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3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018 Photos by R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian Tara Erben, John Piatt, Bob Keeler and Elaine Trucke at the ribbon-cutting of a new historic marker along U.S. Highway 101 in Arch Cape. New historical marker celebrates USS Shark Extraordinary ship lives on Photos by Rob Hilson/Chinook Observer Lt. Jessica Shafer was offered congratulations as newly installed commander of Coast Guard Station Cape Disappoint- ment by outgoing Lr. Cmdr. Thomas Condit. Cape D welcomes first female commander Shafer was once stationed at lifeboat school Chinook Observer ILWACO, Wash. — After 141 years, Coast Guard Sta- tion Cape Disappointment welcomed its first female com- mander during a time-honored ceremony Monday morning. Lt. Jessica Shafer was for- mally put in charge of the sta- tion where she served between 2002 and 2006 with the neigh- boring National Motor Life- boat School. During Monday’s tradi- tional ceremony, departing Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Condit transferred command to Sha- fer, with Capt. Bill Timmons, commander of Sector Colum- bia River, presiding. Shafer most recently served as executive officer at Station Fort Lauderdale, Flor- ida. Shafer received her offi- cer commissioning in 2013 after starting her Coast Guard career in 2002 as an enlisted member. Her first assign- ment out of Training Center Cape May, New Jersey, was at the National Motor Lifeboat School, which partners with Station Cape Disappointment. During her enlisted career, Shafer earned her coxswain, heavy weather coxswain, tactical coxswain and surf- man qualifications, as well as multiple boarding officer certifications. “Surfman” is among the Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Condit conducted his last inspection of Cape Disappointment person- nel, while newly appointed Lt. Jessica Shafer conducted her first this Monday. Lt. Jessica Shafer, center, Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Condit and Chaplain Anthony Stallings, right, listened to Capt. Wil- liam Timmons’ opening remarks. Coast Guard’s highest-level qualifications. In 2006, Cape D’s Beth Slade was the only woman in the entire active Coast Guard with the rank, which allows those who have it to drive boats on search-and- rescue missions in the most dangerous conditions. As of this March, there were only four active-duty female surfmen. All Shafer’s experience will come in handy at Cape D, one of the nation’s busi- est maritime search-and-res- cue facilities. Operations at the cape and adjacent waters are known as the “Graveyard of the Pacific.” Condit will be reporting to the International Train- ing Division at Training Cen- ter Yorktown, Virginia, as the branch chief of the Mobile Training Team. Condit has been an active member of the local com- munity during his three-year tour of duty in south Pacific County. He was promoted from lieutenant to lieutenant commander in July 2016 while stationed here. Jewell approves hiring deputy superintendent By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian JEWELL — The Jewell School Board has approved hir- ing Stephen Phillips as second in command for the next school year. Phillips was last dep- uty superintendent of Bea- verton School District, where he resigned after reposting an anti-immigrant tweet. Hunsaker and Principal The school board Terrence Smyth, who voted 3-1 Monday are both retiring at the night to approve the end of next year. Hun- saker has been with the one-year contract with district since 2013, and Phillips. Board mem- ber Brian Meier was Smyth since 2016. the lone vote in oppo- Phillips’ contract Stephen sition, but declined to runs through the end Phillips comment why. of next school year but Phillips will be auditioning can be extended by the March to replace Superintendent Alice school board meeting. He will make $105,000. He will be introduced at the July school board meeting. The school board also approved a $5.7 million operat- ing budget, including $2.5 mil- lion for instruction and $2.8 million in support services. The small K-12 district, located in the Clatsop State Forest, is pri- marily funded by timber tax revenue. Oregon court fast-tracks gun control petition By DIRK VANDERHART Oregon Public Broadcasting Backers of a gun control proposal aimed for Novem- ber’s ballot got some unex- pected help from the Oregon Supreme Court on Monday. The proposal, Initiative Petition 44, has less than three weeks to collect and submit more than 88,000 valid sig- natures. The petition had been tied up after opponents with the National Rifle Associa- tion, Oregon Firearms Feder- ation and other groups chal- lenged its ballot language. No longer. In a surprise move, the Supreme Court announced it wouldn’t enter- tain those challenges, which it said were “not well taken.” The court instead certified ballot language drafted by the Oregon Department of Justice. That means supporters can begin collecting signa- tures immediately. They had been bracing for a weeks-long delay that likely would have doomed their chances of gath- ering enough signatures by the July 6 deadline. Shortly after the announce- ment Monday, backers of IP 44 were still deciding how to react. “We thank the court for their quick action, affirming the attorney general correctly titled our measure,” said Jake Weigler, a campaign spokes- man. “We are disappointed the gun lobby attempted to run out most of the clock to keep vot- ers from considering this mea- sure. We are working quickly to determine if we see a path to qualify it for the ballot.” Dubbed “Oregonians for Safe Gun Storage and Report- ing Lost/Stolen Firearms,” IP 44 would force gun owners to