4A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL September 14, 2016
O PINION
Offbeat Oregon History
‘Graveyard of the Pacifi c’ was not easily tamed
BY FINN J.D. JOHN
For the Sentinel
On the morning of Sept. 18, 1853,
the American bark Oriole was heav-
ily laden with building materials and
waiting for a favorable breeze to kick
up so she could cross the Columbia
River Bar.
Around noon one did, and the Ori-
ole unfurled canvas and got under
way, battling against the river’s cur-
rent with a slow southwest breeze
fi lling her sails.
If you’re familiar with these
old-time bar stories, you can prob-
ably guess what happened next. The
breeze petered out, leaving the ship
becalmed and drifting at the mercy
of the currents. The currents drifted
the ship across a shoal, and she struck
bottom in 17 feet of water. The cur-
rent continued dragging her across
this sandbar, pounding the hull
against the bottom with every wave
trough. The rudder was torn free al-
most immediately. Seams opened up,
and the pumps clogged with sand.
The weather being fair, the crew
was able to abandon the Oriole in
reasonably orderly fashion, and 15
minutes later the ship drifted free of
the shoals, turned on her beam ends
and sank out of sight.
For the men in the lifeboats, shiver-
ing through the long, cold night un-
til the morning sun could light their
way to Astoria, it was a particularly
powerful and ironic reminder of the
importance of their mission. They
had come to Astoria as part of a
construction crew tasked with build-
ing a lighthouse at the mouth of the
deadly River of the West – a project
that, when fi nished, would help other
ships avoid the Oriole’s fate.
Unfortunately, it would be a while
before they could start. The Oriole’s
cargo had been the materials that they
were supposed to use to build it.
From the very fi rst time a ship of
commerce ventured out on its treach-
erous waters, it was clear to everyone
involved that the federal government
was going to have to spend money
– lots of money – to make the Colum-
bia River Bar safer for ships to cross.
The fi rst ship to offi cially survey it
was a British ship, in 1837 – at the
time, the Oregon country was under
a joint occupancy agreement between
the U.S. and Great Britain. The ship’s
commander, Sir Edward Belcher, im-
mediately identifi ed the biggest prob-
lem with the bar: It was a 25,000-
acre patch of shallow open water, six
miles wide, with a six-knot current
racing across it and a sandy bottom
that shifted dramatically from year
to year. One year the north channel
might be the only way in; the next,
that channel could be impossible, and
the only available channel might be
one that runs directly into the teeth
of the prevailing summer winds. And
short of conducting a full survey ev-
ery time one arrived off the bar, one
never really knew.
It would be many years and mil-
lions of dollars, before this problem
was solved with the construction of
the jetties; it would also take railroad
equipment, of which there wouldn’t
really be any in Oregon until the
1880s. So the government had com-
missioned a lighthouse on the north
side of the river as a suitable fi rst
step. With its help, at least ships com-
ing in from the sea in the darkness or
fog would be able to tell where the
river was. And the Oriole had been
dispatched from San Francisco to get
the process started.
Thanks to the Oriole’s sinking, it
wasn’t until 1856 that the Cape Dis-
appointment Light was placed in ser-
vice, and it was soon followed by ad-
ditional lights at Point Adams, North
Head and Tillamook Rock, along
with a dedicated lightship securely
and permanently anchored offshore.
After that, it was possible for ships
to know where they were on the bar,
even after dark. That, combined with
regular surveys and an intrepid cadre
of bar pilots who kept up on its shift-
ing status month by month, made the
crossing much safer – safe enough
for the ports of Portland and Astoria
to thrive.
Meanwhile, the government also
tried to mitigate the human damage
with life stations and lookout towers,
so that if a ship did get into trouble
on the bar, help could be sent at once.
Ladies from Astoria would come to
the shore to watch these life-station
rescuers practice during the summer-
time, refi ning and improving their
skills for the deadly winter storm
season when their skills would be put
to the test, sometimes on a weekly
basis.
Then, in 1885 – two years after the
transcontinental railroad fi rst arrived
in Portland – the government fi nally
was able to set about solving the real
problem on the bar, by starting con-
struction of what we know today as
the South Jetty.
A big receiving dock was built at
Fort Stevens, and railroad workers
got started running a spur line from
the dock out to the site of the future
jetty. Five steam locomotives were
barged down the river to the dock,
with 65 dump cars to be fi lled with
rock.
The jetty construction technique
was simple in concept but not exact-
ly easy to do. A railroad trestle was
built out over the sea. The locomotive
would push the dump cars, loaded
with giant boulders barged in from
upriver, out over the water, where
the rocks would be dumped in. Then,
back it would go for another load,
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
A little help here?
Eye-opener
Up Talamena Drive, our friends have
a beautiful home for sale. it has been
on the market for a while. Just recently,
it has been broken into. The home had
a movie room, and the movie screen
and speakers were taken.
Since I had read in last week’s pa-
per that the Brewstation was robbed
and was missing sound equipment, I
thought that the local police would be
interested. So I called to report that the
home had been broken into and bur-
glarized. The next day, I called again
to report that there was a car in the
driveway of the home on Talamena. It
turns out that it was a stolen car.
Something about the person answer-
ing the phone at the police department,
made me feel like they could care less.
As concerned friends and neighbors,
we just want the home to sell. But, if a
homeless person had decided to move
in? (We had suspicions that maybe a
strange person was inside the house.)
Property taxes are high; the taxes
on the home on Talamena might be in
excess of $4000. I would hope that a
Cottage Grove offi cer might assist if
the Sheriff’s Offi ce were too busy. It
is a judgment call.
I have just returned from a four-
month journey to Eastern Oregon. It
was wonderful. There is almost no litter
in the streets. People do not idle their
cars. They pick up after themselves.
