4A • July 1, 2016 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Views from the Rock
Celebrating those who built Having fun at pinot
noir
summer
camp
the roads, dug the rock
E
A
uthor Deb Cuyle is fascinated by the crunch
of gravel and the movement of rock, the play
of mountains and tides as they shaped Cannon
Beach. Her history focuses less on the cultural
and social life — so well documented in Peter
Lindsey’s “Coming in Over the Rock” and Terence O’Don-
nell’s magical “Cannon Beach: A Place by the Sea” than on
the men who blasted rock and dared landslides to create a
postcard city with international appeal.
This entry in Arcadia Books’ Images of America series
zeros in on the geography and the particular challenges
Cannon Beach, Tolovana and Arch Cape faced in early
days, bringing to life
the hairpin turns of a
logging truck coming CANNON SHOTS
down a steep curve
R.J. MARX
and the superhuman
efforts of highway
department workers
as they dug through
mud and downpours to excavate thousands of yards of dirt
building the tunnel in 1936.
“When people today drive to Cannon Beach via High-
way 26 from Portland or the road from Cannon Beach to
Seaside, it is hard to imagine those roads were once just
muddy paths,” Cuyle said in a phone interview.
Cuyle, a former Cannon Beach resident, is the author of
“Kidding Around Portland: What to Do, Where to Go, and
How to Have Fun in Portland” and “Haunted Snohomish,”
an Arcadia book paying tribute to the supernatural side of
Snohomish, Washington, where she resides.
“This project was kind of a labor of love,” Cuyle said.
“When I was going to Cannon Beach, I noticed there
wasn’t a history book. So I came back and talking to Ar-
cadia. ‘Why haven’t you done Cannon Beach, it’s the best
place in the world?’ They’re like, ‘We’ve been thinking
about that for 10 years.’ So again, I asked, ‘Well, why
hasn’t anybody done it?’”
Cuyle’s persistence paid off and after preparing a
proposal earned a contract with the Images of America
series. “When I lived in Cannon Beach I fell in love with
it,” Cuyle said. “It is hard not to. The way the town is
preserved and presented is absolutely stunning. I wanted to
learn more about its history and the founding fathers who
so eagerly wanted to develop the area.
She launches her journey in 1846, when Lt. Neil How-
ison sailed the USS Shark into the mouth of the Colum-
bia River. When the ship encountered trouble, Howison
ordered the masts to be chopped off and the cannons
pushed overboard to light the ship, dropping the cannons
into the sea. In the 1860s, John Hobson and his business
partner M. Eberman regularly spotted a cannon in a creek
as they drove cattle to Tillamook. Retrieval of the weapon
didn’t come until January 1898, when a mail carrier named
George Luce found and retrieved the cannon from which
Cannon Beach derives its name.
“Remittance men” — sons of wealthy Englishmen
who came to Cannon Beach to work though still receiving
money from home — comprised many of the 50 families
occupying the 90-mile stretch of land between Tillamook
Mountain and Neahkahnie Mountain in the late 1800s,
Cuyle writes.
She presents the old days of horse-drawn carriages,
summer tent camps, clearing of the land, the first hotels
and automobiles.
In 1891, James P. Austin built the Austin House, which
was both a hotel and a post office. More lodgings followed.
The Hotel Bill was constructed in 1904, the Warren Hotel
in 1911 and the Ecola Inn in 1913.
While variously called Seal Rock, Ecola Creek, Silver
Point Cliffs and Brighton Beach, the Cannon Beach name
became official in 1955.
Pictures bear witness to the Herculean efforts of con-
struction teams as workers work nonstop during rain-
storms in mud and falling rock. And their ingenuity. A
photo of the 1936 creation of the Arch Cape tunnel shows
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Workers in 1936 at work on the Arch Cape Tunnel.
a beached bulldozer dragged by the drums
and cables of a “gas donkey,” a contraption
more commonly used to pull logs from the
woods.
“The more I learned about the trials and
tribulations these early settlers had to endure,
and the incredible amount of hard work in-
Author
volved, the more I realized that the area has
Deborah
tugged at people’s hearts since it was first
Cuyle
discovered,” Cuyle said. “I wanted people
to discover how the very important road
systems and land developments for Cannon Beach were
established.”
The highway from Portland to Cannon Beach, original-
ly the Wolf Creek Highway and now the Sunset Highway,
was built between 1933 and 1936 by the labor of the
Civilian Conservation Corps and the Workers Progress
Administration in the aftermath of the Great Depres-
sion. “It would take days to get from Portland to Cannon
Beach,” Cuyle said. “Now we do it in 45 minutes with a
stop at 7-Eleven.”
