetty. The people
of Nehalem Valley were resolved that, if the govern
ment would not assist them, they would make a better
harbor themselves. The action was followed by a bond
issue and work commenced.
For two years the enterprising residents continued
the work of extending the slender finger of rock out
into the ocean. Its effect was soon seen by an im
provement of the channel on the bar. This encouraged
them to continue the enterprise, and at the same time
called the attention of the governemnt to the courage
ous people of the valley. The matter was again taken
up with the federal authorities, and this time the story
was different. The government was willing to help
those who were determined to help themselves, and it
promised to stand one-half the expense. The work is
now going on in a most satisfactory manner under the
supervision of Engineer W. G. Carroll, representing the
government. Two jetties are to be built, the north and south.
Work at the present time is being rushed on the south

THE FIGHT FOR SHIPPING 115
jetty. This is the longest and most important of the
two. Its approximate length will be 4,800 feet and it is
already constructed for a distance of about 3,350 feet.
The work has been under government supervision since
February, 1914, and more than 70,000 tons of rock have
been dumped to form the wall holding back the break
ers and guiding the freshets. It has been built far
enough to prove the success of the estimates of the
engineers, and already the bar has been greatly im
proved and deepened. One thousand tons of rock are
required to fill each bent of fifteen feet width. The
water is very deep where the work is now being done.
Seventy-foot piling is required to give the proper
penetration into the soil, and the distance from the
floor of the channel to the top of the trestle is 41 feet.
The work of the jetty in deepening the channel has
worked as a handicap to the extension of the project. '
The high water of fall and winter has washed at the
end of the jetty, necessitating the use of much more
material, but making a stronger and more lasting jetty.
Work on the north jetty has not been started as
yet. It will require about eighteen months more of
work to complete the south project, and the north jetty
will not be taken up until the other is well toward
completion. It is now estimated by the engineer in
charge that deeper draft vessels can safely enter the
bay and cross the bar by fall of this year. This means
the resumption of work at all the large lumber mills
on the river.

Wrecks.

The story of marine disaster along the Nehalem
Beaches is Hot a long one, but what there is of it is
spectacular. We cannot tell just how many staunch

116 STORIES OF NEHALEM
vessels have ended their usefulness on the five-mile
stretch of beautiful sands. Centuries ago, so many
the oldest of the Indians of the valley cannot count
them, Chinese junks are supposed to have wandered
far over the seas in quest of markets or adventure and
met their fates here among the never-tiring breakers.
Great quantities of teakwood have been found along
the seawall where the storms of winter have taken
them. This wood was fashioned into timbers by the
skillful hands of Oriental laborers and were the frames
of ships sailing the Pacific 'way back in those days
before the white man solved the mysteries of the
earth's shape. It could not have reached these shores
by any other means, and we can only conjecture the
story of the storm and disaster that left them here.
The wood is almost indestructible, yet the action of
time has softened the outer surface and often eaten
into the heart of the timbers. This indicates that these
wrecks happened centuries ago, so long ago that the
memory of man has lost them. The greatest mystery
of them all is that of the Beeswax Ship, related in a
previous chapter. Some claim these teakwood timbers
came from that craft, but it can hardly be expected it
was of Oriental origin.
The earlier navigators of the Nehalem bar met
disaster, yet not of sufficient consequence to be count
ed as wrecks. They are interesting, anyway. The
channel entrance to the river has always been narrow
and unreliable. The storms of winter brought great
quantities of water in the freshets from the mountains
and these were laden with sediment. The deposits of
this sediment created long fingers of sand extending
out into the ocean, and finally terminated in a bar,
the barrier to successful navigation. The fingers of
sand frequently changed, and it was with difficulty
that captains could trace their course. As a result,

WRECKS 117
many smaller crafts wandered out of their path and
piled up on the spits, but fortune favored them. They
were light in build and could travel in shallow water ;
some of them are said to have been able to successfully
sail on a heavy dew. The first of these to try a rest
ing place on the spit is supposed to have been the
Walaska, bringing in supplies for the Kinney cannery.
This craft was constructed more like a scow than a
ship, and when it went onto the spit it simply wan
dered around for a while to scrape the barnacles from
its bottom and was easily pulled into the channel.
The Myrene tried the experiment with success, and
after cleaning its bottom went out into the channel
and was none the worse for the experiment. The tug
Vosburg, property of the Wheeler Mill Company, has
traveled over the various spits and sand bottoms of the
harbor so many times that she can sail about as easily
on land as on the seas. She is a powerful tug and
able to take care of herself anywhere.
Of the wrecks, there are two of sufficient interest
to demand more than passing notice. There have been
only two on the ocean side in which the vessels were
lost; yet there is enough of sensationalism connected
with the events to make up for many more. The loss
of life associated with these wrecks has not been great.
Fate sent the vessels to their doom under strange cir
cumstances ; conditions which breathe of power no one
can fathom. All were sailing vessels, and the fact that
they plowed onto the shore in this awkward manner is
explained by the peculiar construction of the shore
line. To the north is the Tillamook Head rock forma
tion extending out into the ocean in the form of a
small peninsula. To the south is the similar wall of
projecting mountain at the southern extremity of Tilla
mook County. Between these projections the coast
line indents the shore, forming a sea pocket. In this

118 STORIES OF NEHALEM
sea pocket there is no current of air to assist the sailor
in navigating his vessel. Once in here, when the wind
is blowing along the coast in certain directions, a sail
ing ship is really in a calm, and is left to the mercy of
the sea, which has a tendency to gradually draw the
craft to shore. This is one of the ways ship captains
explain the two wrecks recorded for the Nehalem
shore. The first of modern ships to wreck here was the
German bark Mimi, which went ashore one evening
in February, 1913. It was a steel built vessel and
was on her way to the Columbia in ballast. For sev
eral days the ship had been beating up the coast in
a heavy fog. The sun had not penetrated the veil for
days, and it was impossible for the captain to secure
his reckonings. He thought he had reached near the
mouth of the Columbia River. Before he could dis
cover his location the sound of breakers was heard
ahead, and the ship, under sail, piled up on the beach.
She came in head on and stuck fast. Rockets were
at once sent up, and the distressed vessel soon received
what assistance could be given from Brighton, where
the signals were first seen. The impossibility of easily
taking the ship from her position was soon apparent,
and the crew waited for low tide. When the tide had
gone out the crew was able to walk ashore on the
sand. Each succeeding high tide carried the stranded
vessel higher and higher on the beach. During all this
time the vessel stood erect without the sign of a list.
Wrecking crews visited the scene and decided it
was possible to drag the Mimi from the beach. Her
steel hull stood the strain remarkably well, and she
soon settled into a bed of sand which made her posi
tion safe. Great anchors were secured and placed far
out in the water beyond the breakers. To these heavy
lines were fastened and brought to shore. Donkey

