Lauren Sheehan in Concert!

Back by popular demand!  Nationally acclaimed folk artist and blues musician Lauren Sheehan returns to the History Center with special guest Bill Uhlig.  Sheehan will be celebrating her recent addition to the Library of Congress’s American FolkLife Collection.

Lauren Sheehan is a well known Pacific Northwest vocal performer, famous for her shape shifting ability to cover anything from Memphis Blues to Old Country and Folk with an authentic flair.  She has toured throughout the United States, as well as through Ireland and has released several successful albums.  Sheehan is not only an acclaimed vocalist but is an aficionado with the guitar, banjo, and fiddle.

“She is a true entertainer, weaving the stories and history of the music into her performance and connecting with her audience on a personal level.” (Gray Eubank, Director, Portland Christmas Revels).

For More Information Visit her Website: www.laurensheehanmusic.com

Fisher Poet and Environmentalist Dave Densmore Appearing in Cannon Beach

Fisher Poet and Environmentalist Dave Densmore Appearing in Cannon Beach

Famed poet and fisherman, David Densmore will be reading poems and stories from his new book on January 28th at the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum in Cannon Beach.

Dave Densmore has appeared in the New York Times and Smithsonian Magazine, he was one of the subjects of a documentary called ‘Fisher Poets’, and has published several books of his writings. He is well known as an artist and fisherman on the coast of Oregon and in Alaska. He has appeared at events for the Bioneers, the ‘Columbia River Keepers’ events, and at New Bedford’s ‘Working Waterfront Festival’. He can often be found at schools speaking to children. When not fishing in Alaska, or writing in Oregon, he spends his free time in Belize and Guatemala.

Dave Densmore is more than a fisherman and more than a poet, he is a staunch protector of nature and mother earth. His recent works are often more about the paint inflicted on Mother Earth by his fellow man than the contents of his fishing net, but the seas and the fishing life are his first love.

Hear Dave Densmore read his works and answer questions on January 28th at 6:30 pm. The event is free and open to the public, it will be held at the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum, which is located at 1387 S. Spruce at the corner of Sunset & Spruce. Coffee and tea will be served.

Dave Densmore Reading
Live at the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum
Corner of Sunset & Spruce
cbhistory.org / 503-436-9301
Jan. 28 @ 6:30pm
FREE
Coffee and tea provided

Calendar of Events 2012

Here is a PDF of our upcoming events, feel free to print it off and post it up, so you will always know what is happening at the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum.

PDF: 2012 events

January is Full of History in Cannon Beach

The quiet season at the beach, lends lime for reflection and historic discovery.

That first cannon was pulled from the surf by a team of horses on January 29th, 1898. The horses were owned by John and Mary Gerritse who had long awaited the cannon’s discovery and proudly displayed the cannon on front of their Austin House Hotel and post office, it happened 114 years ago.

At the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum, we are celebrating the historic date of January 29th with USS Shark shaped cookies given away to all who stop into the museum on that day.

Another very important date in local history is January 21st. Back in 1881, this was the date that the Tillamook Head Lighthouse, known to most of us as “Terrible Tilly” was first illuminated. This amazing lighthouse was built in a most precarious and dangerous of spots, but its duty was imperative – to warn ships of the craggy shores of Oregon near the mouth of the Columbia River. Imagine how many more ships would have suffered the fate of The USS Shark without good ol’ Terrible Tilly, who now sits alone on Tillamook Rock decaying and dilapidated. How much longer one wonders, will it be until Terrible Tilly is taken by the sea? WIll it be a single storm that takes her or will the slow withering into ruins continue to be her demise?

Perhaps the most important date that January offers Cannon Beach is January 8th, when in 1806, William Clark arrived at Ecola Creek (which he named) with Sacagawea and others from the Corps of Discovery in an attempt to trade with the Tillamook Indians for blubber from a whale that had washed ashore. The whale, by this time a skeleton, had been over 100 feet long. Though the indians were not initially interested in trading with the group, they eventually sold them 300 pounds of blubber, which Meriwether Lewis wrote later was “like pork fat, but spongier”, and when cooked “tastes like beaver or dog”.

This whale represents the placing of Cannon Beach on the world map, the pioneer spirit pushing further west, the abundance that the sea gave and continues to give, and the displacement of the many tribes of Native Americans that once populated these lands.

