VOL. 6
16TH & EXCHANGE STREET , ASTORIA, OREGON 97103
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STEAMER OCKLAHAMA TOWS TWO BARQUES UPSTREAM TO PORTLAND TO LOAD GRAIN, LATE 1880'S.
NEW SHIPKEEPER SIGNS ON
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FROM THE QUARTERDECK Two important meetings of the Executive Committee of the Museum have been held recently. A decision was made to get updated cost figures for completion of the west half of the interior for occupancy. This would, upon being viewed, stimulate action for finishing the other half. This was done and the cost of operating two plants carefully considered. The Committee decided unanimously to pro ceed "full ahead" with completion of the entire museum! There have been several periods of tight money. They are not unique to any museum. C.R.M.M. started con struction of its new home in May of 1975, some thirteen years after our founding. They have been ambitious years, of acquiring and planning. Some $950,000 has been raised before and during construction. It emerged a structure whose exterior has received high acclaim here and abroad. It is now 65% completed and from outside observation appears ready for occupancy. But this is not so! Floor and framing of the rooms within are ready now for the heating plant, lighting, sprinkler system, plumbing, insulation, inside wall covering, and painting. The exterior should also have its paved approaches and landscaping! So - right now - we call on all friends, and all hands who cherish our great nautical heritage to join the Museum and, or if you can, give generously to our "Complete the Museum Fund!" The Building Fund Drive is still on. Rolf Klep, Director
EQUIPMENT NEEDED To the friend or member of the Museum who has, but does not need, any of the items listed below, the fol lowing "wish list" is directed, along with the suggestion that a contribution to the Museum be considered. Dona tions of equipment enable the Museum to perform more effectively, while at the same time holding costs to a min imum. Indeed, donated equipment can make possible activities or services that would not otherwise be carried out, due to the cost. Contributions of equipment are tax deductible for the donor. Among the Museum's needs are: a late model office typewriter (IBM Selectric or equivalent); steel shelving for storage of artifacts and books; photographic and darkroom equipment, including lights; a panel truck or small van in good running order for transporting artifacts, etc.; a plain-bond copier for office use; a sandblasting outfit, including compressor; and a small lift truck (electric or gas) for handling and moving heavy artifacts and equipment. Anyone considering donation of these or other items is urged to contact curator Michael Naab at the Museum.
Chief Boatswain's Mate Charles Mason, U.S.C .G. (Retired) has joined the Museum staff as shipkeeper of the Lightship Columbia. No stranger to lightship duty, he served for two years in the old, Portland-built Swiftsure (#113). He also served in weather patrol cutters , buoy tenders, and a LORAN supply vessel during his 24 years in the Coast Guard. Chief Mason will be on board Monday through Friday. His weekend counterpart is John Syvanen, also a former lightship man, whose seagoing career included service as a merchant seaman, Lighthouse Service employee, and Coast Guardsman.
• WEYERHAEUSER CO. PROVIDES SHIP MODEL One of the most important additions to the Museum's exhibits in recent months is a fine model of the Norwegian motorship Hoegh Merchant on loan from the Weyerhaeuser Company Archives in Tacoma. Built by Nippon Reinetsu Co. , Ltd . , of Nagasaki, the 6- ½ foot model is a detailed miniature of one of six nearly identical vessels constructed in Japan in 1977 for Leif Hoegh & Co. of Oslo. All are under long-term charter to Weyerhaeuser Company. They were specially designed to carry forest pro ducts of all types, in addition to containers, bulk, and general cargoes, between the Pacific Northwest and European ports. The Hoegh Merchant's model is the most modern to be seen in the Museum, and one of the largest. Though, with a length of 660 feet and a breadth of 101 feet, the Merchant is not a particularly large vessel by today's standards, she is huge in comparison to the ships that plied the sea lanes of the world just 30 years ago. As an illustration of this, the Merchant model is displayed alongside a model of the Downeaster St. Paul built to the same scale. The 228 -foot, three mast ship of a century ago, once typical, is dwarfed by the size and bulk of her modern sister.