WRECKS 119
engines were located on shore and one on the vessel
in order to move her. Finally, when all was well, the
ballast was removed from the hull and the engines set
in motion. The highest tide of the month of April was
selected for the final test. When all was in readiness
a signal was given from the vessel and the big engines
began to work in harmony. The calculations of the
wreckers were correct. The ship gradually moved out
to sea and was soon in the first of the breakers. Un
fortunately, too much of the ballast was taken from
the hull and the masts were permitted to remain stand
ing. This made the ship topheavy, and when the
breakers hit her she turned on her side and went down.
The water was shallow and only a part of her hull was
submerged. An explosion on the vessel warned the
watchers on shore that something had happened, and
active preparations were made to save as many ~ of
those on board as possible. The vessel was taken from
the beach shortly after midnight, and the darkness pre
vented the rescuers from doing anything until morn
ing. Soon wreckage from the ship made its appear
ance on shore, and the men realized the worst had hap
pened. There were twenty men on the ship when she
left the shore. A part of the crew remained with the
vessel, and the remainder of the number was made up
of workmen who assisted in the undertaking of remov
ing the ship and officers of the engineering company in
charge. The three mates of the vessel left before it had
reached the breakers and were saved. One of the
mates had warned the captain and others that the Mimi
would not stand up in the breakers with her masts in
position and no ballast in her hold. For this reason
they were not willing to take chances with her. They
were all men of long experience on the water and
knew the dangers to be encountered. On Sunday

120 STORIES OF NEHALEM
morning, with the breaking of day and as soon as it
was light enough to see, the life saving crew from Gari
baldi was hastened to the scene, and hundreds of peo
ple who heard of the disaster appeared. All that long
day attempts were made to reach the ship and those
who might be alive aboard her. She was lying so close
to shore that at low tide the cries of the men could
be distinctly heard. The attempts of the Garibaldi
crew were fruitless, and a call was sent to the Colum
bia River crew to come. It was late on Sunday after
noon that the Columbia station received the summons,
but they hastily prepared for the trip. Between three
and four o'clock on Monday morning the tender for
the Columbia crew was sighted a short way off shore,
and the watchers renewed hope, although they feared
none of the men on the ship could possibly stand the
long exposure in an April wind, soaked with ice-cold
water and without food. (
As soon as day dawned the Columbia crew was
seen making its way in toward the wrecked vessel
with all speed. It was an inspiring sight to see them
dashing through breakers, fearless of life and deter
mined to deprive the angry ocean of its prey. The Gari
baldi crew got into action and, without difficulty, made
their way to the Mimi and took the four survivors
from the wreck. The run of the Columbia crew was
one of the prettiest sights ever seen on the coast. The
little craft rode high on the breakers out beyond the
vessel, then slid down into the trough of the sea, dis
appearing entirely from view, and those on shore won
dering whether the boat would make its appearance
again. Then the nose of the boat showed through a
wall of breakers and speedily the craft burst into sight.
People on shore cheered at the top of their voices to
witness this feat of daring. It was an inspiration and
hundreds of prayers were whispered for the success

WRECKS 121
of this fearless crew. Of the twenty aboard the Mimi
when she was taken from the shore, only four survived.
The bodies of six others were finally recovered. For a
few months after capsizing, the ship could be seen
laying on her side, where the breakers could pound
her hardest. Finally, as though the hand of fate
wished to wipe out all remembrance of the tragedy,
she disappeared from sight entirely. Whether the hull
collapsed from the constant pounding of the breakers
or whether she settled in the sand is not known.
The last of the wrecks of Nehalem happened in the
fall of the same year. It was one of the most pic
turesque of any recorded in the world. The Glenesslyn,
an English ship laden with cement, sailed into the
rocky point at the base of Neah-Kah-Nie Mountain on
the afternoon of October 1, 1913. Like a seagull the
ship, with all sails set, plowed her way through the
breakers and piled up on the rocks. It was broad day
light and the residents of Neah-Kah-Nie Beach could
hardly believe their eyes when they saw the vessel
standing at the foot of the rocky point and ready to
do battle with wind or gale. S. G. Reed hastened to
the scene and assisted the crew in placing a line to
shore. The crew left the vessel without as much as
wetting their feet. The ship stood among the rocks
and, at low tide, was a spectacular sight as she ap
peared almost naked upon the rocks. But she did not
stand the incessant pound of the breakers during the
storms that followed and, within two months, only a
little wreckage was left to remind visitors of the dis
aster. Chunks of coal are frequently found along the
Nehalem Beach and far to the south along the Gari
baldi and Bayocean Beaches. These pieces of con
densed silence are mute reminders of the ill-fated
Emily G. Reed, which went to her last harbor about a

