southtillamookcounty.com
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 eighth grader, Amanda, during the spring of 2002 and edited by Dean Bones.)
It was the custom of the Nestuggas (Indians) to put their brave dead in his canoe and swing the canoe between two trees. The earliest settlers needing canoes dumped the bones out and took the canoes for their own. Some of the Nestuggas had fine big canoes which they had hewn from cedar logs found washed in on the beach.
The Indians often made trips in these canoes to Haystack Rock, (several miles out from Nestucca Bay Mouth) for birds eggs and young birds to eat for food. These Nestuggas were scavengers doing little or no work. The earlier settlers had often seen the Klootchmen (squaws) cut up dead whales washed up on the beach, slice the blubber into thick chunks, pile them into a canoe, dry it out by piling hot rocks on top to extract the grease which they dipped up with clam shells and drank.
Men wore leather boots made of heavy, thick, still leather which had often to be oiled to make them pliable enough to pull onto the foot and leg and also to make them rainproof. A boot-jack was used to remove these boots from the leg. In lieu of a boot-jack, a boy would straddle the leg facing away from the man and pull and twist until the boot came off.
A boot-jack was made of a flat piece of shake or lumber about 6 inches by 17 inches, with an underprice about 4 inches nailed to it so one end of the shake or lumber set on the floor, the other end tilted up. On this end a V shape was sawed out. The boot leg was thrust against and into the V while the other end was held by the other leg of the man. A quick jerk would loosen the boot so it was easily pulled off.
The boot afforded much comfort, protecting the leg from injury while working in timber or hunting livestock, bears, or deer, besides keeping the feet and legs dry and warm. They were aired at night usually by hanging them suspended upside down.
Women wore heavy thick high laced shoes termed "Stogies". Cooking was done on a primitive fireplace made of flat rocks or stones set together with mud. Some few were still in use as late as 1887.
Flour sacks were
made into aprons, table cloths, curtains, dish towels, children's underwear,
diapers. Not having a supply of dish towels, these were washed after each
meal in the dish pan and made ready for the next dish washing time.
Candles and coal-oil lights furnished illumination. Coal-oil was purchased
by the "case" which was a wooden box into which snugly fitted two tin 5 gallon
cans of oil. The cans made good laundry boilers.
Syrup was bought in a wooden keg, a spigot being used to draw the syrup.
Continue to page 25 of "Short History of the Little Nestucca River Valley and Its Early Pioneers!"