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.