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