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| Our Cover | |
| Indian Myths of Shoalwater Bay and the Lower Columbia River | |
| Farewell Long-John | |
| The Alliance of the Quinault and Chinook Tribe | |
| National Register of Historic Places: Pacific County 1966-1989 | |
| State Register of Historic Places | |
| Place Names of Pacific County | |
| The Willapa Hills and other Notable Peaks | |
| Discovery of Shoalwater Bay | |
| A Farewell Address | |
| Pacific County Historical Society Officers 1989 and 1990 | |
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A Non-Profit Organization Annual membership fees (includes membership and Sou'wester subscription) $15.00 single $25.00 family $50.00 corporate $50.00 contributing $100.00 benefactor One-time membership fee (includes membership and Sou'wester subscription) $500.00 life member Address: P.O. Box P; South Bend, WA 98586 Historical articles accepted for publication may be edited by the editors to conform to size and other requirements. Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the historical society. Al1 Rights Reserved. Reprinting of any material approved by special permission from the Pacific County Historical Society. Second class postage paid at South Bend, Washington. PUB. No. ISSN-0038-4984
Our Cover
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by Larry J. Weathers Introduction The Chinook Indians of the Lower
Columbia River, the Chehalis Indians, and the related tribes of Shoalwater
(Willapa) Bay had no written language. They depended on a centuries
old oral tradition to perpetuate their rich cultural heritage. The
oral tradition of these tribes was no different than the oral tradition
of other cultures on other continents across the span of centuries; it
was used to educate and entertain. Indian oral tradition kept alive
ancestral history, religious beliefs, myths and legends, and provided instruction
in tribal customs.
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Chinook Indian Tribe: "A Chinook account of their
origin was given to me by Mr. Swan of Shoalwater Bay, to this effect:
An old women and two young girls came from a country 'far to the north'
(of) the Chinook. The girls one day were wishing for husbands, that
they might have children, when a man appeared and told them if they would
look into the other world, they should see their husbands. He made
the earth open and they looked down and saw two young men, all apparently
of fire. They were frightened and told their mother, who was also
alarmed. At night the young men came and stayed with them.
In the morning they went up above, and became stars, and the girls followed
them, but their children became the Chinooks and peopled the country."
Chinook and Chehalis Indian Tribes: "The
tale of the origin of mankind, or rather of their tribe. The Chinook
and Chehalis appear to have the same account that was related to me several
times by different Indians, but they did not agree together in detail.
The substance of the tradition is this:
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| Shoalwater Bay Tribe and Long Beach Peninsula:
The myth recounting the origin of the Shoalwater Tribe and creation of
Long Beach Peninsula has already appeared in The Sou'wester twice
(Autumn 1966, page 57, and Autumn 1981, page 43).
The myth tells how a great canoe with 100 Warriors and their families came out of the north and tried to enter the great Wauna (Columbia) river looking for new fishing and hunting grounds. The Warriors left their great canoe tied to North Head and made their camp ot Chinook Point. Years later they returned to North Head and found their canoe covered with sand and a few pine trees; the ocean to the west and a bay to the east. When the tribe saw the changes they decided to stay and build a cedar lodge and their children multiplied. From this great canoe and its passengers grew the Long Beach Peninsula and Shoalwater Bay Tribe. -an abridgment of variant versions found in several sources, including: Washington Historical Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 3, page 186 and Our Pacific County by L. R. Williams 1930 page 39-40. "Myths About Geographical Landmarks and Natural Phenomena" Giesy's Crossing: On the hill at this place,
Skah-no-e-tlin (wolf), Tuh-whee (fisher), Whah-tahk (deer), Skip-whah (rabbit),
sat down to play a gambling game of "Stuch-ah-luk-un." The winner
was to have a choice of the others for dinner. Wolf and fisher both
tried to win by cheating, the jumped up and ran to save their lives.
They have been running ever since to avoid being dinner. (3)
Wilson Creek: Once there was a lodge of several
Indian families at the head of the tide water on Tlugh-ah-won (Wilson Creek).
When the men all went hunting for several days, Skah-no-e-tlin (wolf) forced
his way into the flimsy lodge and devoured the family members left behind.
The hunters returned to their destroyed home and grieved for their loved
ones. Shortly after, the men left their lodge, never to return.
No other band of Indians was ever known to fish or hunt on Tlugh-ah-won
after that day.
Wilson Creek Mound: "At some distance above
the mouth of Wilson Creek, near Willapa, stands a great, large, oval shaped
hill which looks very much like a large grave. Indian traditions
relate that the young men of the 'Whilapah' tribe, while fishing on that
stream, caught great quantities of salmon, and in preparing them for cooking,
cut the fish crosswise. The act made the great thunder-bird angry,
and he sent the 'Memaloosetillicum' (dead people) after them, to take the
young warriors and enclose them in a huge cavern over which was heaped
a great mound of earth. For several suns the salmon were not permitted
to run up the Willapa River." This mound is located on a farm near
the junction of the Monohon Landing Road and Ward Creek Road.
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| Pinnacle Rock and Coon Rocks: There are
two large rocks, and four smaller ones which are awash at low tide, near
the southwest shore of Long Island in Willapa Bay which the Indians call
Mis'chin (Louse Rocks). One version of the myth of their creation
says the rocks were formerly a wicked "Tamahnous" (medicine man or magician),
his wife, and children. Their evil magic was responsible for introducing
lice among the Indians. One day, while the family was bathing in
the bay, a superior medicine man turned them into stones to punish them.
Another version says the "Great Spirit" ordered the lice to drag the family
to the water and drown them as a punishment; unfortunately the lice were
allowed to live. Today, the rocks are called Pinnacle and Coon Rocks
on some maps; Louse Rocks others.
-variations are found in several sources including The Northwest Coast by James G. Swan, page 174-75 and OHQ, December 1955, 'George Gibbs' Account of Indian Mythology..." by Ella E. Clark, page 313. Black Lake: "Near Ilwaco lived a young Indian
chief named Westwind. He made daily trips to Shoalwater Bay to see
Katonka, who was the daughter of the Whilapah chief. During the spring
and summer the tribe lived on Baby Island where they fished for salmon.
Bruceport: The land between Bruceport Park
and Stony Point was once the site of an important village called Wa-HOOT-San,
which means fire-owl. The village took its name from Owl who introduced
fire to the Shoalwater Bay tribe. Owl had decided to kill Eagle because
of his cruelty. He prepared himself by practicing archery with flint
tipped arrows. While shooting at the rocky cliff near Stony Point,
sparks from the arrowheads created fire which burned the trees and blackened
the rocks. In his excitement, Owl, who had been silent previously,
called out his name, Wa-HOOT-San, the first and last syllables so quiet
that only the Indian people could hear them.
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| Stars in the sky: The Chinooks believed
that great chiefs became stars and that falling stars indicated the death
of a chief. If the falling stars had trains, they were female chiefs.
The train representing the woman's dress.
- paraphrased quote from Oregon Historical Quarterly, December 1955, "George Gibbs' Account of Indian Mythology..." by Ella E. Clark, page 319. Stony Point: "Stony Point is a narrow strip
of land, or rather sandy clay, with a little soil on the top, extending
in the Bay (Willapa Bay) some three or four hundred rods. It has
been washed away by repeated storms so that now it is not more than ten
rods wide, perfectly precipitous, with an elevation of some sixty feet
from the water. It is approached either by a path from the end next
the Bay, or from its junction with the main land. At that time it
was thickly covered with spruce trees, and a thick undergrowth of vine
maple, sallal bushes, vines, and other obstructions; and as the time of
our visit no white man had ever had occasion to go upon it, we expected
to have quite a job. This promontory rests on boulders of basaltic
rocks, which have been washed bare as the waves of the Bay have encroached
on the clayey (sic) soil of the Point. These rocks are remarkable
from the fact that they are the only rocks of the kind that are to be found
in the Bay. They appear at some period to have been subjected to
the action of fire. The Indian tradition relating to them is that
ages ago, a celebrated medicine-man or doctor, accompanied by his brother,
came from the north on a visit to the Bay for the purpose of obtaining
clams. One day, while wading in the water for crabs, the brother
of the doctor fell into a deep channel, where he was seized by some great
sea monster and swallowed. His lengthened absence from home caused
much anxiety, and the doctor, by his divination, ascertained what was the
cause. At that time giants, or strong men, lived in the mountains
near the Bay. These the doctor caused to bring huge stones, while
he himself collected great firs, dried spruce, and other trees wherewith
to build a great fire. When this was done, the stones were piled
on the top of the wood after the present method the Indians have of heating
stones for cooking purposes; and when the wood was burned down, the red-hot
stones were thrown into the Bay, which caused it to boil so violently that
the water soon evaporated. The doctor then seeing the great sea monster,
killed it with his club, and ripping its belly open, released his brother,
who very joyfully proceeded with him to Chenook..." (The charred
remains of the sea monster are the rocks found below Stony Point.)
Doctor and Brother Rocks: The doctor and
brother referred to in the Stony Point myth are the subject of a second
story. After the doctor released his brother they went to Chenook,"...
where, after performing sundry famous cures, they gave offense to some
person more potent that themselves, who changed them to stone. Two
rocks near Scarborough's Hill, at Chenook Point, are still shown as the
doctor and his brother." (4)
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| Chinook Point and Scarborough Hill: The
Chinooks called Chinook Point "Nose-to-ilse." According to their
myth it was "made by the gods as a lookout station for the Chinook Indians,
a place where they might see the approach and movements of all enemies.
One day an Indian girl, looking for her lover who had gone across the "Big
River," could not see from the hill because of the many trees that screened
her view. She called upon the gods. They came to her aid and
with a few blows from their great weapons, cut down the forest, affording
a clear view of the country for many miles around."
- quote from Our Pacific County by L. R. Williams, page 38-39. Giesy Hill and Willapa Valley: "To punish
the unruly members of the Whilapah tribe, the great fire god caused the
forests of Willapa Valley to burn. Heavy timber existed everywhere
and there was little chance of escape from the burning trees. To
save his friend, the beaver, a spot was cleared by the god on which no
fire could burn (Giesy Hill). There all the beavers gathered and
remained while the fire god destroyed every other living thing in Willapa
Valley. The bald hill at Giesy's was the camping place of the beaver
during the great fire..."
Chinook wind: Hudson Bay Company trappers
called the warm winds of early spring "chinook winds" because they blew
from the direction of Chinook villages on the Columbia River. These
days, warm, dry winds blowing down the side of a mountain are referred
to as chinook winds.
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"The old giantess broke some other eggs and then threw them down the mountainside. They too became Indians. Each of the Thunderbird's eggs became and Indian. "When Thunderbird came back and found its eggs gone, it went to South Wind. Together they tried to find the old giantess, to get revenge on her. But they never found her, although they traveled north together every year. "This is how the Chinooks were created. That is why Indians never cut the first salmon across the back. They knew that if they should cut the fish the wrong way, the salmon would cease to run. Always, even to this day, they slit the first salmon down the back lengthwise...." |
| 4. The location of these two rocks is not shown on any
of the maps or charts available to me. James G. Swan (The Northwest Coast,
page 69) stated the " doctor and his brother" are located "near Scarborough's
Hill, at Chinook Point;" a vague description considering the rocky topography
of the promontory. Lewis R. Williams (Chinook By The Sea, page 42) located
the two rocks " on the beach between Fanning Point and the government dock."
