The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-01-20
TILLAMO0K ROCK.
Eow the Light. House Was Built,
fff Despite the Wild Sea. !

rtst, q -- sff9I
How the Light House Was Built,
f Despite the Wild Sea. Il
We'll, yes, I've seen my share Of
rovgh life, and have been in number
Z OF tight places at one time and another,
Stree first came to Oregon, in 1850;
but the time when l felt most certain
that my last hours had come was the
7th OF January, 1880, on old Tillamook
Rock aidDg 1853 a. ttuiU' ~ 81
The speaker was typical Oregoniar
pioneer, lean, bony, muscular; man
without bit Of nonsense or brag about
hiia; one whom all the world could not
SCARE, and whom no emergency would
oonflse. r H. ~ = "A ~
We were at this time loading with
round timber for spars and masts at
Astoris-those beautiful, clear trunks
of Oregon fir for which the ship-build-
ers OF New England now send to the
Columbia River, away round Cape
Horn. 1u
Sitting on deck, that evening, with
tho full moon just looking up over the
distant peaks of Mt. St. Helen's, our
sailor lads, for two or three of whom
this was their first voyage up the coast,
were on hand for one of Bill Harris
Oregon experiences. Bill was the man
loading us with lumber, and it was he
whose remark I have recorded above.
''On Iillamook Rockp" questioned
several voices. what, Tillamook
Light Rock, twenty miles down the
coast from the barr" tfaa
THE same, only there wasn't any
Hight ON It then. We were blasting
that winter for the foundation of the
present light-house.'
We had noticed the new lighthouse
as we bore in. to make the mouth Of
the Columbia. 1t stands on lofty,
solitary rock, rising out of the sea, of
Tillamook Head, bold promontory of
this rugged coast. remarked that it
Hooked ugly and dangerous. W
well, It is an ugly place.. .ssad
Harris. 1.-THE fact Is, putting that
lighthouse there has been one Of the
boldest engineering feats of the GEN.
tUry, though it has never attracted any
particular attention, for it was all done
rs quietly as clock-work, and no bragg
giag. worked there over year, and
I know what I'm saying. For years
they haa talked of q light there. or
else on the head back Of it, for you
know what a blind, dangerous open
ing the mouth of the river makes. But
everybody who had ever been near the
rock said that it could never be done;
that no mortal man could land on the
rock, much less face gale there.
The sea is never still about Tilla-
NOOK. 1t has q manner Of rising up
suddenly, and ebbing off round the rock
An AN awfully tumultuous fashion.
There is tremendously strong water
all round, with an undertow setting so
pewesful at times as to draw A small
boat down, due to suck holes among
the cliffs, under water may be, The
rock itself is an irregular, jagged butte
of rough, black basalt, rising abruptly
ont of the ocean, with two hundred and
forty feet Of water all around it. AT
. that time it rose one hundred and six
teen feet above the sea level in calm
weather, but during severe storms the
waves dashed over it. On the west or
seaward side, it leaned out--save for q
little shelf or ledge just above the
water-overhanging the sea, the over
set amounting to about twenty feet at
the summit On the east, or lsndward
face, the surface inclined upward at an
angle Of thirty degrees, or rising, till
within twenty feet Of the crest, where
the rock rose perpendicularly. From
the south aide there was great crack,
twenty-five feet in width, which nearly
divided it in two unequal sections. Into
this crack, or fissure, the sea constantly
threw itself with terrific force, and an
awful gurgling roar, to which was
added the loud, dismal 'youk' of the
ses-lions, the only living creatures
which dared to approach these rugged.
sea-beleagurcd.l lodges. W 8I
Finally. the numbtf 81 wrecks and
TIE necessity a having either &he head
or the rock liGhted drove The Light
house Board % take ie up. Major G.
L. Gillespie, then Chief Engineer Of
the board, was directed to examine the
location, and with his usual courage
he at once said that the light must be
put on the rock. / suppose there
weren't two men here at Astoria who
did not say: 1t cant be done I,
was looked upon as a foolhardy pro-
ject, sure to result in the less Of life.
This was in the spring d 1870, bud
it was not until JuneN that any vessel
dared to 70 near the rock. Atlenkth.
On tie twenty second day Of the month,
che revenue cutter 'Corwin, with Mr..
Il 5. Wheeler. c. E., and party Of
sailors, steamed down to Tillamook.
1t was a yev calm day. era by usiAg I
.surfboat' two sailors were landed on
che p0rthreast side Whieh seemsA that
day 1bs &c e ~ BIZ IN hsd