Written by Ann Bershaw

History and Lore of the Land of Camp Westwind

For 60 years now Camp Westwind, a YWCA summer camp located on Cascade Head, one of the most pristine spots on the Oregon coast, has nourished the spirits of those who have come to rest and recreate there. Long before young campers came to Westwind, however, the land where the Salmon River feeds into the Pacific Ocean, fed the body, soul and spirit of the Neschesney Indian Tribe. This breathtaking site on Cascade Head consists of numerous ecosystems, which supplied the Neschesney with a variety of food items in a relatively mild, but wet, climate. Just as the ocean mists often enshroud Camp Westwind and hide the beauty of the landscape, so too are parts of the history of the area often concealed in the past. Even though there are many gaps in what is known about the history of the land that Camp Westwind rests upon, what is known has been woven into the camp history to make Westwind a mystical place which impacts every camper who visits.

The Neschesney are the first tribal group name to appear in the historical record of the Cascade Head area (Westwind). They are thought to have shared the same cultural aspects of their northern neighbors, the Tillamooks, speaking the same Salish language, however the Neschesney were not confederated with the Tillamooks. As a loosely organized, autonomous group, they remained physically separated from the Tillamooks by the great natural barrier of Cascade Head (Barrett 5). Since travel was easier up and down rivers than between valleys, the Neschesney developed a local dialect and a set of local customs (Zucker 9). On the north side of the Salmon River six village sites evidence their presence back to 1070 A.D (Barrett 5). Because their villages were clustered along the Salmon River they are often referred to as the Salmon River Indians.

The Neschesney, like the Tillamooks, lived in single village groups of interrelated families headed up by the wealthiest male. Their shelter consisted of long plank houses with each family having separate bays and cooking fires. Some fur and woven cedar bark were fashioned into clothing, but most of the time, the Neschesney wore next to nothing and went barefoot all year round. The rich environment of the Salmon River provided abundant foods. Salmon and shellfish were staples of their diet, as well as all manner of berries—salmon berries, thimbleberries, huckleberries and blackberries. The Neschesney built their own cedar canoes, paddles, bowls, plates and storage boxes and created their bows and arrows out of yew and vine maple. They made full use of the abundant raw materials available in their coastal environment (Westwind).

(Coastal Land at Westwind, ca.1960)

  The first recorded meeting between the Neschesney and white Europeans is found in the diaries of Robert Haswell, a member of the crew of Robert Gray’s sloop, Lady Washington. In September of 1787, Robert Gray’s ship set out on a voyage around the world. On August 10, 1788 the Haswell diary places the American ship at 45ƒ2’, just off of what is today the Camp Westwind sand spit and mouth of the Salmon River. Haswell recounts the sighting of two Indian canoes containing six people. He writes that they were "very differently formed." A once popular practice of flattening the heads of infants made the Indians look "sharp at the head" (Barrett 21). Haswell was impressed with their skill and dexterity at handling their long canoes as well as the great speed with which they slipped through the water. Haswell also noticed that the Neschesney faces were "much pitted with the small pox" indicating that the Neschesney may have made earlier contact with white men, either directly or indirectly (21). Later, in 1805, then Lewis and Clark journeyed to the Pacific Northwest and wrote about the Tillamooks in their journals, they recognized that the coastal tribes were on the decline, though they did not travel as far south as the Salmon River country (5).

It is not really known what the population of the Salmon River group was before the time of European contact. By the time written accounts were kept, "white man’s diseases" had already resulted in mass deaths. In 1829, according to research conducted by Herbert C. Taylor, a great fever swept along the Oregon Coast decimating 80 to 90% of the indigenous population. In some cases, entire villages were wiped out (Barrett 5). One Salmon River Indian said that it was moonshine brought by the white man that killed off the rest (44).

Some of the stories of European contact with the Salmon River Indians have no documentation, but are part of the rich oral tradition of the area passed from generation to generation. The shipwreck at Three Rocks is just such a legend that has continued, even in recent times, to entice treasure hunters to the Salmon River area in search of two buried chests of treasure. The ship was called the San Vincente and her skipper was Captain Cordoba. With a crew of thirty, and a great African, named the "Islander" by the crew, was slammed by a storm off the Oregon Coast. It swept crew members into the sea, tattered the sails, and broke off the mast. With little expectation of survival, the remaining men on board watched as the storm blew the San Vincente towards the cliffs of Cascade Head that loomed out of the ocean before them. Even more startling, were the three enormous rocks that stood apart from the cliffs. There was little that the crew could do to change the course of the ship which was headed directly for the middle rock.

