Talk:Scappoose, Oregon/Archive

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The full length history of Scappoose-verifiable

Scappoose, named "gravelly plains" by the Chinook People and once covered by an ice-age ocean, served as prime hunting grounds. The plains of wild grass fed herds of elk and deer, the rivers supplied spawning beds for salmon, and ancient forests covered the hills. Scappoose was a meeting place. Chinook tribes held annual Pow-Wows, complete with feasts, trading, gaming and horse races. Descendants of the non-native settlers from Maine, Kansas, Nebraska, Czechoslovakia and Switzerland continue the Chinook legacy through festivals and celebrations today.

According to The History of Scappoose by James Loring Watts, a descendant of the early settlers, the bounty of wildlife astounded Lewis and Clark during their 1804-1806 travels, and later captured the attention of migratory fur traders. Rich in natural resources, Scappoose offered work for loggers, brick makers, blacksmiths, shingle millers and dairy farmers in the early years, followed by gravel mining operators and shoe makers today. Scappoose residents enjoy their quiet life away from bustling metropolitan areas.

Non-native settlers arrived in 1828. Coming via the land route, the first non-native inhabitant was Thomas McKay, stepson of John McLoughlin, commander of Fort Vancouver. The fort, up the river from Scappoose, was a thriving trade center for the Hudson's Bay Company. McLoughlin assigned McKay to find pasture land for the fort's expanding herd of horses. McKay found it in the wild grasslands of Scappoose. He established a horse ranch northeast of the present day Scappoose airport. McKay married a Chinook princess, daughter of the highest Chinook Indian chief, Chief Concomley.

Coming from the sea, was James Bates, an American sailor, who jumped ship at Scappoose Bay and became the area's first farmer.

In 1829, a Boston merchant trader, Captain Dominus, sailed his ship, The Owyhee, into Scappoose Bay and brought the deadly plague to "gravelly plains". With little natural resistance, the Indians died in large numbers. Chief Casino survived and succeeded Chief Concomley as the highest-ranking chief of the Chinook tribes. The first wagon train rolled to a stop in Scappoose in 1842. The David A. Cloninger family is believed to have arrived with this group of settlers. Passed by Congress, the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 allowed settlers to claim large tracts of land if they agreed to improve it. In 1852 the William Watts family arrived by wagon train with their six children and one nephew and built a homestead. The Watts family brought a civic spirit to Scappoose. The Chinook Indians were the original owners of the area and enjoyed a healthy and pleasant lifestyle eating the native salmon of the Columbia River and hunting deer and a variety of game birds. However, they had no immunity to the smallpox and other diseases brought by those arriving from the east. During the last Indian uprising in 1855 (the Indians protested against the settlers) the non-native settlers hastily built a block house on West Lane Road for protection.

1863 saw more settlers coming by train, sternwheelers and oxen carts. The Columbia River became a vital trade route, with side-wheelers and then sternwheelers traveling up the Columbia River and Multnomah Channel moving goods and people. Cordwood and milk were primary exports of the area. The fare to Portland was 25 cents. The last wagon trail crossed the plains over the Oregon trail bringing the Asa Holiday family in 1883. By this time the trail was six tracks wide and worn 6 feet deep by ox teams and high-wheeled wagons.

A railroad depot and switching yard was built on the six acres donated by William W. West. It was called Scappoose Depot. Then in 1852 Timothy Lambertson and Malcolm McKay built the first sawmill. S. T. Gosa built a dock, store and post office on his Multnomah Channel claim in 1856. Dairy farmers settled on the plains, and in 1883 a store and post office was built east of the railroad.

More stores and businesses were built in Scappoose and the town grew. The city of Scappoose was incorporated in 1921. In later years Scappoose would become famous for Seinfelds Sauerkraut, whose plant sat right in the middle of town. Local farmers, the most famous being Fred Havlik, supplied the plant with cabbage. The kraut was allowed to ferment in oak kegs which, upon being opened, allowed the unique aroma to permeate the town. There is a festival each year to commemorate this history, although the plant is now closed with most kraut coming from China these days.

Scappose was also the home to the famous Johnson Turkey Farm, supplier of more presidential Thanksgiving Turkeys than any grower in America. Mr. Johnson bred huge animals, his personal record being 52.6 pounds. President Eisenhour once remarked about that particular turkey, "I hate granting amnesty to this big fellow, he should really be on a platter!" Iron ore was once mined in the area. The latter contained a specific form of hematite that was used to make paint pigment. There was a crusher located in the center of Town that was torn down in the late 60's. Many a small child got involved in throwing iron ore chunks at each other that were left in abundance at the site. The reason for its ultimate removal probably had more to do with the deep gashes left in young skin.

Logging was a large part of the economy up until the introduction of the Spotted Owl by environmentalists into the old growth timber in the 1980's. These whackos also pounded nails and other metal into trees, causing severe injury and death to loggers with chain saws. "Ecco Terrorists" was what Ronald Reagan called them. The Spotted Owl was an inept creature known to be lazy and unwilling to stray from its point of introduction which caused the federal government to list the spotted owl as endangered. Research in the 1990's would demonstrate that the spotted owl was a non-native species, but the logging and timber industry were decimated. The loggers meanwhile, had been willing to participate in all civic responsibilities and pass on the strong work ethic common to the Northern Europeans who settled the area. No other group would ever step in to fill that gap after the loggers were gone. Another large, now mostly gone group were those men who worked in sawmills. Most had a least one finger missing and the work was extremely hard. Some of these "mom and pop" mills can still be seen today. An excellent example is the mill on Cornelius Pass, just a few miles from Highway 30.

