Port Orford, Oregon

Capt Vancouver named a nearby Cape Orford in April of 1792 as he sailed on an expedition in honor of his good friend George Walpole, third Earl of Orford, who had recently died. Jedediah Smith and his trappers came through the area in 1828, probably the first white men to walk the land. Captain William Tichenor had dreams of the gold and timber wealth on the coast. He dreamed of establshing a settlement here to supply provisions to the miners he figured would flock to the area. While in Portland in May 1851, he met J.M. Kirkpatick, who agreed to hire some men for the adventure. Kirkpatrick hired 8 others to join them. On June 4 they set sail. In Astoria they elected Kirkpatrick captain of the expedition and they bought some additional arms. On June 9, the Sea Gull landed here and small boats were readied to go ashore. They could see a few Indians further down the beach, and Kirkpatrick refused to stay without taking the ship's cannon. Tichenor finally agreed. He left them there and returned on the 400 ton steamship Sea Gull to his trade route between San Francisco and Portland.

Kirkpatrick and his men set up their camp on a large island rock that rose from the beach. The cannon was placed to command a narrow passageway the only route to the top of the rugged rock and their camp. The following day the Indians attacked. Many Indians were killed in the first charge including their leader. Kirkpatrick ordered the cannon fired. The Indians were given permission to remove their dead and a new leader approached the rock. He was told with sign language that they would leave in two weeks when their ship returned. However Tichenor was held up in San Francisco with legal problems.

On the 15th day the Indians attacked again. The new chief was killed and the Indians fell back. They regrouped down the beach where they were joined by more Indians. By now the settlers were low on food and ammunition and agreed they had to try to escape. To fool the Indians who had been left to watch them, they started cutting down trees as if to build a better fort. When the Indians saw this they left to report it to their chief. When night fell the Indians danced around their beach fires. The nine men left the rock and went north.

After many narrow escapes and some assistance by friendly Indians they reached safety at Scottsburg on the Umpqua river about 10 days later. In the meantime, Tichenor had returned to Port Orford and saw the signs of battle. He figured the men for dead. He went on to Portland where he learned the men had escaped. He rounded up 67 men and returned to the port on July 14 , 1851 to establish a blockhouse and a settlement. A fort was built, and the army was stationed there during the five year Rogue River Indian wars. About a year later, he moved his wife, three kids, and their furniture from San Francisco. It was several years before he became a permenant resident. His was said to be the first white family to settle on the coast between the Umpqua River and Humboldt Bay.

Fort Orford was established by the army in the Fall of 1851 to discourage problems with the Indians. Ellen Tichenor, youngest of the children, was almost four when the family moved to Port Orford. Winter of 1853 was very severe. Terrible storms prevented ships from approaching the coast with provisions. For three months the family and garrison shared a few potatoes and some flour. In the fall of 1855, the people built a fort on the site of an earlier blockhouse that had been the first building in Curry County. This fort was located at today's 5th and Jefferson streets. The first post office was established on March 25, 1855.

The port was close to the gold mines of southern Oregon and northern California. The First Dragoons were sent to western Oregon to defend the miners and settlers from Indians. Port Orford was their base. Dragoon leader Lt. Stoneman assembled volunteers to survey and determine the best route for a road from Port Orford to Jacksonville, 80 miles away. They finished their work in about three weeks and returned to Port Orford. When they reached the Coquille Mountains a heavy rainstorm caught them. Stoneman became confused in the downpour and mudslides. Rather than stumble blindly on he decided to make camp. Private Manley Martin was getting water from a nearby creek he discovered what looked like gold. He didn't really know what gold looked like though. Sergeant Mann did however, having prospected earlier in California. Manley showed the company where he discovered the gold. They collected as much as they could carry. They talked about coming back after their military service was over they would come back to get rich. There were no obvious landmarks so they carved their names and marks in some trees to mark the spot.

It was over a year before they were released from active duty, and the thought of going into the country where there were hostile Indians was daunting. But privates Schlisk and Schnedicker went to Jacksonville to organize a company to go back to the creek. But on their first trip out they could not relocate the spot. Martin was discharged a short time later and went searching for the gold. He too, found nothing. Captain William H. Packwood had heard of the gold from Private McKenna, who had been with Stoneman. He was sure he could find the ledge of gold. He and friend George Abbot went into partnership in a cattle ranch and some mining interests. Always in the back of his mine was the hidden gold. In 1861 he moved to Enchanted Prairie where he met several prospectors. They told a story of four marked trees in an area near Cow Creek. Packwood knew this was the spot were Martin had found the gold. Packwood and Collins easily found the four trees. But they couldn't find a creek within miles of the spot. That summer Martin visited Packwood after hearing of his search for the gold. Martin told Packwood that the creek ran only during a rainstorm. He also told him that the gold was nowhere near the campsite. The two made a deal to go into the area together.

Packwood invited his friend Brown to go along. Martin did not like this. What was even worse was that he was an ardent supporter of the Union and was very vocal about it. Martin was a supporter of the South. The three went to the site and found it easily. Martin announced he was going to hike around awhile and get his bearins. He was gone for several hours. When he returned he said he was leaving. He was probably still angry at Brown's presence. Packwood suspected Martin had refound the gold but wouldn't tell them. Packwood hunted around but found nothing. Martin later wrote him a letter admitting that he didn't want to share the gold with the Union sympathizer. Packwood went on to prospect in eastern Oregon near the Washington border.

Colonel William T'Vault was hired in 1855 to look for an accessible route to connect the town with the interior. It was while he and 10 or 12 men were doing this that T'Vault lost most of his men in an Indian battle near the Coquille River.

In 1868, the town was almost burned down in a forest fire that swept down the Elk and Sixes Rivers. Only the Tichenor and Burnapp homes and Mrs. Knapps stables and an empty saloon were saved. Only a few stayed on for rebuilding. They knew that the open harbor, fishing, gold, and timber, and prospects of coal and copper would bring prosperity to the area. Building began again in the 1870s and in the 1880s and 1890s was supplying miners again. White cedar growing in the area was shipped to three nearby sawmills. Pehr Johan Lindberg, a Swedish contractor, came here in 1882 and built three houses, including the Hughes house.

In 1868, Patrick Hughes bought Sullivan's mine, a black sand gold mine on the south side of the future Cape Blanco. The family owned and operated that mine into the early 1940s. Hughes was a devout Catholic and built a small church called Mary, Star of the Sea, in 1893. Behind it is a cemetery where several employees, and Patrick was buried.

Cape Blanco Lighthouse was built in 1870. 200,000 bricks were used to build it. It has withstood some of the highest winds ever recorded on the west coast. James Hughes became lightkeeper after he retired from ranching. Cape Blanco had been named in 1603.

Port Orford became the first county seat of Curry County. In the mid 1930s a move was made to establish a Gold Coast Railroad with headquarters here. The city was incorporated in 1936.

On Sept 9, 1942, an I-25 sub, crippled by an A-29 bomber, came creeping in on the ocean floor to spend the night. The ship carried the aircraft that had just dropped bombs on Wheeler Ridge on the Siskiyou National Forest east of Brookings, starting a forest fire. American ships depth-charged the I-25 but missed as Commander Meiji Tagami moved it into the safety of Port Orford. The next day he put the sub out to sea. The pilot of the A-29 did not know until 1974 that he had made a hit; the people of Port Orford weren't told of the incident until 1975.

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Last updated: 2/5/99