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Port Orford...
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Port Orford received its name from Captain George Vancouver in the late 1700's. He named the area for England's Earl of Orford. Port Orford has a natural deep-water port allowing the perfect area for shipping. It was finally settled in the 1850's and flourished as a shipping center for the large cedar trees. A typical way of loading the cargo ships with cedar logs was to lower them over the bluffs by rope to the anchored ships below.
Today the cranberry farming has brought a strong economic resource to the Port Orford area. Logging and fishing are still important resources in the area too.
The following is an article about Port Orford and some of its added history. The article shares some "behind the scenes" making of the area. Enjoy!
Reverberations of the past still ring to the student of Oregon coastal history. At Battle Rock in Port Orford, the defiant roar of a cannon can be heard amid the pounding of the surf. Here a battle was waged that rivals anything in the annals of meritorious combat. The protected beach of Port Orford still looks much as it did in 1851, when a party of nine men landed on June 9. John Kirkpatrick, who later became known as the hero of Battle Rock, assembled the group.
It was the intent of Captain William Tichenor to start a settlement there and build a road to Jacksonville, where gold had recently been discovered. The nine men thus assembled would have a share in the future prosperity of Port Orford. They included: John Kirkpatrick, Jake Summers, George Ridoubt, J. H. Eagan, John Slater, James Carigan, Joseph Hussey, T. D. Palmer, and Cyrus Hedden.
Tichenor was the Captain of the Sea Gull, a vessel that ran between Portland and San Francisco. After dropping off the crew near Battle Rock, Tichenor made for San Francisco with the intent of returning in two weeks with additional men, supplies, and ammunition. Arriving in San Francisco, the Sea Gull was embargoed and could not return on time.
The group of nine had only a rough collection of arms with which to defend themselves, as Tichener had downplayed the threat of Indians. They had acquired an old cannon at the last minute from the Sea Gull. History would no doubt be written differently if not for this last item. Perhaps the quaint fishing town of Port Orford would not grace Oregon's coast as we know it today.
The Port Orford landing party made camp on Battle Rock. They noticed some local Indians, California Siwashes, that appeared unfriendly. They prepared the cannon on the flat top of the rock, aiming at the narrow landing that people still climb up today. The next morning, arrows started flying towards the group, and the Indians started a charge on Battle Rock. John Kirkpatrick and James Carigan stood by the cannon, protected by a pine board held by Carigan. Scores of arrows stuck into the board as they prepared to light the cannon. With the attackers only a few feet away, the cannon exploded with deadly force in a moment of decisive retaliation. The other members of the party engaged in close-quarters combat and cleared the rest of the attacking group from the rock. Palmer and Ridoubt were wounded, but survived. The Indians retreated, shocked by the force of the cannon which was never used again after that point. Amazingly, in the fallen group of attacking Indians was a white man who had been saved from the wreck of a Russian ship.
For the next two weeks the group of nine were left alone. But on the next day, the 15th, the Indians massed for another attack. The Battle Rock defenders repulsed that assault, and yet another that day using their rifles. The Indians retreated a mile to the south where bonfires were lit on the beach. More Indians came from the direction of the Rogue River. The defenders believed a night attack was coming. They cleverly set up protection around the cannon and made it look like they were staying overnight.
The ruse worked. Late in the afternoon the group stole off of Battle Rock unnoticed by the Indians. They traveled as far and fast as they could, luckily crossing the Elk River at the turn of the tide. With John Kirkpatrick leading the men, they managed to elude a pursuing group of Indians from Port Orford for a couple of days. They became greatly fatigued and some were nursing serious wounds. Coming to the Coquille River, they were surprised to find the hostile Indians waiting for them on the other side. They went upstream and rested that night on a mountaintop. The next day they rafted halfway across the Coquille River to an island, and went the rest of the way across on canoes they confiscated from a few Indians at gunpoint. They made their way back to the beach and feasted on mussels. With the help of a friendly Indian they met, they soon were within the relative safety of the Coos-Umpqua Indian Territory. On July 2nd, 1851, the Battle Rock defenders made it back to a community known as Umpqua City. They had survived against all odds.
Captain Tichenor returned to Port Orford to find only the evidence of a struggle. In 1855 the ill-fated Colonel T’Vault expedition made an attempt to reach Port Orford. Eventually Indian confrontations diminished and a minor gold rush hit the area. Today, Battle Rock is a historical focal point and tourist attraction, although care must be taken to avoid the poison oak that grows there.
Thoughts drift easily walking the beach in southern Oregon, traveling in the footsteps of the embattled pioneers of Port Orford. Atop Battle Rock there is a headstone marking the gravesites of Jake Summers, his wife and son. They were reinterred there in the 1920's in commemoration. For in the lives of Jake Summers and the other eight men who defended Battle Rock, there was no finer hour.
J.D. Adams: j1mcm0s@earthlink.net