122 STORIES OF NEHALEM
mile below Brighton on Garibaldi Beach one night dur
ing the fall of 1908. She was coal laden for the Colum
bia River and came onto the beach a short distance
south of the mouth of the Nehalem River. She was a
wooden ship, old and unable to withstand the heavy
surf. A few hours after reaching the beach she was
a wreck and the members of the crew were helpless.
Seven lives were lost and the survivors suffered con
siderably until they were able to find a hospitable cabin
and receive assistance. At this time Garibaldi Beach
was almost uninhabited. A few cabins were scattered
its entire length and the members of the crew, who
succeeded in making shore, were scantily supplied with
clothing to protect them from the biting winds. The
survivors were cared for by the residents of Nehalem
and some went to Tillamook Bay with the life-saving
crew, which was called to the wreck. The residents of
the valley and along the beaches gathered a supply of
coal from the great quantity washed ashore and to this
day many pieces are found.
During one of those furious gales that swept the
coast during the winter and early spring of 1915, the
Francis R. Leggett foundered off Tillamook Head, a
few miles north of the beach, and was lost. She was
from the Grays Harbor district loaded with railroad
ties and lath. A few passengers were aboard her at
the time and, with her crew, more than seventy people
had entrusted their lives to the ill-fated vessel. A
few days after the vessel had been discovered in dis
tress, a great quantity of ties and bundles of lath
came upon Nehalem Beach. In front of Manzanita the
shore was piled with wreckage and from the base of
Neah-Kah-Nie to Necarney City thousands of ties were
picked up. To make the story of the wreck more grim
the body of a woman came ashore among the rocks at
the base of the mountain. She was one of the passen-

WRECKS 123
gers of the unfortunate Leggett. Thousands of the
ties from this wreck were hauled to the railroad and
sold by those who were enterprising enough to gather
the harvest the storm had brought. Very little wreck
age from the hull of the vessel itself came in. She
evidently foundered far out at sea and sank, or was
drifted out of the path of navigation along the coast.
Two from the wrecked vessel were rescued. They had
fioated by clinging to ties and wreckage, and finally
drifted ashore to be saved. One of these, a man, was
picked up far to the north of where the vessel foun
dered and almost to the harbor from which the Leggett
had cleared.

Newspaper Pioneering.
The pioneer newspaper publisher had a life of ex
periences that was outclassed only by the earliest set
tler who had missed a boat and had to wait six months
before securing another supply of provisions. The
first papers published here served the purpose of dis
pensing all general information secured by the public,
and their appearance was looked forward to with
great interest. Daily papers seldom wandered into the '
new country and, although Portland was only a few
miles away, news from that place was scarce enough
to make any kind of a paper welcomed into all the
homes. Politics, general and foreign news was a
rarity in these parts except what occasionally leaked
in over the telegraph wire working part of the time
between the Tillamook County points and Portland.
The newspaper publisher must have been a man of
exceptional ability and resourcefulness. While the
annual issues of the early local papers would scarcely

124 STORIES OF NEHALEM
require much more paper than a couple of regular
copies of the Sunday Oregonian, the publisher could
not always figure on the exact amount he would need
or when he would be able to secure the next. It fre
quently happened that the supply of printing material
ran out and it was at these times that the skill of the
publisher was brought into play. It was not rare to
receive the home weekly printed on the old straw
wrapping paper found in the grocery stores in the
beginning of the present century. Anything the
printer happened to have in stock was pressed into
service and when this failed a raid was made on the
town grocery.
One of the earliest publishers had a particular ad
vantage over the usual occupants of the newspaper
field. He was telegraph operator as well as editor of
the local weekly and was in constant touch with the
outside world. One can readily appreciate that along
about 1890 a telegraph operator located at this place
would not be over-crowded with work on the wire.
There, also, would not be any too much excitement
going on to distract his thought from the world beyond
the mountains. Among the "boys of the key" there
has always existed a brotherhood that includes those
working the shifts in the smaller towns where news
is frequently wanting. For this reason, the operator
in these isolated places is at liberty tp call up during
the dull shifts and "talk" over the events of the day.
The operators in the larger cities are ever ready to
accommodate these "outsiders" and many a lonesome
fellow finds life a little easier on account of these
conversations. Much of the important news of the
outside world thus finds its way into towns long before
the newspapers from the big cities could possibly reach
there. Among those who possessed the key to this valu-

NEWSPAPER PIONEERING 125
able news source was Giles B. Johnson, who suc
ceeded J. S. Dillinger as publisher of the first news
paper in the Nehalem Valley. Mr. Dillinger, now the
leading publisher of Astoria, brought the first news
paper plant to the valley in the spring of 1890. It
was located in a building on the island opposite the
present City of Nehalem in connection with the mill
built there that year by Astoria capitalists. He op
erated the paper during that summer, when the plant
was sold to Giles B. Johnson, who came into the sec
tion as operator at Nehalem for the first telegraph
line constructed into the district. This line extended
from Portland to Tillamook, with a station at Nehalem.
It was not particularly a success and soon came into
disuse. Johnson conducted the paper in connection
with the telegraph office. The plant was operated on
the island for a short time after Johnson purchased it
and later moved to Upper Nehalem, where it was
published for many years. The name of this first ex
periment in the newspaper line was the Nehalem
Times, the same as that of the present occupant of the
field, but many years intervened from the date the
first Times suspended until the latter appeared.
The old building used by the Times as an office is
now standing on the river front at Upper Nehalem
and the sign was recently brought to light by an in
quisitive investigator and placed over the door in
remembrance of early days. Few copies of this infant
in the Oregon newspaper field are now to be found.
It was a small, four-page edition devoted to a very
liberal interpretation of what little local news could
be gathered in the valley, with some outside news and
a limited advertising patronage. At the time the
paper was started houses were few and far between
either at Lower or Upper Nehalem, but the paper was
sufficiently lively to make it of interest and the sub-

126 STORIES OF NEHALEM
scriptions recompensed the publisher to a limited ex
tent for his labors. One store in each of these places
was all the valley could boast at the initiation of the
early Times, but the spirit of progress was in the air
and the paper was most liberally patronized by those
who desired that the doings and growth of the new
district should be appropriately heralded to the world
beyond the mountains.
But Johnson met his Waterloo during the cam
paign of 1896. He was an ardent supporter of the
Democratic ticket and most of the people in the val
ley were equally as ardent in favor of McKinley, who
was leading the fight for the Republicans. The vic
tory of the latter left the publisher of the paper in a
very embarrassing position. His hard fight for the
principles in which he believed caused a great deal of
enmity among those who formerly supported him, and
the patronage gradually decreased. Johnson fought
valiantly to retain the field, but, finally, sought to use
a Republican salve with which to regain the lost sup
port. In order to do this, he sold a half interest in
the paper to R. M. Watson, a strong Republican.
They ran the paper together until the next year, 1897,
when Johnson quit the field for a more Democratic
community. But, even after inoculation with concen
trated Republican serum, the paper was not a healthy
patient. Watson nursed it along for some time, but
gave up the attempt and moved the paper, plant and
all, to Tillamook. This ended the prospect of having a
home paper for some time.
The next revival was when James Gray started a
small paper in Nehalem in 1905, which survived only a
few issues. Later, in 1909, the Nehalem Enterprise was
started by Hugo F. Effenberger, who conducted it
until 1913, when the plant was moved across the
river to Wheeler and the name of the paper changed to

NEHALEM JETTY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

Photo by Mayer.