Williams' description may have been useful for locating the rocks in the
1920's but it is no longer valid. The government dock disappeared years
ago and "Fanning Point" is not a place name used on road maps or marine
charts.
Swan and Williams, among other sources, are obviously not much help in locating the two rocks. However, the rocks are still visible. The "Doctor and His Brother" rest in a shallow pond of brackish water trapped between the hillside and Highway 401. The pond is on the section of highway between Meglar rest area and the Point Ellice entrance to the Astoria-Meglar bridge. The rocks were trapped in the pond when the Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company extended its road to Meglar in the early 1900's. The railroad ceased operation in 1930 but the Washington State Highway Department acquired title to the right-of- way upon which a portion of Highway 401 was built. The beautiful pond setting was unfortunately befouled by falling trees and driftwood (washed over the roadway) during a winter storm on the Columbia River in the late 1970's. ![]() Pacific County Historical Society photograph
collection
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By Woodrow J. Gifford Editor's Note: Woody Gifford, logger poet of Seaview, has been
writing poetry since high school. Logging, living, and loving are
the themes he likes to include in his work. And his work is in great
demand these days. He has been a featured performer at the Northwest
Folklife Festival (Seattle), Finnish-American Folk Festival (Naselle),
a guest on KCTS (Seattle PBS station), and has been published in Loggers
World and The Sou'wester. He also published a book titled Timber
Bind, Logger-Rhythms of the Great Northwest. His poems are drawn
from true life experiences and evoke a way of life that often brings both
laughter and tears to the reader.
Back in those Glory Days now past
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Cliff Ellis collection, Pacific County Historical
Society photograph collection
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By Myrtle Johnson Woodcock Editor's Note: Myrtle Johnson Woodcock
was born April 13,1889, the year Washington Territory became a state, and
died February 27, 1973. She was the youngest child of Pacific County
pioneers James Johnson, Jr., and lane Cecile Haguet. Captain Jimmy,
as he was known to friends, carried mail from Astoria to Willapa Valley
for many years prior to his death by drowning on Shoalwater Bay in January
1889. Jane (who married William Howard, South Bend, after the death
of lames) was a teacher in the pioneer schools of Pacific County.
They could scarcely see the right But the message they would send you "For your country go and fight!" Myrtle, and her husband Fred (who died in 1967), were charter members of Pacific County Historical Society (1950). Their daughters, Mrs. William B. (Oma) Singer of Vancouver, and Mrs. Dude (Myrtle lean) Little of Eureka, CA, are the current guardians of the family interest in the history of Pacific County. Both have been members of the society for many years. On these shores where now White Man Roams at will unarmed and free Going each his way indifferent To our wealth of legendry, Here the Red Men held their council, Had their feasts upon the ground, Beat upon their doleful tom-toms And the peace-pipe went its round. Each tribe different from another,
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Whence he came or what he sought, Gave his life up for the vengeance That another's deed had wrought. But the Chinook Tribe was peaceful
To the North the mighty Quinaults
They were called to sit in council
"'Tis a simple boon you ask!"
Once your tribe was great, Oh Quinault,
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Roaming on the river shore, Saw no cloud to mar their vision Nor dark shadows to deplore. Heard the dull roar of Wecoma, But no fear to them it gave, Felt no sadness in the sighing Of fate's cruel impelling wave. For the time was Indian summer
They defy me, cried the Quinault,
Oh how well this thoughtful Chinook
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Never more these braves are found, For their weary faltering footsteps Sought the Happy Hunting Ground. On that land where no resentment And no battle-fires burn, They at last shall find contentment For which earthly spirits yearn. ![]() Pacific County Historical Society photograph
collection
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Pacific County 1966-1989
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By Larry J. Weathers Introduction
BALEVILLE: A rural farming/residential community located on Highway 105 and the north shore of the Willapa River across from South Bend. Elijah Pernich, an early resident on the south bend of the Willapa River, bought land on "Mailboat Slough" in 1871. Several real estate schemes subdivided the land around Mailboat Slough for boomtowns (1889-1891 and 1910) but each of the schemes failed and most of the subdivisions became additions to South Bend. North Pacific City (1889) and Willapacific (1910) were two of the most highly promoted schemes. In both cases, the land was low and swampy, sales were slow, the promised railroad terminals were never built, and the towns were ultimately a bust. Around 1891, Joseph Camenzind bought the Terminus Addition, which was on high ground, for his dairy herd and built a farmhouse and barn overlooking the Willapa River. Herbert Bale purchased land near the Camenzind farm in 1898. Later, Herbert's father Lee Bale, brother George T. Bale, and son Harry Bale purchased acreage in the same vicinity. In 1910 the Milwaukee railroad promised Herbert Bale a depot near his farm and named it Baleville. The railroad did not lay track past Raymond but the community was thereafter known as Baleville. The Bale and Camenzind farms and pastures still cover much of the landscape in Baleville, along with the South Bend sewage treatment plant and county airport facility. See North Pacific City and Willapacific. (4, 7, 12, 13, 17) |
| BAY
CENTER: A Willapa Bay / Palix River
fishing village near Highway 101. Bay
Center is on a peninsula (the tip is called Goose Point) which extends
into the center of Willapa Bay. The point was the site of an Indian
encampment and trading ground before and after the arrival of white settlers.
Bay Indians called the river and camp Palix (also Palux, Copalux), meaning
"slough covered with trees". Joel Brown, who took a Donation Land
Claim in the area now known as Rhodesia Beach (named for the Rhodes family)
in 1853, was the first white settler on the peninsula. He dreamed
of founding a town on the point called Brownsville but died in 1854 on
his way to Olympia to serve in the Territorial Legislature. Dr. James
R. Johnson and family filed a Donation Land Claim for Goose Point in 1855.
For several years Johnson was the only doctor of medicine on the bay and
maintained his practice at Bruceport. By 1873 the beach front on
the point was crowded with homes occupied by farmers and oystermen.
They called their settlement "Palix". In 1875 residents decided they
needed a post office (Oysterville, across the bay, was the nearest) and
held a contest to name the settlement. Mrs. Leonard (Mattie Goodpasture)
Rhoades suggested the name "Bay Centre" (her spelling) because the community
is located near the geographic center of Willapa Bay. A post office
was established on May 16, 1876. The spelling of the town name changed
to "Bay Center"
in 1877. Around the turn-of-the-century there were so many churches
on the point residents referred to the town as either "New Jerusalem" or
"Saints' Rest". Today, the community is home to several oyster seed
hatcheries and a small fleet of boats. (2, 4, 7, 17)
BEDFORD: A logging camp in the Willapa Hills in the 1920s. Located on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad route from Chehalis to Raymond. Bedford was one of the logging camps operated by the Raymond Lumber Company (Charles E. Lewis, president). Name derivation unknown. (10, 13, 34) BREAKERS: Ilwaco railroad mail and passenger stop north of the City of Long Beach, 1901-1920. J. M. Arthur built "The Breakers", a four story hotel (December 1900), on the sandridge overlooking the Pacific Ocean and named it for the excellent view of the breaking surf. A fire in 1904 destroyed the hotel's original elegance. Arthur rebuilt the hotel but declining patronage eventually closed it in 1920. A post office was established at the hotel August 17, 1905; discontinued March 31, 1919. The Breaker' condominium, a modern facility, now occupies the site. (7, 9, 14, 30, 31) |
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| BRIGHAM CITY: Abandoned
settlement on Hawk's Point near North River on Highway 105. Captain
David K. Weldon and wife came to Shoalwater Bay from San Francisco in 1852
and built a home and store on Weldon's Point (Hawk's Point). Weldon
laid out a town around his store and called it Brigham City. The
name was bestowed in honor of Weldon's partner, another early bay visitor,
Captain Brigham. In 1854 the state legislature created Chehalis County
(renamed Grays Harbor County in 1915) and designated Weldon's place "in
Bruceville" as the first county seat. Weldon was elected county treasurer.
The county seat designation was changed to the stockade at Bruceville (Bruceport)
later in the year when it was discovered that Weldon's place was not in
Bruceville. Weldon had another partner, Chehalis County Commissioner
George Watkins. Watkins built the first sawmill on Shoalwater Bay,
on the banks of North River and Salmon Creek, near Brigham City.
The partners were soon arguing over the ownership of the mill and went
to court. The lawsuit, a fever epidemic at the mill, and a freshet
which nearly destroyed the mill, were the end of Brigham City. Weldon
returned to San Francisco, Brigham was lost at sea bringing supplies to
the settlement, Watkins moved to the Cascades where he was killed by Indians,
and the remains of the mill were dismantled and sold. Brigham City
disappeared from maps of the bay. John Hawks and family were the
only settlers found living on the abandoned settlement site in 1858.
Weldon's Point is now known as Hawk's Point. (3, 4,
7, 27)
BROOKLYN: A rural community of homes and farms near the junction of the upper North River and Fall Creek in northeast Pacific County. The name "Brooklyn" was arbitrarily assigned by postal department officials when the community post office was established December 10, 1891. Postal officials asked the designated postmaster Mrs. Marion (Emma C.) Roberts to suggest a name for the community of scattered farms. Mrs. Roberts submitted "Clifton" (a contraction of Cliff's Town) in honor of her son Clifford Roberts. The department rejected the name because there was already a Clifton in Mason County, Washington, and substituted Brooklyn. The post office was closed May 16, 1969. (5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13) BRUCEPORT: Early Shoalwater Bay community located on the shoreline between South Bend and Bay Center, 1851-1895. Before the arrival of white settlers the site was an Indian village called "Wa-Hoot-San or "Hwa'hots". The village was sparsely populated when the crew of the schooner Robert Bruce was stranded there in 1851. The crew was preparing to haul oysters to market in San Francisco when a disgruntled cook set the schooner on fire and burned it to the keel. The resulting camp was first known as the "Bruce Boys' Camp". In 1851, John W. Champ who filed a Donation Land Claim on a portion of the village site, hired Washington Hall to survey a townsite to be called "Whilapi City". According to James G. Swan the settlers voted to name the town "Bruceville" in 1854. The name Champ proposed for the settlement was ignored. Bruceville was the county seat of Chehalis County (renamed Grays Harbor County in 1915) from 1854-1860. A post office was established April 29, 1858, and the town name was officially changed to Bruceport. The office was closed July 11, 1893. In the 1870's Bruceport had 25 families, two hotels, two stores and a school. Oyster harvesting was the main source of income. The settlement failed by the 1890s, a victim of several seasons of poor oyster harvesting and severe shoreline erosion. An historical marker, one mile south of the townsite on Highway 101, tells the fascinating story of Bruceport's beginning. (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 27, 34) |
- Pacific County Historical Society photograph
collection
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| BURT: A logging
camp in the Willapa Hills in the 1920's. Located on the Chicago,
Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad route from Chehalis to Raymond. Named
for logging engineer Burt Bunker. The camp was one of the short-lived
communities operated by the Raymond Lumber Company (Charles L. Lewis, president).
