Lewis and Clark, Maritime Museum, WWII in Oregon

We tried to see the annual sand sculpting contest at Cannon Beach, Oregon, but all we could find was cold mist and windswept beach without any contestants. So on the way north I saw a sign that said Lewis and Clark Salt Works. I remembered from Fort Clatsop years ago with the kids that some of the men in the Lewis and Clark Corp of Discovery had boiled sea water to get salt. So when we followed the tourist signs through the middle of a modern town named Seaside we found a recreated oven where three men kept five kettles boiling night and day for about a month in order to get several bushels of salt. They needed the salt to cure meat (mostly elk). The recreation was a tube of rocks about a meter high and about ten or twelve feet long. It had five pots on top. I wondered if the original tube would have been oriented to the wind to help stoke the fires even hotter. An old Indian had shown his granddaughter where the saltwork was at because he had seen the men working there. The granddaughter grew up and in 1905 showed the historians where he pointed.

We then moved on to Fort Clatsop itself. I had not realized they were not exactly sure where it was but could guess it must have been nearby. I enjoyed visiting the spring and the river landing. I was surprized to learn that a beached whale had been found on the very beach where we had looked for a sand sculpting contents in vain and the Corp of Discovery traded the Indians for some of the blubber. It was interesting to see the list of Clark's descendants and to see how quickly after the expedition most of the participants died.

The Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, Oregon, was amazingly good. The most dramatic exhibit is a Coast Guard motorized rescue boat used for many years in heavy surf around the Columbia River mouth (graveyard of the Pacific). By volume the Columbia is second largest river in North America and its mouth where ocean current and river current meet is unusually treacherous. The boat is shown tilted on a wave with manakins for crew. This tilt is about 30 degrees and you can walk right up and touch it. Standing there seeing this at such a steep angle on the wave MAKES you think about how brave the Coast Guard must be when rescuing people. We have often seen and heard Coast Guard planes and helicopters the last few days here on the Oregon Coast. The museum also told the story of the WWII ship Astoria sunk in action off Savo Island near Guadalcanal. And I also enjoyed the light ship (a lighthouse boat) we got to board and see inside and out at the museum.

Finally, from the museum we learned about many shipwrecks and one was just across the street from where we camped at Fort Stevens, Oregon. We went to see the wreck of the Iredale a large steel ship on the beach. On the way back to camp I saw a sign for Battery Russell and got to wondering if that wasn't the place the Japanese submarine shelled in WWII. Sure enough it was. At war the sub got off 17 rounds but the battery commanders decided not to return fire so as not to give away their position. They have added a nice peace memorial to the old cement battlements. It was so far from the beach it is hard to imagine how they could see it because of the dunes and the trees in the way. But it turns out their fire directing hill was away from the battlements we saw. My face is sunbured. Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cavalierco/2966089246/

If you liked this post, please comment and let me know. I'll try to keep you up-to-date on our vacation if you seem interested.