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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021
THE ASTORIAN
• TUESDAY, JULY 20, 2021 •
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WATER UNDER
THE BRIDGE
COMPILED BY BOB DUKE
From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers
10 years ago
this week — 2011
T
wo hundred years to the day that prominent British
surveyor, mapmaker and fur trader David Thomp-
son became Astoria’s fi rst tourist, the 2011 David
Thompson Columbia Canoe Brigade reached the docks at
the Columbia River Maritime Museum.
After performing a demonstration of circular paddling
expertise, the 10-canoe brigade discharged a round of
black powder into the late afternoon drizzle.
A row of historical reenactors, wearing traditional fur
trade attire, promptly delivered an answering volley of
musket fi re from shore, followed by a cannon blast (also
black powder), granting the paddlers symbolic permission
to land.
Warrenton Mayor Mark Kujala, a speaker at the event,
noted the paddlers’ collective relief.
“This wasn’t just a physical accomplishment for them.
It was a spiritual accomplishment,” Kujala said.
The welcoming reception — hosted by the city , the
Astoria Bicentennial Committee and the Professional
Land Surveyors of Oregon — greeted the roughly 100
paddlers as they paraded up the docks of Pier 17, wav-
ing U.S. and Canadian fl ags and chanting centuries-old fur
trading songs.
“ Crazy, ” “ sophomoric ” and “ ridiculous ”
were all words used to describe the delay on the
17th Street dock reconstruction project at Mon-
day night’s Astoria City Council meeting.
As promised by Mayor Willis Van Dusen, the
project, delayed based on issues with the noise
created by pile driving that may disrupt pro-
tected Steller sea lions and the smelt popula-
tion, was up for discussion early on the council’s
agenda.
The council had a lot to say on the issue, that
even drew the attention of Floyd Holcom, the
president of the Port of Astoria Commission,
who encouraged every member of the council
to fi ght for the permits and keep the project on
track.
“I am very concerned about this issue,” Hol-
com said. “For the last eight years, the power
of the (National Marine Fisheries Service) has
increased higher than I’ve ever seen it against
our public works projects.”
Holcom said he can recall the fi rst project that
was impacted in the area by National Marine
Fisheries Service. In Knappa, it took seven years
to repair 80 feet of railroad because the fi sher-
ies service had concerns for salmon, he said.
Now, the Port of Astoria is experiencing a similar
roadblock on its project for Pier 3.
Members of the David Thompson Columbia Brigade paddle into Astoria in 2011.
mond mill near Tongue Point.
Steven Gilbert, assistant district engineer for DEQ,
said that “all along the department approved of the site.
We looked at the site and other sites, including the Bum-
ble Bee site, and decided that Hammond mill was best,”
he said.
75 years ago — 1946
Several fi shermen received minor injuries and lost fi sh
on deck in a severe northwest blow that chased in the tuna
and drag fl eet on Monday. Several boats were reported to
be returning to port, according to the U.S. Coast Guard
lookout. A fresh southwest wind worked up the seas.
From left, Dave Bates, Colin Seed and Andy Engelage sing the
song ‘Northwest Passage’ during a grand arrival celebration
for the David Thompson Columbia Brigade in 2011.
The buildings have been called hazards and eyesores, a
magnet for criminals and the curious alike.
They could be gone before the end of the summer.
The burned-out remains of the Cannery Cafe and the
No. 10 Sixth Street building, which was home to a num-
ber of businesses and offi ces, have sat empty and crum-
bling over the Columbia River for seven months — ever
since a massive waterfront fi re gutted them in December.
But that could change soon — perhaps by the end of
August.
The Prouty lumber mill in Warrenton narrowly escaped
destruction or serious damage by fi re Sunday evening
when a blaze on the outer edge of the mill dock burned for
perhaps half an hour before it was discovered. Warrenton’s
volunteer fi remen fought the blaze for 90 minutes before
they had it under control.
50 years ago — 1971
Astoria has lost by default.
City offi cials were challenged to a choker-setting con-
test by Cathlamet, Washington, offi cials at that city’s
annual logging show. But when the contest was ready to
start, nobody from the city was there.