Bob Cox of the Museum staff looks over the model of the Hoegh Merchant.
ONE-DAY DRIVE BRINGS NEW MEMBERS Listed below are the names of all those who have become members of the Museum in the first three months of the year, along with those standing members who have renewed their memberships in a higher category during the same period. It is a longer list than usual, due principally to the efforts of a group of 34 supporters who, armed with pledge cards and more than a little dedication, conducted
a one -day membership drive on February 23rd. H.A. "Obie" O'bryant, Dan Webster, Bill Van Dusen, Gene Lowe, Eric Hauke and Jim Durham planned the drive, recruited workers, and saw the whole thing through. They and their colleagues join the Trustees and staff of the Museum in express ing to new members and old friends alike, smcere thanks and a hearty "Welcome Aboard!"
NEW MEMBERS, INCREASED MEMBERSHIPS (*) SUSTAINING Mrs. Joseph M. Dyer* Fashionland Mr. Stuart Kerr, Portland Sir James & Lady McDonald, Portland* Miss Elsie A. Silver Standard Insurance Co., Portland Mr. & Mrs. Edward Thompson * Mr. & Mrs. A.V. Young
SUPPORTING Anderson Jewelers Columbia Fruit & Produce Crest Motel Fisher Bros. Co. * Mr. & Mrs. John F. Jensen, Jr. Mr. Clarence Johnson Mr. & Mrs. Eugene Lowe Mr. & Mrs. John McClelland, Jr. * Mr. & Mrs. Olvin M. Ratoza Seafood Workers Local P-554 * Shear Magic A Stones Throw Mr. & Mrs. John Warren, Eugene*
CONTRIBUTING L. W. Altheide Chevron Station Ms. Thyrza I. Anderson Art & Duane's Repair Astoria Auto Wrecking Inc. Astoria Cleaners Astoria Marine Supply Big Z Enterprises Robert Blank Realty Mr. & Mrs. Ernest E. Brown* Mr. & Mrs. T.T. Bugas The Catlin Gabel School, Portland Claus' German Motors Columbia House Condominiums Mr. & Mrs. Robert E. Cox * Custard King Greenbergs Furniture Hair Affair Mr. & Mrs. J.H. Hallaux * Happy Inn Hauer's Cyclery Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Eldred W. Hendrickson San Diego* Dr. & Mrs. Blair Henningsgaard *
Hunt TV & Home Furnishings Mr. Ronald]. Hylton* Captain & Mrs. F.B. Jerrell Mr. & Mrs. Ragnor O. Johnson * Mr. & Mrs. J.H. Kelly * Kinney's Arco Service Mode O'Day Mr. & Mrs. R.A. Mund Capt. & Mrs. James E. McAvoy Mr. Bruce R. Nielson Mr.J.C. Norgren, Vancouver, WA Mrs. Carl M. Nyland Oregon Glass Service Paul's Sewing Center Pier 11 Feed Store & Restaurant Rivershore Motel Huge & Sharon Sage Mr. & Mrs. F. Richard Schroeder* Mr. Richard Schroeder, Eugene* Shaner's Jewelry Mr. George Shaver, Lake Oswego Thiel's Music Center
ANNUAL A & M Auto and Marine Parts A-1 Sheet Metal Aaqua Beauty Salon Mr. Michael J. Adams Arctic Circle Ardelle's Beauty Shop Astoria Beauty College Astoria Beauty Salon Astoria Health Food Ctr. Astoria Shoe Repair Mrs. Edmond Baker Vicki Baker & Craig Wisti Mr. & Mrs. J.E. Bakkensen Bargain House Bill's Department Store The Brass Rail The Bristle Market Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth W. Brown Mr. & Mrs. Allan Bue Carl & Harlan's Tune -Up Service Mrs. Ralph Carlson Central Service Station Channel Casuals City Transfer & Storage Mr. & Mrs. R. Dale Collins Columbia Dry Cleaners Commercial Barber Shop