Surprisingly, seventeen crewmen, the captain and the giant "Islander" washed up on the beach alive. When the storm died down, Captain Cordoba commanded his crew to wade back out to the dying ship and strip her of all her stores, water casks, weapons, tools and the small ship’s boat that was still lashed to the side of the ship. Also, of great importance to Captain Cordoba were the two large chests, the San Vincente treasure, which the crew hauled to shore, with great difficulty.

Captain Cordoba set up camp on the beach and knowing he could not take the chests in the small boat, scouted out for a place to bury them till his return. He set his crew to digging with all manner of tools and soon they were lowering the chests into a large hole. As the diggers began to shovel dirt back into the hole, Cordoba told the rest of his crew to load the small boat for departure. Cordoba then pulled out his pistol and shot the diggers in the back and they tumbled into the hole on top of the chests. They were then buried along with the treasure chests because Cordoba knew the Indians would not disturb a burial site (Barrett 13-17).

Some say that the brass fittings and the timbers that fishermen at the mouth of the Salmon River found in 1920 are the remains of the San Vincente and that at low tide the outline of the ship could be seen on the bottom of the sea (Brief Summary). Discovery of the skeletons of two white men and one black man whose remains date back to the time of the shipwreck and a blunderbuss found by two young boys near the mouth of the river give credence to the story. Photographs of the bones evidently survive, but the bones themselves have disappeared (Barrett 29). The blunderbuss is on display at the Tillamook County Museum (Brief Summary ). Some discount the legend because the bay where the Salmon River enters the ocean is nothing but a shallow mud flat when exposed at low tide and therefore a very unlikely place for an ocean-going ship to sink. Old-timers contend that the river was much deeper in the old days when sailing vessels were a common site. Early settlers in the late 1800’s also profess to having seen Indians with kinky hair and Negroid features giving rise to speculation that the "Islander" found a home with the Salmon River Indians (Barrett 28).

Initially, according to the story, Captain Cordoba had selected another spot in a clearing upon a hill to bury the two chests; however, the Indians reacted with such alarm and threatening actions that the sailors quickly moved on to another spot. The captain and crew had entered a sacred Indian burial ground of the Indians located in a clearing surrounded by trees and poles that supported canoes hanging high above the ground. Each canoe was draped with personal possessions of the dead person that lay inside (Barrett 16). The coastal Indians possess a deep belief in an afterlife and take seriously their duty to prepare the dead for their trip to the next life (Westwind). Two Indian cemeteries remain to this day in the Cascade Head area (Barrett 7). Of the 40 gravesites, many show evidence that death occurred during a small pox epidemic. One of the cemeteries is located on property formerly belonging to Camp Westwind. In 1979 the camp deeded the cemetery property to distant relatives who were living on the Warm Springs Reservation at that time. Subsequently, they moved to the Grande Ronde reservation and were better able to tend the graves (Brief Summary).

(Jane Baxter on the Salmon River, circa 1930)

The last of the Salmon River Indians passed away in 1935. Her name was Jane Baxter, wife of John Baxter, "the Blind One." Jane was one of the last speakers of the Tillamook language (Barrett 43). Since the Salmon River Indians were few in numbers and quietly taking care of their own business, the US government often overlooked them. Although some moved to the Grand Ronde Reservation in Yamhill County, many remained on the river living a non-reservation life, like Jane Baxter (7). Some say she was 104 years old when she died, but no one knew for sure (45). Until she died she waded barefoot in the mud flats of the Salmon River in water that came up to her waist and speared flounder for food (33). She and John built a house out of lumber like a white man’s house and after they moved in the Baxter family began to die of consumption, one by one. One Indian said, "Indians can’t live in white man’s house. We never were sick when we lived under a spruce tree, but when we lived in white man’s house we die" (Barrett 43).

