The QuarterDeck Fall 2021

Bill Rutherford Mask Collection

Chinook-inspired spirit masks at the Columbia River Maritime Museum

The Museum was honored to welcome legendary Coast Guard Surfman, Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate (BMCM) Tom McAdams, 91. Shown with wife JoAn alongside the Museum’s 36 foot motor lifeboat, CG-36474, McAdams is credited with over 100 lives saved in 36, 44 and 52 foot MLBs between 1950-1977. Photo: Bruce Jones

BMCM McAdams reminisces about hours spent aboard the Museum’s 1962-built, 44 foot MLB, CG-44300. The steel-hulled vessel was the prototype of the class of MLBs which replaced the wood-hulled 36 footers. McAdams’ life is told in a recent book by Joe Novello, available online. Photo: Bruce Jones

BMCM McAdams was profiled in the July 7, 1967 issue of LIFE magazine doing surf training in a nearly identical motor lifeboat, CG 44301.

At the time, McAdams commanded Coast Guard Station Umpqua River. Photo: George Silk, Life Magazine.

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From the Wheelhouse

Columbia River Maritime Museum Executive Leadership

Sam Johnson Executive Director Bruce Jones Deputy Director

Controller

Connie Silverman Controller

Curatorial Operations

The Museum’s Gambier Bay model with a photo of the carrier, built at Vancouver’s Kaiser Shipyards, being outfitted at the Port of Astoria in 1943.

Families share histories and heritage at Columbia River Maritime Museum A few decades ago, the survivors of the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), sunk by the Japanese during the Battle off Samar with the loss of 131 men, held a reunion at the Museum. Curator Jeff Smith recalls survivors gathered around the Museum’s USS Gambier Bay model, pointing out “that was my gun turret” or “that’s where I was when I went over the side.” The sailors recounted their experiences during the vicious battle, while abandoning the blazing ship, and then struggling to survive in the ocean over the following two days. Later, the former sailors placed a wreath on the model case.

Smith recalls another poignant moment in our Naval Gallery when a former USS Knapp helmsman stood on his old destroyer’s bridge, accompanied by his son and granddaughter, and began to open up about his experiences in WWII. It was the smell and feel of the bridge itself, he said, which brought his memories flooding back.

Michael Becker, who owned and operated the troller Darle before donating it to the Museum, stopped by last year to donate vintage lures used on the boat, which we Countless other local fishermen, have added to the exhibit. Countless other local fishermen, cannery workers, boat cannery workers, boat builders builders and others from the maritime and others from the maritime trades see themselves represented in our trades see themselves galleries, and can share their histories and heritage with their families at the Museum. represented in our galleries Like Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate Tom McAdams, featured at left, there are many former surfmen among our guests whose stiff backs and sore knees attest to the hours spent pounding through the breakers on the Columbia River and other Pacific Northwest bars on rescue craft like the 36 and 44 foot motor lifeboats in our exhibits (often, the very same boats).

Personal connections to our maritime heritage like these make the Museum’s exhibits come alive. Nothing gives us greater pleasure than visits from the sailors, maritime workers or their family members and descendants whose hands touched the very vessels or artifacts in our collections. History continues to be made every day on the Columbia River, and we look forward to continuing to collect not only the artifacts and boats but most importantly, the stories, of those who work on the water.

Jeff Smith Curator Matthew Palmgren Assistant Curator Meg Glazier-Anderson Registrar Marcy Dunning Librarian

Education

Nate Sandel Education Director Kelly McKenzie Field Educator Kathy Johnson Volunteer Coordinator Julia Triezenberg Museum Educator

Facilities Operations Gary Friedman Facilities Manager Rino Bebeloni Technician Aaron Stinnett Technician Patric Valade Technician Toby Dyal Technician

Membership & Marketing Caroline Wuebben Manager Kim Werst Membership Assistant

Store and Visitor Services

Blue Anderson Visitor Services and Store Manager Ann Bronson Associate Store Manager Helen Honl Associate Visitor Services Manager Elaine Bauer Sales & Visitor Services Cherrian Chin Sales & Visitor Services Diana Smith Visitor Services Muriel Jenson Visitor Services Brittany Pellerin Visitor Services

Administrative Services Rachael Forden Administrative Assistant

Bruce Jones, Deputy Director

Barbey Maritime Center

Chuck Bollong Instructor & Collections Technician/Researcher

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Bill Rutherford Mask Collection Chinook-inspired spirit masks Introduction and mask descriptions provided by Tony Johnson, Chinook Nation Chairman, July 2016

Artist Bill Rutherford (standing, left) listens as donor Barbara Kommer discusses Rutherford’s masks at a reception in the Museum’s Klep Board Room. Photo: Bruce Jones

Interpretations of Chinookan Characters by Bill Rutherford For Chinookan peoples along the Columbia River, traditional myths and stories serve an important cultural role. More than mere stories, these myths function more as Chinookan universities. These stories transfer important knowledge, about how to live and thrive on the river, how to interact with and tend to our non-human relatives (which many today call natural resources), important knowledge about social rules, cultural taboos, and interpersonal interactions. For many Chinookan peoples, these stories ARE a record of the past and how things have come to be, and a reminder of what could happen if these rules are not honored.

It has been said that to be Chinook is to know and follow myriad taboos and protocols associated with every aspect of life.

One important taboo is that “class” can only be conducted in late fall, winter and early spring terms. Telling stories outside of storytelling season could cause something bad to happen. Because of this, we only took a small look into the full story behind these masks. Thank you for joining us on this adventure.

