Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Nifty Tidbits:
Originally ran in the March 21, 2001 edition
of the Illinois Valley News
John Jacob Astor, wealthy New York
businessman, organized the American Fur
Company in 1809. Competition from other
companies created reduced profits, so he
reorganized the company and called it the
Pacific Fur Company. In September 1810,
Astor sent out two parties to meet at the
mouth of the Columbia River. At that time
there were no companies with fur trading
posts on the west coast. The overland party
led by Wilson Price hunt, known as the
Astorians, had many difficulties and ordeals
before the survivors arrived at the site of
present day Astoria.
The second part of Astor’s plan was
to send a ship around Cape horn of South
America and then meet the Astorians at the
Columbia River. It would carry supplies,
trade goods, and more men to build and
operate a fur trading post or fort. This ship,
Page A-5
by Chuck Rigby
the Tonquin, was commanded by Captain
Jonathon Thorne, described by one writer
as “a cantankerous and unreasonable man”.
The ship started with a crew of 20 plus the
officers, but they also picked up at least 20
hawaiians when they landed at hawaii to
pick up more supplies.
The Tonquin arrived at the entrance
to the Columbia River on March 22, 1811.
As usual, there was a sandbar at the mouth
of the river. Almost all ships had a difficult
time crossing the bar because of the winds,
high breakers, and shallow water. Captain
Thorne did not want to wait for a calmer day,
so he sent out a small boat with five men to
search for a passage. This boat was quickly
overturned, the five men lost and never
recovered. A few days later another small
boat with three men was also lost before the
Tonquin was able to enter the Columbia.
Shortly after unloading some of the
supplies, the Tonquin sailed north to Vancou-
ver Island in order to begin trading for furs.
Clayoquot Sound is the final resting place
for the Tonquin and crew. The story, com-
piled from Native American reports, states
that the Native Americans overwhelmed the
ship and killed all the men on board. One
wounded crewman crawled into the hold and
using the gunpowder there, blew up the ship,
himself, and at least 100 warriors plus others
located in nearby canoes.
The sandbar that blocked the Colum-
bia River was the result of natural geologic
processes that are still happening today. All
rivers carry sediment, which is deposited
when the river reaches the ocean or a dam on
the river. In some areas, such as the Nile or
Mississippi Rivers, a delta is formed which
extends the mouth of the river. In the Pacific
Northwest there is a strong, cold, Alaskan
Current which moves south along the coast.
This current carries the river sediment south
until it washes back on the beach by waves
or remains offshore as a sandbar. There are
sandbars across the mouth of all
rivers and bays in Oregon, Washington,
and Northern California.
The current also causes waves to hit the
beach at an angle. The backwash, or retreat-
ing wave goes back out perpendicular to
the beach. The net result of this is a gradual
zig-zag movement of sand down the beach
from north to south. This movement is called
long-shore drift which contributes to the bar
at the entrance to any opening in the beach.
Dredging is one solution, but building jet-
ties out into the ocean seems to be the most
common temporary solution. Brookings
harbor is a good example. It doesn’t stop
the long-shore drift, but it traps the sand on
the northern side until it builds up enough to
move around the tip of the jetty. Jetties also
break up the force of strong storm waves so
that boats can move in and out of the harbor
more safely. human beings have found a
way to change some of the effects of geo-
logic processes, at least temporarily.
Oregon FBI’s Tech segment: COVID-19 vaccine ID card scams
Today: Building a digital de-
fense against COVID-19 vaccine ID
card scams.
The FBI’s Internet Crime
Complaint Center—or IC3.
gov—has issued a warning about
scams involving that oh-so-impor-
tant piece of paper that millions of
Americans are now carrying around
in their wallets.
The FBI—along with our part-
ners at the Department of health
and human Services (hhS)—are
seeing reports of individuals sell-
ing fake COVID-19 vaccination
record cards and encouraging others
to print fake cards at home. Fake
vaccination record cards have been
advertised on social media websites
as well as ecommerce platforms and
blogs.
Vaccination record cards are
intended to provide recipients of the
COVID-19 vaccine with informa-
tion about the type of vaccine they
received and when they may be
able to receive a second dose of the
vaccine. If you did not receive the
vaccine, do not buy fake vaccine
cards, do not make your own vac-
cine cards, and do not fill-in blank
vaccination record cards with false
information.
By misrepresenting yourself as
vaccinated when entering schools,
mass transit, workplaces, gyms, or
places of worship, you put yourself
and others around you at risk of
contracting COVID-19. Addition-
ally, the unauthorized use of an offi-
cial government agency’s seal (such
as hhS or the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC)) is a
crime and may be punishable under
federal law.
Because individuals may use
fake vaccine cards to misrepre-
sent themselves as vaccinated, we
strongly encourage businesses,
schools, places of worship, and
government agencies to follow
the CDC guidance and continue to
maintain physical distancing and to
use personal protective equipment.
If you did receive the vaccine,
we also recommend you do not
post photos of your vaccine card to
social media. Your personal infor-
mation could be stolen to commit
fraud. More on that next week.
If you believe you are a victim
of an online scam, you should
report the incident to the FBI’s
Internet Crime Complaint Center at
www.ic3.gov or call your FBI local
office.
