1871-1900 Yaquina Head Lighthouse Letter books

Office of the Light House Engineer Thirteenth District Portland, Oregon July 26, 1873 Sir: I have the honor to make the following Report of Operations for the Month of June, 1873. Yaqunia Bay LH Ogn. Examined land with reference to 20 acres being sufficient for LH purposes. Cape Foulweather Lt Station Ogn. Shipped missing parts of Lantern from San Francisco. Sodded yard where wind was tearing away soil. Made arrangements for re-whitewashing tower. Probable Operations in July. Rewhitewashed Tower. Begin the erection of the Lantern. Point Adams Lt Station, Ogn. In company with Capt. Spotts LH Inspector, selected LH Site. Carefully examined different roads from Steamer landing as Fort Stevens, to proposed LH Site, and made rough plan & estimate for Road over the best route. Advertised for Proposals for Fog Signal Boilers for this station and New Dungeness LH Station, W.T. Cape Flattery Lt. Ho. W.T. Took men and materials to this station and area by completed carpenter work on Tank for Water. Commenced caulking tank. Probable Operations for July. Complete Tank and fill with water from cistern. Repair fog signal and put into operation. Stay rotten joists in Lt. House Very respectfully, Henry M Roberts Chairman Light-H0use Board. Maj. Of Eng’rs & L.H. Eng’r Washingotn DC Thirteenth District

Washington DC Nov 28th 1873

My Dear Sir Allow me to call to your attention a matter in which the people of Oregon, particularly those living in the vicinity of Yaquina Bay, in Benton County, are particularly interested. I have reference to the continuance of the light situated at the mouth or entrance of the Bay. I have understood that there was some talk its discontinuance. I should as well as all there of that vicinity, regard such a course as operating deleterious to the shifting interests of that place. There are now four or five stores, and two lumbering mills on the Bay, all of which are dependent upon vessels to carry away their produce and bring their goods from San Francisco. Besides we have an extensive Oyster Bed, in the Bay of Yaquina, some four miles from its mouth from which considerable revenue has been derived from the people of that locality by shipping Oysters to San Francisco.

The question may be asked what benefit can the light be to the trade. I could answer very great benefit for the following reasons. In the first place its location particularly marks the channel or entrance to the Bay, the point being a very prominent one where the light is situated you can see it at a very great distance at sea, and by getting the highlands inside in range it could so mark the entrance that a vessel could run in in the night time without difficult, and another very important benefit it serves, it marks the end of a reef some distance out at sea, that extends from opposite Cape Foulweather to this point a distance of about four miles, running as you will see on Map of survey, about parallel with the shore. The rocks on this reef are almost bare at low tide. I have had a good opportunity to know something of the effect of this upon shipping to this point as I delivered most all the material for building light house at Cape Foulweather from San Francisco. We always entered inside the reef

Office of the Light House Inspector Twelfth District San Francisco, Cal., May 28th, 1874

Professor Joseph I Lowry Chairman of the LH Board Washington DC

Sir,

I have the honor to report my return to this office from Yaquina Bay after continuing with your instruction of November 12th 1873. The joint report on the subject of the Engineer and myself have been forwarded to the Board from Portland Oregon. Upon examination at Cape Foulweather we found that it would be impossible to be build a tramway that would not be washed away every winter, and every summer it is a bad landing and could only be used in very smooth weather, it will

Office of Light-House Engineer, Thirteenth district, Portland, Oregon, ??? 187

A railroad is now in process of construction from Corvallis Oregon on the Willamette River to Yaquina bay and it is probable that a harbor light may be required at no??? distant day. If the board desires to keep up the buildings, extensive repairs will be needed, and the estimate of W. Bensell should be at least doubled, that is should be $300.00; the expense of getting lumber from San Francisco to the station will be large compared to other places.

I make no recommendation in this case, not knowing whether