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About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2017)
6A • March 3, 2017 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com Oregon’s fi rst pioneer Calvin Tibbets is topic at History and Hops speaker series event Gearhart to hold session on video poker permit Owner’s appeal to be heard by council By R.J. Marx By Rebecca Herren Seaside Signal Seaside Signal Portland author Jerry Sutherland’s re- search and discovery into pioneer Calvin Tibbets is a work in progress. He fi rst became fascinated with Tib- bets when his father, Art Sutherland, saw the name in a historical article and decid- ed to do a little genealogy research given that Jerry’s mother’s maiden name was Tibbetts. No relationship was found, but Sutherland continued the research into Tib- bets as a man who traveled to Oregon with a specifi c goal: to settle here permanently and make it part of the emerging United States landscape. Sutherland, who spoke at the Histo- ry and Hops speaker series at the Seaside Brewing Co. Thursday, Feb. 23,, explained how sometimes the research was chal- lenging due to the many ways the name is spelled — most commonly, he said, is T-i-b-b-e-t-t-s and T-i-b-b-i-t-s. “It wasn’t until I found documents signed by him that I knew what the correct spelling was.” Oregon in 1832 When Tibbets traveled to Oregon in 1832, the area was still contested between Great Britain and the United States. Hud- son’s Bay Co . had practical control over the entire region and its French -Canadi- an employees were preparing to develop farms along the Willamette River upon their retirement. “The only Americans in Oregon before Tibbets were sailors, fur trappers, explorers and scientists,” he said. His book “Calvin Tibbets: Oregon’s First Pioneer” begins with Nathaniel Wyeth and 11 American men meeting Hudson’s Bay Co . chief factor John McLoughlin, who realized he had competition for the re- gion, if as he suspected, Wyeth along with Hall Kelley would succeed in their plans to build a colony in Oregon, a subject of dispute with the British. “Many early set- tlers came to Oregon to get free land and they weren’t going to get it if Britain took over because at that point in time it was all mutually owned between Great Britain and the United States,” said Sutherland. Wyeth and Kelley would fail in their ventures, but Tibbets, being one of the men they brought to Oregon, would be- come an Oregon pioneer by forging good relationships with his Canadian neighbors and native tribes, even living on a Native American diet in order to pave the way for other Americans to follow. Fascination Sutherland said the more he learns about Tibbets, the more fascinated he REBECCA HERREN/SEASIDE SIGNAL Author Jerry Sutherland giving a presentation on Oregon’s fi rst pioneer Calvin Tibbets who initiated the building of the fi rst gristmill in Clatsop County. ‘The only Americans in Oregon before Tibbets were sailors, fur trappers, explorers and scientists.’ Author Jerry Sutherland becomes, delving into the many layers of the man. He discovered that Tibbets was part of a team to build a gristmill in Clat- sop County. Ewing Young and Solomon Smith had established a gristmill at Chehalem Creek around 1838. After moving back to Clatsop Plains, it was “so obvious they wanted that here,” said Sutherland, adding the need was confi rmed by doc- umented evidence of early pioneers who traveled the Oregon Trail had used cof- fee mills and spring poles to grind their grains. So, the need for a gristmill on the Clatsop Plains was great in the eyes of Young, Smith and Tibbets. In 1845, Thomas Owens, Edward Williams, Elbridge Trask, William Perry and Tibbets, who had formed the Waho- ni Milling Co ., built the mill at the south end of Clatsop Plains near the mouth of the Neawanna. The mill operated for only a couple of years. According to Sutherland, the gristmill failed because “Clatsop Plains wasn’t suitable to grow crops,” adding it was then converted to a lumber mill. Finding the mill’s whereabouts also proved to be a challenge for Sutherland, given that the landscape had drastical- ly changed and landmarks, not survey tools, were used to measure property boundaries as he pointed out showing a land survey from 1856. For example, the area known as the Necanicum Estuary, Necanicum River, Neawanna Creek and Neacoxie Creek were all known then as Neacoxie; the former being referred to as branches of the Neacoxie. Sutherland noted there had been a dozen or more names associated with the mills, and upon further searching, had discovered a connection between the Tibbets gristmill and the Gearhart family. Phillip Gearhart built a home and farm for his family near the gristmill by Mill Creek, in an area north and east of the es- tuary. Gearhart’s daughter Sarah married Frank Byrd, who later built a mill at what is now known as Thompson Falls. Tibbets died of cholera in 1849. From his book, Sutherland wrote, “Tibbets would have had no impact on Oregon history if he had not fi rst been captivated by Kelly’s vision of colonizing Oregon … He endured hunger, illness and oth- er physical and emotional hardships of life in the wild.” Once his fellow settlers came in suffi cient numbers, they were able to “wrest control of Oregon from Great Britain.” If any American were to be named Or- egon’s fi rst pioneer, Sutherland strongly believes Tibbets deserves that honor. A look back at ‘A Town Called Seaside’ Delve into the history of Seaside on Saturday, March 25, at 1 p.m. with local author Gloria Linkey. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Seaside Library and will take place in the Communi- ty Room. There will also be book sales and signings. The town of Seaside isn’t very big. It boasts 6,500 full- time residents but gains an enormous boost in population every summer. Thousands fl ock to its beaches, restau- rants, and art galleries. In “A Town Called Sea- side”, author and historian Gloria Linkey will be our tour guide as she takes us through Sea- side’s origins as a summer resort town in the 1940s to the thriving tourist attrac- tion the town has become today. Linkey’s research conjures up beau- tiful images of pre-World War II bygone days, where people walked the “Prom” in fi ne attire, and went to the state- of-the-art aquarium. Families could also spend an afternoon watching Lone Ranger serials at one of Seaside’s two movie houses as well as partici- pating in a variety of events that be- fi tted a summer destination. While Linkey preserves Sea- side’s past, she also demon- strates how the town has grown and changed for the better. She shows how city government and the Cham- ber of Commerce changed the town’s status from strictly a summer destination to a year round resort. Linkey is a past presi- dent of the Seaside Museum and Historical society, and a member of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Founda- tion. She is the author of “Na- tive American Women: Three Who Changed History” and “Abby Rescues Animals.” Seaside Public Library is located at 1131 Broadway. For more information call 503-738-6742 or visit www. seasidelibrary.org Video poker will be on the agenda for the City Council in April as coun- cilors decide whether to permit four lottery ma- chines in a new brew pub. A special session was held Feb. 15 to de- termine the next step as Gearhart hears an appeal by property owner Terry Lowenberg of a Planning Commission decision blocking the machines in his brew pub. Lowenberg, who closed the former Gear- hart Grocery in Decem- ber, received a permit for his brew pub at 599 Pacif- ic Way last spring. In December, he sought to add four video lottery machines. Lowenberg said he needed the machines to make his proposed brew pub profi table. The city responded that installation of four poker lottery machines will devote space to “adult-only activity” that may operate in confl ict with surrounding prop- erties. “The machines encourage drinking and confl ict with the fam- ily-friendly character described in the original proposal,” City Planner Carole Connell wrote in a staff report. DINING on the NORTH COAST Great Restaurants in: GEARHART SEASIDE CANNON BEACH WANNA KNOW WHERE THE LOCALS GO? • Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner • Lighter appetite menu • Junior Something for Everyone menu Fish ‘n Chips • Burgers • Seafood & Steak Friday & Saturday - Prime Rib Lounge Open Daily 9-Midnight All Oregon Lottery products available BEST BREAKFAST IN TOWN! 1104 S Holladay • 503-738-9701 • Open Daily at 8am MAZATLAN M E X I C A N R E S TA U R A N T Phone 503-738-9678 1445 S. Roosevelt Drive • Seaside NATIONALLY FAMOUS CLAM CHOWDER • FRESH OREGON SEAFOOD R E STAU R A N T S Wright comes to Council via Planning Commission Wright from Page 1A Councilors Tita Montero, Randy Frank, Dana Phillips and Mayor Barber voted for Wright. Seth Morrisey voted for Stacey. Horning was absent. “This was a tough, tough decision, to have such four incredible candidates come before us,” Phillips said. “All of you did such an incredible job interviewing. I would hope some of you would step up to the Planning Commission.” Frank said, “For Steve, maybe we should consider a stipulation for incoming coun- cilors that they work to fi ll vacancies on the committees and boards in their fi rst year,” Frank added. After the meeting, Barber said Wright’s regular atten- dance at council meetings was a big factor in his decision. “We felt like he would be the least diffi cult to up-ramp,” Barber said. “His kind of style of leadership and function re- ally fi t well with the rest of the council. He’s a fi nance guy, too. None of us on the board have that particular skill set.” Wright said his priorities include housing, tsunami preparation and placing a fo- cus on the city’s past. “I have an affi nity for the history of Seaside,” Wright said. “All those things can come together and I can make Seaside an even better place to live. I just love it. This is home for me now.” Wright will be sworn in at the fi rst council meeting in March. Seaside looks to implement ‘Safe Routes to School’ Program from Page 1A “We are taking baby steps,” McDow- ell says. Once the neighborhood needs are assessed, he can apply for grant funding through Safe Routes to School. The Way to Wellville and its sponsor the Columbia Pacifi c Coordinated Care Organization support healthy activities and exercise for all residents. Pulling it all together With a bond measure passing for a new school campus in the Seaside Heights, area, it is a great time to work on Safe Routes to School, Roley says. “It not only builds healthy kids, but builds healthy communities to have all these different entities come together and say, ‘This is a wonderful community we live in,’ and maximize collaboratively our resources instead of doing things in- dependently,” Roley says. Fergason says only $500,000 a year is dedicated to Safe Routes to School in Oregon. This is not enough to build side- walks and sponsor safety programs. She encourages people to advocate by asking the Legislature to include Safe Routes in the next transportation budget. For Ev- ery Kid coalition is asking the Oregon Legislature for $16 million a year. You can sign a petition on the website: http:// ourhealthystreets.org/for-every-kid- main/ Volunteer opportunity National Walk and Bike to School Day is May 10, an opportunity to have a kickoff event for Seaside’s Safe Routes to School. To volunteer or receive more informa- tion, call Fry at 503-861-5360 or email her at shasia@ridethebus.org. For information about Safe Routes to School, see http://bit.ly/W2Wsaferoutes, or The Street Trust at http://bit.ly/W2W- streettrust. CANNON BEACH 503-436-1111 Ocean Front at Tolovana Park www.moschowder.com Discover Patty’s Wicker Cafe on the Beautiful Necanicum River BREAKFAST & LUNCH MONDAY thru FRIDAY 6AM to 2PM Great Atmosphere • Great Food • Great Prices 600 Broadway Suite 7 & 8 • 503.717.1272 Excellence in family dining found from a family that has been serving the North Coast for the past 52 years Great Great Great Homemade Breakfast, lunch and pasta, Clam but that’s dinner steaks & Chowder, not all... menu,too! seafood! Salads! Seaside • 323 Broadway • 738-7234 (Open 7 Days) Cannon Beach • 223 S. Hemlock 436-2851 (7am-3pm Daily) Astoria • 146 W. Bond • 325-3144