(7, 10, 13, 34)
BUSH: A logging camp in the Willapa Hills in the 1920's. Located on the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad route from Chehalis to Raymond. Name derivation unknown. (10, 13) CAMP BRIX: A logging camp on Sisson Creek in southeast Pacific County at the turn of the century. Operated by the Brix Brothers (Asmus, Peter Johannes, Albert, and Anton) under the name Grays Bay Logging Company. The company earned sufficient capital to permit the brothers to buy the Knappton Mill from A.M. Simpson in 1909. Albert Brix was in charge of the sawmill and P. J. Brix operated the logging camp. (7, 16, 18, 23, 34) CEMENTVILLE: See Knappton. (18) CHETLO HARBOR: Located on the south shore near the mouth of the Naselle River. Chetlo, or Jetlo, is a Chinook Jargon word meaning oyster. A post office was established here December 19, 1911, and closed February 15, 1918. Also known Cougar Bend. (7, 12, 23) CHINOOK: A resort and fishing community located on Baker Bay / Columbia River between the Chinook River and Fort Columbia. Named for the Chinook India who once occupied the north shore of the Lower Columbia River. In the 1850s the area was known as White's Point because Neil White, a squatter, had a cabin there. H. S. Gile, pioneer land surveyor, purchased several land claims in 1864, and later, under the name Gile Investment Company, sold lots to new settlers. In the 1880s and 90s Chinook was famed throughout the U.S. for its catch of salmon. A post office was established at Chinook on March 17, 1892. (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 31) |
![]() Pacific County Historical Society photograph
collection
![]() - Larry J. Weathers postcard collection
Columbia River around the turn of the century |
| CHENOOK/CHENOOKVILLE:
Early settlement on the Columbia River between Fort Columbia and Point
Ellice. The name is derived from the Chinook Indians who camped there
before and after the appearance of white settlers. The Chinook villa
at this site was one of the permanent campsites of the tribe. Captain
Robert Gray (May 1792), Hudson Bay Company factors (around 1800), Lewis
and Clark (November 1805), and Fathers DeSmet and Blanchette (1831), all
made note of the village in their respective reports. Lewis and Clark
labeled the site "Chinnook" on their map and estimated 400 members of the
tribe lived along the Columbia River and interior. In 1840 the Hudson
Bay Company built a store to enhance trade with the tribe. Washington
Hall filed a Donation Land Claim on the site in 1849 and eventual surveyed
a town September 1850. The plat was recorded as Chenookville in County
Commissioner records October 5, 1852 (the alternative spelling "Chinookville"
was also used). In December 1852 county records were transferred
from Pacific City Chenookville. It remained the county seat from
December 1852 to December 6, 1854. A post office was established
October 19, 1852, but was discontinued December 1860. The first salmon
cannery in Pacific County was established at Chenookville (Point Ellice)
by Ellis, Jewett and Chambers in 1870. By the 1880's nearby McGowan
overshadowed the older settlement and erosion was rapidly removing buildings
from the shrinking river bank. Erosion finally vanquished the old
town site during this century (the name disappeared from area maps decades
before), but it wasn't until January 1965, that the plat of Chenookville
was vacated at a County Commissioners meeting. For a time (1948 to
the late 1950s) the high ground behind the eroding beach was call Derbyville.
The name derived from the annual Salmon Derby held at the campground located
there. (1, 2, 3, 4)
COLUMBIA RIVER QUARANTINE STATION: Abandoned United States quarantine station at Knappton Cove / Columbia River on Highway 401. The site was part of the Job Lamley Donation Land Claim 1853 to 1876. The Hume brothers, who brought salmon canning to the Columbia River in 1867, had a cannery on the site from 1876 to 1899. The Federal Government bought the site for $8,000 and opened a quarantine station May 1899. The station caretakers and medical personnel were the only inhabitants of the station but there were several families living near the station and Knappton was just over the hill to the east of the site. Ships with infestation or disease went to Knappton for fumigation. Hundreds of Chinese, Japanese, and European laborers went through the station until it was closed in 1938. The Clarence Bell family bought the property at auction in August 1950 and operated a fishing resort on the site until 1956. The old station hospital, mess hall, caretakers / medical personnel quarters and repair shop are still used by the Bell family. The wharf was dismantled due to the danger posed by rotting pilings. (6, 7, 18, 20, 22, 26) CRANBERRY STATION: Ilwaco railroad station north of the Breakers 1910 to 1930. John D. Briscoe settled on the site in 1853 and filed a Donation Land Claim. The station took its name from the nearby cranberry bogs which run north and south through the center of the peninsula. The residential subdivisions which now crowd the beach are known as Pacific Beach. (7, 14, 34) |
| DAVIS: A logging
camp in the Willapa Hills in the 1920s. Located on the Chicago, Milwaukee
and St. Paul Railroad route from Chehalis to Raymond. Named for logging
camp foreman Frank Davis. Davis was one of several short-lived camps
operated by the Raymond Lumber Company (Charles L. Lewis, president).
(7, 10, 13, 34)
DERBYVILLE: See Chenook/Chenookville. (1, 7) DIAMOND CITY: Early Shoalwater Bay settlement on the northern tip of Long Island, 1867 to 1878. Isaac Doane secured patent to the oysterlands off the north tip of the island in 1867 and sold them to local oystermen. Eventually the settlement had around 75 inhabitants, mostly single men living in shanties. The only access was by boat. The name is said to be derived from the heaps of white oyster shells which covered the beach. The setting sun, reflecting on the glittering shell linings, gave them the sparkle of diamonds when viewed from across the water at Oysterville and Nahcotta. (Some sources say the reflection from shanty window panes made the settlement glitter like diamonds). The oystermen moved on when native oyster stocks were depleted by natural disasters and over-harvesting. A few homesteaders remained in the 1880s. Ferdinand John Katzer built a two story house on the northwest edge of the island near Diamond City around 1893. In 1900, Ferdinand, and his brother Frank bought Diamond City and salvaged the remaining buildings for lumber. The Katzer house was moved by barge to property on Freshwater Creek, south of Nahcotta, where it stands today. The abandoned Diamond City site is today littered with driftwood and debris. (5, 7, 8, 9) EAST RAYMOND: A rural residential subdivision on the Willapa River between Raymond and the town of Willapa. In the late 1880s Dan Louderback built a boat shop on Louderback Slough near the future site of East Raymond. Louderback built plungers, rowboats, sail boats, dinghies, launches, fishing boats, towboats, and anything else that would float on the waters of Willapa Bay. In 1892, the Northern Pacific Railroad surveyed a route through the area and by-passed the town of Willapa. Since the railroad depot was a mile from town, several Willapa businesses moved across the river to be near the railroad tracks. In 1912, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad surveyed a route through the same area and Henry Nihart filed a subdivision called " East Raymond". When the Milwaukee depot was finished in 1915 the post office was moved from the town of Willapa to East Raymond. The name of the post office remained the same. Local residents often refer to the town of Willapa as "Old Willapa" and East Raymond as "Willapa". The Willapa post office in East Raymond was closed April 30, 1954. See Willapa. (10, 11, 13, 35) |
- Pacific County Historical Society photograph
collection
Left to right: Mike Karitas, Art Brown, Howard Walcott Jr., Roy Burdette and Al Tipsword. 28 |
| ELK CREEK: A logging
camp in the Willapa Hills in the 1920s. Located on the Chicago, Milwaukee,
and St. Paul Railroad route from Chehalis to Raymond. One of the
shortlived camps which appeared and disappeared as the hills surrounding
the camps were clearcut of old growth timber. "Elk Creek" camp was
established by the Sunset Timber Company in 1925. The name was derived
from the location of the camp at the junction of Elk Creek and Little Elk
Creek. (10, 34)
ELKHORN: A roadside stop on Highway 101 from the 1940s to early 1970s. The availability of gasoline at the end of World War II inspired construction of a series of rest stops and gas pump stations all along the coast. The Elkhorn cafe on Elkhorn flats was such a stop. The cafe and gas pump was the last stop in Pacific County on the Raymond to Aberdeen highway (opened October 3rd, 1930) before crossing the county line. The cafe closed in the 1970s. Elkhorn took its name from the Elk herds which grazed on the flats near Elkhorn Creek. (7) EKLUND PARK: A residential neighborhood on a hill at "the Narrows" of the Willapa River. Eklund Park was platted in the 1890s by the South Bend Land Company as an addition to the City of South Bend. The subdivision was never annexed and is outside the eastern city limits of South Bend to this day. The subdivision was named for Louis N. Eklund, founder and secretary of the South Bend Land Company. The Columbia Box Mill Company, built on pilings over the Willapa River, was located on the east side of the hill. The mill was built by Hyman and Company of California in 1905 and operated into the 1930s. Eklund Park is also called "Snoose Hill" by local residents due to the great number of snoose chewing Scandinavians that once lived there. (2, 7, 11, 12, 17) FIRDALE: Farming community on Mill Creek. Named for the old growth fir trees which once covered the Willapa Hills surrounding the community. About 1906, the Sunset Timber Company (Ralph Burnside, president) laid rails for a logging railroad called the Pacific and Eastern (P and E). Firdale was established as a logging camp at one end of the line, while the other end was on the Willapa River. Logs were hauled to the river by rail, dumped and then rafted to the landing at the town of Willapa. In 1913, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad purchased the P and E holdings, severed the connection with the town of Willapa, and extended the line to Raymond in 1915. A post office was established at Firdale, March 21, 1912; discontinued December 6, 1918. (10, 12, 13, 34) |
- Pacific County Historical Society photograph
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| FORT COLUMBIA:
A deactivated military fort, now known as Fort Columbia Historical State
Park, on Chinook Point overlooking the Columbia River. The Chinook
Indians called the point "No's-to-ils" and the hill (now called Scarborough
Hill) behind the point "No'si-misp". The point and hill were a permanent
Indian encampment for decades unknown before the arrival of white settlers.
Chief Concomly, a famed Chinook leader (ca. 1810 to 1830), maintained his
principal lodge on the hill. Captain James Allan Scarborough, retired
Hudson Bay Company employee, and his Indian wife Ann Elizabeth, settled
on the hill around 1846 and filed a Donation Land Claim under the Law of
1850. After his death in 1855, title to the property was transferred
to Rocque Ducheney, HBC employee living in nearby Chenookville. In
1867, the Federal government purchased Chinook Point for a military reservation
from the Ducheney heirs for $2,000. It wasn't until 1895 that the
War Department decided to build a fort and install gun batteries.
The fort was first occupied by a regular garrison in June 1904. A
post office was established June 30, 1890, and continued in operation until
January 31, 1923. Fort Columbia was deactivated March 28, 1947, and
listed as surplus. The old military post became Fort Columbia Historical
State Park at a dedication ceremony held June 17, 1951. (7,
11, 12, 14, 22, 29)
FORT CANBY: A deactivated military fort on Cape Disappointment overlooking Baker Bay / Columbia River. An Executive Order, dated February 26, 1852, reserved Cape Disappointment for military purposes. Cape Disappointment Lighthouse was placed in operation October 15, 1856, but construction of a post and fortifications were delayed until August 1863. The fort was not activated until April 15, 1864. For a number of years after its establishment the fort was generally known as "Fort Cape Disappointment". Finally, on February 13, 1875, the government designated the post "Fort Canby" in honor of Brevet Major General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby, who had been killed by the Modoc Indians, April 11, 1873. A post office was established June 30, 1890 and continued until January 31, 1923, when it was closed. Fort Canby was deactivated on March 28, 1947. Jurisdiction over Federal property was transferred to other departments, including the Treasury Department which operated Cape "D" and North Head lighthouses and the U.S. Coast Guard life saving station. (4, 22, 29) FORT WILLAPA: A stockade built by residents of the Willapa Valley in 1855 when fear of Indian attacks swept the Northwest. The site, now known as Giesy's Crossing on Highway 6, was at the north end of the valley and overlooked the Willapa River. Three small buildings surrounded by a stockade wall (with guard house on top) were built to protect the settlers. The time of fear passed and the fort was never used for defense purposes. For several years afterward it was a community meeting place or housed new families moving into the valley. The stockade was sometimes known as "Fort Giesy" because it was on land taken as Donation Land Claims by the John and Henry Giesy families. Eventually the stockade fell into disrepair and the Giesy family built their home on the site. A post office was established at the fort April 29, 1858, and continued until December 7, 1870, when the office was moved to Woodard's Landing. The tree shaded knoll near the fort site is the gravesite of Willie Keil and members of the Keil Colony and Giesy family. An historical roadside marker on Highway 6 tells the story of possibly the longest burial processional in history. (4, 11, 13) |
- Pacific County Historical Society photograph
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| FRANCES: A farming
community on Highway 6. The name was bestowed by E. H. McHenry, chief
engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad survey crew, who passed through
the area in 1892. "Frances" was his wife's middle name. The
Wallace Campbell family homesteaded Elk Prairie, south of the townsite,
in the early 1880s. Several Swiss / German families followed in 1886
and have been a dominant group in the community for over 100 years.