Today in history: The Associated Press
Today is Wednesday,
April 21, the 111th day of
2021. There are 254 days left
in the year.
Today’s Highlight in
History:
On April 21, 1836, an
army of Texans led by Sam
houston defeated the Mexi-
cans at San Jacinto, assuring
Texas independence.
On this date:
In 1649, the Maryland
Toleration Act, providing for
freedom of worship for all
Christians, was passed by
the Maryland assembly.
In 1789, John Adams
was sworn in as the first
vice president of the United
States.
In 1816, Charlotte
Bronte, author of “Jane
Eyre,” was born in Thornton,
England.
In 1910, author Samuel
Langhorne Clemens, better
known as Mark Twain, died
in Redding, Connecticut, at
age 74.
In 1918, Manfred von
Richthofen, 25, the Ger-
man ace known as the “Red
Baron” who was believed
to have downed 80 enemy
aircraft during World War I,
was himself shot down and
killed while in action over
France.
In 1926, Britain’s
Queen Elizabeth II was born
in Mayfair, London; she was
the first child of The Duke
and Duchess of York, who
later became king George
VI and the Queen Mother.
In 1930, fire broke out
inside the overcrowded Ohio
Penitentiary in Columbus,
killing 332 inmates.
In 1975, with Com-
munist forces closing in,
South Vietnamese President
Nguyen Van Thieu resigned
after nearly 10 years in of-
fice and fled the country.
In 1976, clinical trials
of the swine flu vaccine be-
gan in Washington, D.C.
In 1977, the musical
play “Annie,” based on the
“Little Orphan Annie” comic
strip, opened on Broadway,
beginning a run of 2,377
performances.
In 1980, Rosie Ruiz
was the first woman to cross
the finish line at the Boston
Marathon; however, she was
later exposed as a fraud.
(Canadian Jacqueline Gareau
was named the actual winner
of the women’s race.)
In 2015, an Egyptian
criminal court sentenced
ousted Islamist President
Mohammed Morsi to 20
years in prison over the kill-
ing of protesters in 2012.
Ten years ago: Presi-
dent Barack Obama an-
nounced the Justice Depart-
ment was assembling a team
to “root out any cases of
fraud or manipulation” in oil
markets that might be con-
tributing to $4 a gallon-plus
gasoline prices. Sen. John
Ensign, R-Nev., announced
he would step down amid a
developing ethics probe over
how he’d handled an admit-
ted extramarital affair with
a former staffer and whether
he tried to illegally cover
it up. (The Senate Ethics
Committee referred the case
to the Justice Department,
which decided not to pros-
ecute Ensign.)
Five years ago: Prince,
one of the most inventive and
influential musicians of mod-
ern times, was found dead at
his home in suburban Min-
neapolis; he was 57. Queen
Elizabeth II, Britain’s oldest
and longest-reigning mon-
arch, drew crowds of well-
wishers and floods of tributes
on the occasion of her 90th
birthday. Jake Arrieta of the
Chicago Cubs pitched his
second no-hitter in a span
of 11 regular-season starts,
shutting down the Cincinnati
Reds in a 16-0 rout.
h&R Block
210 W. Lister St.
Cave Junction
592-3667
Ted Crocker, LTC
Bob Litak, LTC
Licensed Tax Consultants B14914
One year ago: The cor-
oner’s office in California’s
Santa Clara County received
autopsy results showing that
a woman who died there
Feb. 6 and a man who died
Feb. 17 had the coronavirus.
(It wasn’t until Feb. 29 that
the first known U.S. death
from the virus was reported
in kirkland, Washington;
officials later attributed two
Feb. 26 deaths to the virus.)
Researchers reported that a
malaria drug that had been
widely touted by President
Donald Trump for treating
the coronavirus showed no
benefit in large study of its
use in U.S. veterans hospi-
tals. In its first-quarter earn-
ings report, Netflix revealed
that it had added nearly 16
million global subscribers
during the first three months
of the year, as stay-at-home
orders went into effect.
Today’s Birthdays:
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth
II is 95. Actor-comedian-
writer Elaine May is 89.
Actor Charles Grodin is 86.
Anti-death penalty activist
Sister helen Prejean is 82.
Singer-musician Iggy Pop
is 74. Actor Patti LuPone
is 72. Actor Tony Danza is
70. Actor James Morrison
is 67. Actor Andie Mac-
Dowell is 63. Rock singer
Robert Smith (The Cure) is
62. Rock musician Michael
Timmins (Cowboy Junk-
ies) is 62. Rapper Michael
Franti (Spearhead) is 55.
Actor Leslie Silva is 53.
Actor Toby Stephens is 52.
Rock singer-musician Glen
hansard (The Frames) is
51. Actor Rob Riggle is 51.
Comedian Nicole Sullivan is
51. Football player-turned-
actor Brian White is 48.
Olympic gold medal pairs
figure skater Jamie Sale
(sah-LAY’) is 44. Rock
musician David Brenner
(Theory of a Deadman) is
43. Actor James McAvoy is
42. Former NFL quarterback
Tony Romo is 41. Actor
Terrence J is 39. Actor Gugu
Mbatha-Raw is 38. Actor
Christoph (cq) Sanders is 33.
Actor Frank Dillane is 30.
Rock singer Sydney Sierota
(Echosmith) is 24.