Lewis and Clark were the beginning of European migration to the west, it was the beginning of the end for the Tillamook people who had lived in the Cannon Beach area for hundreds, if not thousands of years. By 1850, the Tillamook people had gone from a tribe of more than 2000 in 1806 to about 20. In 1856, they were placed on a reservation, and in 1970 the last speaker of their native language died.

Imagine for a moment, when a Native American longhouse stood where say Bruce’s Candy Kitchen now pulls taffy and caramelizes popcorn. Imagine whale watching being more than a fascination, but instead a matter of survival. Imagine the millions of footsteps that have walked the shores of our beach over thousands of years.

As we enjoy the winter solitude of windy walks on the empty beach, escorted only by the wind, the seagulls, and the long turned out light from Terrible Tilly out in the distance, tip your hat in acknowledgment to all of those that have come before us, and made a trail for us to follow to this beautiful slice of paradise.

Amy Stocky

Originally published in the Cannon Beach Gazette

John Stowell Jazz Concert 1/7/2012

Jazz Legend Performs Special New Year’s Concert in Cannon Beach

World renown jazz guitarist John Stowell will make his first live appearance in Cannon Beach at the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum on January 7th. John Stowell has traveled the world performing for many years, he was the first American Jazz performer to appear in Russia after the fall of the Iron Curtain and he  continued to sell out performances there for two decades after.

Stowell teaches internationally. He has been an Artist-In-Residence at schools in Germany, Indonesia, Argentina, the United States and Canada. He served as assistant director and performer at Oregon Public Broadcasting’s PDX Jazz Summit in 1991, and since 1995 has been a contributing columnist for a number of magazines, including Down Beat, Guitar Player, Canadian Musician, Soundcheck (Germany), and Guitar Club (Italy).

Stowell’s Through the Listening Glass with David Friesen was chosen one of the “Ten Best Jazz Albums of the Decade” by the Los Angeles Examiner, and he was chosen as a “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition” by Downbeat’s International Critic’s Poll in 1978 and 1979. He has appeared on BET’s Jazz Discovery and Guitar Series television shows.

This New Year’s concert will be held in an intimate setting at the Museum’s John William’s Classroom, on January 7th, at 6:30 pm, tickets are $7 for adults and will benefit the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum.

John Stowell New Year’s Concert
Live at the Cannon Beach History Center & Museum
Corner of Sunset & Spruce
cbhistory.org / 503-436-9301
Jan. 7 @ 6:30pm
$7 adults / $2 Children
Coffee and tea provided

Japan Attacks Oregon — What?

A blimp floats over Elsie and Percy Harris' home in Tolovana in 1944.

There is no place like a museum for history buffs, and here at the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum, we get our share. We absolutely love talking to people about the history of the area, reliving memories, or helping individuals find old photos. I had a recent encounter that seems particularly relevant with the anniversary of Pearl Harbor upon us.

A few weeks back an older gentleman came into the museum. We were chatting about local history and life on the coast when he told me something, that as a midwesterner, I had never heard in my life — that the coast of Oregon was attacked by the Japanese during World War II. He said that a Japanese submarine had shelled Fort Stevens. He told me that bombs were even sent through the skies on balloons all the way from the coast and one got as far as Michigan!

The fellow seemed genuine enough, but given my skeptical nature, and that fact that school text books had assured my young mind that the only attack the Japanese ever made on America was at Pearl Harbor, I had to find out the truth. To the internet I went, and I found all of his claims to be true. I was shocked. I was flabbergasted!

I told this amazing finding to my colleague Elaine, who grew up on the North Oregon coast, and instead of sharing my surprise, she nonchalantly said, “Oh yeah, and we have some photos of it.” Moments later she handed me a file with several photocopies of a boy in a halloween mask standing in front of a Japanese bomb on the shore of Cannon Beach, a photo of a blimp floating over a house in Tolovana in 1944 (donated by Dorothea and Les Banks), and several photos of Coast Guard guys in uniform playing music at Ecola Park, not sure exactly what that has to do with the Japanese bombing Oregon, but Andre Vauthier and Ted Hass sure do look like they were cranking out the tunes in the pictures.

But I digress, back to the bombs, apparently two Japanese Submarines made it to American waters, one shelled a lighthouse on Vancouver Island in Canada.  The other, called I-25, shelled the freight ship SS Fort Camosun before heading to the waters near Astoria and shooting some 14 shells at Fort Stevens, damaging their baseball diamond and coming within 70 yards of hitting the fort’s large guns. The Japanese Commander Meiji Tagami, was quoted saying, “In shooting at the land I did not use any gunsight at all–just shot.” It was the first attack actually on US soil since the War of 1812.

