Bayocean: Memories Beneath the Sand

By Sarah MacDonald and Perry C. Reeder Jr.

Can you imagine living in a place that is effected by weather, ocean currents, and decisions of land use board members. Bayocean was at risk of loosing it all and it was lost at a time when it was most vulnerable. Tillamook County lost a valuable asset, lost a beautiful quaint little community nestled on a peninsula of land that was effected by such outside forces that it could not survive and is trying to rise from the sand today but will not because of the decisions of board members and councils that dont want to be bothered with her any longer. To be left untouched and buried is a sad story told by one who lived there when the town was starting to fall and continued to fall until its total demise when burned and buried under the sand, in his quest to make this place not to be forgotten Perry Reeder and his daughter Sarah MacDonald, conjure up the stories of the past and tell the truth about what happened to this small coastal community, this beautiful place that had running water, electricity and cobblestone streets, hotels, stores of business, post office and much more. A community of loving families that struggled together but were left with nothing.
The most important issue that seems to be ignored mostly by those who want to keep Bayocean under the sand is the issue of the South Jetty, if ignored will once again reek havoc on this beautiful peninsula, Cape Meares is more at risk than Bayocean. Its a sad thing to have to fight over who goes there or the issues of recreational activities over issues that will actually destroy the entire area, we need to stop the feuding and work together to keep Bayocean a place for all to enjoy. Ending the Bayocean wars for the last time, before it once again gets destroyed would be a feat in itself. In this book we hope you will come to know Bayocean a little better and understand the issues that surround her today and enjoy a little glimpse into the past as well.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 22, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543431179

Sarah MacDonald

Perry Charles Reeder Jr. –was born in his Grandma’s house near Rainier Oregon in 1938, the second of four children born to Perry C. Reeder Sr. and Evelyn Castle. Perry’s life started out an adventure and has continued to this day, his parents moved frequently and they ended up in Bayocean during a crucial time for that area. His first step onto Bayocean’s cobblestones streets were in 1944 when his parents moved to the area for work and modest housing. Perry spent most of his young life on Bayocean where he continued to watch the deteriorating of the peninsula due to many factors that snowballed over time he has continued to live in the area and has seen the rebuilding of the spit as well. He graduated from Tillamook High School in 1957. He met and married the love of his life Sharon Stearns in 1958 and raised five children in Cape Mears, Paul, Julie, Jill, Sarah, and Charles. He has worked in many capacities around the county the Lumber and Plywood Mills, Tillamook Cheese Factory, Tillamook County Sheriff’s office, Chartered and ran his own fishing boat out of Garibaldi Harbor. He is a skilled Carpenter where he has built many homes in and around Tillamook County. He has served on many land us boards and been an involved citizen of Tillamook County for many years. He is an active Historian for Bayocean as he has been teaching about Bayocean to College Students and Grade School students and public meetings for many years as he also continues his interest in raising cattle on his 80 Acre Cattle Ranch in South County, but continues to enjoy living in Oceanside Oregon.

Book preview

Copyright © 2017 by Perry C. Reeder Jr.. 760511

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017909632

ISBN:   Softcover     978-1-5434-3118-6

             Hardcover   978-1-5434-3119-3

             EBook         978-1-5434-3117-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 09/28/2017

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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Then

Now (Photo courtesy of Don Best)

image003.jpg

Perry’s own words

For the Reeder Family and for those who

loved and lived at Bayocean

Acknowledgements

Thank you,

Entire Reeder Family,

Especially Sharon for her patience

Photos

Don Best

Bernice (Reeder) Balschweid

Phyllis (Locke) Anderson

Donny and Shirley Meyers

Wanda (Meyers) Reynolds

Tillamook Pioneer Museum

Contents

My First Step onto Bayocean

Thoughts from Sarah

Capt. Grey Theory

Description of Bayocean Peninsula When It Was Bayocean—1940s

Describing the North End of the Peninsula—Freshwater Lakes and Beach Combing

Cobblestone Streets and a Platted Town

History in Dad’s Words

People Have Their Own Story about Bayocean Mine That Started in 1944

Don’t Confuse Wealth with Money

Early Bike Rides

Walking to School from Bayocean to Cape Meares

Indian Kitchen

Living Not Far from the Schoolhouse

Waiting for the Teacher with LaVern

Red Rover at School

Climbing Cliffs at Cape Meares Lighthouse

Mom and the Cake

Movie Time

Goose Hunt

Bernard Boys and the Oyster Stealer

Dad and Vern’s Deer Hunt!

The Huffman/Clark House

Bear Hunt with Mr. Clark

Fishing Coleman Creek

Harvey and the Fig Bars

Bernice and the Horse Ride

Rafts on the Bay

Learning to Swim

Hooked in the Eyelid

Spooky Story

Describing Things Where They Were Back Then

Evelyn Reeder

Mr. Mitchell’s Store

Dad’s Vision

Mitchell’s

Mitchell’s Dream

Blimp and the Hershey Bars

Mickey’s Trail

Perch Fishing

Glass Floats

Pittocks Rock Oysters

As I grew up in Bayocean

Hap Lynn

Bill and the Boss Duck Hunt

Blimp Crash

Camping 1949 on Bayocean

Meeting Sharon in Cape Meares

Moving off Bayocean (1950–1952)

The South Jetty

R-Lady—Thoughts from the Past

Breakwater or Dike Road

Tell It Like It Was (after the North Jetty Was Put In)

Installation of Present-Day Sign

Installation of Present-Day Sign Pictures

Installing Place Markers

Presentations

People from Bayocean

Bayocean: Glimpse of a receding past and building a future.

