PagcS Po1* 1»"** Observer Section 11 Thursday. June 29. 19 8
Park. Sheherad Indian Beach, shown here, is a favorite for swimmers
The 'air conditioned'Oregon Coast
A Nehalem Indian legend tells o f a Black man who came to the Oregon Coast on a
Spanish treasure ship.
One version o f the story says that the natives were hunting beside Neahkahnie Moun
tain one morning when they saw large quantities o f a strange substance on the beach.
Then they found the wreck o f a great canoe with sails that were tom and flapping in the
wind.
Strange objects were strewn on the beach, but still stranger were the thirty men who
clung to the wreck. Their faces were white, their clothes strange, and their language
bewildering. The Indians finally learned through sign language that the men had come
across the ocean and the ship had been wrecked during the night by a storm.
Before the ship was destroyed, the men carried a heavy box ashore and buried it far
up on the side o f the mountain. The sailors knew the Indians were superstitious about
death, so they killed one of their crew, a Black man, and buried him with the treasure.
There are conflicting stories about what happened to the crew. Some say all were lost
attempting to save the ship; others say four men took a trail north toward the Colum
bia River and were never seen again, the remaining twenty-six staying with the Indians
and eventually fighting and killing each other.
On the lower slope of the mountain, a stone was found which has strange markings
and is regarded as a clue to the site o f the treasure. The rock weighs about a ton. On its
surface is a W (or an M ) with a cross on each side, the letters D E followed by eight
dots, and an arrow pointing to the mountain. Nearby, a smaller rock has an arrow and
two dots, the arrow pointing to the larger rock.
The beeswax found in this vicinity may have come from the Manilla Gallion -
Spanish ships that sailed once a year from Manilla to the west coast o f Mexico, laden
with silks and goods from Asia, including beeswax These ships travelled north with the
Japanese current, then sailed south along the coast of Mexico. The first voyage was in
1566 and they continued for 250 years.
NAACP DELEGATES
WELCOME TO PORTLAND
FROM
Tillamook Head pushes out into the Pacific Ocean just north of Ecola State Park and
Cannon Beach. Located in Clatsop County, Tillamook Head is just south of Seaside on
Highway 101. Ecola State Park is known for the many miles of trails that lace its 1,100
acres. The massive rock formations that rise from the ocean and borde» seven mile long
Cannon Beach provide a visual beauty and natural homes for a vast assortment of
marine life.
The Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Company
1133 W . Burnside Street
Portland