Descendants hold a variety of ethnic celebrations at the Swiss Picnic Grounds
on Elk Prairie Road each year. A post office was established May
26, 1894, and continued in operation until November 23, 1973. (6,
7, 11, 12, 13)
FRANKFORT: Early Columbia River community near Portuguese Point (also called Barney's Point for Barney Gallagher who had a homestead there in 1876) in south central Pacific County. Named by (James) Frank Bourn and Frank Scott in their own honor. Bourn and Scott purchased land around Portuguese Point, formed the Frankfort Land Improvement and Investment Company on April 30, 1890, and on May 5th filed a town plat "where fashionable people would walk the streets - where commerce and industry would prosper". Frankfort had three golden years (1890-1893). Land sales and boomtown development were brought to an end by the Panic of 1893. Frankfort survived until World War I but the plat was not vacated until 1952. During its existence Frankfort was only accessible by water. The town had dozens of residential dwellings owned by fisherman, a land office, the Gannon Hotel, a newspaper (Frankfort Chronicle), a school, a store, a saloon, and a post office established June 6, 1890 (closed February 28, 1918). The last person living in Frankfort died in 1964. See Gray's Frankfort. (19, 34) FROGTOWN: Located between Chinook and Ft. Columbia on the Columbia River. Early local name for the frog filled swampland below Scarborough Hill. (1) GIESY'S CROSSING: See Fort Willapa. (4, 5, 11) GEORGETOWN: See Shoalwater Bay Reservation. (4, 11, 15) GLOBE: Early lumber mill community (1901-1928) between Lebam and Frances on Highway 6. The Globe mill was built and named by Frank Gougar in 1901. In 1902 it was purchased by W. C. Miles. A post office was established on April 19, 1904, and continued in operation until November 30, 1929. Oren Armstrong was post master and mill foreman from 1908 to 1928. The mill was destroyed by fire in 1910, rebuilt in 1915, and operated until 1928. (7, 11, 12, 34) |
| GRAY'S FRANKFORT:
Early Columbia River land company promotion on Frank Bourne Creek and Hoeck
Bay in south central Pacific County. Named by Captain John Henry
Dix Gray - pilot, merchant and entrepreneur, who filed the town plat on
October 8, 1890 and advertised it in the Oregonian, January
1, 1891. Gray was encouraged by the success of Frankfort and purchased
800 acres on its north boundary. Lots were sold but the Panic of
1893 aborted the land boom before a town developed. J. H. D. Gray
died in 1902 while serving as a judge in Clatsop County, Oregon.
The plat was vacated in 1952. (19, 34)
HALF MOON PRAIRIE: Half Moon Prairie, also called Half Moon Creek, was early name of the community now known as Lebam. The first settler on the prairie was William F. Meloy in 1879. See Lebam. (6, 11) HILDA: A logging camp in the Willapa Hills near Eight Creek. Located on Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad route between Chehalis and Raymond the Pacific / Lewis County border. Name derivation unknown. (7, 34) HOLCOMB: Scattered community of farms and homes on Highway 6. Former railroad stop on the N. P. R. R.. The name was chosen by officials of the Northern Pacific Railroad to honor Judge George U. Holcomb, who was general manager of the South Bend Land Company in the 1890s. A post office was established at Holcomb May 1912; discontinued April 30, 1943. (8, 13, 34) HOLMAN: A resort subdivision and former Ilwaco railroad stop south of Seaview. After Pacific City was found to be within the boundaries of the military reservation Cape Disappointment in 1852, James D. Holman, owner of the hotel Holman House, moved to his Donation Land Claim outside the military reservation. The claim included land overlooking both the Pacific Ocean and Baker's Bay / Columbia River. Around 1855, the Holman family moved to Portland (returning for summer vacations or to do business). In 1873 Holman subdivided his ocean property and promoted the beach as a Portland summer resort. When the Ilwaco railroad was completed in 1889, Holman station on Holman road became a regular passenger stop and was the location of a water tank for the steam engines used by the railroad. The resort was also known as the Willows because of the numerous shrub-like willow trees in the area. (7, 14, 26, 34) |
- Pacific County Historical Society photograph
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| ILWACO: Resort
and fishing city on Baker's Bay / Columbia River. The Chinook Indian
name for the site was "No'skwalakuthl". James Johnson, former Hudson
Company bar pilot, moved his family to the site in 1849 and filed a Donation
Land Claim. J. D. Holman took a Donation Land Claim on Johnson's
western border in 1851. "Holman's schoolhouse on Baker's Bay" was
the site of county commissioner meetings from March to May 1855.
In 1855 the Holman's moved to Portland and the Johnson's both died.
Guardians for the Johnson children sold the claim to Isaac Whealdon and
family in 1858. The Whealdon's were the only white settlers on the
site for several years and the homestead was known to travelers as "Whealdonsburg".
On November 26, 1860, the Pacific City post office, which had been closed
in May 1856, was reestablished at Whealdon's home. The name Pacific
City was retained for sentimental reasons until October 21, 1865, when
it was changed by the post office department to Unity. The name Unity
was applied to the growing community by soldiers at Fort Canby during the
Civil War years when their was a great deal of talk of the Union.
On March 19, 1873, James D. Holman, who was living in Portland but vacationing
yearly on his claim next to Whealdon, subdivided his land and filed the
plat of the Town of Ilwaco at the courthouse in Oysterville. The
name honored "Elowahka" Jim, an Indian neighbor of Holman and Whealdon.
Jim was married to Elowahka, a daughter of one of Chief Concomally's wives,
and was generally known by her name. The post office department made
the name official July 18, 1876, when Holman was appointed Postmaster of
Ilwaco. In June 1892, Whealdon subdivided his land and filed a plat
for the Town of Whealdonsburg but by then the name Ilwaco was the acknowledged
name of the town. Whealdon's street names, which included references
to his Quaker faith, local tree types, and the first names of his wife
Mary Ann and three daughters, Elizabeth, Eliza, and Adelia, were retained
by Ilwaco city fathers, however. Ilwaco was a sawmill and salmon
cannery town during its early years, and was the southern terminus of the
Ilwaco railroad (1888-1908). Ilwaco was incorporated as a town December
8, 1890. Today, Ilwaco is a charter boat resort with a large commercial
fishing fleet. (2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 16, 26, 31)
KLIPSAN BEACH: A resort community on Highway 103 south of Ocean Park. Klipsan is a spelling variation of the Chinook Jargon word "klip sun", meaning "sunset". The name was chosen by retired sea captain A. T. Stream in 1912. Stream was promoting a unique "all year resort development" on the Pacific Ocean with "absolutely no saloons" and featuring a confined retail business block, quiet neighborhood streets lined with cottages and bungalows, a commodious hotel, and public buildings. A post office was established January 13, 1912, and continued in operation until April 30, 1919. The resort was next to the Ilwaco Beach Lifesaving Station commanded by station keeper Captain Theodore Conick (1902-1913). Theodore, who was married to Amelia Conick, the Postmaster at Klipsan Beach, submitted a petition to the lifesaving service to change the station name to conform with the surrounding community and avoid confusion with the town of Ilwaco, thirteen miles south. The change was finally approved June 11, 1912. The U.S. Lifesaving Station (Coast Guard station after 1915) was in operation at Klipsan from 1889 until closure in the mid-1940s. (6, 7, 8, 22) |
- Pacific County Historical Society photograph
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37 |
| KNAPPTON: Abandoned
sawmill town overlooking the Columbia River, south of Naselle, on Highway
401. In 1868, Portland businessman Jabez Burrell Knapp, found suitable
rocks for the manufacture of cement near the Columbia River home of Job
Lamely. Knapp and partners purchased the waterfront site from Francis
Hopkinson, a music teacher, and in 1868-69 built a large kiln and a barrel
factory to package the cement. Knapp called his manufacturing settlement
Cementville. The raw material for making cement proved limited however,
and the venture failed after two years. Knapp next organized the
Columbia River Manufacturing Company and went into the sawmill business.
He continued to make cement and barrels but those works were scaled down.
In 1870 Knapp quit his Portland business and moved permanently to the settlement
he now called Knappton (contraction of Knapp Town). The name was
confirmed when a post office was established April 13, 1871; it was discontinued
November 15, 1943. In 1876, the mill was sold to Captain Asa M. Simpson,
who eventually sold his interest to the Brix brothers Grays Bay Logging
Company in 1909. The onset of the depression crippled the Knappton
mill but a mill fire in 1936 closed it for good and destroyed most of the
homes on the adjoining hillside as well. (18, 34)
LEBAM: A farming and residential community on Highway 6. Settlers first moved to the site in 1879 and called their little community Half Moon Prairie, or Half Moon Creek. When the post office was established May 26, 1890, postmaster Jotham "Joe" Weeks Goodell was asked to supply a shorter name. Goodell considered various alternatives but finally submitted the reversed spelling of his daughter Mabel's name. Lebam is Mabel spelled backwards. Lebam was a prosperous sawmill and farming district town for nearly three decades. Two calamitous fires in the 1910s almost destroyed the town but residents rebuilt both times. (6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13) LONG BEACH: A Pacific Ocean resort / city on Highway 103. On November 1, 1880, Henry Harrison Tinker purchased one square mile of a sandy swamp, bordering an unbroken 21-mile long "weather beach" on the Pacific Ocean. It was Tinker's dream to develop a resort on his property which would attract travelers year around. To this end he laid out lots and blocks (with park areas reserved for picnics), named streets, started the process of filling lowlands, and advertised the availability of lots in "Tinker's Addition to Long Beach" in Portland newspapers. Tinker also built the Long Beach Hotel for those who couldn't afford to buy one of the tent-sized lots or were "just passing through". Tinker's subdivision was popular with Portland residents almost immediately. Camping tents, summer cottages, and commercial ventures popped up everywhere. Residents and visitors called the resort "Tinkerville" for many years but the post office department recognized the name Long Beach when a post office was established January 25, 1887. Long Beach has been a popular beach resort community, for over 100 years. The town was incorporated in 1922. (7, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 28, 31) |
| LOOMIS: Early Ilwaco
railroad stop south of Klipsan Beach. Loomis station was actually
the mansion of Ilwaco railroad president Lewis A. Loomis. Lewis and
his old brother Ed came west in 1849 to invest in Pacific City. When
the venture failed Lewis left the area. When he returned in 1872,
Lewis and his brother purchased land on the weather beach and went into
the transportation business. Lewis's promotions eventually resulted
in the formation and construction of the Ilwaco Railroad and Navigation
Company in 1888. The first five miles of track were not laid before
Lewis built a great mansion on his weather beach property where he lived
with his wife, children, and bachelor brother Ed. When the tracks
eventually reached the front door of the mansion "Loomis station" became
one of many unscheduled railroad stops. The Loomis home was a place
to entertain railroad investors and hold board meetings. The frequent,
unscheduled stops along the route from Ilwaco to Nahcotta earned the railroad
epithets, such as "The Delay, Linger, and Wait Railroad", "The Irregular,
Rambling, and Never-get-there Railroad" and the "Clamshell Railroad".
