A4 • Friday, September 17, 2021 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com
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Salt makers create living history in Seaside
Photos by R.J. Marx
Reenactors at the Cove prepare a fi re for boiling salt.
SEEN FROM SEASIDE
R.J. MARX
he beach off U Street was turned into
a Disney setting last Saturday and
Sunday, as reenactors brought back
the spirit of the Lewis and Clark Corps of
Discovery.
The corps, made up of 33 volunteers,
left St. Louis in May 1804 with the goal of
exploring the unknown frontier West. Just
after Christmas in 1805, Capt. William Clark
sent members of his team to the ocean with
the mission to make salt from sea water. It
took fi ve days for the men to fi nd a suitable
site to build a rock cairn and settle down to
make salt, 15 miles south of Fort Clatsop in
what is today’s Seaside.
Men in leather jackets and moccasins,
wearing leather waist belts and hunting vests,
linen overalls and matching frocks performed
their tasks in the annual Seaside Museum &
Historical Society reenactment.
With dry conditions, the fi re marshal
asked organizers to clear 50 feet around the
fi re pit, the area where seawater is boiled
down to salt.
Seaside Public Works arrived last Friday
and carved out this year’s encampment.
Fifty visitors turned out in the fi rst hour
of the event, said museum board president
and City Councilor Steve Wright. It was
the fi rst time in years, he said, that he could
remember sunny skies on the annual event,
a reenactment of the 1805 1806 years of the
expedition.
In keeping with the spirit of modern times,
T
reenactors wore black head scarves, both as
an homage to the original voyage but also as
a protective measure in the modern age of
the coronavirus. They carried water buck-
ets carrying ocean water balanced on wooden
yokes. The corps members split wood, built
the farm and boiled the water for salt. Three
women sewed leather crafts and clothing.
Seven men participated in the reenactment,
heating the fi re, splitting wood and boiling
water for salt.
The fi rst Seaside salt emerged for tasting
early Sunday morning.
The salt was primarily used to season pork
and elk, to be used on the journey back, said
reenactor Pvt. George Gibson. Fish was eaten
only in “desperation,” and while they did
trade with the Native Americans for salmon,
there is no record of them eating shellfi sh.
Along with salt making, Gibson and
another corpsman entertained the corpsmen
with the fi ddle. Pierre Cruzatte, a one-eyed
French-Indian, was renowned for his musi-
cianship around the campfi re.
“He was the primary fi ddler,” Gibson said.
“I was, well, like a second fi ddle.”
Capt. Meriwether Lewis never made it
down to Seaside, but Clark did, after a blue
whale washed ashore. By the time Clark
and his men arrived, the Indians had already
picked the whale clean. The explorers ended
up buying blubber from the Indians after
local elk proved too lean.
What did the Indians think of the small
group of salt makers?
“They thought we were crazy,” reenactor
Pvt. John Frazer said.
The Indians didn’t understand the use of
salt for preserving meat or fi sh, he said. With
abundant fi sh and wildlife, “They had all the
food they wanted.”
Reenactors returned to Seaside, providing a history lesson to visitors.
ABOVE: A
member of the
Lewis and Clark
expedition
provides a taste
of freshly-boiled
sea salt to
visitors.
LEFT: Salt
makers at work
near Avenue U
in Seaside last
Sunday morning.
GUEST COLUMN
Easing into peace and harmony
By LIANNE THOMPSON
For Seaside Signal
riends, neighbors, colleagues
and community members:
Let’s celebrate successes and
achievements to nourish and sus-
tain ourselves in a time of renewed
challenges.
Consider the Arch Cape For-
est, the Rain Forest reserves, and
the Cape Falcon Marine Reserves.
All these present evidence of vig-
orous commitment to environmen-
tal well-being in our neighborhood.
Thanks to the staunch environmen-
tal community and all who support
their eff orts to heal and protect our
natural world.
Consider Seaside City Council’s
focused attention on issues related
to housing, both aff ordable hous-
ing and homelessness. The fi ne
work of Councilors Steve Wright
and Tita Montero shines brightly as
they engage with this issue plagu-
ing so many communities. The
elected leadership has reached out
and made common cause with
local activists who are committed
to making a diff erence. Kudos to
all of them!
F
Look at the Jewell School
Superintendent, Steve Phil-
lips, who’s providing leadership
in developing broadband capac-
ity in the heart of Clatsop County.