WRECK OP THE MIMI.

Photo by Mayer.

NEWSPAPER PIONEERING 127
the Nehalem Valley Reporter. The present Nehalem
Times resulted from the demand of the people of the
city to have a representative publication and came into
existence in April, 1914.

Banking.

The first bank in the Nehalem Valley was the old
reliable and popular family institution, the stocking.
The security of this bank depended upon the secrecy
of the hiding place and, frequently, it was so safely
hidden from the general members of the household
that the one depositing it forgot where it was placed.
The necessity for banks of this kind was the scarcity
of important business transactions and still greater
scarcity of coin. The residents traded their goods to
a great extent with the merchants and a medium of
exchange of the character of money was not of a
great necessity. In the earliest days, there was not
enough business transacted to keep a live bank clerk
busy for one day and, later, the merchants conducting
stores at Upper and Lower Nehalem acted in the
capacity of local banker.
It was not until the introduction and establishment
of manufacturing enterprises, where a large number
of men were employed, that a banking institution
became a necessity. The growth of the cheese indus
try and the operation of lumber mills, with their at
tendant logging camps, soon, however, created a field
for a bank. In the year 1909 this demand became so
imperative that the residents of the valley considered
the idea of forming a banking corporation. Frank A.
Rowe entered the valley and with his characteristic

128 STORIES OF NEHALEM
enterprise and foresight saw the need and oppor
tunity of making this section independent in the com
mercial world. With the assistance of some of the
leading men of the valley, he formed the Nehalem
Valley Bank. W. B. Starr was chosen as president
of the institution and F. A. Rowe as cashier. The
bank opened for business on October 28, 1909, in the
Clay Daniels building at Nehalem and quickly took its
position among the growing financial institutions of
Tillamook County. It continued in operation at the
place of its original location until May 29, 1913, when
it was moved across the river to the new city of
Wheeler.

Metropolitan Days.
The establishment of industry and the prospects
of an increase of population resulting from the de
velopment of the valley's resources caused the people
to consider what it all would mean to them. Ship
ping centers must be established and trading posts
built. Somewhere in the valley must be places where
families could live and secure the necessities of life,
where the commerce of the coast could find anchorage
and a place for the discharge and receipt of cargoes.
Nehalem Valley was fast approaching the position of
such industrial advancement that it was necessary to
put on metropolitan airs.
Up to this time the only store ever existing in the
valley was the one conducted at the Kinney cannery
during the fishing season. This served the purpose
while it was open, but it was possible to trade there
only during certain seasons of the year. A stock of
goods was brought to the store just before the fishing

METROPOLITAN DAYS 129
season started and most of the supply was sold by
the time the cannery ended its run. Any goods left
over were disposed of by the watchman, but the stock
had been exceptionally well depleted by that time and
the purchasers had little choice of articles. It did not
matter how particular the purchaser might be, he or
she had to take what was left and that was all there
was to it. Style had not found its way into the valley
and vanity was still held back by the great wall of
mountains shutting the district out from the world
about it.
The difficulty of shipping goods to this store are
exemplified by the experience of Alex Anderson, who
was superintendent of the Kinney cannery, from the
time it started until it was finally sold to the Elmore
Company. Kinney had shipped a good supply lof
merchandise to Nehalem on the steamer, Queen of the
Bay. Anderson promised the captain he would meet
the boat at Garibaldi, at which place she was to un
load before coming here, and pilot her into Nehalem
Bay. He went to Garibaldi and spent a most unpleas
ant week seated at Bar View awaiting her arrival. It
was not a pleasant task, but he stuck to it with de
termination until a whole week had passed. He was
needed at the cannery, but the cannery needed the
supplies just as bad and he decided to withstand the
unhappy job of watchful waiting. The Queen of the
Bay did not put in her appearance at the end of the
week and Anderson came to the conclusion she was
not coming. He took the electric railway (on foot)
up Garibaldi Beach.
A few days after returning home, the Queen made
her appearance at Garibaldi, unloaded her cargo for
that place and made her way up the coast to Nehalem
River. The captain decided he did not need the serv
ice of an expert to pilot the vessel in the channel and

130 STORIES OF NEHALEM
tried to enter. He piled up on the spit and for the
next few days there were busy times on the beach.
The supplies for the cannery were removed from the
wreck at low tide and piled on the beach. The Indians
living about the lower river were in need of provisions
and anything in the cargo that might look good to
them. There was a miscellaneous assortment of gro
ceries, boots, shoes, dry goods and vari-colored cloth.
The latter looked good to the squaws and the eating
material appealed to the hearts of the braves. Ander
son had one of the busiest times of his life salvaging
the cargo from the natives after it had been saved from
the sea. He spent one disagreeable night on the spit
on guard. He got rheumatism, lumbago, spavins and
a half dozen other diseases from the cold and cheerless
breezes sweeping in from the sea. The job was one
not intended for a man with any weakness, either for
rest or health. Anderson laughs at the experience and
the necessity for keeping awake as a dusky form was
occasionally disclosed in the semi-darkness. He got
through the night and saved the goods, but he says he
was not lonesome any of the time ; he had the company
of several who hoped he might go to sleep for a few
moments and give them a chance to purchase some of
the goods without the formality of examining them
by daylight.
This was not the only time when the dangers of
the bar were brought home to the cannery operators
in a f orceable manner. The steam mud scow Wilaska —
it looked more like a mud scow than anything else
and was propelled by steam — made the attempt to
negotiate the passage without the formality of a
pilot. It got as far as the north spit and decided to
take a rest. The captain wandered out of the channel
and landed on the sand in a most inconvenient man
ner. The tide was going out and, when it had finally