After Loomis died in July 1913, the mansion fell in to disrepair and the
railroad quit making stops. In 1953, the derelict mansion was torn
down by a grandson of Loomis. (9, 10, 12, 14)
MacPHAIL: A logging camp in the Willapa Hills in the 1920s. Located on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad route from Chehalis to Raymond. Name derivation unknown. (10, 34) McGOWAN: Early salmon cannery settlement between Chinook Point and Point Ellice on the Columbia River. The site is one of the camps used by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805. It was also a "mission grant" taken by Catholic missionary Father Louis Joseph Lionnet in 1848. Father Lionnet established the Stellam's (Star of the Sea) mission and baptized, buried and married Indian and white residents between 1848-1860. Patrick J. McGowan paid Father Lionnet for the land and then filed a Donation Land Claim for the site in 1853. The claim ad joined Washington Hall's newly created town of Chenookville. McGowan operated a business in Portland for many years before moving to his claim permanently around 1861. From the start McGowan engaged in salmon salting and established the earliest salmon packing company in the state. McGowan changed over to canning salmon around 1884 when he admitted his four sons as partners and changed the name of the business to McGowan and Sons. The settlement that grew up around company holdings was known as McGowan in honor of the owner. A post office was established on March 7, 1901, and continued in operation until April 15, 1939. In 1904 McGowan built and paid for a church near his cannery. The church was dedicated as St. Mary's Catholic Church on May 20, 1906, and is still a north shore Columbia River landmark. (7, 8, 9, 11) 39 |
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- illustration by Bob McCausland, Tokeland
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MENLO: A farming community on the Willapa River and Highway 6. Around 1851, Captain Heman Croker had a claim on the Willapa River near the future site of Menlo. For several years after he left, the boat landing on his property was called "Crocker's Landing". The Bullard brothers (Job, Mark, and Seth) arrived around 1853 and filed Donation Land Claims in the vicinity. In November 1855, members of the Keil Colony arrived in the valley and filed Donation Land Claims throughout the valley. Van Marion Bullard (son of Job) and John Brophy (of Menlo Park, California) subdivided their properties around 1893 into lots and blocks. Both men anticipated the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad which had surveyed a grade near their properties and planned to establish a railroad station. The railroad intended to call the station "Preston" in honor of Lindley Preston who lived in a farmhouse near the tracks and distributed mail to neighbors. The name was rejected by the post office department because there was already a station using the name. When the post office was established on September 5, 1894, the department decided on the name "Menlo". The name was taken from the sign John Brophy had erected to advertise his real estate development. The sign originally read "Menlo Park" but had been moved around the valley so much only "Menlo" remained when the post office adopted the name. The community is in the heart of the Willapa Valley agricultural district and has been the home of the Pacific County Fair each August since 1938 (the first county fair was held in South Bend in 1896, the first community fair in Menlo was held in 1919). (2, 4, 7, 8, 11, 13, 26) MILL RANCH: A ranch and ferry landing on the north shore of the Naselle River in the 1910s and 20s. A post office was established at Mill Ranch on July 20, 1922; discontinued January 31, 1924. Motorists on the south shore got the attention of the ferryman by hammering a huge triangle installed for that purpose in 1923. The toll ferry was operated from a landing at the ranch until 1924 when the Ocean Beach Highway (Highway 101) was completed and a toll bridge replaced the landing. The bridge was towed to the Naselle River from the Willapa River at Raymond (where it was replaced by a newer bridge). The toll bridge was operated by the K. L. Goulter Company under county franchise for ten years. In 1985, a new bridge span was constructed across the river. The ranch was subdivided and is now the site of several river front homes. The abandoned ferry landing is used by local sports fishermen. (11, 12) |
| MONOHON LANDING:
A pioneer landing on the North Fork of the Willapa River at Raymond.
The family of Marion M. and Sarah Ann Monohon moved to a homestead on Butte
Creek around 1880. Marion built a landing on the Willapa River below
Washington Cemetery Road so that settlers in the upper Smith Creek and
Butte Creek area would have a supply connection with South Bend and the
Town of Willapa. The landing was abandoned when the first bridge
was built across the Willapa in the early 1900s. The road that follows
the north shore of the Willapa River from Raymond to Willapa is named the
Monohon Landing Road in honor of the Marion Monohon family. (13)
MOOSE: A logging camp near Firdale in the 1920s. Located on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad route between Chehalis and Raymond. Named for local moose herds in the area. (10) NALPEE: Abandoned Northern Pacific Railroad station on Highway 6. Nalpee was located on the N. P. R. R. track at a junction for a spur to the Quinault Lumber Company logging camp on Trap Creek. (The Quinault mill was a Raymond sawmill in the 1910s and 20s). Mill office workers suggested the names Hartwood, Podger, Nalpee and Darnrich. Nalpee was chosen. It is a combination of the initials "N. P." (Northern Pacific) and "Albee" (W. C. Albee was a division superintendent of the Northern Pacific Railroad). A post office was established at the station August 15, 1918; discontinued June 30, 1934. (5, 8, 12) NAHCOTTA: Willapa Bay community on Sandridge Road south of Oysterville. The community of Nahcotta was the site of the Chinook Indian encampment called " Nu-pats-tcthl." John Crellin, Jr., oysterman, filed a Donation Land Claim for the land in 1855. In 1889, John Peter Paul bought the claim and subdivided portions of it into city lots and blocks. He called his town Nahcotta in honor of Chief Nahcati (his name is spelled several ways) who lived there during Paul's lifetime. Paul created the town in anticipation of the arrival of the Ilwaco railroad in 1889. The railroad was supposed to terminate just south of Oysterville on Shoalwater Bay, but Lewis Loomis and other stockholders changed their minds when they realized the bay was deeper at Nahcotta. A post office was established at Nahcotta October 16, 1889. About the same time, another town called Sealand was platted on the north border of Nahcotta. Sealand was the creation of B. A. Seaborg, a railroad stockholder, who lobbied to have Sealand named the official terminus of the railroad. Seaborg convinced the post office department to move their Nahcotta office across the railroad tracks to Sealand on April 3, 1890, and put Sealand on the November 1892 ballot as one of the choices for a new county seat, but Loomis and friends were the winners in the terminus sweepstakes, and South Bend won the courthouse. The post office was moved back to Nahcotta on February 1, 1894. Jacob Kamm, another railroad stockholder, bought Seaborg's Sealand property and the would-be town soon disappeared from local maps. The Ilwaco Railroad and Navigation Company terminus was located at Nahcotta (1889 to 1930) until the railroad made its last run. Today, residential neighborhoods, oyster canneries and a boat basin dominate the landscape. (2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 26) |
| NAPOLEON: Early
real estate promotion on Stanley Point at the mouth of the Naselle River.
Napoleon "The City of Destiny" was platted in 1910 by the Willapa Trust
Company, F. A. Lucas, president. Portland promoters, with Spokane
money, planned a city of 100,000 inhabitants to populate the barren townsite
in 10 years. The Spokane Spokesman-Review reported that the
promoters intended to outdo Denver's "built in a night" fame. Plans
called for the construction of a paper mill, two sawmills, a box factory,
and furniture factories to provide jobs. The name was chosen by the
Willapa Trust Company. Some sources say the name was bestowed in
honor of architect Napoleon de Grace Dion who had platted the downtown
district of Raymond in 1904. It is also possible the name was suggested
by Spokane investors who made a great deal of money at the Napoleon Mine
on Kettle River (Colville Indian Reservation) in the 1890s. Stanley
Point was the site of several real estate sales schemes. The earliest
land sales were for lots in the Town of Stanley in 1890. See Stanley.
(7, 8, 11, 12, 23)
NASEL: See Naselle. (11, 23) NASELLE: A rural community on Highway 4 and 401 in the heart of the Naselle River Valley. The word "Naselle" is a derivation of a word used by the small band of Chinook Indians who lived there before the arrival of white settlers. In their language Na-sil", or "Ni-sal" means protected, sheltered or hidden. Harry K. Stevens settled on the river in 1853, ignored the Indian name, and called the river "Kennebec" in honor of the river in his home state of Maine. The name did not survive his land tenancy and does not appear on any known maps of the period. Swan labeled the river "Nasal" on the map he made for his book Northwest Coast in 1857. "Nasel" is the spelling which most often appears on early county maps and in narratives and documents prior to 1920. A post office was established at "Naselle" on November 16, 1877, but was discontinued June 6, 1879. On January 26, 1881, the post office department reestablished an office at "Nasel" and kept the spelling until a community petition convinced them to adopt the more poetic spelling / pronunciation "Naselle" on May 19, 1920. The town has a large ethnic community of Finnish settlers and holds a folk festival every two years to celebrate their heritage. (6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 17, 23) |
- Helen Burrell collection, Pacific County
Historical Society photograph collection
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| NEMAH: Farming
community on Highway 101 and the Nemah rivers. Nemah is the site
of an old Indian village and was a logging camp, 1890s to 1920s.
A small band of Chinook Indians known as the "Marhoo" or "Nemar" camped
on the river, fished for salmon and gathered oysters prior to the arrival
of white settlers. The community developed near the mouth, or delta,
of the three Nemah rivers (North, Middle and West Fork) in the 1890s.
Farmers and loggers originally called their settlement "Nema", a derivation
of the Indian name. Later the spelling was changed to "Nemah" when
the post office department established an office on December 10, 1894.
The office was closed March 15, 1923. Access to the settlement was
by water until the Ocean Beach highway was built in the 1920s. A
logging railroad connected Nemah with several camps in the Willapa Hills
- during and after World War I. The Spruce Division had several camps
on the river in 1918. The Nemah Community hall (formerly the schoolhouse),
and several homes and farms, are all that remain of the community.