Cuyle hopes to bring readers “back and make them re-
member what it was like,” she said. Equal measure is giv-
en to the development of Arch Cape, Hug Point and Ecola
State park, with dramatic photos of a 1961 mudslide, or
“earth slippage.”
“I am sure the book is not perfect and was really just
a labor of my love for Cannon Beach, but I do hope it
will bring happiness to all who read it,” Cuyle said. “And
when they are sitting with their toes in the warm sand nes-
tled by a beach fire, I hope they will try to remember how
Cannon Beach got to where it is today and some of these
photographs and information will stick in their minds.”
Cuyle will be appearing and signing copies of her
book: “Images of America: Cannon Beach,” Saturday, July
9, at the Cannon Beach Book Company, 130 N. Hemlock
from 2 to 4 p.m.; 503-436-1301.
Prizes and more from Penny’s Puppet Productions
H
appy
summertime,
library
friends!! Everything perks up
in our little town as the weather
gets warmer and the days get longer –
and the library is part of this phenome-
non! If you’re in town over the Fourth of
July weekend, plan to spend some time
browsing through books of every kind at
our book sale, which runs from July 2-4
from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Lots of
preparations are involved, but as one of
our most important fundraisers, it’s well
worth the effort! We also will be selling
tickets for our quilt drawing; tickets are
$1 each, or six for $5.
Cannon Beach Reads will meet as
always on Wednesday, July 20, from 7 to
8:30 p.m. This month the group is read-
ing “Cat’s Cradle,” by Kurt Vonnegut.
Tom Schaeffer will be the discussion
leader. All are welcome!
Calling all kids!! It’s not too late to
join the summer reading contest, “Fetch
a Good Book.” The contest continues
until Aug. 22, and you can win prizes
along the way, as well as have a chance
to win the grand prizes at the end. The
contest is for all children, tweens, and
teens.
Local and visitor kids alike are
invited to a special children’s program
Publisher
Steve Forrester
Editor
R.J. Marx
Reporter
Lyra Fontaine
Sales/Advertising Manager
Betty Smith
AT THE LIBRARY
CARLA O’REILLY
Saturday, July 23, at 1 p.m., when pup-
peteer Penny Walters of Penny’s Puppet
Productions will put on a puppet show
at the library.
Also of interest to children of all
ages there will be a return perfor-
mance of popular local magician Brett
Willyard Saturday, Aug. 13, at 1 p.m.
There was standing room only — if that
— when he gave his previous perfor-
mance. We’ve already reached July, and
August is just around the corner, so be
sure and save the date!
We also are in the planning stages
of our wonderful fall festival, which
will be on Sept. 24. Library friends
are invited to work on crafts for the
event, and bakers will also be needed to
provide pies, cookies, and other baked
goods.
Other ongoing library monthly
events which do not occur during sum-
mer months are the membership meet-
ings, Northwest Author Series, and the
Production Manager
John D. Bruijn
Circulation Manager
Heather Ramsdell
Classifi ed Sales
Jamie Ramsdell
Advertising Sales
Holly Larkins
Brandy Stewart
CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
The Cannon Beach Gazette is published every other
week by EO Media Group.
1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, Oregon 97138
503-738-5561 • Fax 503-738-9285
www.cannonbeachgazette.com • email:
editor@cannonbeachgazette.com
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Penny’s Puppet Productions comes to
the Cannon Beach Library.
World of Haystack Rock lecture series.
All will resume in September.
And fi nally, there are always volun-
teer opportunities at the Cannon Beach
Library — whether “manning” the desk
during library hours, working on special
events, or helping to keep our shelves
dust-free and appropriately arranged. If
you’re interested in helping us keep our
library a lovely, cozy, and restful place
to visit, please call Kathe Leduc at 503-
436-2250 — or just stop in to see us!
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Annually: $40.50 in county, $58.00 in and out of county.
Postage Paid at: Cannon Beach, OR 97110
POSTMASTER:
Send address changes to Cannon Beach Gazette, P.O.
Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103
Copyright 2015 © Cannon Beach Gazette. Nothing can
be reprinted or copied without consent of the owners.
very summer, since beginning in 2000, a group
of Oregon’s fi nest wineries hold “Oregon Pinot
Camp,” a jam-packed weekend of seminars, pre-
sentations and tastings devoted to Oregon’s premier wine
grape, Pinot Noir. Pinot Camp was originally conceived
to be a one-time event to promote Oregon Pinot noir to
selected wine retailers, sommeliers, distributors, hoteliers
and restaurateurs from across the US and Canada. How-
ever, because of the enthusiastic response and resulting
increase in wine sales, Pinot Camp transformed into an
annual event.