More amazing was a few months later, when that same submarine launched a small plane. The pilot planned to drop a bomb on the dense forests of Southern Oregon in order to start a forest fire so large that the U.S. would have to stop their involvement with the war and save their trees. Fortunately for the United States, Forest Service workers caught the fire and stopped it at a 75 foot circle, in the center of the circle they found a crater with metal fragments, some with Japanese markings on them.

This changed everything for the people on the Northwest Coast, citizens became fearful of future attacks, and military in the area was stepped up. The civilian defense workers monitoring the coast now had a renewed vigor in protecting the people. State Defense Coordinator Jerrold Owen was quoted as saying, “Morale among civilian defense workers was getting low because many of them believed ‘it can’t happen here.’ Well, it did happen last Wednesday, so the workers can see now just what they are working for. We have been praying for just such an attack to shake people out of their lethargy.”

As far as the bombs attached to balloons, some 9,300 balloon bombs were launched by Japan, 342 were reported to authorities, and a few went off. In total they caused six deaths – all from one tragic incident in which a pregnant women and five children found the bomb hanging from a tree. Balloon bombs were found as far as Texas, North Dakota, and as the gentleman in the museum had told me Michigan. The Japanese hoped to cause forest fires and mass devastation with their balloons, and news of their very existence was censored for a long time because the United States did not want Japan to know they had been even moderately successful in their balloon bomb raids.

It is amazing how one small mention of some little known historical event could spur my own curious research, and now I am sharing it here with all of you. If you have a story to tell, or want to learn more about Cannon Beach history stop on in the museum. We are open everyday except Tuesdays, and we are open 1 – 5 pm.

Amy Stocky

Originally published in the Cannon Beach Gazette.

The Amazing Story of the Cannons Of Cannon Beach

One of the cannons discovered in 2008, now being restored at Texas A&M University.

Cannon Beach and it’s cannons offer an amazing look into the past, not only of this town, but the nation. It is a past at the very heart of Westward expansion, international trade, the birth of Oregon as a state, and the definition of the USA and Canadian border. It is also a testament to the still uncontrolled power of the seas and mother nature.

As far as most people are concerned, experts included, the cannon that was found back in 1898 (The one that gave Cannon Beach it’s name), and the two cannons that were found in 2008, are all from the same ship, the USS Shark.

The schooner Shark had one of the most amazing naval careers ever recorded, especially in the pre-WWII world era. During her time at sea she fought pirates and the slave trade in Africa in the West Indies, spent five years in the Mediterranean Sea, protected North American fisheries in Newfoundland, and navigated the Straights of Magellan en route to Peru where Shark helped to quell problems in that nation with its presence.

Few know that John Audobon, namesake of the Audobon Society, sailed for several weeks on the Shark, from St. Augustine, Florida to New Orleans, observing wildlife, and even killing alligators on which to perform experiments.

Before coming to the Oregon Territory in 1846, Shark and her crew spent time in Honolulu, Hawaii for repairs. They were sent to the Columbia River to ascertain the loyalties of the locals because of an ongoing border dispute between England and the United States over the dividing line between British Columbia and the Oregon Territory.

President James Polk had been elected on promises of expansion and “Manifest Destiny”. America wanted to set it’s border at the southern boundary of Russian Alaska, their rallying cry “54-40 or Fight!”.

Unfortunately for the Shark, news traveled slow in those days, and by the time they reached Fort George (modern day Astoria), a treaty had already been signed between England and the U.S. putting the border at the 49th parallel – the same border we have today with Canada. A compromise for both sides .

The Shark and it’s crew sailed up the Columbia River spending time with Governor Abernethy in Oregon City, and at Fort Vancouver. They enjoyed the company of the Royal Navy and Hudson’s Bay Companies employees far more than that of the locals, considering their pioneer spirit and the iconoclastic way they lived somewhat barbaric.

With their perceived mission accomplished, they set sail toward the ocean in September of 1846. With no bar pilot, no reliable map, and after an exhaustive day of elk hunting, for which the ship’s captain Lt. Howison returned without a trophy, Shark set sail into the Columbia River Bar in high winds and seas, and as one might expect from this series of events, landed themselves on Clatsop Spit. The ship was soon taken by the sea, though the crew was saved.

Within weeks Lt. Howison received word that part of the ship had come ashore along the coast south of the river. Parts of the deck and three carronades were found, but could not be retrieved. It is believed those three cannons are the three that Cannon Beach has so proudly discovered.