The Chinook-inspired masks have been shown at the Cathlapotle Plankhouse in Ridgefield, Washington (July 2016), and at Fort Vancouver Visitor Center, Washington (summer 2018).

The collection was donated to the Columbia River Maritime Museum by Barbara Kommer, Kurt Koenig, Joan Levers and David Manhart. Interpretation of the masks was provided by Chinook Indian Nation Chairman Tony Johnson.

The masks will be moved into a gallery in the Museum in the future for visitors to see and enjoy.

“For years Lillian Pitt, internationally known Native American multimedia artist and educator, has challenged me to artistically honor my Indian heritage ... While working on another project, I came across a book, “Naked Against the Rain”, by Rick Rubin. I read the book and was moved to try to carve several of the many spirits that the author identifies or describes in his book ... Ms. Pitt has acknowledged that these Chinookan spirit masks have satisfied her challenge to me, even though my heritage is (not Chinook but) Chickasaw.” — Bill Rutherford 4

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Mask photos above and on the cover: Christopher Vardas

1. Atathlia (Aut-ta-clea-a)

4. Yuhlma

7. Ikwanat

A hideous ogress with huge eyes and big ears who comes out of the night fog carrying a large basket to take away children to eat them. She is also said to be the origin of biting insects - in ​one story she is burned and embers from her burning body become mosquitos.

Yuhlma is a kind of invisible wild spirit that can make people ill. This mask represents different kinds of illness - the European diseases that killed thousands of Chinookan and other Native peoples across the greater Pacific Northwest. These introduced diseases, represented by skewers piercing the face, speak to how small pox, measles, cholera, tuberculosis, venereal disease, and alcoholism destroyed many villages and communities during the contact period.

Ikwanat is the head of the Salmon people. The Salmon myth is a perfect example of stories’ roles in transferring traditional ecological knowledge. In the myth, Salmon goes around to foods including Wapato and Skunk Cabbage telling them that they will be food for the People when Salmon is not around. The gifts that he gives the different characters are useful for identifying the plants today. An example of this would be skunk cabbage. Salmon gives Skunk Cabbage elk skin armor and a bone club, which can be seen today in the flower of the skunk cabbage. The yellow outside is elk skin armor and the white flower spike is the bone club.

Size in inches: 10-1/2” h x 11-1/2” w x 3-3/4” d Materials: Laminated white cedar, leather thongs, lamb ribs.

Finish: Acrylic paint, satin topcoat​.

2. The Darkness One In the Myth Time, the Darkness One carries darkness with her in a box. In one myth where the world is being made ready for humans, the Darkness One is told that she can no longer control the changing of darkness into light.

Size in inches: 9-1/2” h x 11-1/2” w x 3-5/8” d Materials: Laminated white cedar.

Finish: Acrylic paint, satin topcoat​.

3. Kagooti (Ka-Goot-ee) (coyote shown inside of Flathead) Kagooti, the trickster, is depicted inside the head of a Chinookan person (note the flattened forehead).

Coyote is a key character in many myths across the Americas, as well as in the Pacific Northwest. Coyote can change his appearance to fool people and is excessive in everything that he does. Coyote eats and drinks too much, is a perpetual seducer, lies, cheats, steals and does things just to see if he can get away with it. He also goes around making the world ready for humans. His role in Chinookan culture is to set morals and instruct the People by telling them how to live.

Size in inches: 13” h x 15” w x 7-1/2” d Materials: White cedar, papier mache’, Larch fir bark, plywood veneer.

Chinookan Flathead: Laminated white cedar.

Finish: Acrylic paint, satin topcoat​.

Size in inches: 11-3/4” h x 9-5/8” w x 5-1/2” d Materials: Oak, white cedar, leather thongs, Bamboo sticks, wood buttons.

Finish: Acrylic paint, satin topcoat.

5. Petroclyph Rock Woman (She Who Watches) This mask depicts the petroglyph located near Horsethief Lake near Wishram, Washington, and though her name is widely known, Chinookan protocol states that you are not supposed to say her name. In the Myth Times, Coyote travelled the river making things ready for the arrival of humans. Along the way he changed numerous people into objects and animals that would later be used to provide for the People. In the place where this petroglyph stands, a female chief was turned into stone to watch over the People of her place.

Size in inches: 10-1/2” h x 11-1/2” w x 3-1/2” d Materials: Laminated white cedar.

Finish: Acrylic paint, satin topcoat.

Size in inches: 21” h x 10” w x 5” d Materials: Maple, white cedar, leather thong, copper wire.

Finish: Acrylic paint, satin topcoat​.

8. Itcixyan Itcixyn, the Swallowing Monster, lives in the Columbia River, and long ago swallowed anyone who would go in the water. Coyote heard about this and tricked Itcixyan into swallowing him so he could rescue the people.

Size in inches: 11-1/2” h x 9-3/4” w x 4-1/4” d Materials: White cedar, copper wire.

Finish: Acrylic paint, satin topcoat.

9. Kyan Kau-Kau (Great Crow/Raven)

Wind, much like animals , is thought and spoken of as a person in the Myth Times. There are winds from many directions, and they are associated with people of those specific directions.

Raven is an important character in many Salish stories just to the north of Chinookan territory. Chinookan neighbors to the north tell the story depicted here - Raven in a messenger whose feathers were singed black as he stole from an old chief’s magic box and flew the sun into the sky. In this mask, the crow/raven is seen speaking through the people’s voice.

Size in inches: 10-1/2” h x 6” w x 12” d Materials: Laminated white cedar.