I haven’t
gone to summer
UNCORKED RAMBLINGS
camp in about 40
STEVE SINKLER
years or so, but
I had the good
fortune to be an
Oregon Pinot
Camper this past weekend in the Willamette Valley. Not
knowing exactly what to expect, I left Cannon Beach on
Saturday afternoon, while the Wine Shack’s Saturday
tasting was in full swing heading to Dundee for Oregon
Pinot Camp’s opening reception held at Sokol Blosser.
Once arriving at the reception, this year’s 275 attendees
were treated to an amazing selection of wines from the 50
wineries participating in Oregon Pinot Camp 2016. Paella
and pinot noir, what a delicious way to start the weekend.
The reception party was still going strong when I headed
to my hotel for the night. I heard that a good night’s sleep
would help me be at my best for Day 1.
Day 1 began bright at early. I was assigned to the
“Red Bus” and told to be at the bus no later than 7:30.
The fun started immediately upon arrival as the Red Bus
Camp Leaders were pouring Argyle Brut Sparkling wine
and blasting old school hip hop from the back of their
car. Breakfast was served at McMinnville’s Evergreen
Air Museum, under Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose. I
had the pleasure to eat with Maysara Winery owner and
winemaker Moe Momtazi.
Back on the bus, we were off to Penner Ash winery
for presentations on Willamette Valley soil types and
how the soil impacts a wine’s structure. We also heard
several presentations about topography and vineyard
practices, mostly centered around vine canopy manage-
ment. “The pursuit of balance” was the overall theme
and while there were many opinions on which practices
lead to balance, the speakers all agreed on one thing,
great wine isn’t made in the winery, it’s grown in the
vineyard.
After a delicious lunch in Penner Ash’s tank room,
the Red Bus headed to Elk Cove Vineyards to hear
more presentations on soil and vineyard practices. After
each presentation, we sampled pinot noir that refl ected
the topic, for example we tasted wine made from clay
versus volcanic soils, and wine made from low hanging
grape clusters versus higher hanging clusters. The mes-
sage was clear, every decision in the vineyard directly
impacts the taste and structure of the wine.
Day 1 ended with a delicious dinner at Anne Amie
Vineyards. All 275 attendees were back together for a
delicious meal, world class pinot noir and an amazing
sunset.
Day 2 started even earlier as the red bus headed for
Adelsheim Vineyard at 7:15 for breakfast and pinot
noir winemaking presentations by Rex Hill winemaker,
Michael Davies, Solena’s winemaker, Laurent Mon-
talieu, and Veronique Drouhin, from Domaine Drouhin.
They talked about their background and how it impacts
their style of winemaking. We then tasted through three
pinot noir panels and discussed how the wines refl ecting
vintage, soil and winemaker. I had the good fortune to
sit next to Veronique Drouhin, the head winemaker for
not only Drouhin’s Oregon winery, but who also leads
winemaking at the Joseph Drouhin Domaine in Bur-
gundy, one of the largest winery estates in the world.
This was possibly the highlight of the entire weekend
as Veronique works passionately to make world class
wines in the two fi nest pinot noir regions in the world,
Burgundy and the Willamette Valley.
Next, we headed to Trisaetum for their “Chasing the
Great White” session. As a white wine lover, I really
enjoyed the presentations on Oregon’s three main white
wines; Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Riesling. Oregon
Chardonnay is best known for being food friendly, with
crisp acidity, a focus on fruit fl avors and a restrained use
of oak. These chardonnays have much more in common
with Burgundy’s Chablis than oaky butter bombs from
California. Chris Williams, winemaker at Brooks Win-
ery gave the Riesling presentation and surprised us all
when he said he makes 17 different Rieslings. That man
loves Riesling. Before leaving Trisaetum, we had lunch
on their patio and sampled a variety of their Pinot noir
and Riesling offerings.
After lunch, the red bus made its way to Lemel-
son Vineyards for the last session of Pinot Camp, the
winemaking process. We listened to six winemakers, in
teams of two, talking about choices they make at each
step of the winemaking process and how each decision
impacts the fi nal taste of the wine. Should they make
wine from whole clusters or berries, punch down or pour
over the cap, use new oak or old oak, French, Hungarian
or American oak barrels? The list of questions is long
and each response results in a slightly different wine.
Winemakers develop their own processes but continue
to experiment, sometime successfully, sometimes not.
But they are always looking to make the very best Pinot
noir they can.
Pinot Camp ended with a traditional salmon bake
at Stoller Vineyards. The food was delicious but the
wine was amazing. Winemakers walked through the
tent pouring library and reserved wines, from bottles of
every size.
I would like to say “Thank you” to Sokol Blosser
Winery for nominating me and selecting me to attend
Oregon Pinot Camp 2016. It was an incredible experi-
ence I’ll never forget.
THE NATIONAL AWARD-WINNING