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Opinion Editorials Coastal Voices Guest Opinion: Del Norte’s maritime roots run deep
Coastal Voices Guest Opinion: Del Norte’s maritime roots run deep
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The Triplicate’s suggestion (“Want a theme? Look to our maritime roots,” Jan. 6) is most appropriate. Del Norte County has maritime roots that go back to the redwood canoes that the local Indians used for fishing, whaling, and just getting from “here to there” in an easier way than tramping through the coastal and riverside forests. The earliest Spanish explorers sailed the coastline as far north as Cape Ferello. Francis Drake sailed down the coast from his landfall north of Coos Bay to his careening site at the mouth of Drake’s Estero on Drakes Bay. Bruno de Hezeta made his landfall in 1775 at St. George Reef. He sailed south from there to Trinidad, which he named (one of the few of his names that stuck). George Vancouver named Point St. George and the reef. There were many more who sailed by the Del Norte coast in those very early years. With settlement after the Gold Rush, there had to be a way to get the various products of early Del Norte County to market. The road — more of a trail than a road — over the mountains, was a long trip by pack train, and even the early wagons and the freight charges were high. Mining, unless the product could be processed to its pure form, was not profitable if the only way out of the county was by land. The biggest industry in the county, both in what it processed and the wealth it produced, was lumber. There was not a wagon built that could carry enough lumber to the north, east or south that could turn a profit. The only practical way to move lumber out of the county was by sea. It really began with the wheat and butter that the earliest settlers produced that went mostly to the south by sea in the little two-masted schooners that were build near the river and creek mouths that emptied into the ocean. They were too small and too slow to make much of a profit for their owner-operators. Then someone had the idea of putting a steam engine in one of the little schooners and the “steam schooner” was launched. These small steam ships, built mostly in Humboldt Bay, but also in other ports from San Francisco north, became the trucks and railroad trains of the North Coast. There were literally hundreds of them built. Some were owner-operated, others were owned by the lumber companies, others were owned by larger steamship lines. Most were captained by Scandinavian immigrants, so many in fact, that the ships were called the “Scandinavian Navy.” Not only were they the trucks, they were also the buses. Some had pretty luxurious accommodations, including grand staircases, saloons and dining rooms, as well as staterooms built for three. What a way to go to “the city” (San Francisco) to see the sights and to shop. Two days south in your cabin near the stern of a reliable, smooth-sailing steam schooner. A couple of days in a fancy hotel like the Palace, and two days back in either the same or another equally well-manned steam schooner. It certainly was easier, quieter and safer to sail to “the city” than to go by stage or even the old Northwestern Pacific Railroad that only ran as far north as Arcata. Then there was the fishing industry that could only get its products to market by sea. There were the salmon canneries at the mouth of the Klamath. They were there for the obvious reason — the Klamath River. They were also there because the ships could come in close, even over the bar at high tide, and load the canned salmon. There were other types of ships and water craft. There were the transplanted East Coast ships like the ill-fated Brother Jonathan. The “stolen steamer” New World steamed past Del Norte County on her way to become a crack steamer on the Columbia River. There was the Senator that alternated as needed from “the city” to Sacramento trade to “the city” to Portland run. There were and are many more. There is the shipyard at Fashion Blacksmith that has pioneered in rebuilding, widening, re-powering, and repairing fishing vessels from Alaska to Mexico. There are the many fishing boats tied up in the harbor; if they could only talk, they would fill volumes about the maritime history of Del Norte. Let’s not forget the lighthouses: Battery Point, not just quaint, but a working early California lighthouse that has a fascinating history of its own. Then there is the giant St. George Reef Lighthouse. Its construction was one of the wonders of the 19th century. Many knowledgeable people believe that it could not be built with today’s technology. It was the most dangerous and deadly lighthouse in the whole system. Then there is our all-volunteer Coast Guard Auxiliary Station with its own boat — a first or near-first in the Coast Guard fleet. I have just chipped a little rust off the maritime history of Del Norte. More will take a little more digging, but it’s there waiting to be discovered by someone like Dennis Powers, whose books on the tsunami and St. George Reef Light are outstanding. Robert Lynch is a Smith River resident and a longtime student of Pacific Coast maritime history. He holds a master’s degree in history from Stanford University. |
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