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History
"Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers" written about South Tillamook County, Oregon
The page below was written by Mrs. Hardy Rock (Alexandria LEY Rock) and published in 1949. NVMS students have retyped her history so that many may read it. Although some punctuation errors have been corrected the text remains as written by Mrs. Rock.
Note that Alexandria LEY Rock's "Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers" has been republished in book form as of January 2007 and is now being offered for sale by the Tillamook County Historical Society!
(This page was typed by NVMS 7th grader, Amy P., during the spring of 2002 and edited by Dean Bones.)
The wild berries are red and yellow salmonberry, thimbleberry, salal, red and blue elderberry, wild current, red and blue and black huckleberry, and wild gooseberry. These grew abundantly in pioneer days, and all were used for good except the red elderberry. Robins were fond of them. Along low swamps grew the wild crab apple which made exellent jams and jellies. The wild salal berry was also used for pies. Earliest settlers believed cultivated fruits and berries would not grow on the coast; yet fruit trees do well in some places and berries grow abundently. The blackberry has spread rapidly making profitable income for women and children and some men. They have been purchased by companies, packed in barrels and shipped east. In 1912-13, a company set out (north of the Neskowin resort) cranberries at great expense; this proved a failure.
A berry used by the Indians for medicinal purposes is still found on high hills and rocky ground where it has not been killed out by the stock. Kinnikinic was used for tobacco and is also eaten by Indians who dropped the berries in hot whale oil. These were dipped with clam shells.
Continue to page 15 of "Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers!"
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