ExPlOrInG tHe ‘HaUnTeD
GrAvEyArD oF tHe PaCiFiC’
Author shares ghostly tales in new book
BY MALLORY GRUBEN
Ira Wesley Kitmacher makes for good
company around the campfi re — especially
when the conversation turns to ghost stories.
The Ocean Park, Washington, resident is a
retired attorney, professor and senior federal
executive who knows dozens of haunted tales
about the Pacifi c Northwest. His retelling of
travelers’ encounters with a spirit in bloodied
bandages will raise the hair on your neck; his
recount of a newlywed couple washed ashore
still holding hands will leave you eerily
heartbroken.
Kitmacher, 60, spent the last 18 months
compiling ghost stories like these into a single
book. The fi nal product, “Haunted Graveyard
of the Pacifi c,” was released by Arcadia Pub-
lishing this month.
“I’ve focused on what I call the idyllic set-
ting of the Astoria area, the coast to the south
and the coast to the north in Washington
state,” Kitmacher said. “It’s a beautiful set-
ting, but it’s also been found to be one of the
most haunted places in the country.”
The book’s title references a common
nickname for the coastline near where the
mouth of the Columbia River meets the
Pacifi c Ocean. It covers the area spanning
roughly from Nehalem to Victoria, Canada,
though it mostly focuses on a 90-mile radius
around Astoria.
Kitmacher explained that the designation
indicates just how treacherous the water in
that area can be. The Columbia River emp-
ties into the ocean “like a fi rehouse … caus-
ing ships to fl ounder and wreck,” he said.
More than 2,000 ships and countless lives
have been claimed by the waterways, and the
haunted tales tie back to those lost lives.
“There’s been a high level of reported
supernatural activity. That, coupled with the
sort of climate — the often dark skies and
wind and storms and fog — add to this ambi-
ance of what I say is mystery and dread,” Kit-
macher said.
The book documents numerous hauntings
or ghost sightings within the region. Most of
the reports date back to the mid-19th century,
though some are as old as the 1600s and some
as new as the 2010s.
For each story, Kitmacher includes a brief
history of the place or events surrounding it.
The story of the shanghaied sailors, for exam-
ple, covers the citywide fi res in Astoria that
led to the creation of underground pathways
10 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Where to
buy the
book
‘Haunted
Graveyard of
the Pacifi c’
by Ira Wesley
Kitmacher
is available
to buy at
arcadiapub-
lishing.com
Seaside Museum & Historical Society
The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, aka ‘Terrible Tilly.’
that the more nefarious ship captains used to
kidnap new crew members.
“Many of these stories are not … blood
thirsty, scary stories. They came about usually
because of something disastrous happening,
whether a shipwreck or train wreck or unex-
pected death,” he said.
The book is about one-half history and
one-half ghost stories, Kitmacher said.
“I view the two as being intertwined: the
history and the folklore,” Kitmacher said.
See Page 15
‘Haunted Graveyard of the Pacifi c’ by Ira Wesley Kitmacher.
The Wreck
of the Peter
Iredale near
Fort Stevens
in Warrenton.
Hailey Hoff man/
The Astorian