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.