There are so many stories that relate to the marsh. Those from long ago, from the present moment, and future tales yet to come. Many characters to introduce you to. Plant, animal, and historic voices, and many others.
Photo courtesy of Twy Hoch, the Florence Hallowell Collection
A little background on the historic tales. I was a volunteer for several years at the Lincoln County Historical Society (aka Oregon Coast History Center). They have a great research library and I was involved in a couple of projects there. The official one that I volunteered for was supported in part by a grant from the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Charitable Contribution Fund, to organize and digitize oral histories recorded on audio cassette tapes. I also transcribed some of the tapes to provide a typewritten copy. I was enchanted by the stories, told in their own voices, of the pioneers of Lincoln County.
The LCHS oral history collection is comprised of over 200 tapes. The largest batch were recorded in the mid-1970’s on a CETA grant (a government-sponsored granting agency at the time, focused on arts & humanities). The recordings were made all around the county, from Yachats to Depoe Bay and east to Siletz, Toledo, Chitwood & Eddyville, to name a few. Several more recent projects recorded oral histories in the 1990’s and 2000’s about Toledo, Waldport, Newport, and Maritime Stories.
The other project was one of my own personal interest. I went through the LCHS library’s standing files page by page and made note of people and subjects that related to Beaver Creek. This will eventually become a database listing of the source material that others can use to locate files for their own searches. Meanwhile, I will periodically draw from these two projects to tantalize you with bits of local history.
Posted by jackie.
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