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Pacific Ocean and Tillamook Head with Brown Pelicans, Oregon.
View from the South Jetty, Clatsop Spit.
Image taken September 27, 2009.
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Tillamook Head ...
"Clark's Point of View" ...
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Captain Clark is generally given credit as the first white person to not only view but also visit Tillamook Head.
On November 18, 1805, while at Cape Disappointment, Clark wrote:
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"... from Cape Disapointment to a high point of a Mountn. which we shall call [the Nicholas Biddle version has Clarke's Point of View inserted here, the "mountain" having received that name from Captain Clark's visit to it in January 1806.] beares S. 20° W. about <40> [WC?: 25] miles, point adams is verry low and is Situated within the direction between those two high points of land, ..."
[Clark, November 18, 1805]
Captain Clark passed, climbed, and spent the night near the top of Tillamook Head on January 7-8, 1806, while on his way to Cannon Beach to see a dead whale.
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"... assended a Steep mountain, as Steep at it is possible places for 1500 [two letters smudged, illegible] feet we hauled our Selves up by the assistence of the bushes if one had Given way we must have fallen a great distanc the Steepest worst & highest mountain I ever assended I think it at least 1500 feet highr than the Sea imidiately under on the riht.
..."
[Clark, January 7, 1806, first draft]
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"... after walking for 2½ miles on the Stones my guide made a Sudin halt, pointed to the top of the mountain and uttered the word Pe Shack which means bad and made Signs that we could not proceed any further on the rocks, but must pass over that mountain, I hesitated a moment & view this emence mountain the top of which was obscured in the clouds, and the assent appeard, to be almost perpindecular;
..."
[Clark, January 7, 1806]
The next morning Clark proceeded to the top and exclaimed over the view, giving Tillamook Head it's often-used named "Clark's Point of View".
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"... we Set out early and proceeded to the top of the mountain next to the which is much the highest part and that part faceing the Sea is open, from this point I beheld the grandest and most pleasing prospects which my eyes ever surveyed, in my frount a boundless Ocean; to the N. and N. E. the coast as as far as my sight Could be extended, the Seas rageing with emence wave and brakeing with great force from the rocks of Cape Disapointment as far as I could See to the N. W. The Clatsops Chinnooks and other villagers on each Side of the Columbia river and in the Praries below me, the meanderings of 3 handsom Streams heading in Small lakes at the foot the high Country; The Columbia River for a Some distance up, with its Bays and Small rivers and on the other Side I have a view of the Coast for an emence distance to the S. E. by S. the nitches and points of high land which forms this Corse for a long ways aded to the inoumerable rocks of emence Sise out at a great distance from the Shore and against which the Seas brak with great force gives this Coast a most romantic appearance. from this point of View my guide pointed to a village at the mouth fo a Small river near which place he Said the whale was, he also pointed to 4 other places where the princpal Villages of the Kil la mox were Situated, I could plainly See the houses of 2 of those Villeges & the Smoke of a 3rd which was two far of for me to disern with my naked eye
..."
[Clark, January 8, 1806]
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Discovered by Heceta ??? ...
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Point Adams was thought to have been discovered by Captain Bruno Heceta on August 17, 1775, while he was off the North American coast. Some historians however, even as early as 1889, question whether Heceta did not see Point Adams, but instead saw Tillamook Head.
From Heceta's journal:
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"... On the evening of this day [August 17, 1775] I [Heceta] discovered a large bay, to which I gave the name Assumption Bay ... Its latitude and longitude are determined according to the most exact means afforded by theory and practice. The latitudes of the two most prominent capes of this bay are calculated from the observations of this day. ... Having arrived opposite this bay at six in the evening, and placed the ship nearly midway between the two capes ...
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The two capes which I name in my plan, Cape San Roque and Cape Frondoso, lie in the angle of 10 degrees of the third quadrant. They are both faced with red earth and are of little elevation.
On the 18th I observed Cape Frondoso, with another cape, to which I gave the name of Cape Falcon, situated in the latitude of 45 degrees 43 minutes, and they lay at an angle of 22 degrees of the third quadrant, and from the last mentioned cape I traced the coast running in the angle of 5 degrees of the second quadrant. This land is mountainous, but not very high ...
..."
[W.D. Lyman, 1909, The Columbia River, repeating paragraphs from Heceta's writings.]
From the 1889 U.S. Coast Survey in a description of Point Adams:
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"... On August 17, 1775, he [Heceta] was off the
mouth of the river, which he supposed to be a great bay, but he was so far distant that he noted only the Cape, on the north, and Tillamook Head on the south.
..."
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Views ...
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Tillamook Head from the beach at Seaside, Oregon.
Image taken May 2, 2010.
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- Ecola Point and Ecola State Park ...
- Tillamook Head Geology ...
- Tillamook Rock and Tillamook Rock Lighthouse ...
- World War II ...
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Ecola Point and Ecola State Park ...
Today the entire tip of Tillamook Head is Ecola State Park, with one of the southern points being named Ecola Point. In 2004 Ecola State Park became part of the Lewis and Clark National Park, a grouping of National and State parks in Washington and Oregon relating to Lewis and Clark.
[More]
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View of the Oregon coastline looking at Crescent Beach and Chapman Point, as seen from Ecola Point, Ecola State Park, Oregon.
Note Haystack Rock on far right.
Image taken July 14, 2010.
"... I have a view of the Coast for an emence distance to the S. E. by S. the nitches and points of high land which forms this Corse for a long ways aded to the inoumerable rocks of emence Sise out at a great distance from the Shore and against which the Seas brak with great force gives this Coast a most romantic appearance ..."
[Clark, January 8, 1806]
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Tillamook Head Geology ...
