[or-roots] Another story of the wilds of Coos and Douglas county between Reedsport and Coos Bay....

[Robyn Greenlund]

Charleen and Les - hope you enjoy this one too!

 

A Dreadful Experience
Story of a Barren Beach Between
Gardiner and Empire City

The Los Angeles Herald has this story
of the Oregon coast:

The last part of the Pacific coast to
settle up will be that portion lying between Coos bay and the mouth
of the Umpqua river, a stretch of 22 miles, with as bleak and
inhospitable a bit of coast was ever seen. In the past 40 years as
many cessels have laid their bones on those cruel sands. From the
first settlement of Coos bay til 1859 there were no stages on that
beach. The mailcarrier made his weary journey on foot and was ferried
across the river by an Indian, who lived below the old fort.

Lewis Leibman, one of the oldest
commercial travelers on the coast, is staying at Hollenbeck. In 1871
he was engaged in purchasing hides and furs through that country, and
the mailcarrier on the beach was a sturdy Englishman names Joseph
Hare, nearly six feet high and a mass of muscle. They left Coos bay
about 2 p.m. And jogged along about three miles per hour up that
stormy beach. It was nearly 6 o'clock and quite dark when they
reached Winchester Head, a round butte that lies on the south bank of
the Umpqua. There they found a skiff that had been left for Hare to
cross in and shot out into the angry stream, swollen by winter rains
and roughened by a strong southerly wind. Frail as was the little
skiff, Hale managed her with consummate skill and was within 50 feet
of the opposity shore when a monster wave swamped the boat. Both men
came up at once and caught the gunwale of the boat, which they sought
to push toward the land, but the angry stream carried them down
toward the ocean several hundred yards before they could effect a
landing. Then it was that Leibman discovered that Joe Hare was so
badly chilled that he could not walk. He called loudly for help, but
no one heard him. To the Indian's cabin where the boat was usually
kept was about a half mile, but it seemed like five miles to the
sturdy little drummer, who shouldered his helpless companion and
walked along a narrow trail, a few steps at time. He was upwards of
an hour at this job when suddenly the welcome bark of an Indian dog
rang out on the cold night air. The Indian was away from home, but
his squaw came to his assistance, and the two benumbed travelers were
alongside of a warm fire in the Siwash's hut. Liebman is a much
smaller man than Hare, and his success in saving his comrade could be
ascribed to downright pluck and perserverance. In a conversation with
one of the Herald's reporters last night at the Hollenbeck, the
reporter recalled the incident, and the jolly little drummer laughed
heartlily over it, but it evidently was not much of a laughing matter
at the time it occurred.

A Dreadful Experience. Story of the
Barren Bench Between Gardiner and Empire City  
(News Article)
Date: 1894-07-04; Paper: Oregonian

 Robyn
rgreenlund61 at yahoo.com

Interested in Oregon History? Check out my webpages at
coquillevalley.org or genealogytrails.com (Coos & Curry Counties)



      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/or-roots/attachments/20100214/007fb76f/attachment.html>