Finish: Acrylic paint, satin topcoat​.

Size in inches: 10-1/2” h x 11-1/2” w x 3-1/2” d Materials: Laminated white cedar, glass beads.

Finish: Acrylic paint, satin topcoat​.

6. Tillamook (Tilla-muk)

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Alfred Qualman, oysterman Founder of Qualman Oyster Farms, a company still in the family 87 years later Story by Roger Qualman

Al Qualman with bags of oyster shells ready for use in creating oyster seed. The bags of shell are immersed in warmed seawater to which oyster larvae are added. The larvae attach to the shells and grow. After a month or so, the shells can be moved into cooler water permanently. Photo courtesy of the Qualman family

My father, Alfred Qualman, started Qualman Oyster Farms in Charleston, Oregon about 1934. The company is still in the family 87 years later, producing quality oysters for purchase fresh from the Charleston oyster plant, or in local stores and restaurants.

Oysterville, Washington, however is where the story really begins.

Al and my mother, Ellen, arrived in Oysterville in 1931, in the midst of the Great Depression, via stops in Chicago, and then Seattle, where neither found steady employment. While Oysterville must have seemed like a throwback to an earlier era, they quickly learned that there were plenty of jobs, people were friendly, and there was food everywhere to be had with a little work.

Al was able to get work in oystering, as it is hard, dirty work, with hours governed by the tides. Ellen worked at the Heckes House, which boarded workers along with the Heckes family. Soon enough they all became friends and shared meals nightly. Food was plentiful, including crabs, razor clams, fish, and of course, oysters. Enterprising people could gather seafood at the beach, and peddle it to others or barter for eggs, flour, venison or beef. Life for the young couple became luxurious almost, especially when compared to Seattle or Chicago.

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The primary specie of oyster grown on the West Coast is Crassostrea gigas, also referred to as the Pacific Oyster. They take 2-3 years to grow to marketable size so growers plant oyster seed on defined areas of bay bottom, or beds.

Harvey Bowen, right, with helper with a loaded bateau near Oysterville.

Oysters grow on the bay bottom in coastal estuaries and are often exposed at low tides.

Harvesting oysters was done by hand at low tide until the development of powered dredges made the work easier. But, the machine harvesting caused damage to the delicate shells, and made the oysters unfit for sale in the shell. Dredges became commonplace in the 1950’s and after.

The primary market for oysters was shucked, canned and sold on the fresh market to grocery stores, restaurants, and other seafood outlets.

The market for fresh oysters served on the half shell became a food trend later, with the advent of oyster bars and a variety of fresh oysters available on restaurant menus.

The primary specie of oyster grown on the West Coast is Crassostrea gigas, also referred to as the Pacific Oyster. They take 2-3 years to grow to marketable size so growers plant oyster seed on defined areas of bay bottom, or beds. Oysters grow from seed shells forming clusters, which need to be separated by hand to allow the oyster to grow properly. The main source of the oyster seed was Japan, before and after World War II.

Photo: CRMM

A picking crew at low tide on Willapa Bay. One man could pick and load up to 100 bushels before the tide returned. This area will be under 6-8 feet at high tide. Photo courtesy of the Qualman family 7

Oyster sloop (known locally as a “plunger”) Columbia at Bay Center, Willapa Bay.

Photo: CRMM

Opening or shucking oysters has always been hand land to buy with $500 he made on an oystering contract. He work, and still is today. acquired the lease rights to about 60 acres of oyster lands, A good shucker can open a gallon of oysters about or beds, in South Slough, which runs south from Charleston, every 30 minutes, or about 15-20 gallons per day. They and made arrangements to plant it with oyster seed the next are washed and graded by size, then packed in cans or year. After a couple more years in Oysterville, Al and Ellen jars for the fresh market. The hundreds of oyster recipes moved to Charleston in 1937. For fast cash, he harvested developed over the years include stewed, fried, raw, oysters from his beds, and opened and sold them from the barbequed, or casseroled, but the most famous are still back of his pickup in the middle of Charleston, starting the Oysters Rockefeller, oyster stew, next chapter of his oystering and raw on the half shell. career.

A good shucker can open a gallon of Oysterville sits on Willapa Charleston and Coos Bay Bay, still one of the West oysters about every 30 minutes, or about had fallen on hard times in Coast’s biggest oyster producing 15-20 gallons per day. They are washed the depression, with timber waterways. From well before fortunes wiped out, and people and graded by size, then packed in cans the turn of the 20th century, everywhere having to start over. or jars for the fresh market. the bay produced shiploads of Al took advantage of bargain fresh oysters in the shell that price property, buying land for a were sent by sailing schooner south to San Francisco. homesite and homes for rentals in his neighborhood, and The thriving business attracted investors, entrepreneurs purchased forty acres of waterfront land with timber for a and labor to the area, and created a very competitive few hundred dollars and Ellen’s inherited white ermine fur environment. However, oyster land for newcomers was coat. He grew the oyster business in Charleston from a small simply not available, and Al Qualman was not a man who opening house, selling oysters, crab, fish, and to seafood could work long for others, so he looked elsewhere. route salesmen who worked up and down the SW coast of In 1934, he traveled south to Coos Bay to seek oyster Oregon.

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A bateau of seed being towed by a power boat and skillfully spread over a marked lane of oyster “land.” Al Qualman is second from left. Photo courtesy of the Qualman family

Oyster launch Independence.

Photo: CRMM

Oyster launch Dauntless at a Willapa Bay oyster house.

