Nehalem
Valley History
Early
pioneers to this valley found friendly Indians and open land,
however, they found the coastal trails (there were no roads),
so rough and difficult that they stayed wherever they could find
rivers and level land. Nehalem was a typical western small town,
with false-fronted buildings facing a main street that was partly
built on pilings and fill ground right on the river's edge. Soon
there was a saw mill built on the island just east of town. Logging
had started up the Nehalem river and logs were floated down to
the mill.
Wooden
boats were built and fishermen began catching salmon in such quantities
that a cannery was constructed to can the bounty.
The first mail route was established from Portland in 1870. The
route was by boat down the Columbia River to Astoria, following
the coastal beaches to the foot of Neah-kah-Nie mountain, then
up and around the mountain, then down to Manzanita and Nehalem,
then by boat out the Nehalem River and down the coast to Tillamook.
The trip took a week, one way, on horseback and boat.
Dairy farmers had either brought their own milk cows, or had a
herd shipped by barge down the coast to Nehalem Bay. Surplus milk
was later hauled to the Mohler Creamery, where the milk was processed
into butter and cheese. The Tillamook Dairy Farmers Cooperative
was formed for the benefit of all dairy farmers in the county.
Fishermen soon discovered that the bay was full of large edible
crabs. Crab traps were constructed and the crab fishery was started
and continues today.
The first school in the valley was held in a private home in 1879.
The Nehalem Union High school was built on the hillside overlooking
the town, and is still standing and used as a Grammar School today.
Communications became an issue among the citizens, and with the
advent of the telephone they put pressure to have a means of talking
to friends and family.
Tillamook County granted the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph permission
to erect poles and wires across and upon the county roads on September
4,1907. A similar petition of the Mutual Telephone Company was
granted on March 5, 1908. The county gave Nehalem Telephone and
Telegraph Company a franchise on March 9, 1912.
Wheeler
was originally founded as a mill town, in 1880 by C.H. Wheeler
and C.A. Himple, and was first known as Vosburg, The town was
situated on the Nehalem River, about three miles above the river
mouth. Vosburg was renamed Wheeler in 1913, when John Dubois acquired
the mill and had the town incorporated.
In
1883, in the city of Portland, 50 old men paraded down the streets
in honor of the end of their era, and to celebrate the beginning
of another, for right behind these men, steamed the first International
steam locomotive. The railroad had reached the Northwest and Oregon.
One politician remarked, "Oregon is now incorporated with
the rest of the world."
In
due time, railroad engineers were busy surveying for a railroad
route through the Pacific Range of mountains, to the coast. In
1911 the railroad opened a whole new frontier, the coastal towns
of Nehalem, Manzanita and Wheeler became cities.
Wheeler
was the hub of commerce with many thriving businesses and services,
including banking, railroad travel, hospital and even a movie
house. Stores and shops opened, as tourist traffic began to flow
through the area. These cities had a great advantage over the
other coastal cities, they had the railroad.
Persons moving into this valley, soon find out that there is a
very close relationship between residents, many of whom are intermarried
to the pioneer families of yesteryear. Those seeking history of
the area, should talk with some of these older people.
The entire area was helped by the opening of the Coast highway,
(U.S.101) that opened in 1941, that connected the north with the
southern portion of highway, for the entire length of the state.
~ The Nehalem Valley history is courtesy of
Jack
Bedwell and the Nehalem Valley Historical Society. ~