Another non-native animal, the nutria, has become commonplace in the low lying areas next to the Columbia and its estuaries. The nutria was introduced in 1927 to be bred in captivity for its fur. When the market collapsed in 1929, the nutria was allowed to go into the wild where it reproduced on a vicious scale. These rodent like creatures grow as long as three feet and have savage front teeth and claws. Armed with the latter, they are legendary digging machines and are credited with saving Scappoose from flooding during the Van Port flood up the river near Portland. Vanport, the 2nd largest city in Oregon and the largest public housing project in the nation was flooded when a dike holding back the Columbia River gave way at 4:05 p.m. on May 30, 1948. Vanport, 15-feet below Columbia's water level, was completely underwater by nightfall. Fifteen people died in the flood. Houses were washed off of their foundations and the entire town was lost.

The dikes were at capacity and all involved they would soon collapse from the pressure. The nutria, as though directed by an invisible force, dug tunnels from the water underneath the dikes and large water spouts could be seen shooting up all along the dike. Scappoose was also known for having the largest indigenous population of the rare white albino nutria in the world, probably due to the high organic content of the water.

The system of dikes and floodwater controls still exist today and are controlled by a dikemaster. Clarence Oien held the job longer that anyone and would quietly protect Scappoose and the surrounding area seven days a week, year round. His son Jeff, became a world reknowned Nutriologist. Even today, most residents do not know how close to flooding the area is at times. The town knew they were on the way to prosperity with the building of the high school in the late 1920's, not knowing the Great Depression was just around the corner. Students were taught in a strict, authoritarian environment until the mid 1970's. Bad behavavior was often met with physical force and there was rarely a day when a male student did not get slammed into the lockers for a smart remark or holding a girl's hand. Better behaved children were encouraged to attend college, while the others were just tolerated and/or encouraged to take shop classes. The man who finally recognized the need for organized vocational and work experiences was Lynn Spencer. Loved by his students for his blunt talk and a big heart, he kept many students from dropping out by showing concern and making time to point them in the right direction. One of the most famous calamities was the Columbus Day storm of 1962. Winds in the area exceeded 100 mph, taking out thousands of old growth Douglas Fir. Tragically, the world's tallest Doug Fir, at 220 feet tall, located at the south end of Scappoose was a victim of this evil event. That tree was so big that it took ten logging trucks to haul off the pieces. Taps was played at the conclusion of the haul and a day of mourning was declared. One of the more positive moments took place in 1970 when President Nixon came to town to light the "Peace Candle." This took place on what was previously a farm owned by the Scharf family. Brocks bought the propery and built a candle factory there which was quite successful. As a way of drawing attention to their enterprise, they ran a natural gas line up through the center of an existing silo on the property and put thousands of gallons of wax on the outside of the silo. President Nixon used his famous quote, "There shall be peace in our time," as he lit the flow of natural gas.

Scappoose was fortunate to have Gus Wagner as one of its more prominet part time residents. Mr. Wagner was the inventor of the "Scoopmobile" a front end loader sort of machine, as well as dozens of other types of equipment. Mr. Wagner and his wife were generous people and delighted locals with visiting movie stars and other high profile people from time to time. Scappose and the surrounding area was once dotted with "mom and pop" grocery stores. They had names like Pete's, Gib's, Rose Valley Market, Sherlock's and a few others. The downfall of small markets was the practice of allowing people to "charge" groceries. A small book with your family name was kept and then groceries were signed for upon purchase and billed for once a month. Most people paid, but the profit margin wasn't large enough to cover those who didn't. Sometimes the grocer let those same non-payers run in the red month after month, because he knew there were children in the family that needed to eat.

Judd and Blanche Sherlock employed all five of their children, Aunt Pearl and several non-relatives at their store. Judd was a well known meat cutter as well and many times he would be offer customers some of whatever he would be cooking while he was working. The entire family were humorous story tellers and a customer always left the store with a joke of some sort. The youngest child, Marie, has since become a famous author writing the book, "Living Simply with Children: A Voluntary Simplicity Guide for Moms, Dads and Kids Who Want to Reclaim the Bliss of Childhood and the Joy of Parenting." The social center of the town through much of the last 40 years has been the longest continually operated service station in Columbia County. Dubbed "Jake and Larry's Shell" in the 1960's, this station would employ generations of high school students who were considered the best Scappoose had to offer. Jake Hulsopple and Larry Engstrom had a solid reputation for quality and service surpassed by no one. A customer who wanted to buy nothing, could expect to have their windshield washed, tires checked or any number of other requests, always receiving a smile from the staff. Many times customers would drink coffee at the station and observe the nutria, beaver and other fur bearing animals that passed through the station. Jake would later buy a station in St. Helens which was later purchased by the state after Highway 30 was widened. Larry and his family still operate the station to this day and it stands as a testimony to the American Entrepeneur.

Another high point (no pun intended) in more recent times was an effort by a former mayor to declare marijuana legal. Although the order was quickly dismissed by the courts, Scappoose remains the only city in Oregon where marijuana was completely legal, if only for a short time.

71.38.125.183 05:00, 16 October 2006 (UTC)CST

The above text (not posted here by me) is apparently a semi-fictional, humourous history of Scappoose, and should not be taken at face value without source citations. Wjhonson 16:10, 16 October 2006 (UTC)