METROPOLITAN DAYS 131
reached the low water mark, the Wilaska loomed up
on the sand like a wart on a log. It was high and dry,
and resting in an easy position. Anyone could see the
entire outlines of the puny liner, but one glance was
all anyone needed to reject the model as impossible.
The captain of the craft made his way to the cannery
and, in sorrowful terms, announced the wreck of his
staunch vessel. The sea was calm at the time and
Anderson knew there was no danger.
Several fishing boats were taken to the scene and
it was found the boat had wandered only a short way
out of the channel. The captain was in for pitching
the cargo, which included the boiler for the cannery,
overboard. Anderson told him the boiler would stay
where it was. An anchor was placed in the channel
and the men awaited the incoming tide. It did not
take long for the craft to float and, with little diffi
culty, it was hauled back into the channel. It was
piloted to the cannery and tied up. The Wilaska had
not sustained the least damage and was able to make
her way out, after discharging cargo, and arrived
safely at Astoria, but she never visited Nehalem again.
But we have wandered away from the story .of the
first store opened in the valley and the beginning of
metropolitan days. Long about 1890, Edward E. W.
Wist came to the valley and saw an opportunity for
someone with the ingenuity to start something. He
made several trips up and down the river and de
cided that Upper Nehalem was the place where the
future shipping center of the valley was to be located.
He secured a tract of land and laid it out in town
lots, naming it Nehalem, after the Indians resident in
the district. It began to look real citified, with town
lots for sale and things assuming a modern air. This
first attempt to centralize affairs had the desired effect.
Many people bought lots and some built houses on

132 STORIES OF NEHALEM
them, but Wist soon found the best way to have a
trading center was to have something to trade and a
place in which to trade it. A store was necessary and
he opened one in the fall of 1890. It was in a small
building near the river and the stock was not exten
sive, but sufficient to meet the demands of the com
munity. The post office was moved to the store and in
a short time Nehalem assumed the appearance of a
thriving town. At this time the present city of Neha
lem was unborn and Upper Nehalem was the chief
center of the entire valley. The store in connection
with the Kinney cannery was closed that year.
With the location of the post office in the Wist
store it began to look as though the shipping and
trading center of the valley would remain at this
place. There was plenty of deep water and good
dockage for ships that might come here. The town
began to grow with all the vigor of youth. But there
were others who had plans of their own and rivalry
entered the field. Henry Tohl had leased the Corwin
place and decided it offered more inducements as the
location of a city than as a farm. In the spring of
1891 he built a small building on the river front near
what is known as Tohl's old store and placed a small
stock of goods in it. This new trading center was
called Nehalem and in September of that year, Mr.
Tohl, having purchased the Corwin farm, platted a
part of it. The part first platted lay between the
present Tohl & Anderson store and the Klein resi
dence. Sixteen blocks were laid out and much of it
sold. It was some distance from the store, but in the
most level part of the farm. A little later, he added
considerably to the town by extending the plat to in
clude the section now built upon and along the river
to the Todd place.
The growth of the community soon demanded

METROPOLITAN DAYS 133
larger trading facilities and Mr. Tohl was forced to
build a much larger building. Meanwhile he was not
haying a monopoly of the business, for Mr. Wist was
doing some building on his own account. He con
structed a large store building back from the river
and put in an extensive stock. This building was
later destroyed by fire and never rebuilt. Discour
aged at the result of his store venture, Mr. Wist built
a cannery at Upper Nehalem and conducted it until he
sold to the Elmore Company and moved to Tillamook.
The post office had been moved to Nehalem and the
lower town began an era of prosperity that has never
ended. The same year rivalry was again seen be
tween the two places in the work of building saw mills,
as has been related in another chaper. For a long time
Henry Tohl conducted the only store in the valley and,
with the addition of industry, the growth of Nehalem
was steady. Unlike many towns in a new country,
Nehalem has never had a boom. Its development has
been consistent and no attempt has been made to
boom it. Perhaps in this one particular, Nehalem is
an exception. The people interested in the growth
of the city have believed in its future, but did not be
lieve in exaggerated representations. The truth about
the valley and the possibilities here is all that will be
required to show people the opportunities offered them.
For this reason the history of the city is one to which
its residents can point with pride. It has met panics
and hard times with a smile and always emerged with
out a scar.
But the residents of Upper Nehalem were not in
the least discouraged by the destruction of their store.
There was too much of determination in the make-up
of those people. They argued that there was room
for two centers of trade and shipping in the valley
and they wanted their share. During the following

134 STORIES OF NEHALEM
years, several buildings were built on the river front
and a hotel, the first built in the valley, was con
structed by John Larsen in the year 1892.

Community Life.

The Town of Nehalem was incorporated by an act
of the legislature of 1899 and immediately after re
ceiving its grant the people held an election, at which
Nick Drostoff, Jacob Kamm, August Burmester and
J. P. Munsinger were elected trustees. At the first
meeting of the board, J. P. Munsinger was selected as
chairman. This was on February 20, 1899. The in
corporation included only a part of the platted portion
of the town, but in the year 1912 considerably more
territory was added. The town incorporation con-
tined in existence until 1913, when the voters decided
to change to the more modern and dignified condition
of a city. The election was held in June of that year
and the last meeting of the board of trustees of the
town was held on June 27, 1913. At this meeting the
town form of government was abandoned and a mayor
and four councilmen exercised the governing func
tions. The first mayor was Joseph C. Smith. The council-
men selected were William Norris, W. L. Mayer, H. W.
Tohl and Ed Smith. Dr. H. C. Randle was elected re
corder and F. A. LaFlamboy as treasurer. During that
year considerable improvement in the street conditions
of the city were made and other changes started.
Smith was followed as mayor by J. W. Thompson
and he by A. C. Andersen, the present incumbent.
Nehalem is well located on the north bank of the

COMMUNITY LIFE 135
river with excellent deep water facilities and well
sheltered from the storms of winter. It has been a
trading center of the valley from the beginning of in
dustrial development. Upper Nehalem, about three-
quarters of a mile from the center of the lower city, is
a growing community, with a general store and a large
number of residences. The salmon packing and can
ning plant of the Elmore Packing Company is located
here and, during the fishing season, is a lively place.

