EDGE LORE
By Pete/ Lindsey
Just as the w in d , sea, and ram give
shape to the natural features of the upper
Left Edge, so the folk traditions the tales,
superstitions, hum or, and legends in the oral
tra d itio n of our area shape its cultural
histo ry.
Tillamook Head and Neahkahnie
M ounta in both figured prom inently in the
lore of the Clatsop C hinooks and the
Nehalem Tillam ooks (Killarnooks). Tillamook
yo u th reaching adolescence w ere sent to
Neah Kahnie M t., long the site of choice for
vision guests and "p o w e r" dream s Young
men fasted on its slopes in isolation,
u ltim a te ly hallucinating and dream ing
"P o w e r" arising from the in te rpretatio n of
these dream s linked these new adults w ith
their past. W ild W om an, a shape shifter like
Proteus, played a prom inent part in these
visions In itia lly of rare beauty and charm ,
she could tra nsfo rm rapidly into a tattooed
harridan, treacherous and ghastly to behold
Low er C olum bia Clatsop Chinooks
follow ed certain rituals and techniques w hen
preparing the first spring salmon caught
each season. M any contem porary sport
fisherman also handle the first returned fish
w ith extrem e care, propitia ting the forces
responsible for its arrival. For Chinooks, the
follo w in g rules prevailed when the prized
first fish was obtained: 1) The fish must not
be cut (steaked out) but split along the spine
2) It must not be steam ed, but roasted 3)
Spits roust be made: one for the head, one
for the back, one for the roe. one for the
body 4) The gills m ust be burnt.
The legend of the Neahkahnie
Treasure persists as the most famous lost
treasure m yth location in Oregon.
A ccord ing to some versions, the famed
Tillam ook Indian chief Kilchis descended
fro m a black sailor w ho alone survived the
ship w reck of a Spanish galleon bound for
Spain from the Philippines loaded w ith gold
bullion Scores of treasure dreamers have
sought its location and continue to do so
The arrival and settlem ent of this
niche of the le f t Edge by Europeans,
Russians, Asians and "Boston M e n" from
the eastern United States, introduced
(additional ingredients into this basic broth of
legend and native tradition, now become a
rich ste w of m yths, tales, folk techniques,
jokes, tradition al recipes and general flap
doodle.
I collected the follo w in g local
m aterials on the north coast. Versions
appear in Oregon FQlkJqre. edited by Suzi
Jot .»•, and The Well I raveled (
Tom Nath and Twllo Schofield
A few are
collated and indexed in the Randall Mills
A rchives at the U niversity of Oregon.
Frank Hamm ond, venerable Cannon
Beach fisherm an, told me this anecdote over
a jelly glass o f w hiskey:
"T w o old fisherm an up at Astoria
w ere to llin ’ h o w big a fish th e y 'd caught.
This one old fisherm an said he’d caught a
Chinook salmon w eighed a hundred and
fo rty pounds. The other fisherm an spit out
a gob of snoose.
"I d o n 't believe th a t", he said
"W ell, I d id ."
"T h a t's n o th in " says the other old
boy. "I was fishin here the other day and
cau ght on to som ethin. I drug it around and
it w as an old ship's lig h t."
"A n old ship's light?"
"Y e a h ."
"W ell, w h a t's that? An old slap's
light c o u ld 'n t be m uch."
"B u t," he says, "th e light was still
burnin g in it."
"Oh, the light w as not bu rn in g ."
"W ell" he says, "te ll you w ha t you
do. You knock o ff about a hundred pounds
of that fish and I'll b lo w out the lig h t."
Cannon Beach has its weather bone
ra ttling w inds, rain at 60 angles, foam
scuffs driven like sno w balls during
November gales. We w ell barnacled coastal
types revel in stories and recollections about
w eather severity and adversity. Vic Olson,
the dean em eritus of local M unchausing told
me of this fog encounter several years ago.
"W ell, this one sum m er morning, my
pardner and me w ere going to shingle this
old barn. Foggy, w h e w ! That m orning the
ground fog lay in around here thick as
oatmeal. C o u ld 'n t see nothin. Had to get
the job done tha t day so w e get up on the
roof and started sh in g lin ’ . Along about
noon, the sun com e ou t bright and burned
the fog aw ay. We w as out on the edge of
the roof, w hen the ro of broke o ff and we
fell eight feet to the ground!
