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MARITIME HERITAGE: OREGON COAST: 1800s
From: Rosy Prospect
Subject: (Maritime heritage) Hiram Terwilliger-sailor on "The Champion">1865-1870>Graveyard of the Pacific>
State of Oregon>Nephew of Captain William Terwilliger
HIRAM TERWILLIGER, nephew of CAPTAIN WILLIAM TERWILLIGER who died in shipwreck off the Oregon coast in 1876. CAPTAIN WILLIAM TERWILLIGER was on "The Dreadnaught". (see also JAMES TERWILLIGER who arrived in Oregon in the 1840s-Oregon trail/Meek's cutoff-this is the brother of CAPTAIN WILLIAM TERWILLIGER)
Portion of information from HIRAM TERWILLIGER'S biography:
...Next he went on a hunting and trapping expedition on the Columbia river, spending a winter catching beaver, otter and mink. Then he spent some time prospecting for stone coal; then for five years he was a sailor on the schooner Champion, making trips between Tillamook bay and Portland. In 1870 he engaged in the grocery business in Portland. After awhile he moved to Tillamook, and was engaged in the dairy business for six years. Then he returned to his father's place, where he has since been engaged as assistant in the management of their valuable real estate...
Source:
(Biography) Hiram Terwilliger b. 1840 Knox County,Ohio>Oregon Trail 1845 >Portland, Oregon,Multnomah County (Father is James Terwilliger who was born in New York in 1808/1809)
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2007 (Terwilliger mailing list archives)
"The Champion" wrecked in 1870. The same year that HIRAM TERWILLIGER went into the grocery business. I never saw his name connected with the wreck so maybe he made a timely and fortunate career change...I really don't know.
The Long Beach Peninsula (Washington State) visitor's bureau web site also mentions "The Graveyard of the Pacific" and they have a wonderful brochure that has information and also a list at their website of some major shipwrecks: "The Champion" and "The Dreadnaught" are both listed.
Major Shipwrecks in the Vicinity of the Mouth of the Columbia River (an incomplete list)
The vessels listed below were stranded, sunk outright or simply disappeared in that infamous triangle formed by Clatsop Spit, Leadbetter Point and Astoria, Oregon.
1870 Champion American schooner, 3 lost
1876 Dreadnaught American sloop, 7 lost
Washington State Parks-Cape Disappointment government website says " In 1788, while in search of the Columbia River, English Captain John Meares missed the passage over the river bar and named the nearby headland Cape Disappointment for his failure in finding the river. In 1792, American Captain Robert Gray successfully crossed the river bar and named the river "Columbia" after his ship, the Columbia Rediviva. Only a few years later, in 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived at Cape Disappointment.
The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse was constructed in 1856 to warn seamen of the treacherous river bar known by then as "the graveyard of the Pacific." This is the oldest functioning lighthouse on the West Coast.
In 1862, Cape Disappointment was armed with smoothbore cannons to protect the mouth of the Columbia River from enemies. The installation was expanded to become Fort Canby in 1875. The fort was named after General Edward Canby, who was killed in the Modoc Indian War. The fort continued to be improved until the end of World War II. Gun batteries still sit uptop the park.
Note-thanks to Missy and others for sharing book information/web pages on the local history of the area.
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