Wheeler.

Possibly one of the most interesting events of the
whole story of the industrial growth of the Nehalem
valley is associated with Wheeler. When Himpel
& Wheeler selected the location for their mill, they
chose the south bank of the river about two miles
from Nehalem. Mr. Himpel was a lumber manufac
turer on the Columbia River and conducted a mill at
Clatskanie. To give the reader a better idea of the
difficulty he encountered in transporting his manu
facturing plant to its new location one should have a
map of the area drained by the South Fork of the
Nehalem. This stream, after its separation from the
main river near the present high school location,
makes its way back into the mountains in the direction
of Timber. At its conjunction with the Salmonberry,
the South Fork takes a northerly course and pursues
a tortuous direction to within about fifteen miles of
Clatskanie. Here it turns again to the east and later
swings to the south, making its way to a point near
Timber. While in a straight line from the union of
the South Fork and the Salmonberry to Timber is but
a few miles, it travels a distance of nearly a hundred
miles to reach the point.

136 STORIES OF NEHALEM
Mr. Himpel saw an opportunity of conveying his
mill without taking it the long way down the Colum
bia, across the bar to the ocean and down to the Neha
lem, then dangerous to navigation. The mill was taken
apart and hauled across the low divide separating
Clatskanie and the South Fork of the river. Here it
was loaded on small barges and floated the entire dis
tance to its location at Wheeler. The task was not so
difficult as one would naturally think. During the
high water, the river raises considerably and offers
sufficient water to float a good-sized barge. The mill
was put together in the year 1895 and operated. On
the death of Mr. Himpel, C. H. Wheeler took over the
interest of his partner and continued the mill in
operation until it was dismantled to give way to the
present modern plant, which has a capacity of 150,000
feet of finished lumber per day.
With the announcement of plans to construct an
immense lumber manufacturing plant to take the
place of the old one many people were attracted to
Wheeler on account of its prospects as a manufactur
ing center. The site for a new town was platted in
1913 and soon the place became the scene of activity
such as had never before been seen in the valley.
Stores were built, houses sprang up in a remarkably
short time and a modern hotel erected. In June of
that year the population had increased sufficiently to
demand city regulations and it was incorporated as
the City of Wheeler during that month. J. A. Jensen
was elected as first mayor and he was followed the
next year by M. A. Hamilton, who is the present in
cumbent. The councilmen elected were Sam Lund-
berg, J. T. Donovan, J. S. Lundy, Alex Anderson, Jr.,
A. J. Zimmerman and G. L. Archibald. J. W. Short-
ridge was elected recorder and F. A. Rowe as treasurer.

OTHER CENTERS 137
Other Centers.
The year 1912, that in which the railroad was
opened for operation, saw a revival in community life
in the valley. Townsites along the railroad were laid
out and great activity manifested. Early that year
Mohler was platted. Its location is just above ., the
forks of the Nehalem River on the south fork and
soon became the trading center for the ranchers for
the entire valley district along the South Fork and
Foley Creek and far down the Miami River. A large
cheese factory is located at this place and many tons
of Nehalem 's famous cheese is sent to the markets
from there each month during the spring, summer
and fall seasons. There is a modern general store
located here under the management of A. Finley, a
post office, restaurant and livery.
At the mouth of the river and only a short dis
tance from the shore end of the jetty, is Brighton.
This community was laid out during the same year.
A model saw mill was erected here by the Watt
Brothers and has been in operation most of the time
since 1913 under the supervision of Thomas Watt.
This is one of the mills that is awaiting the develop
ment of shipping across the bar. At the present time
it is impossible to ship the entire output of the plant
and enforced idleness is the result of the inability to
ship lumber by boats. It is expected that lumber
schooners will be crossing the bar before the close of
the present summer.

Coming of the Railroad.
The hope for rail transportation into the valley was
not fully realized until the fall of 1912. The hopes and

138 STORIES OF NEHALEM
disappointments of a half century is an interesting
story in itself. It is a story of dogged persistency and
limitless courage. It is a story of pioneering of the
most rugged kind and filled with discouragements. For
a time it looked as though capital would not have the
courage to attempt a passage over the steep moun
tains separating this section from the Willamette Val
ley. It was an undertaking to puzzle the skill of the
best of engineers, but man has proven by his works
that nature cannot construct unsurmountable barriers.
The most puzzling engineering difficulties turn out to
be easy when the right man takes the helm and guides
the onward march of enterprise.
E. E. Lytle was well aware of the Garden of Eden
lying across the mountains from Hillsboro. He knew
its wealth of timber, cheese and farm products. He
knew that the secret of the mountain passes could be
unlocked and a line built into the valley. Surveys
were discouraging. They told a story of great cost.
Tunnels must pierce the rock-ribbed mountains; num
berless bridges must be thrown across the rivers ; deep
cuts through rock must be made, and for miles it was
a picture of bewildering expenses. But Mr. Lytle was
not a man to be discouraged by things of this kind. He
knew a wealth of business lay ahead for the road, and
he sought capital with which to build it. Tillamook
County, with the Nehalem Valley as the first garden
of wealth, was the slogan of this enterprise. The
stories of wealth in the entire county were such that
capital did not hesitate to invest.
As a result, in 1907 work on this road was started
from Hillsboro. Gradually the band of steel was ex
tended toward the Coast Range of mountains, and was
soon lost in the rugged recesses. At about the same
time work was also begun along the Nehalem River
and in the region of Tillamook Bay. Mr. Lytle stuck