The cannon that was discovered on the shores of Arch Cape back in 1898 still resides in Cannon Beach, at the Cannon Beach History Center along with the capstan from the Shark.  The two cannons that were discovered by beach visitors in 2008 were sent to Texas A&M University where they are being restored to their original glory. One cannon has finished its restoration, and one is in the process. A process which includes months of soaking in electronically charged baths, and numerous coatings of tannic acid and microcrystalline wax.

The future homes of these cannons are yet undecided, but their story and the process of their restoration will soon be on display in a new exhibit at the Cannon Beach History Center. The museum is also planning to have the Cannon Beach cannon and capstan restored in the near future. Look for the exhibit’s opening celebration in the coming weeks.

By Amy Stocky

Originally published in the Cannon Beach Gazette

Cannon Beach: Starting from the the 1700 Tsunami to Today

Natural History Lecture Starts at the Year 1700

The Cannon Beach History Center Presents a fascinating lecture called, “The Natural History of Cannon Beach: Starting from the 1700 Tsunami to Today”.

The lecture will be given by Jim Sayce, Marine Biologist and Vice President of the Washington State Historical Society.

Mr. Sayce will be discussing the natural history of Cannon Beach and surrounding area for the last 300 years – From the differences of the trees and wildlife to the changes of the land itself, and whether the alterations have been manmade or by mother nature.

This lecture is FREE and open to the public.

Jim Sayce – ‘The Natural History of Cannon Beach form 1700 to Today’
November 9th, at 6:30 pm
Cannon Beach History Center & Museum
1387 S. Spruce (corner of Sunset and Spruce) in Cannon Beach
503-436-9301
www.cbhistory.com

Cottage Tour Captivates Visitors

"Simple Blessings" cottage, painting by Susan Bish.

On Saturday, September 10th, Cannon Beach welcomed it’s 8th annual Cottage Tour, much to the delight of many visitors and homeowners. The tour continues to grow and attract guests from all over Oregon and Washington, and even across the USA. The Cottage Tour is the largest annual fundraiser for the Cannon Beach History Museum, and includes the tour, a luncheon and lecture, and a wine reception with hors d’oeuvres afterward at the museum.

For the last 5 years, the custom has been that local artist Jean Williams creates a wall hanging quilt that is raffled off at the reception. Jean’s quilts usually feature a theme, this year’s was called “From The Beginning” and told history of Cannon Beach in quilt squares. Her work is absolutely beautiful, and that is not just an opinion, she recently won the Blue Ribbon in the Clatsop County Fair for another of her works. This year the raffle winner was Richard Mays, Cannon Beaches’ very own City Manager!

Mother Nature was certainly on our side for the tour, the weather was sunny and warm throughout the day, which made for a record number of attendees walking, marching, and riding bikes from home to home.

For this year’s tour, our theme changed to “Cottages and More” and included some incredible new beach homes, the new Nursing Museum located at 3285 S. Hemlock, and even a condo at The Lodges at Cannon Beach.  The tour centered on the Tolovana area, and featured an array of homes and architectural styles. The homes ranged in age from over 70 years old to brand new, and from very cozy in size to sprawling dream houses.

Some of the most amazing features included a front row view of Haystack Rock, a quaint bedroom loft, and an incredible stone fireplace. Favorites among the ticket holders were the adorable “Simple Blessings” cottage at 1372 S. Hemlock – the only home outside of Tolovana,  and the “Sweet Home Tolovana” at 3539 Pacific.  “Simple Blessing” has been lovingly maintained as a quaint one bedroom cottage with a beautiful stone fireplace and a vintage guest room above the garage. “Sweet Home Tolovana” is another classic cottage, though it was remodeled in 2006, it retains it’s original charm, and features a dining table made from a bowling lane of the long gone Cannon Beach bowling alley.

Kerry Burg’s “Moon Shell” Cottage was the tour’s only repeat home, it was so popular last year, in part due to a photo spread in the Oregonian’s Home & Garden section, that not all attendees were able to get inside it’s tranquil walls, so the Burg family graciously agreed to be on the tour a second time.

The Cottage Tour also featured a lecture from Mark Beach that explored the various changes in getting to Cannon Beach over the decades, the changes in accommodations and housing, and talked about some of the features of the homes on this year’s tour. His humorous lecture painted a very real picture of just how difficult it was for the city folk of Portland to even find their way to the Cannon Beach area in the early twentieth century.