Photo: CRMM

World War II brought the Pacific Coast oyster business to a full stop.

Oyster seed, the little shells with baby oysters attached, had been purchased from Japan for decades and Qualman, as well as other west coast oyster growers, had no other source. Al bought salmon trollers and fished commercially for the balance of the war years, until the Japanese started providing seed again after the war.

Al built with his own hands a home for his family, an oyster opening house in Charleston, numerous boats, docks, and after the war, a powered oyster scow, the Sandy Q. For the scow, he ordered four “stringers”, each 36’ long, 3’ wide and 4 inches thick from a local lumber mill. Such material is unavailable today because of small log size, but was readily available at the time. He set them up on waterfront property, shaped them fore and aft, and planked them top and bottom, all with hand tools.

He then built a small pilot house, and installed a Cadillac flathead V-8 engine.

The scow had tunnel drive, such that the shaft and propeller could be raised or lowered for use in shallow bay waters.

The Sandy Q worked the bay for the next 20 years collecting and delivering oysters to the plant where they were shucked and canned for the fresh market.

Al built a new plant to house the business in 1949, a three story, concrete block structure, built on the waterfront below our family home on Joe Ney Slough, an arm of South Slough.

My brother, Larry, was born in 1939 and he would eventually take over the business. I came along in 1944. We all worked in the family enterprise. Al was the prime mover, Ellen kept the books and records, and we children worked in the business when not in school. My sister, Sandra, opened oysters, Larry and I ran the boats and picked oysters, and Ellen managed the oyster canning operation.

We worked hard in the summer months, up early to catch summer low tides. But family life was great fun, and spare time was used for table tennis, badminton, hunting, fishing, and card games (there was no television).

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A string of bateaux after being “spotted” and grounded for the picking crew. The boat crew skillfully gather the bateaux together with the incoming tide. Photo courtesy of the Qualman family

In 1962, Larry assumed management of Qualman Oyster Farms, and Al and Ellen traveled to Milford, CT, to learn how to cultivate oyster seed from a state sponsored laboratory on Long Island Sound. Oregon coastal waters are not warm enough for oysters to propagate naturally, thus the necessity of purchasing expensive seed from Japan.

If it could be learned how to cultivate seed in a laboratory, it would solve the problem and create a new oyster- based business opportunity. Al did learn how to cultivate the oyster larvae, but never was able to capitalize on the business idea. The federal government’s Sea Grant Program (NOAA) funded a laboratory in Newport at that same time and was able to produce seed just as it was done in Milford. Another private firm started to produce seed and sell it to oyster growers, including Qualman’s.

Larry was more interested in getting the seed than producing it. With Al’s encouragement, he developed the process of growing oysters on sticks rather than on the muddy bay bottom. Oyster seed shells were fastened onto plastic sticks that were stuck into the mud on the oyster beds. This kept the seed shells out of the mud where they were able to feed more easily and grow to maturity in 2 years instead of the usual 3 years, with lower seed mortality. Larry is still running the business today. He says it keeps him fit.

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Oyster launch Telephone towing a bateau and dinghy.

Photo: CRMM

Oregon coastal waters are not warm enough for oysters to propagate naturally, thus the necessity of purchasing expensive seed from Japan.

Before passing in 1994, Al published three books, which can be found online: Blood on the Halfshell (1983) is an autobiographical look back at his life and work in oysters. Ojiisan (the name his grandchildren used for him) (1989) is about his family and early days in oystering.

Romance on the Halfshell (1990) is a series of articles, some fiction, on a variety of topics.

Roger Qualman has been a CRMM Trustee since 2005.

Daniel Franklin Howard The Poet of the Cascades Story by Cameron La Follette

Early Life Daniel Franklin Howard, self-styled “Poet of the Cascades” who became a familiar regional poet in Oregon and Washington, was born in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, on December 18, 1841.

He grew up in the Civil War’s looming shadow, enlisted at age 19 and fought on the Union side. In an introduction to his writings, Howard stated, “I participated in the Civil War, during which time I committed a breach of discipline, by leaving my Regiment and enlisting in an other [sic]. I will only say, I was young and without an advisor, and first of all, had great cause; -- ill treatment by superiors…I served my country four years – fought for human liberty, during which time I suffered in Andersonville prison.”

Andersonville (also known as Camp Sumpter) was a notorious Confederate prison, whose grossly unsanitary and inhumane conditions led to very high death rates from scurvy, dysentery and typhoid among the incarcerated Union soldiers.

Howard married Elizabeth DeBorde in Covington, Nebraska on December 25, 1868; they migrated to Portland, Oregon in 1874, settling the following spring in Cowlitz County, Washington – which was, Howard notes, “all Oregon when I went to school.” Washington became a state in 1889. They settled in Stella, a hamlet on the Columbia River 9 miles west of Longview and an assembly point for log rafts destined for California mills. For three years the couple lived in Alaska.

They raised nine children, the first three of whom were born in North Dakota, and the others in Cowlitz County. The census tells us that Howard worked as a farmer and fisherman – frequent occupations among the early settlers. But Howard had another facet to his life: poetry.

Daniel Franklin Howard, Stella WA.

The Poet of the Cascades In the autobiographical note to the manuscript of his complete poems, Howard hints at the difficulties that attended his literary endeavors, writing “I do not think that anybody ever tried to do literary work under such difficulties as I am doing this. I am disturbed and interrupted every minute. It is causing me to make many mistakes. If any Reader thinks I have made a botch of it, I ask them to take this matter into account.”

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Stella Hotel and Saloon in 1895.