It was in 1936, a year after Jane Baxter died, that the Portland YWCA purchased 380 acres of land on Cascade Head from Judge Wallace McCammant for 10 cents an acre. Evidently Judge McCammant, whose wife was active in the Portland YWCA, offered the land to the Y for purchase (Board). These 380 acres of scenic land on the Oregon coast were probably unclaimed Indian land allotments, sometimes called "surplus lands." These "surplus lands" at one time belonged to the tribe, but lay outside the reservation boundaries. After the General Allotment Act was passed these lands were put up for sale to non-Indians after tribes ceded them back to the US as "surplus" (Zucker 96). In an effort to assimilate the Indian people into the dominant white culture in a more timely manner, Congress had passed the General Allotment Act (Dawes Act) in 1887. The Dawes Act divided Indian reservation lands into 160-acre parcels (or smaller) and assigned them to tribal members. The Indian Reorganization Act in 1934 ended the allotment of Indian lands and shortly thereafter Judge McCammant sought out the YWCA to see if they were interested in the property which was marshy and unsuitable for agriculture. The Y realized that the site was desirable from every aspect—accessibility to Portland, river and ocean frontage, water supply, size, variety and beauty of environment, suitability for hiking and nature study—so quickly voted on the purchase (Board).

From the beginning the YWCA sought to maintain the primitive environment of the site by constructing buildings in a rustic style. For the first fifteen years there was no phone, no electricity, no refrigeration and no indoor bathroom facilities. Much of the wood used for construction projects was driftwood scrounged from the beach. Even the name "Westwind" was chosen to match the environment. (Some say it was originally called "Westwind by the Sea.") Uncle Bliss, year-round caretaker of Camp Westwind for 15 years, said that someone suggested "Westwind" because at Cascade Head the wind was king and so it was named (Clark 2-11).

Even though Camp Westwind’s environment looks as though its natural state has been preserved for centuries, this is not the case. In 1940 there was no dune-grass and no tree cover, so as part of the Coast Dune Reclamation effort Uncle Bliss planted 50 plugs of dune-grass (Brief Summary). Samples of tree cores show that the trees are less than 100 years old. None of the trees are considered "old growth." Some stories describe a great fire that burned up to 450,000 acres of forest from Tillamook to Coos Bay with Cascade Head situated in the middle. One of the Salmon River Indians, Chief Cutlip, relates that the Indians were driven into the water by the flames and heat for protection. Salmon River John said that flames leapt from one side of the river to the other in great sheets and only those Indians in the water survived (Clark 11). Forest fires, of course, were not an unusual occurrence along the coast and it is well known that Indians routinely started fires in order to encourage pasture growth so as to attract game for hunting (Barrett 24). Even today the Nature Conservancy, which oversees the Cascade Head Scenic Research Area, has experimented with burning at Cascade Head in order to control forest encroachment and ground thatch build-up so that the survival of native grasses is insured (82).

In 1979 Camp Westwind encompassed 700 acres, but in the fall of that year 200 of those acres, which included the estuary land, were sold to the US Forest Service and became part of the Cascade Head Scenic Research Area. The sale insured that this natural area would be allowed to return to its wild and beautiful state. Many years of cattle grazing destroyed the riparian growth along the river resulting in erosion. Grazing is also responsible for the introduction of many non-native grasses through manure deposition. This area of land with it’s unique ecology is not "just a field with a magnificent view" said Debbie Pickering, an ecologist for the Cascade Head Natural Area. It is the home of Indian thistle, once a source of food for the Indians and the common blue violet. This tiny violet is most important to the Oregon silverspot butterfly because it stimulates the female butterfly to lay its eggs in the grasses nearby and then becomes a source of food for the larvae. This threatened butterfly benefits from the protection of the Endangered Species Act (Barrett 82).

Camp Westwind has the privilege of residing on one of the least developed estuaries on the Oregon coast. Included in this 503-acre area are ocean shore, temperate rain forest, a salt-water estuary and fresh water lakes and streams. In this environment Camp Westwind provides enriching outdoor experiences which renew the spirit of young and old alike in a magical setting.

Works Cited

Barrett, Fred. Sea Mountain. Portland: Alder, 1993.

"Board of Directors Meeting Minutes." Portland, OR. YWCA Archives. 16 June 1936.

"Brief Summary of Sites Having Some Historical Significance." Unpublished paper provided by

Miriam Callahan, Executive Director, Camp Westwind.

Clark, Lucius. Beautiful Westwind. Portland: YWCA of Portland, Oregon, 1962. 2-11.

"Westwind Native People." Unpublished paper provided by Miriam Callahan, Executive

Director, Camp Westwind.

Zucker, Jeff, Kay Hummel and Bob Hogfoss. Oregon Indians. Portland: Oregon Historical