(2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 17)
NEW SARATOGA: Abandoned subdivision south of Oysterville on Sandridge road. The Ilwaco railroad initially planned to build their Shoalwater Bay terminus at Oysterville in 1888. New Saratoga, overlooking Skating Lake, was to be a residential / resort addition to Oysterville and the actual terminal site. The name was taken from a popular upstate New York resort Saratoga Springs. By the time Andrew and Wilhelmina Olsen got around to recording the plat of New Saratoga at the courthouse, June 19, 1890, the railroad had already decided against Oysterville in favor of Nahcotta. New Saratoga was never developed and the subdivision was abandoned. (7, 9, 14) NORTH COVE: Resort community on Highway 105 south of Grayland. The original site of North Cove was a sandy peninsula known as Cape Shoalwater, 1884-1960s. The peninsula was once the site of a town, lifesaving station and lighthouse. Severe beach erosion, over the course of a century, erased the original site in the 1960s. The name "North Cove" is now applied to the surrounding community of cranberry farms, resort businesses, and beach homes which crowd the landscape from Grayland to Tokeland. The town of North Cove was platted by Mrs. George (Lucy) Johnson in February 1884. The name was derived from the cove created by Cape Shoalwater peninsula. The post office department established an office at North Cove on June 10, 1878. The office was discontinued August 16, 1963, and mail was routed to Tokeland. The beach at North Cove is one of the best clam digging areas on the coast. (6, 7, 8, 12) NORTH PACIFIC CITY: Abandoned real estate sales scheme on the north shore of the Willapa River across from South Bend in 1889. During the years 1889-1891, excitement was generated on Shoalwater Bay and the Willapa River over rumors that three railroads were planning to terminate near the mouth of the river. One railroad grade was surveyed from Aberdeen to Ocosta and then down through North River / Smith Creek to Mailboat Slough on the south bend of the Willapa River. Horatio Duffy and his wife filed their plat of North Pacific City on September 11, 1889. The town was laid out in 44 blocks with 60 foot wide streets and 100 foot wide avenues. Two large wharves were constructed and sites on the water were reserved for a shingle mill, glass factory, brewery, sawmill and railroad terminal. The railroad from Aberdeen / Ocosta was never built and the town was never developed. The plat was eventually considered an addition to South Bend and lots and blocks were sold for pasture land. See Baleville and Willapacific. (4, 10, 35) |
| OCEAN PARK: Resort
community at the north end of Highway 103 on the Long Beach Peninsula.
Ocean Park was established as a camp meeting site by county Methodists
and members of the old Taylor Street Methodist Church of Portland in 1883.
Isaac A. Clark, co-founder of Oysterville, suggested to Portland Methodists
that the concept of camp meetings and summer resort be combined.
They liked the idea and formed a corporation under the laws of Oregon titled,
"The Ocean Park Camp Meeting Association of the Methodist Episcopal Church".
The Rev. William B. Osborn, founder of a similar Methodist camp at Ocean
Grove, New Jersey, was the association's guiding light. He had also
lived in California where he participated in the formation of another camp
association at Pacific Grove, near Monterey, in June 1875. Rev. Osborn
chose the sight which originally encompassed 250 acres overlooking the
Pacific Ocean on one side and Shoalwater Bay on the other. The name
was suggested by the camp's park setting overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
The plat of Ocean Park was filed at the courthouse in Oysterville on October
8, 1883. Association land on Shoalwater Bay was never subdivided.
It was later sold to John Peter Paul who filed the plat of Nahcotta in
1889. The association disbanded around 1888 and issued deeds to association
members which contained prohibitions on the use and manufacture of intoxicating
drinks, gambling and other immoral practices. The post office department
established an office on June 28, 1890. Ocean Park, combined with
Surfside, is the fastest growing area in Pacific County. (4,
6, 7, 14, 22, 31)
OCEANSIDE: Resort subdivision on Highway 103. George T. Eastabrooks (Easterbrook) settled on the site in Oct/Nov 1853. Richard Carruthers settled on land south of Eastabrooks in 1854. Both men filed Donation Land Claims which are now part of the various Oceanside subdivisions. The name was bestowed by developers of the first subdivision. Oceanside was an unscheduled Ilwaco railroad stop between 1908-1930. (7, 10, 14, 34) OCEANVIEW: Early resort subdivision on Robert Gray Drive and Willows Road south of Seaview. Developers interested in attracting Oregon vacationers at the turn of the century, named the subdivision Oceanview because of its location on a butte overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The "Fishing Rocks" in the tidal water below the butte were a favorite ocean fishing spot for many decades. Accretion has surrounded or covered the rocks in recent years. "Ocean View" was also the earliest name of Jonathan Stout's resort in 1880 at what became Seaview. (7, 8, 10, 14) |
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| OLD WILLAPA: See
Willapa.
(13, 34)
OYSTERVILLE: Early Shoalwater Bay settlement and former county seat of Pacific County (1855-93) at the north end of Sandridge Road (Territorial Road). Before the arrival of white settlers Oysterville was the site of an old Indian village. The Indian name for the site is "Tsako-Te-Hahsh-Eetl" (land of the red-topped grass). John Douglas, who filed a Donation Land Claim in 1854, was one of the earliest settlers on Shoalwater Bay. The town of Oysterville was co-founded by Robert H. Espy and Isaac A. Clark in 1854. Chief Nahcati (there are several variations for the spelling of his name), who was the leader of the tribe living at Oysterville, told them of the abundance of oysters to be found near his village. Espy and Clark harvested the shellfish for shipment to San Francisco where oysters were literally worth their weight in gold. It wasn't long before they were joined by others and the settlement became a town. An election moved the county seat from J. D. Holman's schoolhouse on Baker's Bay to Oysterville in 1855. Another election in 1892 favored moving the county seat to South Bend. Rowdy South Bend residents, impatient with recalcitrant county commissioners, "kidnapped" courthouse records and moved everything to the other side of the bay in 1893. Oysterville slipped into a long sleep for several decades but was reborn in 1976 when it was declared an historic district and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. (2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 22, 27, 31) PACIFIC CITY: Abandoned settlement and former county seat within Cape Disappointment military reservation on Baker's Bay/Columbia River. In the fall of 1849 missionary Elijah White (who styled himself "Dr.") took a Donation Land Claim on Baker's Bay, subdivided his holdings, and advertised the availability of lots in the settlement he called Pacific City. About the same time, White was also trying to convince the federal government that his property should be part of the military reservation on the Cape. White was ultimately successful in both promotions. He sold most of his subdivided property to unsuspecting settlers and was undoubtedly compensated for the loss of his DLC when the government announced the land was government property in 1852. During the intervening years Pacific City developed into a busy town with a sawmill, hotel, store, and dozens of houses. A post office was established December 26, 1850, and shortly afterwards residents successfully petitioned the Oregon Territorial legislature to create Pacific County on February 3, 1851. Pacific City was named the county seat. Commissioner's meetings were held in any available building because there was no courthouse. Residents moved away from Pacific City after the government announced their property was within the boundaries of the military reservation in 1852. The last County Commissioner Journal entry was made at Pacific City December 7, 1852. The county seat was moved to Chenook / Chenookville. The post office was finally closed November 3, 1856. By 1858, a Coast Survey report showed there were only two or three houses and a sawmill left standing in the settlement. In 1860 a new post office was established at Whealdon's home on Baker's Bay (outside the government reservation) and the name Pacific City was retained at Whealdon's home for sentimental reasons until 1865. (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 26) |
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| PACIFIC PARK: Resort
subdivision between the Breakers and Cranberry Road on Highway 103.
One of many resort subdivisions created by real estate promoters in the
1920s. The name was derived from the park-like setting in the dunes
overlooking the Pacific Ocean. (7, 10)
PLEASANTVILLE: See Sweeneton. (1, 2) PLUVIUS: Early railroad crew camp near the Pacific / Lewis county border on Highway 6. The name was bestowed by E. H. McHenry, chief engineer of the Northern Pacific Railroad, for Jupiter Pluvius. The Romans used the name "Jupiter Pluvius" for Jupiter as god of rain, wind and dark storm clouds. A railroad survey and construction crew camp was established near this summit in 1892 by the Yakima and Pacific Coast branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad. It rained incessantly during construction. When the camp moved toward South Bend, so did the population. Today, the sharp turn on Highway 6 is still called Pluvius Hill. (4, 5, 7, 8, 10) PORT WASHINGTON: Abandoned real estate sales scheme located at the junction of Ellsworth Slough and the Naselle River. Promoters subdivided the swampy river front property and built a hotel. The hotel was never occupied and investors eventually abandoned their investment. The name was suggested by the port setting and location within the state of Washington. (7, 12) |
| RAYMOND: A residential
lumber town at the forks of the Willapa River on Highway 101. Captain
John Vail took a Donation Land Claim on the Willapa River (Riverdale section
of Raymond) in February 1853, after his ship, the Willimantic, wrecked
off Grays Harbor. The homestead was known as the "Home and Orchard
of the Vail Family" for many years after his death in 1856. In 1865,
Dr. Edward T. Balch, retired English army surgeon, established his home
on the South Fork of the Willapa River. Captain George Johnson bought
the claim of the Perkins Brothers in 1875. Most of the Johnson property
was muddy tideland but the high ground came to be known as "Johnson's Island"
while the family lived there. In 1892-93, the Northern Pacific Railroad
laid tracks over the mudflats below the island on the way to the terminus
at South Bend. Stella (Johnson) Raymond moved back to her father's
property on the island (where she was born in 1875) with her husband Leslie
V. Raymond in 1899. In 1902-03, Alexander C. Little (former mayor
of Aberdeen 1893) rowed a boat to the tideflats at the forks of the Willapa
and decided to promote a town there. He immediately set to work attracting
Jacob Siler and W. S. Cram to the site to build a sawmill, and approached
L. V. Raymond about selling portions of his father-in-laws old homestead.
L. V. Raymond, who was already selling land, liked Little's enthusiasm
and formed a company called the Raymond Land and Improvement Company (November
1903) to survey a townsite, sell property, build sawmills and encourage
the location of other industries in the town. The post office department
established an office February 23, 1904, and named the office "Raymond"
in honor of the first post master, L. V. Raymond. Later in the year,
the Improvement company filed a survey for the town of Raymond (October
1904). An election on August 4, 1907, approved incorporation of the
town and A.C. Little was elected mayor. In the early years, Raymond's
business section and part of the residential section, was built on stilts
five or six feet above the tidelands and sloughs which crisscrossed the
site. Elevated sidewalks and streets connected most of the buildings.
Twice a day the tides washed away refuse under and around the town.
In 1913, Raymond claimed a population of 6,000 and had a reputation as
a wild and wooly lumber mill town. City fathers resisted the unwanted
recognition with promotions of Raymond as "The Empire City of Willapa Harbor",
"The City That Does Things", and the "City of Smokestacks". Raymond's
most active years were from 1912 to 1932, when twenty mills and factories
lined the waterfront. In 1989, a single, high technology sawmill
dominates the Raymond waterfront and the city built on stilts is surrounded
by a dike. (2, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 26, 35)
RIVERSIDE: An early settlement on the North Fork of the Willapa River (1871-1896). The Haguet family was one of the first to settle on the North Fork (northeast Raymond, along the Monohon Landing Road) in the late 1860s. Around 1870, the Charles Barstow family moved to the area and was followed by several other families. The post office department established an office April 5, 1871, and named the settlement "Riverside" because of the waterfront location. Dairy farms, the Willapa Vitrified Brick Company (1891), and a sawmill owned by A. K. Bush, provided employment. The post office was discontinued September 28, 1896, and the Riverside school was finally closed in 1907. After 1896, mail was distributed from South Bend until an office was established in Raymond (1904). Part of the Riverside settlement is within the northeast city limits of Raymond. See Raymond. (4, 7, 11, 13) SALTAIR: Early resort subdivision between Seaview and Long Beach in the 1910s. Saltair was an unscheduled Ilwaco railroad stop, 1908-1930. The train stopped at the entrance to the grounds of the Saltair and Sunset hotels which faced each other. The hotels were surrounded by trees and shrubs, with cozy nooks and hammocks beneath the spreading trees. Mrs. J. D. Portler managed Saltair Hotel and Mrs. W. H. Dedman managed the Sunset in 1909. The name was taken from the hotel which was "a stone's throw from the bathing beach". (30) |
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| SAWLOG SLOUGH:
A floating logging camp on the east side of Long Island in the late 1890s.