The Compleat Photographer Mr. Earl M. Dawley Mr. & Mrs. Amo De Bernardis, Portland Dot's Cafe Mr. & Mrs. B.G. Duggan Mr. & Mrs. Trygve Duoos Mr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Edison Elliott Hotel Excel Services, Inc. Mrs. Myrtle Fletcher G & G Upholstery The Galleon Gimre's Shoe Store Mr. & Mrs. Robert G. Grant Mr. & Mrs. Billy E . Hall Mr. & Mrs. R.J. Hanson Miss Isabella M. Hart, Walnut Creek, CA Mr. & Mrs. Robert P. Hastings, Pasadena, CA Mr. & Mrs. Walter Helmerson Home Baking Company Mr. H.B. Howell Mr. MichaelJacobi, Walla Walla* Mr. & Mrs. Patrick C. Jensen Jim's Union Service Station Mr. & Mrs. Wallace W.Johnson Mr. Henry I. Kalfholm Kaufman's Sport Center Koffee Kup Mr. & Mrs. Robert R. Kuske Mrs.Joseph]. Labadie Labor Temple Cafe Mr. & Mrs. R .M . Landwehr Mr. & Mrs. Clyde L. Lee Len's Hobby Center Links Sports & Toys Mr. William F. Linton Lower Columbia Bowl Maddox Dance Studio Mrs. Georgia Maki Mr. & Mrs. Gary L. Mansfield Marcella's Antiques Mr. Donald W. Martin Mrs. Mary E. Martin Mary's Candy Kitchen Mrs. Mary L. Mason Meads Upholstery MED IX Ambulance Service Merwyn Hotel Mr. Virgil D. Mills
NEW MEMBERS (CONT.) Mr. Ben Mozzetti, Bethel Isl., CA Mr. & Mrs.James V. McCallister Mr. & Mrs. E. V. McNeeley Niagara Service Mr. & Mrs. Henry Niemi Owl Drug Store Parnassus Books Pat & Len's Mr. Dennis J. Petrie, Gresham Mr. John Price Mrs. Juanita Price Ms. Kristine Pollard R & R Auto Painting
Miss Leila Svenson Miss Medora Svenson Mrs. Marcella M. Swan T.J.'s Taproom Ter Har's - Astoria Toyota of Astoria Truus Needle Craft Uncle Sam's Utzinger's Coast-To-Coast Hdwre. Mr. & Mrs. Daniel Van Dusen Mr. & Mrs. Willis Van Dusen Miss Dorothy Wootton Zane's Welding
Mr. James B. Race, Portland Reed & Grimberg Reynolds Appliance Center Mr. & Mrs. R. Kent Rice River City Refrigeration Mr. & Mrs. Frank E. Ross Roy's Maytag Home Appliance Ser. Mr. & Mrs. Charles Sarin Sorenson Auto Parts Steinbock's Pharmacy Mr. & Mrs. Harry M. Steinbock Still Images Miss Adaline Svenson
• MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS THELMA ALLAN Mrs. Georgia Maki Mrs. Frances L. Ziem GARRETTW. ARNOLD Ottar, Gary & Robert Dahl U. H. BERNEY Mr. & Mrs. Bruce R. Berney E. WILBERT BJORK Mr. & Mrs. George Fulton Mr. & Mrs. Rolf Klep Mr. & Mrs. Frank E. Ross JOHN EDGAR BJORK Mr. & Mrs. George Fulton Mr. & Mrs. Rolf Klep CHARLES G. BUCHAN Mr. & Mrs. George Harvey AL TON L. COLLINS Mr. & Mrs. George]. Altstadt VERNON Y. DAVIS Mr. & Mrs. George Fulton JAMES C. DEZENDORF Mr. & Mrs. Rolf Klep THOMAS P. GUERIN Dr. & Mrs. H. Victor Adix, Jr. Dr. & Mrs. S. Gordon Babson Mrs. William Berg, Jr. Mr. William F. Blitz Mr. Albert R. Bullier, Sr. Mr. & Mrs. Robert Catlin Mrs. Herbert B. Cooper Mr. & Mrs. Marsh M. Corbitt Mr. & Mrs. Leslie D. Dana Mr. & Mrs. Wm. S. Dirker,Jr. Mr. & Mrs. S.W. Dittenhoffer,Jr.