Howard’s war poetry documents events and places from his own or fellow soldiers’ experiences, such as the Battle of Antietam, the engagements at Fredericksburg, and Howard’s first Civil War action, the Battle of Drainsville: The Enemy, long sought, has come, And down his gauntlet throws, And Pennsylvania’s gallant Sons, Now meet their Southern foes.

The Fomen’s [sic] shell now fill the air, But look at Ord’s command!

His Batt’ry wheels for action there; The cross-roads is their stand.

Howard followed the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War of 1898, and then World War I, the rise of Germany, and the war effort to build more ships, as can be seen from other poems.

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Photo courtesy of the Stella Historical Society

The Konapee Wreck and the Beeswax Wreck Howard’s greatest fascination lay with the vague and shadowy wreck known to Oregon history as the “Konapee wreck.” He wrote several poems, a play and an entire novella, entitled Oregon’s First Howard’s greatest White Men, about the wreck. fascination lay with Rainier Review Press published the wreck known to the novella in 1927.

Oregon history as the The earliest mention of what later came to be called “Konapee wreck.” He the Konapee wreck is in Pacific wrote several poems, Fur Company apprentice a play and an entire Gabriel Franchère’s account novella about the of traveling on the lower Columbia in 1811-14. He wreck. described meeting an old man named Soto, who said he was the son of a Spaniard wrecked at the mouth of the river. Several later anthropological accounts gave more form to this statement.

Ships at Stella Dock.

Photo courtesy of the Stella Historical Society

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Spanish Galleon in port.

The beeswax wreck, now known to be a Spanish Manila galleon, probably the Santo Cristo de Burgos, wrecked on Nehalem Spit in 1693-4. It was sailing between the Philippines and Acapulco as part of Spain’s famed Manila galleon trade line, bringing rare Asian goods to New Spain.

George Gibbs in 1877 quoted Celiast, daughter of Clatsop chief Coboway and wife of pioneer Solomon H. Smith, for more details. Gibbs was the first to conjecture that Soto was the son of a castaway from this wreck. Anthropologist Franz Boas interviewed Chinook Native Charles Cultee and provided additional facets to the tale. But it was Silas Smith, son of Celiast, whose contributions to the story of the wrecked ship were the most long-lasting. In a 1900 article, Smith first said that one of the survivors was called Konapee in the local language, and he discussed the likelihood that Soto was the son of Konapee or one of the other wreck survivors.

This vague and mysterious, but very enticing, story caught Howard’s imagination. For added spice, he also included the beeswax wreck in his writings. The beeswax wreck, now known to be a Spanish Manila galleon, probably the Santo Cristo de Burgos, wrecked on Nehalem Spit in 1693-4. It was sailing between the Philippines and Acapulco as part of Spain’s famed Manila galleon trade line, bringing rare Asian goods to New Spain. Chunks of the galleon wreck, and large amounts of beeswax, were common sights on the Spit in Howard’s day, but no one knew anything about the ship’s history.

Speculation was rife as to whether it was a treasure ship, a Spanish pirate ship, or a galleon that had somehow lost its way with its rich cargoes. Native teller Nancy Gervais in the early 20th century told mesmerized audiences, at the well-known vacation resort Seaside House, that the beeswax ship and a pirate ship whose crew buried treasure ashore were a single vessel. Her version was immortalized in Samuel Cotton’s Stories of Nehalem.

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Returning up the coast, Desoto is captured by pirates and forced to work for them until the pirates in turn are pursued by Spanish warships, and bury their treasure ashore in fear of capture. Desoto escapes by literally jumping ship, but the pirates meet their deserved fate, wrecking at Cannon Beach.

Stella from the Columbia between 1907 and 1920.

Photo courtesy of the Stella Historical Society

The Poet and the Tales of Shipwreck In a 28-page poem, “Oregon’s First White Man,” Howard calls the Konapee ship the Arigan, and the captain, a Castilian named Hernando Desoto. Howard set the poem in the late 16th century, when Sir Francis Drake was known to have been sailing along the Northwest coast during his world-spanning voyage, so that he could describe a meeting between the English captain and the fictional Desoto.

Desoto settles in Panama, and then sails off in pursuit of gold and fame. Wrecked on the Clatsop coast, he and three surviving crew, one a blacksmith named Konope, eventually meet Chief Concomly and are welcomed to the village. Konope impresses tribal members with his metal-working skill. Desoto marries Rowena, daughter of the chieftain of the Multnomahs, a neighboring and friendly tribe. The poem describes scuffles with rival suitors, clashes between tribes and political maneuvering between groups.

Drake saves Desoto from an attack of hostile natives. Desoto sails with Drake for a time, but escapes near Panama, tells Spanish officials that Drake is near, and greets his astounded family.

Returning up the coast, Desoto is captured by pirates and forced to work for them until the pirates in turn are pursued by Spanish warships, and bury their treasure ashore in fear of capture. Desoto escapes by literally jumping ship, but the pirates meet their deserved fate, wrecking at Cannon Beach. After more adventures, he is ultimately reunited with Rowena, and takes her and their son back to Panama -- on a warship that was chasing the buccaneers – with the pirates’ gold.

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It is an exciting, swashbuckling tale. Howard reworked the same story in both his play and novella. It is clear that he was familiar with the then-current research and storytelling about both the Konapee wreck and the beeswax ship, as his fiction follows the known “facts” and speculation. Howard writes of Desoto at the beginning of his adventures: He was a mariner of old And left his native Spain, With his good ship, in quest of gold And, consummately, of fame.