Asked for an explanation this morning, Mayor Harry
Steinbock said their two choker-setting experts, medical
clinic manager Arnold Swanson, and seafood fi rm offi cial
Sven Lund, couldn’t make it.
Perhaps they got all choked up at the thought of facing
Cathlamet’s “non-professionals” — the owner of a con-
struction fi rm and a mill owner.
A rip current is a strong current fl owing out to
sea perpendicular to the shore and carrying back
to sea the water brought in by waves and long-
shore currents.
It can travel at speeds up to 3 miles an hour
and change its position from day to day and even
during the same day. The same beach may have
several rip currents operating at one time, then
go for weeks with none at all.
It can also be deadly — and is to many seaside
vacationers every year.
“The killer current may occur at any ocean
beach,” according to the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. “It is an insidi-
ous, powerful ocean action that can exhaust the
strongest of swimmers.”
Deaths can be prevented by learning how to
recognize a rip current and how to swim out of
one.
Methods for canning rockfi sh were fi rst devel-
oped at the Astoria Seafoods Laboratory at the
request of the United Nations Relief and Rehabil-
itation Administration for an inexpensive pack,
according to Dr. E.W. Harvey, laboratory direc-
tor, and assistant Virginia Kempato.
As a result of this research, the laboratory
was able to provide packers with rockfi sh cook-
ing methods when a commercial market recently
opened up for the fi sh. In a report, the labora-
tory announced that it was assisted in the rock-
fi sh research by the Columbia River Salmon Co.,
Union Fishermen’s Cooperative Co. and Paragon
Fish Co. Since this study into the proper methods
for canning rockfi sh began, at least two of these
companies have canned rockfi sh on a commercial
scale. The entire packing industry is interested in
prospects for the new phase of the bottom fi shery.
The Sweet Sounds of Soul, a Tongue Point Job Corps
Center group, recently earned fi rst place honors in an
instrumental musical contest in 1971. Standing, from left,
are Rhonda Morrell and Pat Leonard. Seated, from left,
are Gwen Health, Debra Cale and Willie Mae Dixon.
CAMP RILEA — A Salem unit was named Oregon’s
outstanding National Guard unit on Friday in a ceremony
viewed by some 200 spectators.
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1249th
Combat Engineer Battalion, was presented the Eisenhower
Trophy, given annually to the top National Guard organi-
zation in Oregon. It was the second year in a row Head-
quarters and Headquarters Company received the honor.
A Tongue Point Job Corps Center quintet, the
Sweet Sounds of Soul, won fi rst place honors in
a nationwide job corps instrumental music con-
test. The group defeated competition from some
70 women’s and men’s job corps centers.
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
confi rmed its support for the lagoon site of the old Ham-
Rubble sitting atop the pilings at No. 10 Sixth Street and the Cannery Cafe in 2011.
Several changes in the prize setup for the post-
war revival of the annual Astoria Salmon Derby
were announced by William F. McGregor, derby
chairman. The winners will be awarded cash
prizes instead of a cup, silver tray or plaque.
This change was forced because of the inabil-
ity to obtain the cup, tray and plaque from the
manufacturers. The diffi culties of reconversion to
peace-time production made it impossible to get
them, McGregor said.
Fred G. Bryant, an aquatic biologist with the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service in Astoria, had bad luck at the wrong
time during the past week.
He lost a wallet containing $40 in bills for paying can-
nery workers who collect fi sh markings. A fi sh run has just
entered the Columbia. Bryant will dig up out of his own
pockets unless the money is found.
After losing the wallet, Bryant took his family clam dig-
ging. While there, the biologist noticed a car caught in the
surf. He abandoned his clam shovel to help get the car out.
When the job was done, Bryant found his clam shovel
gone.
To balance things up momentarily, he found a wallet
with $30 in his vehicle. It contained papers identifying the
owner as a sailor the biologist had recently given a ride to
Yakima. He forwarded the wallet and contents to the par-
ents of the sailor.
For the return of scales from each of these, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, with the cooperation of Oregon and
Washington state, will pay 50 cents.
The Astoria Regatta court participated in the Lakefair Festival parade in 2011.