|
"Land of Many Waters". Or if you speak the language of the Chinook
Indians, it's simply "Tillamook". Nestled into the southern shores of
Tillamook Bay, this tiny town of 4,400 residents easily earns its name.
The Tillamook, Trask, Wilson, Kilchis rivers, and Dougherty slough all
pass through or near the town - part of a network of more than 20 rivers
and streams that feed into Tillamook Bay, and out to the Pacific Ocean.
Only six miles from the Pacific Ocean by car, Tillamook features coastal
living at its best. Despite its size, the area is one of the most
developed on the Oregon coast. In addition to the Port's features,
Tillamook features the Tillamook Cheese Factory, maker of world famous
cheeses and ice creams, as well as the nearby Blue Heron cheese factory,
offering gourmet food tasting, cheeses, wines and other gifts in a
converted Dutch barn.
Tillamook offers attractions like the
Tillamook County Pioneer Museum,
Latimer Quilt and Textile Center, and
Tillamook Air Museum. A short drive leads to Cape Meares State Park, with
plenty of hiking and scenic views of Tillamook Bay and the Pacific Ocean.
 Tillamook's
lighthouse has a tower that stands only 38 feet tall, the
Cape
Meares lighthouse is the shortest in Oregon, though it sits higher that
200 feet above the ocean. When it was lit, its beacon was visible for over
23 miles on a clear night.
Construction began in 1889, and the light was lit for the first time on
January 1, 1890. The parking area, approximately nine miles from downtown
Tillamook, sits in the same spot that the keepers' residences, a barn and
gardens once occupied.
The lighthouse was commissioned on January 1, 1890. The tower stands 38
feet high and is the shortest lighthouse in the state. It is constructed
of bricks (made right on site at a cost of $2,900) with iron plates (made
in Portland and shipped by wagon) covering it. The original addition that
now houses the interpretive shop was built in 1895 - the current
interpretive shop replaced the original work room in 1978.
The light was a five wick oil lamp with a reflector to increase the light.
It was turned by a 200 pound lead weight that was wound by a system
similar to a grandfather clock. It turned 2 ˝ hours on one winding at a
pace of 7 ˝ revolutions per hour. The lens and iron housing weighed two
tons complete. The two lamp oil houses held 3,240 gallons of oil in five
gallon cans and were located east of the lighthouse. The walls were made
15 inches thick to protect the area from the danger of fire in the
buildings.
The lens is a first order Fresnel (pronounced "Fraynel") lens made in
Paris, France. It was shipped around Cape Horn, up the west coast to Cape
Meares and then hauled 217 feet up the cliff by a wooden crane that was
built from local timbers native to the area. It is an eight-sided lens
with 4 primary lenses and 4 bull's-eye lenses with red panels covering the
bull's-eye lenses. The lens
made one revolution every 4 minutes. It produced about 30 seconds of fixed
white light from the primary lens followed by a red flash of 5 seconds
from the bull's-eye lens once every minute. This was the signature of the
Cape Meares Lighthouse. The primary lens produced 18,000 Candle Power and
the bull's-eye lens produced 160,000 Candle Power. The light could be seen
21 miles at sea.
The oil lamp was replaced in 1910 with an oil vapor light similar to the
Coleman lanterns of today. This was replaced in 1934 with electricity
produced by generators and eventually by central power. The light today is
automated and produces 57,000 candle power.
The keepers houses were located where the parking lot and kiosk are now
situated. The houses cost $26,000 to build. The nearby city of Bay Ocean
was founded in 1912, making shopping easier for the families at the
lighthouse.
The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1963 and heavily vandalized before
the 'Friends' took over.
Today, a more utilitarian modern beacon that sits just behind it has
replaced the tower. The sentinel remains as a standing interpretive
center. Inside the lantern sits a true jewel in lighthouse design - a
first order Fresnel lens. Standing over 10 feet high, the first order lens
is a feat of engineering. Handcrafted out of polished glass, the lens
focuses light from a simple bulb into a high-powered beam.
Cape Mears was named after
Captain John Meares who was the first to sail into Tillamook Bay, naming it
Quick Sand Bay because of the mud at low tide. Robert Gray was the first
American on the scene and he called it Murderers Harbor because one of his
crew was
killed by natives there.
Legend of the Octopus tree at Cape Mears State Scenic Viewpoint
Sitka Spruce - (Picea Sitchensis)
 Tradition handed
down by the Indians is that the eerie giant is a burial tree shaped when
it was young to hold canoes of a chief's family. Such deeply-rooted lore
passed from generation to generation is likely to be founded on truth, and
Indian history of the area will corroborate it.
Archaeologists have found evidence that Indians lived along these shores
for 3,000 years. The tribes in this area for generations back through the
dim past placed their dead in the trees in canoes. But the trees had to be
prepared to hold them. Branches of a forest tree normally reach straight
upward, toward the light, but those on a burial tree were forced, when
pliable, into a horizontal position beyond which they grew upward. Once
the pattern was set, the tree might grow to a great size but always kept
the shape, as did the Octopus Tree.
 Burial trees (the oldest trees) for many years could be spotted here and
there in the virgin forest. The Octopus Tree (which the Indians revered
and called The Council Tree) is more than 60 feet at its base. No one can
tell its age without counting the rings. Some theorize it could have been
a young tree at about the time of Christ. No matter what the actual age of
the tree may be, a visit to the prehistoric tree of mystery is truly an
enjoyable visit.
The Octopus Tree is located just several hundred feet south of the parking
lot. The improved trail is wheelchair accessible.
Tillamook is 74 miles from Portland and Salem, Oregon, and 66 miles from
the mouth of the Columbia River, the place that Captain Grey thought he
had found when he first sailed into Tillamook Bay in the American sloop
Lady Washington 1788. Its location puts it right in the heart of some of
the most wild and scenic area on the Oregon Coast. Nearby coastal towns
include Seaside, Cannon Beach, Lincoln City and Newport.
 The history
of Tillamook County serves as a reminder of the diverse people who have
called it home. From the Tillamook Indians to Captain Gray’s 1766 voyage
into Tillamook Bay, this stretch of the north Oregon coast is a living
memorial to those who came before. Tillamook County’s rich history is
preserved for all to enjoy at the
Tillamook County Pioneer Museum.
The Tillamook County Pioneer Museum Library contains well over 3,000
volumes, with 20% of the collection devoted to genealogy.
The Tillamook County Pioneer Museum Library is open for use Tuesday thru
Friday from 9 am to 5 pm, and on Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm.
They invite and encourage you to visit the Library and enjoy its link to
Tillamook County's historic past.
|