secure their weapons with trigger locks or other mech- anisms when they aren’t in use or being carried. Viola- tors of the law could face fines of up to $2,000 and would be liable for any injury caused by an unlawfully unlocked weapon, excluding self-de- fense situations. The petition is one of two gun-control proposals that could come before Ore- gon voters in November. The other, IP 43, would place heavy restrictions on mil- itary-style semi-automatic weapons and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. Pro-gun groups have also appealed ballot language for that petition to the Oregon Supreme Court. The court could rule as early as this week. By R.J. MARX The Daily Astorian ARCH CAPE — The USS Shark was no ordinary ship. In the mid-19th century, it was a trusted military ves- sel that fought in combat and navigated the Strait of Magel- lan and beyond. But it met its match in Oregon with the mighty Columbia River. “Everything that ship did is so mind-boggling,” Elaine Trucke, director of the Can- non Beach History Center and Museum, said. “It went all over the globe, then it thought it could do the Columbia Bar! And it couldn’t!” In an effort to get the Shark off the south spit, the crew chopped down the ship’s three masts and jetti- soned the cannons. When the ship began to break up, the crew took to lifeboats and all on board were eventually saved. The ship’s captain received information from Native Americans that the three cannons had come ashore south of Tillamook Head. Realizing it would be impossible to retrieve the ship’s remains from such a remote location, they made no effort at recovery. On Friday, volunteers and state officials converged on U.S. Highway 101 just north of the fire station in Arch Cape to celebrate a new inter- pretative marker dedicated to the shipwreck. her dad were out walking and she said, ‘This looks like a cannon!’ A couple of days later someone found the third cannon right near there.” The restoration of the three carronades became a community project, with the assistance of the Garden Club, the Arch Cape Com- munity Club, Historic Mark- ers Committee, the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum and the Columbia River Maritime Museum. Funds were raised and the carronades were restored at the marine archaeology department of Texas A&M University before returning to the North Coast. Today, a replica stands at the site of the historic marker. One carron- ade stands at the history cen- ter and two are on exhibit at the Columbia River Maritime Museum. How did the Shark arrive here? Trucke provided an eloquent recounting of the ship’s creation and its ulti- mate demise. ‘Manifest Destiny’ The secretary of the Navy in early 1846 sent the vessel to the Pacific Northwest to join the Pacific squadron. The ship’s role was to defend U.S. interests in the Northwest and to spread the concept of “Manifest Destiny” in the Oregon territory when there was doubt about whether it would be British or Ameri- can land? President James K. Polk sent the Shark to Oregon in August 1846. The ship, 86 feet long, was designed for speed and maneuverability to navigate the waters of the Namesake West Indies. The Shark was one of The Shark’s impressive hundreds of ships sunk along career saw it transport the the coast, but one of the most naturalist James J. Audubon notable — and the one that in 1831 to collect research gave Cannon Beach its name. specimens. The Shark was The new marker stands just the first U.S. ship to navigate north of Arch Cape firehouse, the Strait of Magellan in 1833 where an original marker en route to Peru. According to the “Arch was installed in the 1980s. The new marker, made of a Cape Chronicles,” by David wood resin, includes histor- and Alma English, in the ical information, photos and summer of 1846 Lt. Neil N. illustrations recounting the Howison received orders to carry supplies from Hono- ship’s story. Annie Von Domitz, of lulu in readiness to ascend the Oregon Travel Experi- the Columbia River as far as ence, supervised the renova- the Willamette. Their reports tion of the historic marker, would assist in formulat- in the style of the state’s his- ing a decision on the loca- tion of the boundary toric wooden beaver between England and markers. Arch Cape the American lands. resident John Piatt Americans wanted played a key role in the board to be 54 working on the text degrees, 40 min- and drafts, with his- torical support from utes latitude, the rea- son for Polk’s slo- Trucke and Jeff Annie Von gan, “54-40 or fight,” Smith, senior cura- Domitz tor of the Columbia immortalized in his- tory books. River Maritime Museum. But due to a lag in com- The postmortem is as fas- cinating as the Shark’s career munications, crew members in the waters. Long after it were unaware that the U.S. ran aground, the search for Senate had already ratified the ship’s three carronades — a treaty with Britain making small, powerful cannons used the U.S. border the 49th par- to fire at ships at near range allel, rendering the journey — became a local obsession. unnecessary. Some of the ship “For decades, the cannon deserted, but the lieutenant in played peekaboo,” Trucke command was “impatient, naive and somewhat impet- said. One was found in 1896. uous” in seeking his return Two others were discovered south. He attempted to cross a day apart more than a cen- the Columbia Bar without a tury later, in 2008, revealed bar pilot. With a sparse crew by extreme low tides and the and bad weather, on Sept. 10, natural loss of beach sand due 1846, the Shark was pulled to winter storms. directly toward breakers. Piatt recalled: “The sand While the crew survived, the was way out and a girl and ship was destroyed. WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500
