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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2020
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THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, DEC. 12, 2020 • B1
Cape Disappointment
Lighthouse in Ilwaco.
Julia Triezenberg
‘Downright depressing ’
The North Coast
is home to some
negatively-named
locales
By JULIA TRIEZENBERG
For The Astorian
T
A view of Dismal Nitch
and the Columbia River.
Julia Triezenberg
A derelict ship
near Dismal Nitch.
The surf at Waikiki Beach in
Cape Disappointment State Park.
Jane Winckler Webb
he North Coast is home to diverse
ecosystems and spectacular views
— but many of these amazing sites
on the Oregon and Washington state
coasts are accompanied by downright
depressing names. Was everyone on the
coast 200 years ago having a bad time?
Despite their bleak histories, each indi-
vidual nitch and cove that dots the coast
contributes to a mysterious character,
making the area more compelling.
On the northern shore of the Columbia
River is Dismal Nitch, east of the Astoria
Bridge. This spot’s bleak title traces back
to the Corps of Discovery’s transcontinen-
tal journey from 1804 to 1806.
As the c orps headed down the Colum-
bia in the winter of 1805, they were anx-
ious to catch a trading ship that would
allow them to resupply and send notes to
President Thomas Jefferson that they had
taken during their journey.
The group never reached a ship
because of the terrible weather condi-
tions they faced while trying to get there.
A winter storm on Nov. 10, 1805, blew the
group into a north shore cove, where they
were stuck for six days.
In his journal, Capt. William Clark
described that fi nally, “about 3 o’clock the
wind lulled and the river became calm. I
had the canoes loaded in great haste and
set out, from this dismal nitch where we
had been confi ned for 6 days …”
Today, Dismal Nitch is a popular rest
stop and scenic overlook that must be
quite a departure from what Lewis and
Clark faced over 200 years ago.
Just a few miles west of Dismal Nitch
is the iconic Cape Disappointment State
Park. It’s a name that might go unnoticed
by locals, but newcomers never fail to ask
— “Wait a second, ‘disappointment?’”
The native Chinook people fi rst referred
to Cape Disappointment as Ka’heese. The
fi rst known European to have explored the
area is Bruno de Heceta, a Spaniard who
traveled along the coast in the late 1700s.
Credit for Cape Disappointment’s
name, however, goes to the Englishman
John Meares. Meares sailed by the cape
in 1788 while looking for the entrance
to the Columbia River. Visibility was so
poor that day that Meares couldn’t man-
age to locate the entrance. Assuming that
the cape would only take him to the inte-
rior of a large bay, he named it after his
predominant emotion at the time.
Just a few years later, Capt. Robert
Gray took credit for the offi cial fi rst Euro-
pean entrance into the Columbia River in
1792 aboard the ship that gave the river
its current name, the Columbia Rediviva.
Gray originally named the area north of
the river Cape Hancock but changed it
back to “Disappointment” after learning
that Meares had already branded it.
Within Cape Disappointment is a pop-
ular photo-op en route to Cape Disap-
pointment Lighthouse: Dead Man’s Cove.
Contrary to its name, Dead Man’s Cove
isn’t known to be a reference to any spe-
cifi c person.
One common story is that the cove’s
label is an ominous homage to the wreck
of the Vandalia, which sunk at the mouth
of the river in 1853. The victims’ bod-
ies washed ashore along the area and the
name stuck.
Today, Dead Man’s Cove is closed for
the safety of the park’s visitors and to pro-
tect the area from erosion — but it’s still
a beautiful landmark along Washington’s
southwest coast.
As the coast is plunged into the depths
of wet winter weather again, it becomes
easier to see how some of these places
may have earned themselves such dismal
titles. Thankfully, tourists and locals alike
can appreciate the full spectrum of emo-
tions that the Pacifi c Northwest inspires.
Even with a soggy raincoat and battered
boots, it’s impossible to say that the peo-
ple and places that surround the coast are
anything close to disappointing.
Julia Triezenberg is an educator at the
Columbia River Maritime Museum.