Col. & Mrs. A.M. Eschbach Mr. & Mrs. Walter Gadsby, Jr. Mr. George R. Grove Mr. R.L. Henry Mrs. W.H. Holmes Ms. Phyllis L. Jackson Jones Oregon Stevedoring Co. Mr. GilJubitz Mr. Peter James Kendall Mr. & Mrs. Stuart Kerr Mr. & Mrs. Rolf Klep Mr. & Mrs. John F. Lee Mr. & Mrs. George W. Mimnaugh Multnomah Athletic Club Mr. & Mrs. R.L. McCulloch H.W. McCurdyFamily JG. McCurdy Family Mr. & Mrs. Michael Naab NW Marine Terminal Assoc. Mr. & Mrs. Joseph A. O'Brien, Jr. Pacific NW Waterways Assoc. Inc. Mr. & Mrs. George F. Patten, Jr. Port of Portland Dr. & Mrs. Robert M. Rankin E.C. Sammons Capt. Homer T. Shaver Mr. & Mrs. Minosuke Shimozato Mr. & Mrs. Edwin H. Smith U.S. National Bank of Oregon Mr. & Mrs. Peter G. Voorhies The Westland Foundation White, Sutherland, Parks & Allen Jane L. Wilson
HILJA K. HAGGREN Mr. & Mrs. George Fulton Mr. & Mrs. Melvin Samuelson MYRTLE W. HAUSER Mr. & Mrs. Rolf Klep MIL TON B. HENDERSON Mrs. Frances M. Keerins FLORENCE B. KERBEL Mr. & Mrs. RolfKlep
PAT LIVESLEY Power Squadron Auxiliary E. D. LONGENECKER Ragna M. Brown Ottar, Gary & Robert Dahl INGRID LUGNET Blanche Mjelde CLAYTON C. MORSE Mr. & Mrs. Harrison Greenough Mrs. Marilyn M. Kessler Mr. Richard K. Morse ANITA M. NICHOLSON Capt. & Mrs.John P. Beale JOHN H. NIKKA Mr. A.J. L'Amie JOE NIEMELA Mr. Stan Anderson George Barker Receiving Station Mr. & Mrs. Ivan Givens O.A. Kiminki Employees & Customers of the Labor Temple Cafe Mr. & Mrs. A.J. L'Amie Rebel Radio Club International JOHN OMUNDSON Mr. & Mrs. E.H. Carruthers Mrs. Joseph M. Dyer STERGIOS E. PHILLIPAKAS Mr. A.J. L'Amie NICHOLAS F. TRUTANIC E.H. Carruthers Co. FRANZ WUOPIO Mr. & Mrs. Rolf Klep JOHN YOUELL Mr. & Mrs. Robert Catlin
A 19TH CENTURY ACCOUNT OF THE STEAMER WIDE WEST
j The stately Wide West moored on the Willamette River in Portland, circa 1880.
