process and unearthed the largely undocumented story of Oregon’s
publicly owned beaches.
And what an inspiring story it is, one that animates my life every day,
probably because I walk on the beach every day.
In 1912, years before U.S. Highway 101 opened, Oregon Gov. Os-
wald West rode a horse on a mail trail
over Arch Cape and Neahkahnie Moun-
I met the beach,
tain on the North Oregon Coast. He later
claimed the experience inspired him to,
we fell in love,
“(come) up with a bright idea … so I
and it has since
drafted a simple short bill.”
The bill was a mere 66 words long,
become the
and when it became law in 1913 it de-
greatest creative, clared the wet sands areas of the
spiritual and
beaches, “a public highway and shall
forever remain open as such to the pub-
sensual force
lic.”
in my life.
In his memoir published in 1949,
West wrote, “Thus came public owner-
ship of our beaches. In the administration of this God-given trust, a broad
protective policy should be declared and maintained.” West’s visionary
law inaugurated a unique relationship between a state’s citizenry and a
specific natural resource (our beaches) that stands virtually unparalleled
in the country. He also wrote, “No local selfish interest, through politics
or otherwise, shall impair this
great birthright of our people.”
Oregon’s great birthright is
its ocean beaches — publicly
owned ocean beaches — and
this ideal remained unassail-
able until a half century later
when an unprecedented chal-
lenge arose to threaten the
legacy.
In the summer of 1966, an
elderly couple and their
nephew were kicked off the
beach by a motel owner as
they picnicked in front of the
owner’s Cannon Beach motel.
The owner claimed the couple
was trespassing on his private
property. They might have
Gov. Oswald West
been the first Oregonians in
the state’s history to experience such a shock, and this affront touched
off the epic 1967 legislative battle over the control of the dry sands areas
of the beaches not covered by West’s 1913 law nor detailed with any
precision in deeds.