Many volunteers came through above and beyond, and we wish to thank all of those involved in making the tour happen, starting with our volunteer Board of Directors, Bob Mushen, Dale Shafer, Lori Courtright, Erin Bernard, GIna Simone, Tray Abel, Stephanie Ansley, Margaret Doman, Robert Knecht, and Earl “Skip” Twietmeyer. Our volunteers included Christ Bouneff, Steve Crane, Theresa Dice, Marilyn Dwyer, Deanna Evans, Helen Feldmeier, Pat Funk, Sharon & Bev Graver, Liz Johnson, Mr & Mrs. Laws, Kathy Leduc, Frank Lynch, Barbara Maltman, Jeanie McLaughlin, Chuck Murdy, Lynne Murray, Jenee Mushen, Dave Pastor, Tod Rowley, Terri Royse, Jean Williams, Rich Trucke, Diane Zimmerman, and the Palette Puddlers. And, we would especially like to thank our home owners: Lynne Taylor, Carrie Cone & David Lange Home, Julie & Tom Davis, Mimi Siegel, Kerry Berg, Jean Williams, David Vonada & Family, Melodie Chenevert, The Lodges at Cannon Beach, Andrew Luccock, and Jan McAllister. Our wonderful sponsors were Arbor Care Tree Specialists, Bruce’s Candy Kitchen, The Tolovana Inn, Cannon Beach Property Management, The Cannon Beach Collection, Robert and Jenee Mushen, and the agents and brokers of Windermere Cronin and Caplan Realty Group, also thanks to t Jennifer, Katherine, Karrie, and Lori from the Bank of Astoria for their help.

Finally, congratulations are in order for our usual caterer of the event, who was unable to do this year’s luncheon because it fell on the same day as her daughter’s wedding!  Instead, we used a replacement caterer, due to that, the luncheon was not up to our usual standards, and to all we apologize for this. Next year, we will make sure our usual caterer has nothing else going on well in advance. Thanks to all the people and businesses of Cannon Beach for welcoming our Cottage Tour guests so warmly.

By Amy Stocky

Previously published in the Cannon Beach Gazette

Earth, As We Know It

Wild fires in California, as seen in the exhibit "Earth From Space" from the Smithsonian exhibit.

As a newbie to Cannon Beach, and to Oregon for that matter, I have a lot to learn about the history of the area, and honestly, there is no better place for the crash course than at our Cannon Beach History Museum.

What I am excited to share with you though is about the Earth, and our exhibit ‘Earth from Space’ which is at the museum until August 28th.

For centuries man has had an obsession to see himself, and the world in which we inhabit from above or from an outside perspective. This is what led to our nation’s race to outer space and the moon, likely what caused the invention of the airplane, and even the invention of the photograph. Can you imagine a world without photographs?

All of this inventiveness has led us to where we are now, with space stations, a myriad of photographic technologies – Infrared, remote sensing, modern digital imaging, and numerous satellites circling our planet – some satellites travel all the way around our planet in less than 90 minutes – and of course  all of that technology led to the culmination of this fascinating and informative exhibit.

I must confess, I am a map freak, I love to look at maps, and so for me one of my favorite technological advances, if it can be called that, is Google Earth. I have spent countless hours ponderously searching various places of interest on my computer, so when I hired on just as ‘Earth From Space’ was being unpacked at the museum, I was definitely curious, and the exhibit has certainly been informative.

During the weeks that the Cannon Beach History Center has offered the Smithsonian exhibit, I have learned plenty about the planet we all call home.

One volunteer pointed out the deforestation comparison of the Brazilian rain forest from 1976 to 2001, the difference is amazing and horrific, and the reality brought to me by the images of the panels and the impassioned speech of our volunteer, Chuck Murdy. It really made me think about the impact of man – even more than the images of urban lands like Washington DC, Manhattan, and Hamburg, Germany.

Recently, I overheard museum employee Jan McCallister telling visitors how back in the 19th century cameras were tied to kites and homing pigeons in an effort to see the cities from above, especially after the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. This reminds me that no matter how many gadgets and technological advances we make as a civilization, there is so little we still really know about the universe, our planet and even ourselves. Most likely, we cannot even imagine what this century will bring, and how the lives of humans will change over the next 89 years, and what further alterations we will bestow upon the planet that we all call home, hopefully they will be positive ones.

By Amy Stocky

Previously published in the Cannon Beach Gazette