The following is reprinted from Lewis & Dryden's Marine History of the Pacific Northwest, published in 1895. "When Captain Ainsworth and Jacob Kamm undertook steamboating on the Columbia, they were recent arrivals from the Mississippi, where a steamer propelled by a stern wheel was hardly considered worthy of the name steamboat. Naturally enough, their first productions were modeled , to a certain extent, after those to which they had been accustomed; but, being men of practical ideas, they soon determined that sternwheelers were better adapted to the western streams. The result of this determination was the building of the Jennie Clark, and each steamer which followed was an improvement on its predecessor, until, in 1877, the Oregon Steam Navigation Company constructed a craft which might appropriately be called the perfect sternwheeler, as, notwithstanding the lapse of nearly twenty years, no better production has since appeared. The Wide West, as this palatial steamer was christened, was launched in Portland, August 15th, and made her trial trip October 17th. She was two hundred and eighteen feet long, thirty-nine feet six inches beam, and eight feet hold, with engines twenty-eight by ninety-six inches, net tonnage 928. At the time of her advent the entire inland empire was enjoying a period of wonderful development, and thousands of tons of wheat taxed the steamers to their utmost capacity on the downstream trips, while the up cargoes of merchandise, building material, farm machinery, etc., fairly glutted the warehouses before transportation could be provided. · This was the condition of affairs when the Wide West
went into commission, and, without waiting to complete her furnishings and cabins, she was ushered into service as a freight steamer, making a round trip each day between the Cascades and Portland, loaded to the guards. The following spring she was completely fitted out, and received, among other improvements, the Gates' hydraulic steering gear, which was given its first trial on this steamer. The West continued on the Cascade route for several years, with occasional trips to Astoria, and in 1880 made the run from Portland to Astoria in five hours, a record that remained unbroken for several years. John Wolf was in command of the steamer nearly all of the time on the Cascade route, with John Marshall as engineer. She ran for several days in 1880 with one cylinder, making very good time, before damages could be repaired, and in the interim the head was blown off the remaining cylinder, leaving her helpless. Her power and speed can be understood when it is stated that she towed the hull of the Oneonta faster than it had ever been able to go while equipped with power. In 1883 the steamer was making a round trip each day to Astoria in command of Captain Babbidge. She was also on the same run under Capt. Clark W. Sprague. Her last service was to the Cascades in charge of Capt. A.B. Pillsbury, and in 1887 she went to the boneyard, where her house and most of her fittings were transferred to the new sidewheeler T.j. Potter. The hull was then sold to the Puget Sound Steam Lighter & Transportation Company, who equipped it with a small engine, and, in the command of an inexperienced navigator, the craft started for Puget Sound, wrecking on Destruction Island."
BOAT MOVING (WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM OUR FRIENDS)
Sizing up the situation.
Squeaking through (literally).
And the rest is easy.
QUARTERDECK REVIEW OF THE
COLUMBIA RIVER MARITIME MUSEUM ASTORIA, OREGON 97103
Motorists and waterfront watchers passing by the new Museum building on the afternoon of March 2nd might have been startled to see what appeared to be a large boat firmly stuck in one of the structure's gracefully arched access doors . That impression was very nearly accurate. Coast Guard 36-foot motor lifeboat No. 36474, measuring 10 feet, nine inches across the guards, was being coaxed (there is no more appropriate word), inch by inch, through an opening just exactly as wide at the same height. This close -quarter passage marked the end of a rather involved journey that had begun early the same day in the old lifesaving station boathouse in Hammond, 12 miles downstream on the Columbia. The 36-footer had been stored there since 1969, when the Coast Guard donated it to the Museum. Over the past year, Coast Guard volunteers have been working to restore the craft to the condi tion she was in when she performed search and rescue duty during her long career at the mouth of the Columbia River. When it was determined that the restoration work could more effectively be completed where the boat will eventually be exhibited, plans were made to transport the 25,000 pound craft to the new building. The move, like a great many evolutions undertaken by the Museum, could not have been accomplished with out the cooperation and donated time and equipment of a number of organizations. Employees of the National Marine Fisheries Service, which agency now occupies the Hammond lifesaving station and boathouse, rigged and operated the launching equipment, sending the boat down the ways into the cold and choppy Columbia at 8:15 a.m. Afloat for the first time in a decade, she was taken in tow by a Coast Guard 44-footer from Cape Disappointment for the short run to the Port of Astoria docks. A BradyHamilton Stevedore Company crane at the Port lifted the boat out of the water and placed it on a flat -bed truck provided by Heavy Hauling Company. At the new build ing, Bumble Bee Seafoods shipyard workers, aided by the crane, a good deal of ingenuity, and a few strategically interjected Anglo-Saxon words, rolled the boat into the "Great Hall", where its restoration will be completed.
Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE
PA ID Astoria, Oregon Permit No. 209