COMING OF THE RAILROAD 139
to the enterprise with the tenacity of one who was
bound to win. After much discouragement and delay
the road was finally pushed through the mountains,
time after time crossing and recrossing the Salmon
berry and South Fork of the Nehalem River, and was
connected with the line down through the Nehalem
Valley. The work necessitated the construction of
more than a hundred bridges and boring eleven tun
nels, some of which were of considerable length. Many
times the line crosses one of the rivers to disappear in
a tunnel, and emerges on the other side to cross the
river once more.
The route is one of the most scenic on the coast.
The rivers it follows are alive with fish, and suggest
delight to the sportsman. In places the road is several
hundred feet above the stream and the steep bank is
awe-inspiring, even to those travelers who are accus
tomed to rugged mountain scenes. Great forests of
giant timber are traversed. Along this road is one of
the largest bodies of untouched timber on the conti
nent. Coming into the valley from the mountains the
road winds along the tortuous course of the South
Fork until it emerges from the foothills into the widen
ing fertility of the valley. Through the valley it fol
lows the Nehalem River to its mouth, reaching Tilla
mook Bay by way of Garibaldi Beach. The present
terminus is at Tillamook, but there are plans now un
der consideration for extending it through the county
to the south and connecting further down the coast
with other lines from the interior of the state.

Nehalem Beach.

For beauty of background and for a wide sandy
stretch of matchless beach there is no place on the

140 STORIES OF NEHALEM
whole Pacific Coast can equal the ocean front of Ne
halem. The mountain, rising in easy terraces from
the water's edge, forms a background that rivals any
on earth. Somehow or other, nature carpeted this
slope with eternal green, and the alluvial deposits from
the centuries of transformation of the mountain side
has built a soil that can be equalled nowhere else along
the ocean. Gradually decreasing in its ability to sus
tain life, it finally ends in pure sand far down the coast
line in Nehalem Spit, a point of land forming a bar
rier between the ocean and Nehalem Bay. From Neah-
Kah-Nie to the mouth of the river is five miles of broad
beach. Differing from that of other sections along the
coast, the slope of the beach is gradual, and at low
tide is several hundred feet in width. The surf along
this beach is just the right strength for bathing, and
hundreds of people delight in a cool dip during the
continual pleasant weather of summer.
The beauty of Neah-Kah-Nie appealed to the first
settler in the Nehalem Valley. John Crawford took
up a claim along the water front at the base of the
mountain. Michael Devlin followed him in 1875, and
Abner Seelye followed early in the eighties. Later
the entire property of these settlers came into the pos
session of William Batterson, who used it as a cattle
range. It is now owned by S. G. Reed, who has built
a delightful summer hotel on the property and is mak
ing it one of the finest resorts on the coast. Golf
links have been laid Out, and the entire course com
mands a magnificent view of the ocean. The grounds
are so laid that the player begins his course low down
on the side of the mountain and gradually ascends it
until, at the last hole, the elevation is several hundred
feet above the ocean and a view for miles rewards the
player. Many who have been over the famous courses

BEACHES 141
of the country proclaim that at Neah-Kah-Nie to be
the finest they have ever seen.
To the south of this is Manzanita. This property
was taken up by George Dean early in the seventies.
It was later purchased by E. H. Lane, who platted a
part of it and opened Manzanita. Mr. Lane has made
a reputation by his famous chicken dinners, and many
visitors from all over the county, and summer visitors s
from other districts of the state, make a special effort
to visit the Lane Hotel on Sundays and enjoy these
dinners. A pleasant hotel was built here by E. G.
Nunn, and Emil Kardell has built and conducts the
first store ever opened on the entire beach. Still further
to the south of Manzanita is Necarney City, another
subdivision of the beach. Here is the Tent City that
has made the summers pleasant for hundreds of people
from the cities and valleys inland, who were not able
to build cottages. Tent City is now under the owner
ship and management of William Gorman. Sunset
Beach is the last of the resorts in the journey from
the mountain to the river. It was one of the first sec
tions of the beach to be platted and opened to settle
ment. This was done by J. J. Walter nearly twenty
years ago.
Back a little way from the beaches described above
and on a delightful elevation is located Classic Ridge.
This place is of interest for more reasons that one. It
was first taken up by William Snyder, who owned it
until he sold the property to J. H. Edwards, head of
the Oregon Conservatory of Music. Mr. Edwards is
not only musically inclined, but he favors literature as
well. He has worked to make this spot the Mecca of
those whose professions are allied with these. It. is an
ideal location. A beautiful lake occupies a depression
in about the center of the property and is surrounded
by gradually sloping grounds on all sides. The place

142 STORIES OF NEHALEM
is suited to the object for which Mr. Edwards selected
it. The visitor is surrounded everywhere by environ
ments that stimulate the mind to greatest activity.
The summer colony is quite extensive.
Owing to the difficulty of reaching these resorts,
the past has not been one of great promise, but new
roads have been built to them, and now one can travel
from Portland to either of the resorts in an auto over
the excellent roads. The beach offers much to the auto
tourist. There are many pleasant trips to the trout
creeks, up the forks of the river and along the smooth,
hard sands of the shore. And to those who spend their
summers here there is nothing more delightful than an
evening on the beach beside a roaring bonfire made
from the great quantities of logs and drift brought in
by the tides.
The Club House, an attractive building nestling in
the growth of spruce some distance back from the
ocean at Manzanita Beach, is the center of attraction
for many women of literary and musical fame from
Portland and other Oregon places. It is under the
management of Mrs. Alice Weister, of Portland, who
acts as hostess. It is distinctively a women's summer
delight. Mere man has been banished, except at some
of the pleasant programs given during the summer
evenings.