It is a real shock to come back. Lit-
ter is everywhere. I talked with some
friends on South Fifth Street. There
were two cars stolen this last summer,
despite supposed cameras to catch the
perpetrators.
Irresponsible noise is everywhere.
Peace and quiet, anyone?
My point is that I live on South Sixth
Street, and I know what the meth-head
robbers and vandals look like and act
like. They are typically young males
and females in their early to mid 20s.
They ride bicycles that are designed for
children of about 10 years of age. They
currently have a pattern of going north
to south on both Fifth and Sixth streets.
The robbery of the Brewstation is just
the latest. They are most active late at
night, needless to say.
There are good ways to put a stop
to this menace. Station an unmarked
police car somewhere around south
Fifth or Sixth streets, or one of the side
streets. I guarantee that you will catch
a fi shy one within an hour. Look for
these bicyclists driving erratically in
the wrong lanes or sidewalks. At night,
look for these same persons that do not
have proper and legally required front
and rear bicycle lights.
Sue Flint
Cottage Grove
Please see OFFBEAT, Page 7A
Finally: If you see something, say
something.
Charles Ames
Cottage Grove
Keeping the school
gardens growing
Our community is fortunate to have
gardens at all of our K-12 school
campuses for hands-on and outdoor
learning. As you can imagine, getting
irrigation systems set up and then keep-
ing all the gardens growing throughout
the summertime is a challenge. Grand-
parents, parents, students, teachers and
friends spent countless hours volun-
teering their time to tend plants at all
of the schools this summer. Thank you
to Suzanne Keavney, Tara Eckstine and
family, Maria Deitrich and family, Scott
Pierce, Jim Brownson, Darrell Simon-
sen, Paula Mance, Steve Barnes, Trish
Gillespie, David Cunningham, Jon and
Ally Albrecht, the Walker Family, Katy
Vaughn, Karen Dirks, Aleece and Han-
nah Faught, Val Rocco, Deb Hender-
son, Shari Skadburg, Molly Northrup,
Matt Hall and Bill Bartram. Students
are now back at school and in the gar-
dens exploring, learning and, of course,
harvesting. We are thankful.
Melissa Fery
SLSD Farm to School Coordinator
How are diabetes and cancer connected?
BY JOEL FUHRMAN, MD
For the Sentinel
O
ver 25 million people in
the United States have
Type 2 diabetes, and that fi gure
doesn’t even count the seven
million who have diabetes and
remain undiagnosed. The dan-
gerously high prevalence of
overweight and obesity is at the
heart of this problem. Diabetes
is the seventh-leading cause of
death in the United States, is
the leading cause of blindness
and kidney failure in adults, and
$ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM
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doubles the
risk of heart
attack and
stroke.
Diabe-
tes
also
increases
the risk of
several can-
cers. In a
number of studies, diabetic pa-
tients have been shown to have
an elevated risk of colorectal
cancer, and non-diabetics with
elevated postprandial glucose
levels also have a higher risk
of colorectal cancer than indi-
viduals with normal glucose
tolerance. A review that ana-
lyzed data from several stud-
ies found that diabetic patients
are 30 percent more likely to
develop colorectal cancer, 20
percent more likely to develop
breast cancer and 82 percent
more likely to develop pancre-
atic cancer.
How could diabetes infl uence
the development of cancer? The
high blood glucose levels and
the resultant elevated insulin
response associated with Type 2
diabetes affect all tissues of the
body. It has been hypothesized
that diets high in sugars and
white fl our increase the risk of
cancers because of their impact
on these factors, particularly el-
evated insulin.
Scientists believe that insulin
therapy and elevated insulin lev-
els contribute to the association
between diabetes and colorectal
cancer. Insulin in high concen-
trations may bind to the receptor
for a growth factor called insu-
lin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1)
– this interaction has the poten-
tial to promote growth and divi-
sion of cancer cells. Cancerous
cells also often have elevated
levels of insulin receptors, and
when insulin binds these recep-
tors it has growth-promoting ef-
fects.
There is much evidence sup-
porting the possibility that
chronic exposure to diets rich in
refi ned carbohydrates may act
directly to promote cancer de-
velopment. Foods with a high
glycemic load (such as sugar
and white fl our products) pro-
duce dangerous spikes in blood
glucose, consequently resulting
in high insulin production. Di-
ets including large quantities of
high GL foods increase the risk
of several chronic diseases, in-
cluding cancers. For example,
a meta-analysis of many studies
found a 26 percent increase in
colorectal cancer risk in people
who consumed the most high
glycemic load foods in their di-
ets.
I have observed in my medical
practice that a nutritarian diet
combined with moderate exer-
cise can reverse diabetes in 90
percent of patients and that an
aggressive nutritional approach
is more effective and much safer
than conventional drug-centered
care. The best diet for prevent-
ing or reversing diabetes is also
the best diet for cancer protec-
tion. It is a diet with a high
nutrient per calorie ratio – in-
cluding lots of green and non-
starchy vegetables, beans, raw
nuts and seeds and some fresh
fruit; limiting animal products
and avoiding sweeteners, oils
and white fl our. The high levels
of dietary micronutrients fuel
cellular repair, reduce body fat
and heal the body from the in-
side out, resulting in a dramatic
reversal of heart disease and
diabetes, offering dramatic pro-
tection against cancer.
“The End of Diabetes” is a
must read for all Americans
who are overweight and those
with pre-diabetes or diabetes.
Dr. Fuhrman is a #1 New
York Times best-selling author
and a board certifi ed family
physician specializing in life-
style and nutritional medicine.
Visit his informative website at
DrFuhrman.com.
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