"Dam n fog had been so thick we
c o u ld 'n t see that w e 'd shingled eight feet
past the edge o f the house! Fog so thick it
t id held up that roof .solid til the sun came
on strong and m elted th a t fog aw a y "
Local coastal grocery establishm ents.
taverns, Am erican Legion Halls, and post
offices have long been gathering places for
the raconteurs w h o dissem inate village lore.
Bill's Tavern, the A rch Cape G rocery, and
Osburns G rocery porch, home of the
"layb irds", are no e xce ption .
T hirty some years ago. the Sunset
Tavern occupied the plot n o w taken up by
G rant’ s Landing R estaurant in Cannon
Beach. Stanley W ytaske, proprietor, was a
taciturn and n o torio usly frugal man. On a
certain evening m 1963, a local logger
brought his coh orts into S ta n le y's place,
slurped up gallons of M iller beer and tried to
get the old boy to buy the sta lw a rts each a
free one Stan w o u ld n 't budge No free
beer Stories are p o te n tia lly p o w e rfu l. This
one moved Stanley to utte r in his rough
voice "A round on the house for you
b o y s ."
One day a logger w as w o rkin g up
behind Cannon Beach settin g chokers and
com plaining Suddenly a ferocious voice
came out of the sky, asking w h a t all the
griping was about. The logger looked up
and realized it was God talking, so he
started to explain w hat a miserable life he
had been leading His only hope was that
he m ight go to a better place of rest when
he died.
God looked do w n and said, "W ell, I'll
tell you w hat I'll do If you can accom plish
a few things tha t need doing around here •
projects that I h a v e n 't had tim e for I'll
make sure you get into H eaven." The
logger agreed.
God said, "The first thing I w ant you
to do is move tha t big m ountain o ff there
(Saddle M ountain) farther south, close to
Cannon Beach." So the logger w orked for
years and finally finished m oving it a shovel
full at a tim e Then he called God and God
spoke to turn and said, "T h a t's good, but
I've got another thing for you to do. I need
the south fork of Elk Creek moved about
tw o miles farther n o rth ." So the logger
slaved aw ay for years and finally rerouted
the creok and w e n t to call on God again.
God said, "T h a t’ s good, but th e re ’ s one
more thing y o u 'v e got to do, and then you
can bo assured o f a place in H eaven."
"W h a t’ s th a t? " asked the logger. "Go
do w n to S tan le y's Tavern in Cannon
Beach," said God, "and sit there drinking til
he buys you a beer on the house. W hen he
does tha t, you can be sure of a place in
H eaven." As the story goes, you can go
do w n to that tavern to this very day, and
that logger is still s ittin ’ there w a itin ' for a
free beer.
The love r's lane saga "The Man W ith
the H oo k" has long been a titilla tio n to
teenage sensibilities. Cannon Beach has its
variant. "The S tory of the Bandage M a n."
The Bandage Man skulks from the
u n d e rg ro w th just north of Cannon Beach,
terrorizing passing m otorists on rainy nights
and sloughing o ff gory shards of his
m um m y wrapped bandages.
Oral traditions infuse our lives w ith
richness and color. Our coastal com m unity
bears its o w n unique stam p of traditional
m aterial. I w ould like to leave you w ith a
recipe for pickled spring salmon given to my
brother by a gentlem an o f Finnish descent.
Pickled Salmon
Combine:
1 1/2 cup vinegar (5% w hite)
1 cup w ater
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbls brow n sugar
1 tbls celery seed
1 tbls m ustard seed
3 crushed bay leaves
1 tbls cloves (w hole,
3 lbs spring Chinook salmon
several onions
Bring this liquid to a boil. Cool com pletely.
Loosely pack chunks of onion and salmon
(bite sized) in quart jars. Pour liquid over
fish and onions. Seal jars and w a it a week
before consum ing. Keeps 4 6 w eeks.
I don’t
u n d e rs ta n d
women.
T h is w i l l
come a s
a g re a t
¿ u r p r i s e t o m ost o f my fe m a le
a c q u a i n t a n c e s who c o n s i d e r
me
t o b e k in d , s h a r i n g ,
g e n tle ,
c a r in g , d e e p ly s e n s i t i v e ,
yet
a c y n o s u r e o f m an ly v i g o r .
T h u s,
I was s u r p r i s e d
when
H e r s e l f , t h e l i g h t o f my l i f e ,
re a c te d
to
a
c a u tio u s ,
s e n s itiv e ly
p h ra se d
com m ent
a b o u t a d e p a r t i n g f r i e n d w ith
A le x , you a r e s o p r e j u d i c e d :
Words seem ed
to
fa il
h e r.