He also documented his private spiritual experiences, religious convictions and philosophy. He wrote poems on Alaska where he lived briefly, and completed his oeuvre with occasional meditative pieces on Portland, the Cascades and the Columbia River region he made his home. The Stella Historical Society holds all of Howard’s papers.

Cameron La Follette is an independent scholar of Oregon coast history.

With his own ship, the “ARIGAN,” To Panama he came.

Twas later wrecked in Oregon, Which took from it, its name….

Without mishap, he sailed the seas, To China’s far-off shore – Traded his cargo, took the breeze, And sailed for home once more….

They struck where Clatsop’s breakers rolled, When fog hung low and dark.

The crew’s sad fate was quickly told And wrecked, their gallant barque.

The Poet Commemorates His World Howard wrote some 300 pieces of poetry. In addition to his already-mentioned works, he wrote about other Columbia regional history, such as the fire in his hometown of Stella, the wreck and destruction of John Jacob Astor’s ship the Tonquin, the Beeswax Ship’s fate, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and the emergence of conservation ideals.

from “Moonlight on the Columbia” I sit and gaze across the stream

And watch the waters quiver; Beneath old Luna’s silver gleam

While boating on the river.

Beneath the Moon a path of light

Leads to yon low green island, And further on I plainly sight

A bold, bluff mountain highland.

While high o’er all, yet far away,

The source of many a fountain, Like pearls, beneath the lunar ray,

Rises the snow-clad mountains.

All spotless, in their robes of white,

From Nature, -- Lavish Giver – They crown the scene, a moonlight night,

On the Columbia River. ….

Citations

Cotton, Samuel J. Stories of Nehalem. Chicago: M.A. Donohue & Company.

Cultee, Charles and Franz Boas. Chinook Texts. U.S. Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin No. 20. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, 1920.

Franchère, Gabriel. Narrative of a Voyage to the Northwest Coast of America in the Years 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814. Translated and edited

by J.V. Huntington. New York: Redfield, 1854.

Gibbs, George. Tribes of Western Washington and Northwestern Oregon, in Contributions to North American Ethnology, Volume I. Edited by John Wesley Powell. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1877.

Howard, Daniel Franklin. Oregon’s First White Men: A Complete Historical Novel. Rainier, Ore.: Rainier Review Press, 1927.

Howard, Daniel Franklin. Oregon’s First White Man. Poem (1924) and “Scenario of Dramatical Composition.” Both in manuscript papers of Daniel Franklin Howard, held by the Stella Historical Society, Stella Washington.

Smith, Silas B. “Tales of Early Wrecks on the Oregon Coast, and How the Bees-wax Got There.” Oregon Native Son (January 1900).

16

In Honor Of

March 8 – September 17, 2021

Clara Lampi, M.D. Jessica Backinger

Memorials

Columbia River Maritime Museum 2021 Board of Trustees Executive Committee

March 8 – September 17, 2021

Don Bain Ron and Gayle Timmerman

Esther K. Jerrell Capt. Fred B. Jerrell Samuel E. Johnson

Anne M. Barbey Mary C. (Chita) Becker Steven Blair Elizabeth Brooke Allison Cellars Ward and Lois Cook Mark Edy Stephen Forrester and Brenda Penner Bob and Konky Forster Chip and Cindy Gentry Blair Henningsgaard and Paula Brownhill Edith Henningsgaard Miller Samuel E. Johnson Mark Kralj Mary Lago The Lamb Family Foundation Kirsten Leonard Joanne M. Lilley and Chuck Supple Melinda MacColl Jerry Ostermiller and Lynne Johnson Eric Paulson David and Christine Tye Pearson Brian and Bambi Rice Lori B. Sackett Bill and Shelby Strong Jade Tsefalas Thomas Wheeler David and Barbara Young Ted Blair Steven Blair Dick Delphia Joseph and Jean Boisseau Thomas Dulcich John Stephens Edith Henningsgaard-Miller Ann McAlpin Samuel E. Johnson Jerry Ostermiller and Lynne Johnson Dan and Kim Supple

Dean Kirn Samuel E. Johnson Suzanne Kloehn Capt. Barry and Vickie Barrett Capt. Ted Mather Capt. Barry and Vickie Barrett Phil Nock Hal Fay Rosalie Ramsey Ward and Lois Cook Capt. Jim Richards Capt. Barry and Vickie Barrett Steve Roman Martin Nygaard and Nancy Haglund Bill Tetlow Bart Oja Marvin Tolonen Gladys Hanson Bart Oja Bruce K. Tolonen Mark and Lisa Tolonen Judy VanDusen-Dawson Sue J. Kruse Todd Vollmer Gary and Vicki Bergseng Marjorie Littlejohn Nick Zafiratos Dan and Kim Supple Fay L. Thompson

Michael Haglund, Chair Don Vollum, Vice Chair Nick Johnson, Secretary John McGowan, Treasurer Helena Lankton, Immediate Past Chair Ward V. Cook, Advisor Steve Fick, Advisor H. Roger Qualman, Advisor Kurt Redd, Advisor Dr. Samuel E. Johnson, Executive Director

Board of Trustees Stephen M. Andersen George F. Beall Patrick Clark John D. Dulcich Dale Farr Terry Graff Jerry F. Gustafson Ted H. Halton, Jr. Donald M. Haskell Mike Henningsen Carol Ihlenburg Senator Betsy Johnson Captain Dan Jordan Kenneth Kirn Irene E. Martin Anne McAlpin David M. Myers David Nygaard Captain Steve Shaver William T.C. Stevens Alex Strogen Shawn M. Teevin John Tennant Sarah Tennant Dr. Gerald Warnock

Trustee Emeritus Peter J. Brix Alan C. Goudy Donald W. Magnusen

Advisory Trustees Guy C. Stephenson Ambassador Charles J. Swindells Willis Van Dusen Bill W. Wyatt

In Memory Dr. James H. Gilbaugh Jr.