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Fifteen million years ago large fissure eruptions occurred near Lewiston, Idaho, sending massive volumes of lava across eastern Washington and down the early Columbia River valley. These lava flows created layers upon layers of basalt reaching hundreds of feet in thickness. Collectively these lava flows are known as the Columbia River Basalts. Some of these flows poured into the Pacific Ocean and spread out through the soft marine sediments for dozens of miles. In some spots (such as Haystack Rock), these flows re-erupted through thousands of feet of mud onto the sea floor, essentially having their own eruptive centers. These lavas then cooled to become solid basalt. Millions of years later as the Coast Range lifted, so did these massive flows. Erosion took over creating such headlands as Tillamook Head and sea stacks such as Haystack Rock.
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Tillamook Rock and Tillamook Rock Lighthouse ...
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The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, also known as "Tilly" and "Terrible Tilly", sits on a large rock off Tillamook Head. The lighthouse operated from 1881 to 1957. According to the "Oregon Encyclopedia" (2018, Oregon Historical Society), the lighthouse was originally slated for Tillamook Head, "but officials determined that the south-facing landform would not provide good visibility for mariners seeking the bar." Tillamook Head was later donated by its private owners to the state and became Ecola State Park.
Tillamook Rock is an acre in size, rises nearly 100 feet from the sea, and lies 1.2 miles due west from Tillamook Head and 20 miles south of the mouth of the Columbia River. The lighthouse tower stands 133 feet above sea level.
The U.S. Coast Guard closed the Tillamook Lighthouse in 1957. It had become the most expensive lighthouse in the country to maintain but had been made obsolete by "modern radar and communications technologies." Declared surplus, Tillmook Rock was sold several times. It is now part of the Oregon Island National Wildlife Refuge and in 1981 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (Event, Architecture/Engineering #81000480).
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Click image to enlarge
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Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, as seen from Ecola Point, Ecola State Park, Oregon.
Image taken July 14, 2010.
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World War II ...
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"Tillamook Head WWII Radar Site (1943-1944, 1948-1950) - A World War II U.S. Army Signal Corps Radar Site established in 1943 as a part of the Aircraft Warning Service (AWS). Used to provide early warning and direction of intercepts of approaching enemy aircraft. Located by Tillamook Head, south of Seaside in Clatsop County, Oregon. Deactivated in 1944 reactivated in 1948 and declared surplus in 1950. Also known as Station J-23.
This radar site was established in 1943 during World War II as a part of a chain of some 65 radar stations along the West Coast of the United States and Canada. These secret radar sites were built to provide early warning and interception of approaching enemy aircraft and ships but also served to assist friendly aircraft that were lost or had in-flight emergencies. This radar network was in addition to a network of search and fire control radars established at each of the West Coast harbor defenses. ..."
Operations Site - Now part of Ecola State Park property, The shell of the underground operations building has both hillside entrances blocked by heavy steel doors. Above ground, the air intake and exhaust vents are visible with the most prominent being the triple intake vents for the three generator radiators. Also visible are the concrete antenna support piers on the west side of the building.
Cantonment Site - Now part of Ecola State Park property, no visible remains."
Source:
"fortwiki.com" website, 2018.
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From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
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Clark, November 18, 1805 ...
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... from Cape Disapointment [Cape Disappointment, Washington] to a high point of a Mountn. which we shall call
[the Nicholas Biddle version has Clarke's Point of View inserted here. "Clarke's Point of View" is today's Tillamook Head, a name received when Clark visited and climbed the formation in Janaury 1806.]
beares S. 20° W. about <40> [WC?: 25] miles, point adams [Point Adams, Oregon] is verry low and is Situated within the direction between those two high points of land, the water appears verry Shole from off the mouth of the river for a great distance, and I cannot assertain the direction of the deepst Chanel, the Indians point nearest the opposit Side. the waves appear to brake with tremendious force in every direction quite across a large Sand bar lies within the mouth nearest to point Adams [Point Adams] which is nearly covered at high tide. I suped on brant this evening with a little pounded fish. Some rain in the after part of the night. men appear much Satisfied with their trip beholding with estonishment the high waves dashing against the rocks & this emence ocian.
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Clark, January 7, 1806 ...
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... after walking for 2½ miles on the Stones my guide made a Sudin halt, pointed to the top of the mountain and uttered the word Pe Shack which means bad and made Signs that we could not proceed any further on the rocks, but must pass over that mountain [Tillamook Head], I hesitated a moment & view this emence mountain the top of which was obscured in the clouds, and the assent appeard, to be almost perpindecular; as the Small Indian parth allong which they had brought emence loads but a fiew hours before, led up this mountain and appeared to assend in a Sideling direction, I thought more than probable that the assent might be torerably easy and therefore proceeded on, I soon found that the [blank] become much worst as I assended, and at one place we were obliged to Support and draw our Selves up by the bushes & roots for near 100 feet, and after about 2 hours labour and fatigue we reached the top of this high mountain, from the top of which I looked down with estonishment to behold the hight which we had assended, which appeared to be 10 or 12 hundred feet up a mountain which appeared to be almost perpindicular, here we met 14 Indians men and women loaded with the oil & Blubber of the whale. In the face of this tremendeous precipic imediately below us, there is a Strater of white earth (which my guide informed me) the neighbouring indians use to paint themselves, and which appears to me to resemble the earth of which the French Porcelain is made; I am confident that this earth Contains argill, but whether it also Contains Silex or magnesia, or either of those earths in a proper perpotion I am unable to deturmine. we left the top of the precipice and proceeded on a bad road and encamped on a Small run passing to the left. all much fatiagued
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Clark, January 8, 1806 ...
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