Tag Archives: Columbia River

OREGON LIFE-SAVING STATIONS – PAVING THE WAY FOR A NEW COAST GUARD

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Postcard showing a Life-Saving crew heading out through the surf to a vessel in distress.

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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ILLUMINATING THE OREGON – LIGHTHOUSES OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER

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Postcard view of the old Willamette Lighthouse on the Willamette-Columbia confluence.

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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SWITCHING ON THE LIGHTS – LIGHTHOUSES NORTH OREGON

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Tillamook Head Lighthouse between the middle 1940-1950’s on very calm day. Today the island is covered with sea lions.

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.

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LAST PIECE TO THE RIVER’S MOUTH TRIAD – FORT COLUMBIA

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The Endicott Plan finally brought about the construction of a fort on Chinook Point. Fort Columbia was planned for at the time of the Civil War, but not built, the fort went up between 1896 and 1904. Off Chinook Point is where Captain Robert Grey anchored his ship Columbia Rediva after crossing the bar and gave the river its name. The nearby village of Chinook predates the Lewis & Clark visit of 1805 near where they established ‘Middle Camp”.

1937 aerial view of Fort Columbia.

Built on a hill rising off the north shore of the Columbia – Highway US 101 goes underneath the fort in a tunnel – gave the fort a great view out over the river and the mouth. The same hill caused for crowding. Building the batteries meant them placed closer to each other than normal.

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THE BAR IS CLOSED – FORT CANBY ON THE COLUMBIA

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Having written last of Fort Stevens on the south side of the mouth of the Columbia River, the lynchpin of the triad of forts arranged to guard the entrance from the sea from 1865 until 1947, it is time to turn our attention to the north side of the river. First, Fort Canby set up on the headland on the north side of the entrance to the mouth. Even today, a visit by car to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center – literally erected upon the aprons of one of Fort Canby’s former battery aprons – takes you winding along a narrow densely forested lane giving you just a taste of the primeval nature of the site.

Mouth of the Columbia River with the former defensive forts arrayed.

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FORT STEVENS – FRONT DOOR CLOSED ON THE COLUMBIA

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Replica of a 6-inch disappearing gun at Battery Pratt.

A visit to semi-restored Fort Stevens on the Point Adams along the southern mouth of the Columbia River transports one part way back in time. Here you see three or four distinct flavors of the month in terms of ideas on how to properly defend the nation.

Fort Stevens became the lynchpin of three forts developed in the latter half of the 19th century to defend the mouth of the Columbia River from would-be invaders, whether they be British, Confederate, German or Japanese. The other two forts forming the Columbiad triad forming on the north side of the river in Washington – Forts Canby and Columbia.

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RE-FOCUSING THE ARMY EASTWARD ON THE COLUMBIA – FORT DALLES

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James Madison Alden’s painting of Fort Dalles from 1857.

Beiniecke Library Yale University.

Fort Dalles was one of the original forts set up by the Army as it came west after the 1846 treaty with Great Britain solidifying borders on the 49th parallel.  Before 1855, the fort was a small fort with room for one or two companies of troops.  The Yakama War changed that.  From the middle of 1856 until the beginning of 1859, the fort became one of the Army’s main centers in the Northwest.  Home for the Ninth Regiment, Fort Dalles became the jump-off point for campaigns, interior explorations, road, and fort building and a supply depot for all these activities.

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RAIN AND COVID? TIME TO BIRDWATCH AT RIDGEFIELD!

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Rain is an all too common factor in Pacific Northwest winters. Grey days can go on for weeks at a time. The rain does not fall in huge dumps, but tends to lightly fall for much of the day. Short grey wet days. Cabin fever. No mountains to climb, so what to do? Then add on top of it the COVID pandemic. Perfect time to go birdwatch at Ridgefield!

A rainy day at Rest Lake along the Auto Tour Route at the River “S” Unit at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge.
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