2C
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2015
REFLECTIONS
ON
THE
PAST
ADVENTURER MARY GERRITSE
HISTORIC
By ELAINE TRUCKE
For EO Media Group
CANNON BEACH — Last
week, I was going through some
old notes and happened upon
information on a local woman
named Mary Gerritse. I’ve writ-
ten about her before, although
it was about three years ago.
As I was reading about Mary, I
started thinking about another
woman from history who I think
was pretty amazing — Gertrude
Bell.
For those who have not heard
of Gertrude Bell, she was a trav-
eler, explorer and mapmaker,
and at times an accidental poli-
cymaker. She was also a wom-
an history books often forget.
According to Georgina How-
ell, who wrote “Gertrude Bell:
Queen of the Desert, Shaper of
Nations,” Bell was acquainted
with Lawrence of Arabia (T.E.
Lawrence), and did or helped
do many of the things that he is
thought to be responsible for. I
will never forget one of the be-
ginning scenes of “The English
Patient” where the soldiers des-
perately peer over a large map.
They are desperate for escape so
another soldier pulls out the Bell
maps, he points to a pass marked
on this map that is unfamiliar to
him and the other soldier says,
“Let’s hope he was right.” He!
Mary Gerritse, to me, was
Oregon’s very own Gertrude
Bell. Mary would not have
thought of herself as an intrepid
or courageous woman. She was
a woman who did what needed
to be done. She did, however,
have a lot in common with Bell:
they were both fond of traveling;
both were fond of going where
most women were not expected
or even allowed to go; and they
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the way.
Mary enjoyed quiet mo-
ments to herself with the wind
rustling her hair with her horse,
Prince, by her side.
Not unlike Bell, who ven-
tured into the Saudi Arabian
desert by camelback, Mary
plunged through the wilds of
the Oregon rain forest, braving
northwestern squalls, changing
tides and narrow cliff-hugging
trails to deliver the mail from
1897 until 1902. Mary was
fearless. Once while delivering
the mail, she came upon several
men on the trail she frequented.
They waved at her not to come.
The trail was rather narrow and
PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Submitted photos
Mary Gerritse
‘When I carried the mail,
I rode astride on a saddle.’
Mary Gerritse
early adventurer
they were afraid she would not
be able to pass. Without hes-
itation she plunged onward.
As one man became so afraid
he clambered up the opposite
cliffside clinging to grass while
she rode past, she comment-
ed in her journal: “I felt sorry
for him. The other side of the
trail went down 400 feet to the
ocean. I did not know how to be
afraid.” On more than one occa-
sion Mary held herself together
when most would have strug-
gled with fright. Whether it was
coming face-to-face with a bear
or a cougar, she held her ground.
When Prince, Mary’s beloved
horse, was close to skittering
down a cliff into the sea, she re-
mained calm, slid down the 150
feet to where Prince teetered on
the edge and soothed him back
onto the trail. Despite Prince’s
cracked ribs, and Mary’s own
slide, the mail was saved!
In her journal, she recalls
that summer tides often forced
her to rise earlier to deliver the
mail. She would arise at 3:30
a.m.! On these days she would
return to the location of one her
old cabins, though the cabin was
no longer there (perhaps lost
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and nap while Prince grazed on
clovers growing nearby. Prince
was the ideal horse, as much
of a friend to Mary as a human
being.
There were two trails that
she would often take to deliver
the mail, one was the back trail
— it went over the mountains
and through the woods — while
the other was the front trail and
went along the shore in some
spots. It was along the front trail
on one frightful occasion when
Prince was lost to a change in
the tides. The loss devastated
her. Mary blamed herself for the
death of her favorite horse —
and yet she plowed on. She rode
a new horse, this one not nearly
as kindhearted as Prince. The
horse was so temperamental that
few could control him.
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feathers. She refused to ride
sidesaddle, as was customary
of women at the time. She felt
that she was doing man’s work,
so should be able to ride like a
man! Mary said, “When I car-
ried the mail, I rode astride on a
saddle. I got a lot of criticism be-
cause, it was not lady-like.” Un-
der a thin skirt she wore boots
and overalls. She hoped that this
would appease the naysayers
and as she says, “What was the
difference? I was not doing a la-
dy’s work anyway.”
Mary was also accomplished
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After a close encounter with a
cougar, she demanded her hus-
band teach her how to use a gun.
He armed her with a 32-caliber
pistol. A year or so later a bear
wandered onto the Gerritse
property. In order to protect the
livestock she ran out to face
the bear. “I knelt on the ground
and took sight across my knee,
waited until he (the bear) was
about 50 feet away,” she said.
Unbeknownst to Mary the pistol
was not loaded. Lucky for her
the bear was frightened by the
sound of the gun clicking and
took off.
Mary Gerritse grew up in the
Manzanita-Nehalem area and
stayed there for most of her life,
living in one place or another.
She spent many hours of every
day in the deep woods alone,
walking trails that many found
too hazardous, and taking on
work that many women would
scoff at. The Gerritse mail route
took her from Nehalem to Sea-
side and back once a day or once
a week. Along muddy narrow
trails she and her horse trudged
on. Like Gertrude Bell, Mary
did not think of herself as doing
anything overly courageous.
She was doing what made sense.
I love sharing Mary’s story
with visitors and sometimes even
when I give lectures. It is easy to
look at historic photos or to talk
about history and lose sight of the
people who were there. Know-
ing about these people humaniz-
es this information and makes it
more memorable for all. I hope
you enjoyed this unique local
history as much as I did.
Elaine Trucke is the director
of the Cannon Beach History
Center.
Gertrude Bell in Saudi Arabia.
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