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About The Coquille Valley sentinel. (Coquille, Coos County, Or.) 1921-2003 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1985)
B-20—Wednesday, Feb. 20,1985--Sentinel/Herald River served as year-round highway Editor’s note: The following Prosper, Parkersburg, Randolph, the story was written for The Sentinel sawmill and boatbuilding communities; by Curt Beckham, well-known Riverton, the coal mining village; Co Coos County historian who now quille, the county seat; Arago, the rich lives in Myrtle Point. The story farming community; and Myrtle Point, is based on an interview with the located at the head of navigation 30 late William “Bill” Panter about miles inland. his family and their boating ex This coastal stream was filled almost periences on the Coquille River. beyond today’s concept with chinook By Curt Beckham When we moved to Bandon in 1922 we went down the Coquille River on the large stem wheeler, “The Telegraph.” This was near the end of riverboat transportation on the Coquille as a grav eled highway was being constructed down the valley from Myrtle Point to Bandon. This all-year road, when com pleted in the early 20s, brought an end to the 30 year riverboat dynasty of W.R. Panter, the late Bill Panter’s father. The Coquille River, as well as many of the other coastal streams of western Oregon, had been used by the Indians with their dug-out cedar boats and ca noes. The pioneers used the stream to help them settle along its banks. Log gers, then and to the present day, use the river to raft, store and float the tim ber to the sawmills along its banks. It was a busy waterway between the settlements of Bandon (the seaport town) and silver salmon. This short but wide and navigable tide-water stream served the Indians and our pioneer settlers as a life line of communication as well as with an all important food supply. William R. Panter was bom in 1858 in a covered wagon in Nebraska. His father brought him to Coos County in 1860 where they settled on a ranch near Lampa Creek in 1863, nine miles up river from Bandon. His boating ex periences began in the 70s when he worked as a deckhand on the stern wheeler steamer, “Annie,” under Captain Rackleff. He was married to Ella Hutch inson in 1880 and to them were bom Walter, William, Mary, Allen, Ruby, Stacy, Dora, Albert and Archie. His early career consisted of mining, farming, and logging, but steamboating became his chosen work for many years. Before W.R. Panter got into the boat ing business he was a logger and farmer. He owned a farm along the banks of The boat The Coquille plied the waters of the river by the same name. the Coquille River a few miles above Bandon. There were many logging camps located along this river harvesting the huge trees which grew thickly on the mountains reaching down to the riv er’s edge. In the 80s and 90s much logging was carried on by bull teams, but there were also some steam donkey yarding donkeys in operation. Getting the huge logs into the river was not an easy task. Someone conceived the idea of building a pole chute to carry the logs to the river. The pull of gra vity and the slick logs on the poles caused the logs to come down the steep chutes into the river at a tremendous speed. Panter was a camp foreman for an out fit yarding a tract of Pershbaker’s tim- Since 1919.we’re Security Bank Happy 100th Birthday City of Coquille Bandon Gold Beach Brookings-Harbor eHurtku /sank, FDIC Coquille North Bend Coos Bay Myrtle Point