Samuel Lancaster established himself one of the pioneers of modern American highway construction with his connection to the Columbia River Gorge highway project in 1915. That highway was only one of a myriad of programs involving Lancaster over a busy lifetime.
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To say Samuel Hill lived a fascinating life is almost an understatement. A frenetic Quaker, Sam’s life is magnificently on display online where you can find his excellent biography Sam Hill, The Prince of Castle Nowhere written by John Tuhy. Among his many interests was his participation in the Good Roads movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hill was instrumental in the development of both the Pacific Highway, a route linking the three Coastal States to each other from Canada to Mexico. He pushed for the development of a true coastal highway paralleling the Pacific Highway – today’s US 101 – as well. But Hill is best known for his role in the development of the Columbia River Gorge Highway, now over a hundred years old.
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Magic is a word overused in the Columbia Gorge. Magic, awe, wonder all terms liberally employed by visitors and writers when trying to describe the majesty of the Gorge. One of those sites spectacularly earning such accolades is Shepperd’s Dell.
Shepperd’s Dell is one of those places I never seem to have time to stop for. There is very little parking – always full on the weekends – and only a small waterfall to be fleetingly glanced at as you cross over a bridge. The Dell lies along one of the most scenic stretches of the Historic Columbia River Highway – HCRH – a true highlight between Multnomah Falls and Crown Point.
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Just a few miles before the potentially difficult crossing of the Deschutes River, Pioneers – also known as Overlanders – got their first glance of the mighty Columbia River. A little over 1900 miles lay between Independence and Oregon City, the beginning and terminus of the Oregon Trail. Until 1846, the end of contiguous overland journey was not at Oregon City. The end of the wagon journey ended at Wascopam Mission. The mission would later give rise to the town of The Dalles, milepost 1819.
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From a European birth, Wilhelm Keil made his way in fits and starts, all the way from one coast to the other, finishing his days in the communal town he founded, Aurora, Oregon. The story of his life was unusual to say the least.
Keil started out in what would soon be the Prussian province of Saxony. Born 6 March 1811 in the town of Bleicherode, just a year before the Royal Saxon army was marching off as part of Napoleon’s Grand Armee on its date in Russia.
NOTE: This is the first post of four moving backwards in time from the German-American communal town in Oregon of Aurora to other like settlements from which the Aurorans sprung out from.
Continue readingThe Life-Saving Service had a long impact on the new Coast Guard in terms of drills and rescue organization for many years. With even better equipment, helicopters, better boats, better training, the Coast Guard has continued to build on the service of their forebears in the Life-Saving Service serving the mariners of Oregon.
Now, life saving, falling into the category of search and rescue today, is an important function of the Coast Guard, especially along the coast of Oregon. But it is only one of many jobs tackled by the Coasties – smuggling interdiction, law enforcement, navigation aids are all some of the other many jobs the Coast Guard is entrusted with.
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Lighthouses were one thing to keep mariners safe as they traveled along the Pacific Coast, in and out of harbors and river bars. When they were not enough, a newer organization in Oregon appeared, the Life-Saving Service.
The official US Life-Saving Service got its start in 1878, though an ad-hoc arrangement went back further to 1848 when a series of unmanned stations, run by volunteers – similar to volunteer fire departments – existed along the coasts of New Jersey and Massachusetts. Without full-time employees, no organization or standardization of equipment or men, the results were middling at best.
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The lighthouses found along the Oregon Coastline – north and south – draw thousands of visitors each year. Most still function, sending out light into the gloom and night. Much less is known about a trio of lighthouses guiding ships down the mighty Columbia River – a river referred to in 1766 as the “Oregon” to the port of Portland.
Getting across the notorious Columbia River bar was only the first leg. Ships on their way to Portland then had a long river voyage up the Columbia – 101 miles – followed by a right turn up the Willamette – another 11 miles. To help guide them required a bar pilot and once into the river proper, a river pilot would help the rest of the way.
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In case you did not read my last post about southern Oregon lighthouses, I will repeat some of the basic history leading to the lighthouses of north Oregon.
Continue readingLighthouses always seem to be high on the list of tourist attractions and the lighthouses of the southern Oregon Coast are no exception. Most of them stand on outstanding natural locations furthering their value for the casual tourist. All of them steep with historic and functional value. Nine lighthouses survive until today with a couple lost to time along the way. Two private lighthouses have also developed in recent years, but are not open to the public. Here, we start with lighthouses in southern Oregon.
its successor is a light beacon on the left at the mouth of the Coquille River.