Nestucca River Country
A photo History of South Tillamook County Oregon
Natives, Settles, and Settlements
A photo History of South Tillamook County Oregon
The early settlers seemed to accept the idea that they would have a
difficult time surviving without the assistance of the
Nestucca Natives. Native Indians ferried them in canoes across
the rivers and bays and provided dried elk and salmon when they ran out of
provisions.
In 1875 South Tillamook County was surveyed and offered
to homesteaders. It soon became saturated with the smell of sweat
and the stain of hope, left by hard working emigrants who fought for
every foot of their trek into this raw wilderness. The trip would have
taken an arduous 2-3 days.
Pioneer life in South Tillamook Country was agruelling
experience and those who made their homes in "Nestucca Country" faced
frugal ways and difficult trials.
But they came - men and women with little means and big
dreams. They cleared the land and built cabins and simple
homes. They wrestled farms from dense forests and built roads and ferries, and
businesses and dairy farms, and canneries, and cheese processing
plants, and sanatariums, and towns. And they stayed - building permanent
homes, and schools, and churches, and raising families, overcoming the
harshness of their primitive conditions.
The book is a mere sample of their incredible stories and is offered as a
tribute to their legacy. Theirs is a story worth telling - and, one worth reading.
Sally Rissel, and her husband Bob, have lived in Pacific
City Oregon for over 35 years. Their home is on the bank of the
Nestucca River overlooking the river and it's prolific bird life, it's tidal
fluctuations, and it's occasional storms. They raised their children, Emily and
Phillip, in the area and owned Pacific City Builder's Supply.
Sally was a teacher at Cloverdale Elementary and director and teacher at
Neskowin Valley School. She owned, with partners, Nestucca Bay Trading
Company in the historic Kiwanda Hotel building and now has a business selling
historic commemorative products.
She is presently president of the
Tillamook County Historical Society. Sally also writes a local history
column for the Pacific City Sun Newspaper.
Joe Noegel, and his wife Louise, have lived in Neskowin
for twenty five years. They have travelled extensively in the
Pacific Northwest and though out the Southwest - camping, trailering, Jeeping,
hiking, and photographing.
Joe used his interest in desktop publishing and computer
graphics to package this writing and photography in personal Photo
Memory Books and assist on local history projects like Nestucca River Country.