On the back cover: Big Red: White pelicans forage in front of “Big Red.” An iconic feature of Astoria’s waterfront, Big Red was built in 1897, and served the fishing industry as a net drying shed, salmon transfer station and boat repair facility. It was heavily damaged in the Great Coastal Gale of 2007. Photo: Bruce Jones

The Quarterdeck Fall 2021 The Quarterdeck is published by the Columbia River Maritime Museum 1792 Marine Drive, Astoria, Oregon 97103 503-325-2323 www.crmm.org Editor: Bruce Jones Printed by: Lithtex in Hillsboro, Oregon Layout/Design: John D. Bruijn, The Astorian

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CRMM: New Members Business

Buoy Beer Finn Ware Fulio’s Pastaria Lum’s Auto Center Portland General Electric Sellwood Consulting Shaver Transportation

Boatswain

J. Douglas and Cecilia W. Balcomb Ruth Benner Daniel and Dallas Carnahan Vicki and Esko Cate Michael and Mary Evans Dennis and Jessica Gillum Jim and Patty Heisterman Darren and Sherri Hutton Melvin and Elizabeth Jasmin John Liu and Mary Sauve William Lythgoe Cory Mahaffey Ben and Shanna Miller Holly Parkinson and Jeff Brinkerhoff Charles and Crystal Rostocil Jason and Wendy Tosh Caleb and Pamela Watters Rebecca Youngstrom and Ron Atwood

Crew

Vincent and Lindsey Aarts Brice and Karen Adams Jennifer Albachten Sten and Dottie Alberg John Albers-Mead and Elizabeth Parker Kari Anthon Esteban and Anne Arana Ashley Arcangel Jennifer Archer Stephanie Armstrong Curtis and Kendall Arnott Joe and Annette Astin Nathan and Cailyn Aune Chyla Back Nathan and Jolene Bair Chris and Lisa Barry Lauren Barton Rocio and Annelisa Bates Allen Bennett Greg and Kari Benoy Jonathan and Chelsea Berkampas Frank and Cathy Betzer Robert and Susie Billstein David & Anya Borst Karen Yoon and Jeff Buenjemia James and Marlene Burnham Sheena Burton Mark Byom Chris and Laura Calabrese Janis Carolan Joseph and Lisa Castillo Jerry and Sarah Chapman Patrick and Leigh Ann Chapman Ajaykumar Chaudhar Tom and Cathy Cherry Dave and Anne Cochran Larry Coffield and Tara Peterson Terry Combs 18

March 8 – September 17, 2021

Ernie Conway and Tracy Thornton Kory Cook Adam and Joy Couch Johnny and Sandy Davis Cale and Ana Day Lisa and Vinny DiTommaso Matt Eryn Jamie and Morgan Esser Abram and Maggie Felsch Harold and Lori Findley Matthew and Stephanie Findley Irma Flores Troy and Lorene Foster Andy and Becky Franklin Mario and Nancy Gambaro Steve Garry and Joseph Garry Frank and Melanie Gladics Edward Lynch and Denise Goodman Ann Marie Gramson Cindy Hetrick and Diane Gregoire Russell Grindle and Ramona Young-Grindle Eric and Sandra Hamilton Kevin Hamilton Susan Hansell Marie Hanson Johnathan and Katie Harrop Josh and Amber Haynes Chris Hardy and Marn Heggen Nathan and Charity Herford Aaron and Jessica Hood Micah Hozen Julie Hyder David James Benjamin and Angela Janosik Brian and Penny Jespersen Ryan and Becky Jesperson Douglas Jessen Erik Johansson Phillip and Alicia Johnson Ryan Johnson Scott and Corinne Johnson Natalie Jolly and Matt Kelley Chris and Leah Jones Scott Justus Carson Keeble and Melissa Pena Clint Kotter Jim and Julie Kovar James Kropf Alma Kujala Chris and Julie Kunnen Nicholas and Jennifer Lancaster Tom and Claire Landrum Katie Lane Gustavo and Cassandre Lanzai Benji and Whitney Latham Jeff Laug L. A. and M. Linker Judy Lolich Jim Lux and Lisa Sutton Peter and Susie Lynn Abigail Mack Richard and Ivy Masters Debbie McBride and Gene Lesieur Corley and Natalie McFarland Brian and Debra McGarvey George Mead Andy and Linda Merz Daniel and Kerri Michael

