The colorful history of Oregon's bay area. Coos Bay and the Oregon Coast boasts the largest commercial port between San Francisco and Seattle. Tales of shipwrecks and lighthouses
The Oregon coast, with its towering sea cliffs and crashing saltwater spray has a history all its own; at the center of this history is the Coos Bay area. Coos Bay boasts the biggest commercial sea-port between San Francisco and Seattle. Since the time of the Pioneers, Coos Bay has been Oregon's main passage to the sea.
Coos Bay took its name from a local Native American Tribe. The word is said to have two meanings, lake and place of pines. Prior to European settlement, the Coos Bay area was the homeland of the Coos Indians. The Lower Umpqua, and the Siuslaw Indians as well as the Coquille Tribe also inhabited the tribe.
When the 16th Century brought Europeans to the Oregon Coast, they were awestruck by the blazing sunsets, emerald forests and scenic beaches. Trappers frequented the area in the early part of the 19th century, but the first permanent settlement of the southern coast was not founded until 1853 by members of the Coos Bay Co. That first settlement was called Empire city and is now a part of the City of Coos Bay. Before taking its present-day name, Coos Bay was known as Marshfield, named after the founder of the Coos Bay Co. In its early days, the southern coast's economy was greatly dependent on the waterways and forests. Coal mining and the shipment of coal as well as wood products were Coos Bays building blocks to the city it is now. Today, ship building and shipping products of the sea are some of Coos Bay's major industries.
Lighthouses and shipwrecks are amongst Coos Bay's colorful history. Located near Coos Bay on one of the most dangerous stretches of the Oregon cost is the Cape Arago lighthouse built in 1866 on a small island just off the mainland. The site became known as "Lighthouse Island" and was the site of numerous shipwrecks.
Until 1876, Lighthouse Island was accessible only by boat. Then in 1876, the "Bridge of Sighs" was built, a footbridge from the mainland to the island. The bridge proved to be more of a problem than a solution. It washed away on two occasions and was in constant need of repairs. In 1891 a 400-foot tramway was built with a hand-pulled cable car. The system worked well for seven years and in 1896 work began on a high bridge, but just before its completion a tragedy took place; Thomas Wyman, the lighthouse keeper, his daughter and two others were being winched across when a cable broke. The group was sent plunging to the crashing water below. As a result, Wyman's legs were crushed and one leg had to be amputated. Eight weeks later the bridge was completed and still stands there today.
It is said that long ago the island was home to an Indian village and that their dead was buried there. Every year in August, local tribes hold salmon bakes and still cast ashes of the dead into the nearby sea.
The most horrific of shipwrecks on the southern coast, is by far, the wreck of the Czarina. On January 12, 1910 the 216-foot, British built steamship began her final voyage when she left Coos Bay bound for San Francisco. On this day, the skies were overcast and a northeastern wind was picking up; the sea was becoming more turbulent by the minute. On board was a 23-man crew as well as the son of the Southern Pacific Railroad's general manager.
Before the ship got far, a series of huge waves hammered the Czarina, carrying her along to the south spit where she blew a distress signal. The waves became so oppressive that she was then driven north into the breakers, and soon several feet of water flooded into the engine room, dousing the coal fires. The ship's captain ordered her anchors dropped and she settled broadside, parallel to the beach. But as fate would have it, they were too far out to sea to receive prompt assistance from the mainland. She was nearly two thousand feet from the shore.
The lifeboats were smashed to pieces and washed away. The Coos Bay Life Saving Station attempted to launch a surf boat and shoot a life cable to the crew, but failed. Meanwhile the ship's cargo of lumber was gathering in the surf and smashing against the shore. The turbulent sea prevented the near-by steamer, Nan Smith from attempting a rescue.
Throughout the long, cold night, people on the beach lit fires to offer encouragement to failing strength of the crew, but before morning their situation had worsened, the riggings gave way and the ship floundered. One by one the exhausted men began to drop to their deaths into the icy Pacific waters. By the next day all that could be seen was the mast and the men that held onto it for their lives.
Of the 24 men that set out on that voyage, only one survived. The First Assistant Engineer, Harry Kentzel hung to a large piece of timber until he drifted close enough inland that someone was able to pull him to shore.
The wreck of the Czarina was long remembered and is still the subject of folklore along the southern coast of Oregon.