Neah-Kah-Nie Trail.
No more picturesque trip can be found on the con
tinent than that over Neah-Kah-Nie Trail from Seaside
into the Nehalem country. To the lover of natural
beauty nothing can compare with the wonderful view
suddenly presented as the traveler emerges from the

NEAH-KAH-NIE TRAIL 143
primeval forest at the line dividing Tillamook and
Clatsop counties. One might well speak of the trav
eler as weary after the hike along the picturesque
Cannon Beach, through the long stretch of forest and
over the steep hill and down into fern-covered valleys.
In sunshine or in storm the trail is one of exceptional
changes and wonderful in the kaleidoscopic variety.
It is dangerous, too, during the winter season when
the winds from the ocean sweep the barren face of the
mountain in pitiless fury. The danger of the trip
during this season is not alone confined to the moun
tain side, but back along the beach are spots where
the surf breaks upon the rocks like the hand of fate
reaching for another victim. One not familiar with
the tides and the dangers of the trail would do well
to pause before attempting the passage alone.
During this season it is dangerous even to the ex
perienced. The story of the trials of the mail carriers
is one replete with sensational escapes and nerve-test
ing encounters. Although there have been many very
narrow calls from the deep, not a single life has been
lost, a fact that testifies to the caution employed by
those with whom the government entrusted its mails.
Horses have been lost or washed from the narrow
ledges of rock leading around the points, but man has
learned a lesson of caution from the powerful breakers
dashing upon the exposed places. Elk Creek, just
north of Cannon Beach, was a treacherous barrier in
the path following the heavy rains of winter. The
freshets swelled it beyond its banks, and in the days
before bridges, and when it was necessary to ford, it
took men of courage and carefulness to guide a stage
to the opposite bank. Once one of the most cautious
drivers along the entire beach lost a team during the
high water periodovhen trying to make the ford, and it

144 STORIES OF NEHALEM
was only by a remarkable test of strength that he was
able to save himself.
Below Cannon Beach is Hug Point and Arch Cape,
which have their stories of experiences. It was at
these places where the mail carriers found their great
est dangers. They usually planned to reach here at
low tide, but when the gales of winter drove great
waves onto the rocks neither stage of the tide offered
much chance for frail man. Though the tide may be
low, one cannot make the passage around them with
out receiving a baptism of spray and a thorough soak
ing. After leaving these places the trail is a con
tinuance of unpleasantries. Pitching into the forest,
one finds the trees laden with rain, and it does not
take many minutes to complete the drenching of every
article of clothing. The trail is narrow through the
forest, and the winter rains fill it with deep and
sticky mud. This heavy condition lasts until late in
the spring each year owing to the thick foliage over
head, which shuts out the rays of the sun and makes
the process of drying long and tedious.
Even after leaving the forest the relief from mud
is unappreciated, as the gales from off the ocean have
been shut out by the envelope of trees, but now sweep
in all their fury. No one can realize how hard the
wind can blow unless they have tried the trip around
Neah-Kah-Nie when nature has worked one of its
southwesters up to the real point. The unprotected
mountainside becomes the playground of gust after
gust of wind, beating the traveler on all sides and
making the progress unsafe and uncertain.
One woman, who made the trip across during the
stormiest period of winter, when asked which was the
worst place along the trail, replied, "It was all worst."
But this is a picture of the trail at its worst, during
the winter, when all trails have their natural disad-

NEAH-KAH-NIE TRAIL 145
vantages and dangers. It is a different story than the
one told by those who have made the trip during the
summer. It is at this season when the lover of nature
pauses at the new scenes constantly presented; it is
at this time when the tongue or the pen fail to aptly
express all the mind desires to convey. It is a pano
rama of indescribable beauty and grandeur, the su
premacy of nature's handiwork. There is no scene on
earth so awe-inspiring as that when, tired from the
long trip through the forest, one suddenly emerges
from the trees into the open of the mountain side, and
there breaks into view that magnificent stretch of
ocean. Making the trip for the first time, one finds the
forest path growing monotonous as the steep places
tire the muscles after the long walk down the beach.
I shall never forget that first impression. It seemed
that I had walked for miles and miles; the beautiful
variations of forest scenery were becoming tiresome;
the lack of provisions was emphasized when the meal
eaten at Arch Cape became only a memory. As I
trudged along, now tired and hungry, I began to think
I had missed the directions given me by the hotel
keeper at the Cape and was making my way into an
impenetrable forest.- Then fear combined with the
pangs of hunger to increase my apprehensions. The
question arose in my mind whether I was actually fol
lowing the trail to Nehalem or whether I would eventu
ally come to civilization somewhere in California, for
it seemed I had walked that far. It was not the fault
of the trail, but my own, for I had not properly esti
mated the ability of the last meal to sustain me until
the end of the journey. I do not believe I could ever
describe the sensations of the trip.
Just ahead of me appeared an opening in the trees
marking the end of the forest. Suddenly, as though
nature had planned the scene as a payment for the

146 STORIES OF NEHALEM
penalty of the trail behind, the bald head of Neah-
Kah-Nie came into view, and then that grandest of all
scenes, the mighty ocean, as calm and as placid as a
glass, lying at its feet. I paused in wonder and admi
ration. The feeling of hunger was forgotten ; the tired
muscles no longer affected ; the disgust and dishearten
ing experiences became things of the past. All were
lost as I stood speechless, drinking in the beauty of the
scene ahead. I sat upon a log beside the trail, and in
the shadow of a giant spruce, eating and drinking my
fill from the great cup of grandeur before me. It
did not end here, however. A little farther on new
scenic beauties were revealed. Just as I came to the
place where the trail tips over the summit and starts
on down to the valley, another of those matchless pano
ramas spread out for miles ahead, showing a stretch of
beach reaching to the Nehalem River and over beyond
it, on and on, until the ribbon of white sand was finally
tapered to nothing. It is a scene ending where the
great mountain, far to the south, encroaches on the
ocean and marks the southern boundary of the county.
On the left is the valley with the river, a silver ribbon
set in a mass of forest green. To the right is the ocean,
grander and more beautiful when viewed from this
elevation. I am only telling the story; I cannot de
scribe the scene, and time is awaiting the one who
justly can.
Hundreds of people use this trail during the sum
mer. They much prefer the delights of this enchanting
walk to any other means of reaching the queen of the
Pacific Coast scenery which surrounds the Nehalem
Valley. The trail is the same followed by the Indians
for centuries on their visits to their friends at Seaside
and Skipanon. It was well worn into the side of the
mountain: thousands of moccasined feet had made it.
It will ever be the favorite of those loving the beauties

NEAH-KAH-NIE TRAIL 147
of nature, and the time is not far distant when an auto
mobile road will lead around the brow of the sightly
eminence. Some day, too, someone will come who has
power to place upon canvas these unsurpassed scenes ;
someone will come who can describe them in the lan
guage that has failed all those before.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY