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About Tillamook headlight. (Tillamook, Or.) 1888-1934 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 1911)
TILLAMOOK HKADL1O-HT, AUGUST 10. 1011 TILLAMOOK HARBOR AND BAR IMPROVEMENTS Some Interesting Facts as to What is Being Done to Make Tillamook a Shipping Port. I , B y L. A. F ernsworth . L ' When the railroad shall have been | completed into Tillamook, but half r the necessary factor in her indus- |trial advancement shall have been I provided. Co-important with the [railroad in the proper development f of the wonderful resources of this [ wonderful county, are the provi- ! sion and maintenance of deep, con- Ivenient and safe harbor facilities 1 on Tillamook Bay. The importing I of lumber and of lumber products, [transportation facilities to meet f every particular shipping require- i ment, and commercial independ- f euce all demand it. Realizing this the people adjacent I to Tillamook Bay are just now ■ more than ever lending their efforts [to improve their harbor. Long time I ago these efforts first began, but the government aid,which they sought. 1 being steadfastly denied them, their endeavors were vain, and for some . time dropped into disuse. Within .the past five years they have been [ revival with renewed vigor and now, although no demand has been : granted, they have for the first time been rewarded with any meed of en- I couragement. The Board of Dis trict Army Engineers appointed to investigate conditions relative to harbor improvements reported fa- [vorably and recommended in its en tirety the plan for improvements of fered by the Tillamook Bay people, . and although the government en gineers at Washington vetoed the findings of the district board, with their veto there went also a glim mer of hope. Ports Work Together. There are three principal factors working at Tillamook in effecting the harbor improvements. These are the Port of Tillamook and the Port of Bay City, constituted by law, and the Bayocean interests. Bay ocean also contemplates organizing itself into a port, and will hold an election for this purpose August 31. .The affairs of each of theee forts are in the hands four commission ers appointed upon the incorpor- tion porta by the governor, and elected thereafter by the votes of the port. They hold their offices for terms of four years. The ports are incorporated under the "port act” of the legislature of 1909, and by its provisions are municipal corpor ations having powers to do anything that would tend to promote the mar- intime, shipping and commercial interests of their districts. ! The present Port of Tillamook was authorized by election September 13, 1909. Its commissioners are all re presentative men of Tillamook, be ing: H. T. Botts, lawyer, the presi dent; A. G. Beals, representative in [the legislature, the first vice-presi dent ; D. Fitzpatrick, dairy farmer, ¡the second vice-president; M. F. [Leach, meat dealer and shipper, treasurer ; JamesWalton, jr.,cashier [of the First National Bank, secre tary. The Port of Tillamook has a [total area of 210,063 acres, of which [2-I2.C35 acres are timber lands, and [its assessed valuation >s $6,230,160. [It is authorized to issue bonds not [to exceed ten per cent of the asset»- teed valuation, or to the amount of ■623,016, and to levy taxes of not to [exceed ten mills. I Since its incorporation, the Port lot Tillamook has made two tax [levies but no bond issue was declar- led until this Spring, when the com- unissioners voted to bond the port [in the sum of $450,009. ' Saits Retard Work. I The decision to bond the port has [not pleased sundry citizens, who [are residents of the territory added [to the new port at its creation, and [they have instituted suit attacking pile powers of the new port, pend- [iug the settlement of which, all re if. »its of the port are halted. [ The first suit was instituted by IF V. and Lillian Anderson. Their [principal contentions are that the Bold port, which, being created by khe legislature of 1W*. had preceded Rhe present port, has never been Dissolved, and' that aa a conse [quence the present port is sn usur pation of the old port; that the port law under which the new port hw-.s incorporated, is unconstitu- kional, and. that the port has not been incorporated in tlie -node •nd ■Banner provided in the said port law. The constitutionality of the law, however, has already sustained by the Supreme in the case of Straw va. Barna, and in the case of Bennett Trust Co. vs. Stengatacken. a suit Involving the validity of the pro ceedings taken for the institution of the Port of Coos Bay, the Supreme Court again upheld the constitu tionality of the law, as well as the procedure for incorporation. So the contestants have really but one leg to stand on, and that a shaky one, namely, the point regarding the existence of the old port, and the rqpultant confliction of the new port/ The case will be given a speedy tjial in the circuit court, at a spec ial session, after which it will be taken to the Supreme Court, where its quick disposal is expected. The second suit seeks to restrain the port from collecting taxes, or the payment of bonds, and ia based on practically the same grounds, At- torney Ralph R. Duniway has been retained to represent the plaintiffs. Bay City Active. The Port of Bay City was author ized by election May 4, 1910. It ex tends from Bay City eastward to the county line, embracing a atrip about 10 miles wide by 30 miles long, or 300 square miles in all, and has an assessed valuation of $2,002,- 620. A ten per cent bond issue, the limit permitted, enables it to raise $200,202 for harbor improvements. Its board of commissioners consists of John O. Bozorth, the president; Dr. W. C. Hawk, the vice-president; Theodore Jacoby, the secretary; Gust Nelson, the treasurer; and Charles W. Pike. It has collected a one mill tax this year, but has issued no bonds as yet. Attorneys employed by the Port of Bay City- have examined into its status, and pronounced all the requirements for legality satisfactory. Suitshave not threatened it thus far. The proposed Port of Bayocean takes in the Bayocean Peninsula, and half of the timber covered mountain known aB Cape Meares, from the watershed downward to the Tillamook Bay side. The valua tion of the port, according to as sessment, is somewhat over one million dollars. Tillamook Bay is about fifty miles south of the Columbia River. It is said to be the largest bay on the coast, between the mouth of the Columb'a River and the Golden Gate. From mouth to head it stretches about six and one-half miles, and ita width is three and one half miles. It has a surface of approximately 23 square miles. The name Tillamook is an Indian appellation of peculiar aptness. It means "the gathering of waters,” and Tillamook Bay is that in a sin gular degree, for five rivers, drain ing the central and the northern portions of Tillamook County, dis charge their waters into it At its extreme eastern head, the Trask and the Tillamook Rivera flow into the bay, only a short distance from each other and a little further north- watd and somewhat lower down, the Kelchis and the Wilson Rivers run into it. The Miami River, ex tending into the Nehalem Valley and draining the MiamiValley,flows into the bay about three miles from the ocean. Bay Has Three Channels. Tillamook City is at the head of Hoquarton Slough, a very crooked back-water stream and ia eastward about two and one-half miles above the bay. Bay City is on the north side of the bay, a little east of mid way between the mouth and the head, while further down, two miles from Bav City, is Hobsonville, a lumber town, and three milea down, on a shore line, Garibaldi, a can nery town. On the aouth aide of the bay Cape Meares rises, and at the west, with a reach of not quite four milea, the Bayocean penin sula stretches northward, dividing the bay from the ocean. Between the northern point of this penin sula and the shore on the opposite •ide ia a very deep and narrow pass, forming the channel through which the bay discharges • nd re- ceives the ocean's tides, At low water it ia but a few hundred feet across, from shore to shore, The bar is about one mile further out from thia point There is a heavy growth of timber on Cape Meares. and good mill sites are along the • bore line, but neither towns nor roads are on that side of the bay yet Tillamook Bay has three princi pal channels for vessels snd two of these are open, while the opening of the third ia urged ia some quart era. The two open channels ars the Bay City channel, open as far as Bay City, four miles from the en trance to the bay, and skirting the northern shore, - touching at the towns of Garibaldi and Hobson- ville ; .and the middle or ship chan nel, the channel mainly used by vessels, and the channel lead ing to Tillamook. On the south side of the bay, skirting Bav- ocean and Cape Meares, is the south or Sturgeon Channel, which is not open, but which is being strongly advocated by many as the expedi ent channel to open and main tain. Engineers Report Favorably. The necessary harbor work for keeping the bay and slough in their present state of navigability, is it. the hands of Captain John Groat, who has been stationed at Tilla mook by the government for many years. He is provided with a small dredge, and has at his disposal a regular annual appropriation of $5000, which, however, does not go very far. When this appropriation becomes exhausted, the Port of Tillamook or the citizens have been wont to contribute money to the re maining essential work. Any project for making a good harbor of Tillamook Bay, naturally resolves itself into three parts: first, the improvement of Hoquar ton Slough from Tillamook to the head of the bay ; second, the main tenance of a deep channel in the bay ; and third, the deepening and. improvement of the bar. Last fall a proposal was made to the government by the Ports of Tillamook and Bay City, acting jointly, to deepen the middle chan nel from Bay City to the bar, and to build a jetty on each side of the bar, so that at low tide there would be 16 feet of water in the channel, and 28 feet on the bar. The two ports offered to bear one fourth of the coat if the government would bear the remainder. A committee of three government engineers was appointed by the Board of Engi neers at Washington, to examine into the project, and to report their findings, with their recommenda tions in the matter. The committee consisted of Col. John Biddle of San Francisco, Major Kutz of Seat tle and Major Morrow of Portland. The special committee found that the proposed improvements would cost about $1,722,000 and recom mended that the plan submitted by the two ports be adopted by the government. The Board of En gineers at Washington, however, refused to sanction the report, but hinted thatif the people adja cent to the harbor agree to contrib ute half of the cost of the work, the plan would be more favorably viewed. The fact that the Washing ton engineers were not accustomed receive to favorable reports concern ing Tillamook Bay harbor improve ments, together with the fact that the report was submitied at an in opportune time, at a time when President Taft was insisting on rigid economy in government pf- fairs, were greatly responsible for the rejection of the recommenda tions. Original Plan Abandoned. of one channel or the other at once thereafter. To this end they have resolved to bond themselves for $450,009, and they will push the work with energy as soon as the pending litigation is decided. What the Tillamook port means to secure just as soon as it possibly can, is as great a depth to the mouth of the bay as is the depth of the water on the bar. They propose at present to leave the deepening of the bar entirely to the government, and to take up the work of slough and channel improvement either inde pendently, or with the aid of the other ports. Slough Easily Improved. It is generally conceded now that it will be a task allotted in its en tirety to Tillamook to improve the Slough, and to deepen and main tain the middle channel as far as Bay City, in case that channel is decided upon. The improvement of the slough involves the elimina tion of curves, the maintenance, at present, of a channel ten feet deep and 109 feet wide and the dig ging of a basin 690 feet long and 290 feet wide to provide terminal facilities ior vessels at Tillamook. Thia plan is in keeping with the intention of securing as great a depth in the channels as on the bar. When a greater depth has been secured on the bar, the slough will also be deepened and widened, and the terminal facilities at Tillamook will be enlarged. Ultimately, it is intended to maintain a depth of 16 feet on the slough, Hoquarton Slough from Tillamook to the mouth of Trask River, two miles, hag seven big horse shoe bends in it, which, besides just doubling the distance between these two points, present considerable difficulties to vessels attempting to reach Tilla mook, and prevent others entirely from getting there. About 129 feet is the maximum length at which vessels can now reach Tillamook. An 116-foot coaster is making regu lar calls at the port now. The pre sent plana involve the making of entirely new channels at two places on the slough by cutting straight through the land encircled by curves at these points; also, the attaining of a channel width of 150 feet at the other curves. The elimi nation of these two liends would shorten the distance to the mouth of the Trask River to 9000 feet. When the larger improvements are taken up, most of the other bends will also be eliminated from the channel, and thereby the distance from Tillamook to the head of the bay will be cut in half. The esti mated cost of the slough improve ments outlined is $80,000. Sentiment Favors Sturgeon Channel. The slough itself is already from 100 to 300 feet wide throughout its length, and the 100-foot width pud 10-foot depth of the improvement plans refer to the width and depth of the channel at low tide The present low tide depth ia three feet. Large vessels are always obliged to wait for low tides to go to depart from Tillamook thereby hampering shipping considerably. The pro posed improvements would obviate this handicap. From the mouth of the Trask would be another half mile of slough to maintain to the head of the bay, at Dry Stocking Bar, and from this (mint there will tie one and one half mile of bay channel io Dick’s Point, where the Sturgeon Channel branches off southward from the middle channel. The dis tance by channel route from Tilla mook to Dick’s Point ia slightly over four miles and to Bay City just seven miles. From Tillamook to the pass at Garibaldi by the middle channel is ten miles, and to the bar, eleven miles. A divided opinion exists with re gard to the maintenance of either the Sturgeon Channel or the middle channel, but a very strong senti ment of well-informed persons is urging the opening of the Sturgeon Channel. The argument in favor of this channel is that it is the nat ural channel, ia piotected from the winds and can best and most cheaply be maintained. J. B. C. Lockwood, consulting engineer for the Port of Portland for the last ten years, gives suc cinctly the reasons for opening the Sturgeon Channel. Mr. Lockwood was employed by the Port of Tilla mook in the latter part of May, to advise it ss to the beat plan to fol low in making harbor improve ments, and in his report he recom mended the opening of the south or Sturgeon Channel. Hie recoin mendation says : “ The choice of routes on the lower section lies clearly with the south channel, as the estimated amount of material to be excavated by that route is »W,Ot»r cubic yards ss sgsinst 380,999 cubic yards via the mam channel, and the mainten ance charge ia aura to be materially Iu paying one fourth of the cost of the improvement, Bay City was willing to pledge herself for the lin.it permitted by law, namely, $201,262. This would leave $230,238 to be born by Tillamook, or to be divided between Tillamook and Bayocean, should the latter port be incorporated. As the Port of Tilla mook, at its present assessed valu ation, can bond itself for $623,016, by paying the remainder alone, it would still have $392,778 with which to improve Hoquarton Slough and the channel from the mouth of the slough to Bay City. But when the plans were rejected at Washington, and that hint about paying one half came, the original plan was abandoned, for it was patent to all that the payment of one half of the coat of the proposed project was considerably more than could be undertaken by the porta. New plans were made—and here corn's the parting of the ways. The Bay City Port offered to coi • tribute its limit of $309,262 towards building a jetty on the north aide of the bar, at an es timated coat of $609,000, and in maintaining a channel with a 14 foot depth at low tide, as far as Bay City, if what remained towards half of the coat be given by the Tillamook Port, either alane or in conjunction with the proposed Bay ocean Port There are those, how ever, who favor a jetty on the south •ide of the bar instead of on the no.th aide and there are those who favor the opening of the Sturgeon channel instead of the middle ship channel, ao that the course to be pursued in the improvement of the channels and the bar ia just now a . fluctuating quantity. The Tillamook port, however, has ** By the south channel you avoid decided upon one thing, and that ia al) silt from the Wilson and KU- the immediate improvement of Ho- chis Rivera, and your maintenance qnarton Slough aa far aa Dry Stock expense will be limited to moving lag Bar, which ia practically the the s»lt from Trask and Tillamook rivers. You will certainly save bead of the bay, and the deepening half of your maintenance charge in keeping the south channel open as tide, will be left in its present con against the expense via the main dition. It skirts the north side of channel.” the bay and touches Garabaldi, Disuse Impairs Channel. Hobsonville and Bay C<ty. Near About fifteen years ago the Stur its lower part it has a rocky bottom, geon channel was a natural deep which would make dredging very channel, used regularly by vessels difficult. Bay City is reached by coming to Tillamook. At that time, water by means of a big dock, 1809 however, the governmet undertook feet long, built out into this chan a little improvement work on the nel. The Bay City Port, however, bay, and proceeded to render the proposes to extend this dock out middle channel available by render into the middle channel, by length ing ths Sturgeon Channel useless. ening it to 3000 feet. Bay City is They closed it by placing a jetty reached at present by water by across its head at Dick's Point, and means of a short and narrow cut of they built several jetties along the about 1500 feet, leading from the middle channel from Dick’s Point mam channel to the Bay City to Bay City, the evident intention channel. This cut was dredged out being to force the water towards about five years ago. Bay City. The abandonment of the Bay City As a consequence of disuse the channel would effect only Hobson Sturgeon channel has been filling ville, as all the channels consoli up, but it has still a depth of from date at Garibaldi. There are no one to ten feet at low tide. It is forces which would tend to fill up held, however, that it could be re this channel, and the Miami river opened and maintained a consider emptying into the bay in a swift ably lesser expense than the middle current midway between Hobson channel can merely be maiutniued. ville and Garibaldi, tends to keep The Sturgeon channel runs along u part of the channel dear. Hob- the southern shore of the bay, aonville could always be reached, where besides providing means of as at present,by vessels and lumber water communication for that part, schooners of goodly size. With regard to bar improvements, which has been hitherto unsettled, but is opening up, it is protected a division of opinion also exists, by Cape Meares from the high being as between the merits of a southwest winds, which menace jetty on the south side of the bar shipping in time of storms, and also and a jetty on the north side. A tend to drive sand into the un jetty on both sides would of course protected channel. Besides this, be the best plan, but it is conceded it ia the channel now used by the that this is too big an undertaking The government Bayocean interests for a consider i\,r some time. able distance up from its mouth. engineers have recommend the Boats to reach Bayocean from north jetty, and the Port of Hay Tillamook, or Tillamook from Buy City is also favoring that plan, but ocean, now are obliged to go down while the Port of Tillamook has not the middle channel and up the gone on record, pro or con, a Sturgeon, or vice versa, thus giving strong sentiment exists in Tillu- them a tide to " buck” either way. mook favoring the south jetty. The Buyocean people, moreover, Bar Presents Difficulties. when their port is organized, will The Tillamook bur is at present maintain n considerable portion of constantly shifting, both as to this channel themselves, thereby position uml to depth. The heavy further reducing Tillamook’s ex southwestern galea of the winter pense by nearly half. Bayocean time drive the channel far north, has already expended a consider sometimes causing it to divide into able sum of private money in many small channels, while the