Cannon Beach History The beauty and bounty of Oregon’s North Coast had been home to the Clatsop, Nehalem, Tillamook and other tribes for generations when the first Europeans arrived as early as the 1500s. Dick Basch, a lifelong Cannon Beach resident and member of the ClatsopNehalem Confederated Tribes, has worked with city leaders and local organizations to promote tribal history. “We are still here,” he says. “We’re not merely a monument in our old village site. We are part of the community.” Basch asks visitors to please respect the land and the people who call it home, and suggests you start your visit at the 10-foot-tall Welcome Pole at NeCus’ Park. That site marks the location where the last NeCus’ village in the area stood before colonization. In 1806 William Clark — as in Lewis and Clark — called the area “the grandest and most pleasing prospects which my eyes ever surveyed.” The name “Cannon Beach” didn’t come until later, after a warship, the USS Shark, foundered and sank on the infamous Columbia River Bar in 1846. The crew survived, as did some of the ship’s cannons that washed ashore. One of them remains on display at the Cannon Beach History Center and Museum. Another famous landmark sits just offshore and came about after that accident. Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, built in 1881 and now known as “Terrible Tilly,” helped ships navigate this dangerous portion of the Coast until it was decommissioned in 1957. Today nesting shorebirds and resting sea lions are the only inhabitants of this scenic slab of rock that forms part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Onshore, Tillamook Head, a knuckle of forest and pastures, is still home to a WWII concrete bunker located along Ecola State Park’s Tillamook Head Trail. The trail starts at the Indian Beach parking lot and carries hikers up to spectacular views over the Pacific. Whether you come to hike the trails, stroll the beaches or explore downtown, visitors will find fun and rewarding ways to experience Cannon Beach at every turn. As Basch says, “We hold our arms open!” Tillamook Rock Lighthouse Cannon Beach History Center and Museum Welcome Pole at NeCus’ Park CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: KENNY HUY NGUYEN; SETH MORRISEY; JONI KABANA / TRAVEL OREGON 6 Cannon Beach Visitor Guide
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