S he t u r n e d
arid
lo o k e d
away
from
me
in
a p p aren t d is g u s t.
"What d o you mean
I ’m
p re ju d ic e d ?
I m anaged t o k e e p
my v o i c e
from g o in g u p m ore
th a n
one
o c ta v e .
A ll
I
w o n d ered was tu <w lo n g 0 1 ’ bob
h a s b e e n w e a r in g m akeup.
(No
a n s w e r . A g l a n c e o f s im m e rin g ,
f e m in in e h o s t i l i t y . ,
‘W e il, I g u e s s m ak e u p ’ s OK.
maybe h e ’ s g o t K i t e . I s u p p o s e
i t ’ s p o s s i b l e f o r a man in h i s
4 0 ’ s to have z i t s . I g u e ss
it
w v ’ ’ ■ ,.ya( ’ . W
. • g. ,t me’
T h a t 's
a n o th e r o f y o u r
ty p ic a lly
b ru ta l,
s e x is t
re m a rk s
W h a t's
w rong w ith
a
man p l u c k i n g h i s e y e b ro w s i n t o
s u b t le , p le a s in g c u rv e s ? "
"E rr.
n o th in g ,
I guess,
n e v e r th o u g h t o f it t h a t
way.
I ’ l l h a v e t o lo o k c l o s e r
next .
tim e .
P r o b a b ly
re a lly
lo o k s
g re a t
A le x ,
In J a p a n
and som e
E u ro p e a n c i t i e s
i t ’ s s im p ly
c o n s i d e r e d good g ro o m in g
fo r
men t o w ear m akeup.
B ut L i g h t , t h i s i s N ew p o rt
In n o c e n t
f is h e r m e n
fre q u e n t
t h i s p l a c e . What w ould h a p p e n
. :
Why d o n 't y o u
ju s t
come
r i g h t o u t and s a y i t ?
“Say w h a t? '
Say w h at y o u r s to r e - a g e
m e n t a l i t y w a n ts you, t o
say .
s o m e th in g about
B o b ’s g e n d e r
o r ie n ta tio n ."
>•'
G e n d e r o r i e n t » . . Bob?
I ’ ve
known 0 1 ’ Bob f o r y e a r s .
A ll
e v i d e n c e I 'v e
seen
in d ic a te s
h e 's
a ra v in g ,
te s to s te ro n e
d re n c h e d h e te r o s e x u a l.
Why I
renv eu b er o n e tim e in C o o se Bay
w h en . . . "
You r e a l l y a r e a p i g a r e n ' t
you. I d o n ’t
e v e n w an t t o
be
s e e n in p u b l i c w ith y o u .
T ake
me h o m e! ”
"Home? I t ' s o n ly j u s t
a fte r
t ii n e , t h e band j u s t s t a r t e d . "
“ I s a i d t a k e me hom e!"
D r iv in g h e r home I b e g a n
to
h o p e t h e r e was s o m e th in g good
on TV.
I t was o b v i o u s l y
th e
o n ly
e n te rta in m e n t
I
was
g e ttin g th a t n ig h t.
*
*
»
»
♦
»
»
H a r r y fro m W est V i r g i n i a
s a y s t h a t t h e sam e p e o p le
who
w e re w o r r y in g s o m e th in g m ig h t
h a p p e n t o G e o rg e Bush
and
l e a v e u s w ith
Dan Q u a y le now
w o rry t h a t
s o m e th in g
c o u ld
h a p p e n t o H i l l a r y and l e a v e u s
s t u c k w ith B i l l .
C o u ld b e . .
Carnal D ining O v e r/o o iin g Tfie N eatvcca Rivat
tre»h Seafood Dinner«
M o lM n d w k h r » Splilta
Home Baked Deaaerta
Sunday Brunch
rA U T Il < ITY OR
,503) 9 6 3 6 7 2 2
The individual who pollute» the air with hi« lu<tory
and the ¿hello kid who break.« «tore window» both
repreeenl the »ame thing They d o n ! care about
each other-or whal they d o to each other.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Muddy W a t im Coffn Co.
i*XM l i d S treet Suite f
Tillamook. Oregon 97141
SOI • 84.» 1400
6
urrtft un twt o
to
VICXV A DAVID