digging a channel nearly a mile northwestern winds of the summer long with a 16-foot high tide depth, from the Sturgeon Channel to the drive it southward. The range of fluctuation ia more than two miles, Bayocean docks. and the shifting to the north is Rivers Carry Silt. much more pronounced than thk' Should the Sturgeon Channel be to the south. Part of the aunitr. agreed upon, the Porte of Tilla time the channel extends stra «5^ mook and Bayocean would expect out to sea. to bear the whole cost of opening The advantage of a south chi and maintenance. The cost of its exponents say, is that it opening to a ten foot depth at low prevent the southern currr tide has been estimated at from sands from shifting the < $35,099 to $49,090. The distance by northward, and that it would also this channel from Dick’s Point to offer a comparatively safe conduit Bayocean is some three ami three- for vessels making Tillamook Bay fourths miles, to the Garibaldi in stormy weather. All big storms pass a little less than six, and to are from the southwest, anl the the bar a little less than seven. south jetty would tend to check the From Tillamook to Dick's Point is force of the wind on the water of slightly more than four milea, and the channel, making them less thus from Tillamook to the bar turbulent, while this effect would be this way would ire just about tl:« just reversed with a north jetty. same as by the middle channel, The north jetty advocates, how. eleven miles. ever, say that a north jetty would The cost of improving and main act uh a bulwark against the taining the middle "channel from northerly shifting of the channel, Dry Stocking Bar to Bay City, four and that the additional impetus miles, lias been placed at $60,000. given to the current by the jetty The Kelchis and the Wilson rivera flow into the bay about this point, I would check the slight shifting to the south. They point out as an and their waters merge, making additional argument that the north one channel, which constitutes the jetty, with a railroad constructed to upper part of the Bay City channel. the north side, and with suitable The channel which they form, rock nearby, could be constructed bends in an elbow very close to the much more cheaply than the south middle channel, thus tending, and jetty. A rough estimate has placed particularly so at high tide, to wash the cost of constructing a jetty on all the sediment and silt from the the north side sufficient to main river into the main channel. tain a 14-foot depth on the bar, at It may be a hard matter to induce $009,609, and that of building a the government engineers to per similar jetty on the south aide at mit the opening of the Sturgeon $1,090,000. channel, however, for the govern Captain Paul Schrader, master ment plane have always reckoned of the Sue H. Elmore, who has with the middle channel. been running into Tillamook for The principal argument of the many years, ami who is un opponents of the Sturgeon Channel [ doubtedly the best informed man is not that it is not the natural | of Tillamook bay and harbor con channel, btit that it would benefit ( ditions, thinks that the south jetty only Tillamook They point out that is the proper one, blit concedes a the opening of the Sturgeon Chan-1 su|»erior knowledge to the govern nel would leave the opening of the ment engineers in their decision. main channel still a necessity, and : that the government would be un Captain Favors North Jetty. willing to maintain or authorize the Captain F. E. Dodge, an old-time maintenance of two channels on the 1 mariner on tlie Oregon coast, and bay. particularly on Tillamook buy, The middle channel will always1 favors, on the other hand, the north be needed to accommodate the towns jetty. Captain Dodge says that on the north side of the bay as far when he come to Tillamook first, in as Bay City, and the opening of the 1892, there was a depth of 24 feet on Sturgeon channel and the"abandon the bar, and that the northern shore ment of the other would cut Bay line extended much further seaward City off entirely from the head of than it does at present. The water the bay and from Tillamook. Strong in those years, he says, has l>een advocates of the middle channel in j washing the northern shore away, Tillamook point out that Tillamook allowing current to spread, and could afford this as little as Bay vitiating its force in washing tire City. channel clear, until now the chan North Channel Unimportant. nel ia becoming obliterated, llis There are those, also, who think theory is tin t a north jetty should that by diking the main channel on Ire burlt, thus not only preventing the north aide, the aide on which the channel from shitting north the Kelchis snd the Wilson riv?m ward, but confining the «bore line flow, and by depositing the material with somewhat the same effect us removed from the channel behind I had the shore line in early days, so this wall or dike, the silt from the that the force of the water < ould rivers could be prevented from keep the channel clear. He thinks washing into the channel, and that that sand will Iregin to pile up thus it could be maintained at a against the north aide of the jetty and that thus the former seaward lower cost than at first estimated. The Bay City channel, with a shore line will again be established depth at this time of 10 feet at high on the north side.