Josh and Heather Miller Ashley Mills Kyle Monee and Sam Rodriguez Brendan Monroe and Viktoriia Sotnyk Michael and Leah Montgomery Jack Morris Katarina Moseley and Greg Quartarolo Megan Mosman and Brenda Morgan Scott and Joanna Munsell Michael and Jenna Myhre Martin and Ivana Neckarova Lonnie and Debbie Nelson CarrieGoe Nettleton Luke and April Neumann Kyle and Jaclyn Norris Mark and Cassie Ogden Adam and Rebeckah Orton Scott and Tassia Owen Rick and Lucinda Pannell Don England and Mark Pantaleo Jason and Lydia Parker Jim Patton and Jing Liu Mark and Tammy Payton Traci Perdue and Michael Shelton Jessica Peternell Brandon and Carrie Peters Alicia Pool and Carissa Poole Darrell L. Pork Chloe Pullman Dax Ramsey Carolyn Roelofs Raymond and Virginia Rojas Dustin and Andrea Rose BIll and Katie Rosen Sharon Rosenkoetter Rebecca Rueppel and Steven Northrop Linda Rushing Ted and Bethany Rydmark Mariko and Yoshiki Saeki Thor and Gina Schmeusser Mike and Sara Schulte Jada Scott Andrew and Christy Senior Ryan and Lisa Sheldrake Eric and Laura Shellman Renita Shofner Hillary Shue Allison Smith Elizabeth Smith Emily Smith and James Hanscom Ed Snook and Laura Scott Jeffrey and Kristy Sorce Benjamin and Myleea Spencer Ashley St. Aubin-Clark and Samuel Peterson Richard and Jennifer Sullivan Mathew and Sarah Swanson Doug and Adele Taylor Tommy and Tracey Thompson Joseph and Deborah Hickey - Tiernan Christine Todd and Bill Gander Mark Tolan and Tim Tolan Brianna Truden Brent and Enn Turley Terrence Tyrrell Jordan Unger and Crystal Henning Jon Vandergrift David and Beth Van Dyche Leah Veitenheimer

Crew (continued)

Dan and Holly Wagner Robert and Joia Warriner Richard and Carol Watts Chelsea Weilburg Jenny Weller Robin Pardee Wells Gordon and Jessica West LeRoy Wiens Jason Williams and Lisa Miller Carol Wolleson Dan and Wendy Wood Andree and Theresa Yen Aaron and Victoria Young Jin Zhang

Ensign

Judy Bearman Jeff Brittain David Camardese Colin Duncan Sharon Menapace Cynthia Porter Alicia Sanders Sesha Seemungal Laura Torres

Helmsman

Jeff and Nancy Ahner Dale Allen and Marisa Pucci Richard and Carol Allen Ben and Crystal Anderson Zack Antalis Shannon and Susan Blanton David and Crystal Boettcher Katie Bruland Robert and Lorraine Charnock

Jim and Patricia Chase Cherrian Chin Jeff and Melissa Cibik Chip and Eddie Zovise Clark Erick and Kelsey Cleveland Kimberly Cox Joe and Lindsey Cross Glenn Cruger Aaron and Rebecca Cuttino Stephanie Daniels Dave and Christina Deloyola Sherry Drexler Chad and Angela Edwards Scott Ekstrom Russell and Tami Erhardt Kalena Fay Scott and Carol Fenton John and Kari French Dave and Jen Gamon James and Leslie Hall Jason and Linnae Harper Brendan and Anna Henningsgaard Nicole Hill Patrick Houern Joseph and Patricia Howell Steve and Laurie Hughes Bret Hutchings Moo Hwi and Ok Ja Yim Jay and Janet Johnson Pat and Helen Keefe Chad King Jackie Kirsch Christopher and Christine Lamb Glenn and Veronica Lamb Randy Lee Jennifer Lindemann Matt and Echo McClellan

John and Veronika Mewha Erick Nodland Jessica Parker Jason and Joey Payne Greg and Robin Pemberton Jon and Jill Pentzer Colin Peterson Bruce Prickett and Laura Retzlaff Randy and Laura Ritchie Luigi and Annamarie Robinson Roy and Susan Rosselli Jennifer Rozek William and Christine Ruotola Peter and Brina Sauer Ramsey and McKenna Selbak Edward and Carla Shearn Treasa Silva Patrica Skowrup and Jeff Bale David and Tracy Slocomb Aaron Smith Catherine Smith Dave and Cyndi Stephenson Kelli Stephenson and Jenny Avery Valentina Stewart Brian and Ciara Stone David Strom Lorena Torres and Maribel Rabaden Paenere Joseph and Megan Tricarico Adela Valenlee Anthony and Judy Valpiani HelenAnn Volpe and Katrina O’Hearn Bill Wagner and Eric Wagner Larry and Sealy Wait Peter Williams Adam and Fenzie Write Larry Young and Cindi Kaliszewski

CRMM: Business Members Andersen Construction Arbor Care Tree Specialists Blair Henningsgaard Attorney at Law BRIDGEwater Bistro Bruce’s Candy Kitchen Buoy Beer Cannery Pier Hotel & Spa CHUBB City Lumber Company Clatsop Association of Realtors Clatsop Distributing Company Columbia Bank - Astoria

Columbia Memorial Hospital Columbia River Bar Pilots Diversified Marine, Inc. Englund Marine & Industrial Supply EO Media Group / The Astorian Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Finn Ware Fulio’s Pastaria & Tuscan Steak House Hyak Tongue Point LLC Lewis & Clark Bank Lum’s Auto Center Northwest Natural Gas Company

Ocean Crest Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac P&L-Johnson Mechanical Inc. PacifiCorp / Pacific Power Portland General Electric Rickenbach Construction Seaside Aquarium Sellwood Consulting Shaver Transportation Teevin Bros. Land & Timber Co. Tidewater Barge Lines, Inc. Walter E. Nelson Co. Wine Works of Oregon

Seat back from the battleship Oregon (BB-3) Captain’s gig.

The ship was commissioned in 1896, decommissioned in 1925 and scrapped in 1956.

CRMM Collection

19

COLUMBIA RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM

1792 Marine Drive Astoria, Oregon 97103

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Nonprofit Organization US POSTAGE PAID Astoria, Oregon Permit No. 340