Timeline of Events of History

What Could Have Been?

Today at Bayocean

The Walk

My First Step onto Bayocean

World War II was in full swing; my parents wanted a better place to raise their new family. We moved out of the Portland Buckman area. They had quit their jobs at the shipyards. They had little money, but they took the move to the coast. Both being country raised, they felt better out of the big city. My father heard there was plenty of work in the Tillamook area, so they loaded up their 1934 Chevy and headed west—kids and all. We arrived on Bayocean in the summer of 1944. We found a cheap place to stay at the Bayocean cottages. They were out away from Tillamook, but the price was right, the rent only ten dollars a month. We pulled up to the cabins, and Mr. Walter Locke came out to the car and helped us unload. He was a very friendly and helpful landlord. This was how it all started; we all loved the place. Even if it was wartime, we quickly got acquainted with the neighborhood. Many have become lifelong friends. Even though it was wartime, we felt at home on Bayocean. We could see great blimps flying by, airplanes pulling targets, other planes shooting at the targets, coastguard with dogs patrolling the beach. We experienced blackouts on Bayocean just the same as we had in the Portland area. In the days that followed, Bayocean became a playground for us kids. It became the best place in the world for me to grow up. I loved the peninsula. Many of the youth that lived there felt the same way. It was heaven on earth, every day an adventure.

Thoughts from Sarah

As I rode my bike down the breakwater and over the filled part of the Bayocean Peninsula, I could imagine the many stories my father told me as we rode together around this beautiful peninsula. As he rode along with me, the stories of his childhood came forward as we pushed on through the area. I saw in my mind’s eye where the townsite once was and where the cobblestone streets were stretched out over the dunes. A little community nestled in the rolling Scotch broom that was covered by natural vegetation and large trees. I could only imagine the bustling little community with people who enjoyed this place in a different way than we do today. This was their home—a place to rest, a place to live and raise their families, a place to call their own.

The erosion of Bayocean didn’t happen overnight. It didn’t fall off into the ocean in one big swoop. It took a process, man-made decisions, and natural environmental hazards that wreaked havoc on the peninsula when it was most vulnerable.

We all have heard the stories of the old settlers here on Bayocean. This compilation of stories is from mostly the 1930s and on. We talked about events that happened earlier, during, and through this time. My father arrived here in 1944; his family came here to Bayocean for work and for an inexpensive place to live. He remembered his first step on the peninsula. They pulled up to the post office that was located by the cabins. He remembered his father pulling up to the sidewalk along the cobblestone street—an event that my father and I shared on October 14, 2015, on his birthday. I walked out there with him, trying to locate places he remembered. He told me if we dug right here, we would find the road and sidewalk—the very place I first stepped onto Bayocean. So that day, we dug down about six to seven feet and barely scrapped the sidewalk. A day later, we had some of the grandchildren come out and help us dig down and make a larger hole so we could actually stand and take a step where he first stepped as a young child coming to Bayocean for the first time. We recruited the younger Perry C. Reeder (son of Charles Reeder), his sister Avery Reeder, and Jared and Matthew Reeder (sons of Paul) to help us dig. It was a misty day out at Bayocean, but we still wanted to get this uncovered before it was completely lost. Preserving the memories of Bayocean had been a desperate feeling of my father for quite some time now. I had been working on this since 2003, since I moved back here from living in Eastern Oregon for just a short ten years. The peninsula had been a special place to me as well as my father, as I was raised just a short distance away in what is known today as Cape Meares, which was a part of the Bayocean subdivision or development. I loved growing up there. We knew everyone who lived there. My brothers and sisters and I would play all over in the woods behind our home, building forts and playing with the neighborhood children who lived there as well. I had many fond memories of living there with my parents, Perry and Sharon Reeder. As I grew older, my father built a home just above the lake at Picture Point (greenhouse), which is still there today. My favorite times were when my father and I would bring my horse out from Trask River (they owned property there). I would get to ride my horse all over the Bayocean Spit by myself. These memories were precious to me. So as one may come to the conclusion, this place was very special to generations of the Reeder family.

Just thinking about my father stepping out onto that sidewalk in 1944 connects me to this place—to have played where he played, ran around, and lived. What a remarkable feeling that comes over a person as they realize the connection here. His family came here for employment—his father driving into Tillamook for work and his mother working as the postmistress for this small community of Bayocean. My father had two sisters, Bernice and Helen, and one brother, Harvey. He had many good childhood friends whom he keeps track of to this day. Lifelong friendships were made there.

As I continued my ride, I could imagine the voices and scenes of the past. I could see children playing hide-and-seek in the dunes, digging sand tunnels, and building forts and rafts out of driftwood that floated in from the ocean to the bay’s edge and piled high to rummage through. I could see them looking up into the sky and making figures out of the clouds, and I could see them yelling up at the blimps that leisurely floated by. Life was not always fun and carefree that some might think, but the tender friendships that were created here are unforgettable. The way of life was hard because