He’s working with Clatsop County
staff and reaching out to his whole
school and geographic commu-
nity to improve broadband capac-
ity. The territory included (if all
goes according to plan) will stretch
from Fishhawk Lake to the Elsie
Vinemaple Fire hall and beyond.
Awesome!
I don’t know about you, but
I needed some good news. The
resurgence of COVID gobsmacked
me. I had thought we were com-
ing out the other side of the pan-
demic, but it turned out to be the
eye of the hurricane, not the end of
our problems.
After a year and a half, I’d had
enough of dealing with health
and life-threatening disease. I’d
had enough of interrupted sup-
ply chains. I’d had enough of the
heartbreak of local people and
local businesses stretched and
smacked around.
Or so I thought. But I was
wrong. The nature of the pandemic
mocked my naiveté. So I needed
CIRCULATION
MANAGER
Shannon Arlint
ADVERTISING
SALES MANAGER
Sarah Silver-
Tecza
PUBLISHER
EDITOR
Kari Borgen
R.J. Marx
to consider how to look at what
inspired more positive emotions.
I saw that many around me had
shown what to do and how to do it:
look at evidence of peace and har-
mony, used in service of signifi -
cant and positive solutions to com-
munity challenges. Three examples
came immediately to mind. Many
others could have.
These are only three examples
of causes for hope. People have
seen a community need, found
ways to engage others in positive
eff orts, and they’ve produced pos-
itive process and results. More
work is needed, but we’re well
begun.
We can always fi nd ways to dis-
agree and argue, but some peace
and harmony work better to keep
us fortifi ed and motivated. And,
just for the record? Clatsop County
Board of Commissioners and staff
are actively engaged in all these
positive examples and many more,
all aimed at making this a better
place to live, work, and enjoy.
Bottom line? Let’s be kind to
each other; let’s ease into peace
and harmony.
Lianne Thompson is Clatsop
County District 5 commissioner.
PRODUCTION
MANAGER
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
John D. Bruijn
Skyler Archibald
Joshua Heineman
Katherine Lacaze
Esther Moberg
SYSTEMS
MANAGER
Carl Earl
CONTRIBUTING
PHOTOGRAPHER
Jeff TerHar
PUBLIC MEETINGS
Contact local agencies for latest
meeting information and atten-
dance guidelines.
tee, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
MONDAY, OCT. 11
TUESDAY, SEPT. 21
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
cityofseaside.us.
Seaside Planning Commission,
6 p.m., work session, 989 Broad-
way, cityofseaside.us.
THURSDAY, OCT. 14
Seaside School District, 6 p.m.,
seaside.k12.or.us/meetings.
Seaside Civic and Convention
Center Commission, 5 p.m., 415
First Ave.
MONDAY, SEPT. 27
TUESDAY, OCT. 19
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., 989
Broadway, cityofseaside.us.
Seaside Planning Commission,
6 p.m., work session, 989 Broad-
way.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 28
Sunset Empire Park and Rec-
reation District, 5:15 p.m., Bob
Chisholm Community Center.
Seaside School District, 6 p.m.,
seaside.k12.or.us/meetings.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 20
Seaside Airport Advisory Com-
mittee, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
Seaside Tourism Advisory Com-
mittee, 3 p.m., 989 Broadway.
TUESDAY, OCT. 5
MONDAY, OCT. 25
Seaside Community Center Com-
mission, 10 a.m., 1225 Avenue A.
Seaside City Council, 7 p.m.,
cityofseaside.us.
Seaside Library Board of Direc-
tors, 4:30 p.m., 1131 Broadway St.
TUESDAY, OCT. 26
Seaside Planning Commission,
6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
Sunset Empire Park and Rec-
reation District, 5:15 p.m., Bob
Chisholm Community Center.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 6
TUESDAY, NOV. 2
Seaside Improvement Commis-
sion, 6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
Seaside Community Center Com-
mission, 10 a.m., 1225 Avenue A.
Gearhart City Council, 7 p.m.,
cityofgearhart.com.
Seaside Library Board of Direc-
tors, 4:30 p.m., 1131 Broadway St.
THURSDAY, OCT. 7
Seaside Planning Commission,
6 p.m., 989 Broadway.
Seaside Parks Advisory Commit-
Seaside Signal
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