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 SEATTLE — Pass by pass, an old
lens turns through the decades.
It is part of the rhythm of the
Umpqua Coast. Turning with the
ebb and flood of the tides, the
sun and moon in the sky, its
reliable beam shines out onto
the sea.
It is an icon of the Coast
Guard's ancestry, originally
operated by the U.S. Lighthouse
Service. It is a regional
identity to the communities
surrounding Winchester Bay, a
sentimental relic to the ships
that transit here, but of all
the things that it is, a federal
aid to navigation it is no
longer.
On Apr. 14, 2012, under the
precision of an antique Fresnel
lens, Coast Guardsman passed the
maintenance and operation of the
Umpqua River Lighthouse to
Douglas County, Ore. The story
of the light is the intertwining
story of the Coast Guard,
Winchester Bay and the
settlement of the west.
"We are only effecting this
turnover because of our
confidence in the ability of
Douglas County, supported by
community volunteers, to
maintain and operate this
light," said Cmdr. Daryl
Peloquin, Chief of Aids to
Navigation Branch for the 13th
Coast Guard District.
When early settlers arrived at
the Umpqua River, they found a
rugged, but providing landscape.
The Native American's name 'Umpqua,'
translates to 'full belly,'
reflecting the river's abundant
and sustaining nature.
SEATTLE — Crewman of
U.S. Lifesaving
Service
Station Umpqua
River, Ore., pose
for a photo
in the station boat
house in the 1890s.
They
are surrounded by
lifesaving equipment
of the
era, and a remnant
of the steamer
vessel
Tacoma, a famous
shipwreck of the
region,
hangs above their
heads. U.S. Coast
Guard photo uploaded by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler |
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To the early settlers a
lighthouse could establish a
place in the local, national and
global economy. It was critical
to the region that ships could
safely transit and recognize the
ports of Winchester Bay,
Reedsport and Gardner, allowing
the export of lumber and
operation of a strong fishing
fleet.
Oregon in the early 1800s was
still very much 'the Wild West.'
Native Americans and settlers
were not always in agreement.
Settler's designs to construct a
tower made local native people
suspect that it was the
beginning of a military fort,
and they are said to have
passively retaliated by walking
off with tools from the
construction site.
Despite these and the challenges
of building on the region's
sandy shores, the community
completed the first lighthouse
to identify the Oregon Coast on
Oct. 10, 1857. A mineral oil
lamp projected a beam through a
rotating Fresnel lens.
The endeavor set the tone for the future of local developing
coastal communities, however it is not the light that shines at the
Umpqua entrance today. In January
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of 1864, storm damage eroded the foundation and the lens was
removed only a week before the structure collapsed. |
It was 24 years before another
light was built here. At the
time the light functioned like a
clock tower, with pulleys and
weight keeping tension on a
series of cogs, rotating a
first-order Fresnel lens,
sending two white flashes
followed by one red. A watchman
remained on duty to continuously
reset and maintain the process,
and ensure the lamp was lit.
Seafaring economic prosperity
was restored. Winchester Bay
could no longer boast the
original functioning Oregon
light, but the maritime
transportation system was
operational again.
SEATTLE — Coast
Guard personnel pose
for a photo on
recently modernized
search and rescue
equipment near
Winchester Bay,
Ore., in the 1940s.
Until recently,
shore
patrols were
conducted on
horseback or on
foot. U.S.
Coast Guard photo
uploaded by Petty
Officer 2nd Class
Eric J. Chandler |
|
In 1883, the steamer Tacoma
wrecked near the rivers
entrance. The crew was being
battered by storm waves within
view of an unreachable shore
until a group of hastily
assembled volunteers gained
national attention by rescuing
the desperate men. In doing so
they showed the need for a local
U.S. Lifesaving Service Station.
Later awarded gold and silver
life saving medals, the
volunteers were employed by the
federal government to operate
the first local lifesaving
station, located on the north
shore of the Umpqua.
By the 1940s and the end of
World War II, both the
Lifesaving Service, and
Lighthouse Service had been
enveloped into the expanding
multi-mission service, the
United States Coast Guard. The
life saver's of Coast Guard
Station Umpqua River would
eventually inherit the
responsibility of keeping the
light and a new station and
boathouse were built closer to
the light on the south shore of
the Umpqua.
The light was automated to an electric motor system in the 60s,
and continued to shine across the Pacific Northwest seas unmanned.
The automation allowed manpower to focus on other areas of the Coast |
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Guard's responsibility. |
The light continued to shine,
into another age of changing
times. Large shipping traffic
became less of a presence on the
Umpqua and small recreational
and fishing activity increased.
The Coast Guard station moved
again, to a location beside the
newly constructed Salmon Harbor
Marina.
SEATTLE — A U.S.
Coast Guardsman
carries a radio on
beach patrol during
World War II. During
the 1st and 2nd
World War, personnel
at life saving
stations were tasked
with patrolling
these shores in
search of foreign
threats. U.S. Coast
Guard photo uploaded
by Petty Officer 2nd
Class Eric J.
Chandler |
|
Maritime navigation slowly
changed as well. Global
positioning satellites and
advanced aid placement along the
river's path of transit assisted
boaters with perfect accuracy in
rain, fog or dark of night. The
light was now a romantic symbol
of locality, antiquated and
historic, and seldom used for
more than a reference point.
This intricate navigational
system requires a great deal of
maintenance, and diverting
personnel from active aids to
maintain a historic one
unnecessarily strained the
manpower assigned here.
"Due to the weight of the lens,
and its method of rotation on a
track system, loss of power can
damage the system," said
Peloquin. "The wheels on which
it rotates can only support the
lens as long as it continues to
turn. If it stops, blocks need
to quickly be put in place to
prevent the wheels from crushing
under its own weight."
Because of this, the light
required an emergency response
every time it stopped turning
due to power outages or any
other reason. This became
difficult to manage for local
units tasked with Coast Guard
missions like search and rescue,
homeland security and
maintenance of more critical
aids to navigation.
"Passing the care of the light
to Douglas County enabled the
community to keep its beacon, in
interest of historical
preservation, and its use by any
mariners that may still use the
light as a point of visual
reference," said Peloquin.
It is a solution that allows the light to continue through the
ages. To shine on the unknown future for both residence and Coast
Guardsman. To remind us all of how the west was settled, and the
small
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communities that ensured our place as one of the great maritime
nations of the world. |
By U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric J. Chandler
U.S. Coast Guard News
Copyright 2012
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