Sunshine Mill Company started logging the island in 1896. Loggers
lived in a floating log house stationed on a slough they named Sawlog Slough.
The slough is now called Baldwin Slough. (7, 12)
SCARBOROUGH HILL: Sometimes spelled "Scarboro Hill. " See Fort Columbia. (22) SEA HAVEN: Abandoned townsite on the south shore of the Willapa River, northwest of South Bend. The town of Sea Haven was established in 1889 on a tract of tideland belonging to Thomas Potter. The name was suggested by the pastoral setting and was devised to entice investors. The Sea Haven Land Company (Thomas Potter, William Potter, Herman Trott, John Dobson and others) was formed by land speculators who gambled on Sea Haven becoming the terminus of a railroad connection with the north shore of the Columbia River. In 1890, Sea Haven had a bank, a newspaper The Western World, a large hotel, several stores and residential dwellings. A post office was established August 21, 1890. When the proposed railroad from the north shore of the Columbia River did not appear, the town failed and businesses moved to South Bend. The post office was closed November 5, 1891. Sea Haven was an abandoned townsite by 1900. (4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 24, 25) SEALAND: Shoalwater bay community on the northern border of Nahcotta in the early 1890s. The name was derived from the waterfront location of the town. See Nahcotta. (2, 14) SEAVIEW: Resort community at the junction of Highway 101 and 103. The man who named and platted Seaview was Jonathan L. Stout. Stout came to the peninsula around 1859 and settled in the town of Unity. In 1880, Stout purchased 153.5 acres of ocean beach frontage for a summer resort. To begin with, he called his resort Stout's, then Ocean View; and next he tried North Pacific Beach. He finally settled on the name Sea View in 1881 and recorded his townsite at the courthouse on October 6, 1881. The name was derived from the ocean view. Before the beach accreted the ocean was almost at the doorstep of Stout's hotel "Sea View House". In 1888, the tracks of the Ilwaco railroad reached Seaview and a shed / waiting platform was erected near the hotel. The first regular train service began in May 1889. The train increased the flow of summer visitors and Seaview was one of the favorite spots to stop and pitch a tent on the beach. Stout's hotel burned in 1892, and he never recovered financially, but the resort was a success and the 50' x 100' lots sold quickly (most cost $100 each). The post office department established an office in Seaview on April 30, 1907. Seaview is a popular resort community and the favorite of tourists who enjoy walking narrow streets looking at historic beach cottages. (6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 22, 31) |
| SHOALWATER BAY RESERVATION:
An Indian reservation at the junction of Highway 105 and Tokeland Road.
The 334.75 acre reservation was established by executive order on September
22, 1866, for thirty or forty Indian families living on Shoalwater Bay
(now Willapa Bay). Their ancestors were primarily Chinook and Chehalis
Indians. The family of Chief George A. Charley has been prominent
in tribal affairs for several generations. The reservation is commonly
called Georgetown. (4, 7, 12, 15)
SMITH CREEK: Abandoned homesteads on Highway 105 near the confluence of North River, Salmon Creek and Smith Creek. The first group of settlers at the confluence of the three streams were employees and families of George Watkins, who built a sawmill on North River and Salmon Creek around 1852. Mill employees moved away when a lawsuit between Watkins and his partner, David K. Weldon, and an epidemic in 1853 (which took the lives of several people including Watkins wife and daughter) closed the mill. Valentine S. Riddell filed a Donation Land Claim on North River in the spring of 1853, and tried to re-establish the mill, but eventually moved to Bruceport. Almoran Smith and his two sons, Isaac and Amos, were the next families to move to the confluence of the three streams with their families in autumn 1853. Almoran filed a Donation Land Claim the same year, and his son Amos filed a claim in 1855. Isaac took homestead land several years later. Almoran and his sons engaged in fishing and cattle raising and at one point mined a vein of coal in the hillside near Smith Creek. Around 1900, P. J. McGowan and F. C. Barnes had fish traps, as well as receiving and packing stations, on North River. The catch was found to be of poor quality and the stations were eventually closed. Amos Smith moved to San Francisco before 1900 and Isaac's son Alma Smith inherited all of the family holdings. He left the isolated river settlement after the death of his wife in 1907. In 1910, Captain Jimmie Johnson, who towed logs from North River to South Bend, was reported to be the last man living on the Lower North River. (4, 7, 12, 17, 26) SMOKEY HOLLOW: Abandoned homestead on the southwest shore of Long Island. The hollow is named for "Smoky" Johnson who had a house there. The site is now a primitive campsite, accessible only by boat. Campers can view elk, black bear, deer, blue heron, band-tailed pigeons, blue and ruffed grouse, and raccoons in the forest surrounding the site. A protected grove of western red cedars, thought to be the last remnant of what was once a coastal forest of such trees, stands nearby. Scientists believe trees have been sprouting, growing, dying, decaying and sprouting again in the grove for the past 4,000 years. Some of the cedars are estimated to be 400 years old. The grove has remained undisturbed by windstorms, fire and the logger's ax. (7, 9, 11) |
| SOUTH BEND: The
county seat of Pacific County on Highway 101 overlooking the Willapa River.
South Bend was named for the "south bend" in the Willapa River. The
town had its beginnings in 1869 when the Riddell brothers (Valentine S.
and John) built a sawmill on the bend. At first, the mill operated
seasonally as a lumber camp, the crew returning to their homes when orders
were filled. When the mill was sold to A.M. Simpson and partners
in 1874, there were over a dozen families living on the tidelands and hills
surrounding the mill. The settlement was officially named South Bend
on May 12, 1875, when a post office was established. The name was
suggested by John Wood, manager of the mill and the first postmaster.
Wood heard Captain Will Whitcomb remark that no matter how he maneuvered
the winding curves of the river, his compass always read south. In
April 1890, the South Bend Land Company signed a contract with the Northern
Pacific Railroad, donating half of the property the company owned to the
railroad. The railroad announced that South Bend would be the ocean
terminus of their Yakima and Pacific Coast branch line. The local
chamber of commerce and South Bend Land Company expansively promoted the
town as the future "Baltimore of the Pacific". Although the railroad
was completed in 1892 and South Bend benefited, the Panic of 1893 ended
the "Baltimore" dream. South Bend was incorporated as a town September
15, 1890, and became the county seat in 1893. The court house on
South Bend's Quality Hill was built in 1910-11, ending rumors that the
courthouse was going to be moved to Raymond. South Bend has been
the home of Pacific County Historical Society and Museum since 1969.
(2, 4, 7, 8, 12, 17, 22, 24, 25, 27, 30)
STANLEY: Early real estate promotion on Stanley Point at the mouth of the Naselle River. The town of "Stanley" was to be the terminus of the Stanley, Cascade and Eastern Railroad (incorporated November 1890) in the 1890s. Charles M. Holm visualized a great seaport city at the mouth of the Naselle (Nasel) River overlooking Shoalwater (Willapa) Bay. He filed a claim on 160 acres of government land in the 1870s and eventually formed his company in 1890. Members of the S. C. & E. R. R. company included Holm, three U.S. Senators, a railroad president, a railroad supervisor-engineer, and a Lewis County banker. Holm gave two-thirds of his homestead to the company for the townsite. A hotel, wharf and several homes were erected and streets laid out. Stanley was promoted as "The Seattle of Shoalwater Bay", but its life was brief. Promoters and some of the partners bilked Holm and other stockholders. Holm brought suit against them but lost. The townsite is still known as Stanley Point. See Napoleon. (7, 23, 35) STRINGTOWN: Rural community of homes and farms between the Wallicut (Wallacut) and Chinook Rivers on Stringtown Road. See Sweeneton. (2) |
| SUNSHINE: Abandoned
sawmill settlement on the north shore of the Naselle River opposite Stanley
Point. Access to the riverfront town was by boat. The mill
and many of the houses were built on a sawdust landfill in the tidal wetlands.
A few homes were built on the hillsides surrounding the village.
The name "Sunshine" was chosen in March 1884 by Robert Miller, the first
postmaster. Miller was a partner in the Sunshine Lumber Mill, a Coos
Bay, Oregon, company. Sunshine Mill failed around 1902 when one of
the partners died and the heirs fought over the company. The town
eventually disappeared from local maps. (4, 5, 7, 8,
10)
SUTICO: A logging camp in the Willapa Hills, 1918-29. Located on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad route from Chehalis to Raymond. "Sutico" is a composite of the name Sunset Timber Company which owned and operated the camp. The post office at Firdale was moved to Sutico on December 6, 1918, and delivered mail to loggers and their families until August 31, 1929. Loggers and their families lived in the camp year around. School was open when the number of children in camp warranted it. (5, 7, 8, 10, 13) SURFSIDE: Resort subdivision overlooking the Pacific Ocean north of Ocean Park. Surfside was platted as "Surfside Estates", a residential community, in the mid- 1960s. A shopping mall, real estate office, restaurant, golf course, several condominiums, and more than 200 permanent and summer homes dot the landscape in this three mile long community. Surfside is the newest community in the county and, coupled with Ocean Park, is the fastest growing community in the county. (7, 9, 12) SWEENETON: Abandoned townsite on Stringtown Road overlooking Baker's Bay / Columbia River (1890s). William P. Edwards settled on the site around 1850 and took the land as his Donation Land Claim. Early travelers said that Edwards had a ninepin alley set up at his home for entertainment. He was later murdered (around October 1863) by his wife and her boyfriend. Samuel Sweeney and the Timmen Brothers were also early residents in the area. On September 24, 1892, Samuel and Harriet Sweeney filed the plat of "Sweeneton" on their homestead overlooking Baker's Bay. The town failed and was vacated by the county in 1898. For several decades, thereafter, the scattered settlement of farms was known as "Pleasantville". The name was suggested by the pleasant view of Baker's Bay and the Columbia River. Andrew and Josephine Johnson subdivided their land near the Chinook River in 1913, creating long, narrow strips of property with bay frontage and upland pasture. The elongated lots, which stretched out along a country road, suggested a new name for the rural community "Stringtown". Stringtown Road is still the name of the rural road running through the area. Vandalia, named for the American bark which washed ashore north of Cape Disappointment in 1853, is the newest residential subdivision at the west end of Stringtown Road. (1, 2, 7, 35) |
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| SWEM: A logging
camp in the Willapa Hills in the 1920s. Located at the junction of
Elk and Swem Creeks on the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad route
from Chehalis to Raymond. Swem was one of the short-lived logging
camps operated by the Raymond Lumber Company around 1925. The Willapa
Harbor Pilot (South Bend) announced the opening of a new camp on "Swim
Creek" in 1924. All other sources call the camp and creek "Swem".
