In One Ear: ‘Difficult navigation’

Published 12:15 am Thursday, July 18, 2024

The Daily Morning Astorian, July 18, 1890, mentioned a “very difficult navigation.”

In 1890, the crew on Tillamook Rock Lighthouse were totally cut off from the world. First Assistant Lighthouse Keeper Rasmus Petersen took it upon himself to get to Seaside, and then to Astoria, to drop off and pick up mail, and retrieve newspapers. The only boat available was a flat-bottomed “crazy old skiff.”

About 2 miles from shore, the “boat slid up and down the hills and hollows of the sea, and keeper Petersen said all the prayers he knew as he turned the half-submerged craft around,” and headed for Tillamook Head, hoping to get ashore somewhere before the gale sent him and the mail to the bottom of the sea.

Within a half mile of shore, near Tillamook Head, a wave swept him and the boat up onto some sharp rocks, crunching the boat’s ribs, and cracking one of his own. Nevertheless, he stuck with the overturned boat, despite rolling over several times, until he finally managed to get the boat to shore, mail bag intact. He dragged himself to a nearby ranch, dried himself off, and headed for Astoria.

“Life insurance men would consider Keeper Peterson an extra hazardous risk,” the paper concluded.

Note: He was head lighthouse keeper on Tillamook Rock from 1892 to 1894. (Portrait: Willapa Seaport Museum)