Battle Rock, Port Orford, OR

I am taking a zero day today (0 miles of trail walked.) A brief rest before heading out tomorrow. I like to find out about the places I stay and to this end I have looked up a little history about Port O.

Until Jun of 1851 this land was inhabited by the Quatomah civilization as it had been for thousands of years. I’ll repeat, thousands of years. In early June of 1851, Capt. Techenor, a steamship captain, left nine men, carpenters and such, along with a cannon, to erect some preliminary structures for a supply depot. Techenor sailed off to San Francisco and said he would be back in two weeks.

Initially the Quatomah were friendly until they realized the nine were there to stay. Then the Quatomah ordered the men to leave. The nine decided to drag their supplies, along with the cannon, up on to a sea rock that stuck out from shore. With water on three sides this was a more defensible position. The next day a couple of dozen Quatomah came to force the nine to leave pushing their way up onto the rock. In the chaos the cannon was fired along with shots and a number of native people were killed. One account states that after that the nine white men made signs that they would leave in 14 days, but when Techenor failed to return, a much larger group of Quatomah assembled on the beach lighting many bonfires in the night. Vastly outnumbered, the nine men took the opportunity of darkness to flee northward eventually making it to the town of Gardiner which I passed through a few days ago.

Unfortunately Techenor did finally return, but this time with a contingent of 70 heavily armed men and the intention of staying. Which he did.

The rock that sticks out in the ocean is now called Battle Rock. The fight that took place there is often portrayed as the triumph of civilization over savages. I think we can look back and see, with clear eyes, it was sadly, the triumph of savages over a civilization.

Tomorrow I resume my trek south, joined by Cappuccino who will stay with me to the California border.

Safe Travels…