The derivation of the name "Swem" is unknown. (10,
13, 34)
TERRA MAR: Abandoned real estate sales scheme north of Oysterville on Willapa Bay. Terra Mar "land by the sea" was planned as an ocean / bay recreation and retirement community in 1968. The development was to include 1,400 acres of ocean front beach homes, interior lakeside lots, bayside marina, condominiums, riding stables, airport, shopping center, clubs, and a boat canal system linking all areas "in a world where land and water are the basis of all wealth". Terra Mar, a division of Sherwood Pacific, Inc., a Spokane company, surveyed and filed several plats at the county courthouse in September 1968 and paid for an expensive advertisement campaign which attracted several thousand investors. But Terra Mar "land by the sea" was actually "land under the bay". Attempts to dike tidal wetlands along the bay, and dig canals in the peaty soil, were a bust. The dike could not hold back floodwater in 1974 and the normal high water table ended water pipe and canal construction. Terra Mar lot owners attempted to recover their investments, but the developers announced bankruptcy and cleared out. Nature has reclaimed the marsh and tidal wetlands but traces of the disintegrating dike and canal system still blight the landscape. (7, 35) TARLITT: An early portage settlement located near the junction of Tarlatt and Sandridge Roads. Tarlatt is the modern spelling (also spelled: Talitt, Tarlilt, Tahlilt, Tarlett) of a Chinook Indian word, the meaning of which is now forgotten. Tarlatt Slough was a portage for the Chinook Indians of the Lower Columbia River. They packed their canoes from Baker's Bay to Black Lake, paddled to the north end of the lake, transported their canoes across the marshes at the north end of the lake until they came to deep water in Tarlatt Slough and paddled to the outlet on Shoalwater Bay. The portage was also used by Hudson's Bay Company employees exploring the area in 1824 and settlers as early as 1849. William Martindill (1851), Jehu Scudder (1853), Charles J. Sperry (1853), and John Crellin, Sr. (1854), filed Donation Land Claims near the bay outlet of Tarlatt Slough. The post office department established an office at "Tarlitt" on May 31, 1854, and named Thomas Martin postmaster. Martin filed a D. L. C. in 1854, as his neighbors had done, but he never completed the filing and it was canceled. Martin left the area when the post office was closed November 2, 1855. George Baker and family moved to "Tarlitt" around 1861 and bought the Scudder claim in 1867. Baker's home was a popular stopover for travelers for many decades. (7, 9, 10, 31) |
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| TIOGA: Resort subdivision
and Ilwaco railroad station at the north boundary of the town of Long Beach
in the 1890s and early 1900s. The Tioga Hotel was the main focus
of the resort and gave the railroad station its name. The surrounding
beach was lined with vacation cottages and tents. J. M. Arthur, proprietor
of the hotel, later built the Breakers Hotel (north of the Tioga Hotel)
in 1901. Tioga is an Iroquois word meaning "where it forks".
The hotel and station are long gone. Tioga is now within the city
limits of Long Beach. The name is no longer found on maps.
(7, 9, 14, 30)
TINKERVILLE: See Long Beach. (7, 11, 16, 31) TOKELAND: A bay resort community on Toke Point peninsula south of the junction of Highway 105 and the Tokeland road. "Tokeland" was named for an Indian chief who lived there when the first white settlers entered the bay. Toke was a man of great importance among the local Indians during his youth. In old age he and his wife Suis were good friends of James G. Swan, who learned a great deal about tribal life on the bay from him. The George Brown family was the first white family to settle on the point (1858). The Tokeland Hotel, Rustic Hotel, an artesian mineral spring, and other resort facilities, made Tokeland a popular ocean resort, 1890-1940. A post office was established at Tokeland on August 22, 1894. California developers created subdivisions in the 1910s with names reminiscent of Los Angeles communities: Venice, Santa Monica, and Hollywood. Tokeland is a resort community with a cannery, port facility and small crabbing and fishing fleet. (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 12, 22) TRAP CREEK: A logging camp on Trap Creek in the 1910s and 20s. The logging camp was owned and operated by the Quinault Lumber Company of Raymond. The camp took its name from Trap Creek. Some residents say the name "Trap Creek" was derived from the fact that both Indians and white settlers trapped animals in the vicinity. Others say that John Louderback and Job Lamley were blazing a trail from Naselle-Grays River to Willapa Valley when Lamley got his foot caught in the branches of a vine maple. Louderback, Lamley's brother-in-law, gave the name Trap Creek to the stream. (13, 34) WALVILLE: Abandoned sawmill town on Highway 6 at the Pacific / Lewis County border. Walville was a border town sawmill straddling the county line, 1902-1931. Some years it was counted in the Pacific County census and other years it was counted in Lewis County. The mill was operated by Walworth and Neville Manufacturing Company, Lumber Mill & General Merchandise. The post office was established June 3, 1903, in the company store. Postal officials combined the names of the store owners to produce the name of the town. In the 1910s and 20s the mill employed over 100 men. The town which grew up around the mill and store had a separate population of Japanese mill-hands and their families. "Jap Town" was north of the mill, "Dago Town" was south of the mill, "Cow Town" was west of the mill, and "Big Bug Town" (where all the rich people lived) was on the Lewis County side of the mill. The mill burned to the ground in 1930, the post office closed February 29, 1936, and Walville disappeared thereafter. (7, 8, 10, 11, 12) |
| WILLAPA: Early
county settlement at the junction of the Willapa River and Wilson Creek.
The name Willapa was taken from the river on which it is located.
The town was originally called "Woodard's Landing". Samuel S. Woodard
came to the Willapa Valley in 1852, took up a Donation Land Claim at the
junction of the river and creek in January 1853, and built a landing for
Portland steamers carrying mail, freight, and new settlers to the Willapa
Valley. The landing was at the end of navigable waters on the Willapa
River. Another pioneer, James H. Whitcomb filed an adjoining donation
claim south of Woodard in 1853. Around 1869, Woodard left the landing
and moved to Portland (where he died in 1877). The post office at
Fort Willapa (Giesy's Crossing) was moved to Woodard's Landing on December
7, 1870. Mail was carried from the Landing to all parts of the Willapa
Valley and Upper North River Valley. The post office name changed
to Willapa on April 24, 1884, when Ed and Sarah Woodard (son and daughter-in-law
of Samuel) announced they had surveyed "Woodard's Town of Willapa" (recorded
at courthouse December 1884). Another portion of the Woodard claim,
purchased by John Wood, was also surveyed as "Wood's Town of Willapa",
and the Whitcomb claim sold to S.S. McEwing, John Dolan, and others, was
surveyed and filed as the plat of "Willapa City". In the 1870s logging
in the Willapa Hills, and portable sawmills on various area creeks, spurred
population growth at the Landing. Another boom followed the platting
and naming of Willapa in the 1880s. Boats arrived three times a week
to discharge cargo, mail and passengers, and there were two warehouses
at the landing to hold supplies for settlers. Willapa had three hotels,
two drug stores, general merchandise store, real estate office, barber
shop, doctors offices, blacksmith shop, livery stables, post office, school,
newspaper, land survey office, and several saloons. On December 9,
1889, the Willapa Methodist Church (the oldest church still being used
in the county) was dedicated and a minister lived in the parsonage next
door. Construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad from Chehalis
to South Bend in 1892 brought Willapa's boom years to an end. S.S.
McEwing wanted too much money for the right-of-way through his property,
so the railroad by-passed the town in favor of a depot site southwest of
Willapa called "East Raymond". By 1900, all the hotels in the town
of Willapa were empty and many of the businesses moved to South Bend or
East Raymond. In 1915, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad
built a depot in East Raymond and the Willapa post office was moved there.
Local residents refer to East Raymond as "Willapa" and the old townsite
as "Old Willapa". (2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 12, 25,
26, 34, 35)
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| WHEALDONSBURG:
See Ilwaco. (4, 7, 11, 16)
WILLAPACIFIC: Abandoned land fraud scheme (1910) on Johnson Slough (Highway 105) overlooking Willapa Harbor. In August 1908 the Semper-Klale Investment Company of Olympia took options on 1400 acres of tideland on Stuart Slough (Range Point) for the bay terminus of a proposed railroad called the North Bank Railroad. The deal fell through in 1910 and the property was offered to a group of Spokane speculators who were also looking for bay frontage for a railroad terminal. The Spokane investors considered the offer and formed the Washington Trust Company of Spokane and the Willapa Harbor Townsite Company. The new seaport was christened "Willapacific" and hailed as the export metropolis of Spokane and the Inland Empire". The name was devised by the promoters who combined the names Willapa Harbor and Pacific Ocean. The Stuart Slough land deal fell through yet again. Undaunted, Semper-Klale Investment Company and the Spokane investors took options on land across the river from Range Point at Johnson Slough. Plats for Willapacific were filed at the court house in July 1910 and a wharf (with no land connection) was built on the slough. The land behind the wharf was low, muddy tideland and was probably one reason promoters deceptively called Willapacific the "Venice of the Northwest" in their notices. Most newspaper advertisements (seen in Chicago and the Mid-West) featured the wharf at Willapacific. The ads showed a crowd of people standing on the wharf greeting a ship. The photograph was a sham. Promoters hired the photographer and crowd to stand on the wharf and wait for a ship to pass in the river. The photographer, standing behind the crowd, made it appear as if the ship was moored to the wharf, when in fact it was several hundred feet away in the river channel. The ads sold Willapacific lots but news of the land fraud got out and the company went bankrupt. In 1949 the Port of Willapa Harbor diked the old Willapacific site and built a county airport on it. See Baleville and North Pacific City. (7, 12, 24) WILSONVILLE: Abandoned settlement at the mouth of the Palix River, opposite Bay Center. George Washington Wilson was looking for land to claim as a Donation Land Claim in 1853 when he paddled down the Palix River and spotted the land across from Goose Point. He filed the claim in May 1853 but didn't build a home until late summer 1854. In the meantime, his father, brothers and sisters, settled on the property and started the settlement that came to be known as "Wilsonville". Around 1855, George's father, brothers, and sisters moved to other points on the bay and left George and his family to homestead Wilson Point. As each of George's children married, they received plots of land around a great meadow and orchard on the point. The Wilson clan (Wilson / Brown / Marion) lived on the meadow with several Indian families, A. J. Horne and family, and a Japanese-Korean oysterman. George Wilson, Jr., operated a store on Wilson Point and the Wilson family engaged in oystering and farming. After George Wilson, Sr., died in 1911, the settlement lost some of its interest for family members and most of them moved away. (4, 11, 26, 34) WOODARD'S LANDING: See Willapa. (4) |
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the North and South Forks of the Willapa River. The Siler Mill (Raymond's first) and John Vail farm are on opposite banks of the North Fork. 70 |
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and Other Notable Peaks Compiled by Larry J. Weathers Introduction The Willapa Hills bear little resemblance to either the Olympic or Cascade Mountains. They are not majestic, seldom covered with snow caps, and most are logged of the tall timbers of decades past. Even so, the evergreen hills of Willapa Country are a draw to thousands of campers, hunters, fishermen, and nature hikers every year. The following list of Willapa peaks was compiled from information found on U.S. Geological Survey topographical maps. The height of each peak is from the same source. Alternative heights (in parenthesis) are taken from other sources.
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By Judge John J. Langenbach, Retired Editor's Note: John J. Langenbach,
Pacific County Superior Court Judge 1949-1964, is retired and living in
Olympia, WA. Judge Langenbach has been writing poems for many years.
His poem "The Trek of Lewis and Clark " was published in the winter 1969
issue of the Sou'wester.
"Discovery of Shoalwater Bay"
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Eklund Park and the Columbia Box Factory in foreground. 77 |
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By Larry J. Weathers Editor It is with some sadness, but
no regrets, that I am announcing that this issue of The Sou'wester is my
last as editor. It is time for me to get on with other business and
the celebration of our state centennial seemed a good issue for me to go
out and get on with that business. I will, however, continue to contribute
stories for future issues. Publication of The Sou'wester will continue
under the direction of co-editors Joan Mann and Ruth McCausland.
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