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_____________________________ 12/26/03 ~ ECS ~ Wonderful maritime news! A treasure-trove of 1500 Tall Ships pictures have recently been found by Model shipwright Steve Priske in Coos Bay, Oregon, and are of the 65 Tall Ships that were built there by shipwrights, many of them from the State of Maine, that sailed around the Horn at the time of the California Gold Rush, and resumed their ship-building activities in Coos Bay. Many of these Tall Ships were built by Captain Asa Meade Simpson who was from the State of Maine, who also spent some time working in the New York shipyards in the late 1840s, as did some of the other Maine shipwrights, and one can certainly see the influence in the magnificant Barkentines and Schooners that were built in the Coos Bay shipyards in the later part of the 19th Century and the early years of the 20th. This is clearly evident in the picture of the three-masted Barkentine Gardiner City in the picture below. _______________________________ Tall Ships of the Coos Bay
______________________________ You can email us at: donross@eraoftheclipperships.com You can write us at: The Era of the Clipper
Ships _________________________________ The "Oregon Clipper" Western Shore
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______________________________ We all have the following article that appeared in a local Coos Bay newspaper last summer to thank for this amazing find that put Steve on the trail of this long, lost Tall Ships building history on the Oregon Coast and his miraculous discovery of these remarkable old photographs, many more of which will be going up on these pages over the coming days.
'The Western Shore, the most famous Simpson ship, was built in North Bend in 1874 and the largest of the three full-rigged ships built on the Pacific Coast. She was built by Asa and his brother Robert W. Simpson and built by John Kruse of Douglas fir and Port Orford cedar. Cabins were paneled in Myrtle, Laurel and Mahogony. Her launch on the bright clear day of October 10, 1874 was memorable. The bay was dotted with the skiffs of farmers and loggers. the Coos carried the Henryville people, the Satellite carried brought folks from Empire City and the Marshfield transported the Marshfield Brass Band from the newly incporporated city to offer music for the celebration. Captain Robert W. Simpson was in charge of the ceremonies. 'When he shouted "Let her go, John," Mr. Kruse knocked the dog shores away, but the Western Shore did not slide. She had stuck on her stays. A bad omen old-timers thought. The second Fearless brought to the bay in 1874, was called for. A great hawser was made fast and as the tug pulled, the line grew taut, wood cracked and the Western Shore moved into the water. Everyone cheered. The Western Shore was sometime called the "Oregon Clipper" because she was heavily rigged for her size. This gave fast sailing qualities. When the rigging was designed it departed radically from the conventional fore yards shorter than the main and the mizzen yards shorter than the fore. She was very square in her rig, her yards on the fore and the main masts were the same. She cost about $70,000 to build. She was a source of great pride for Asa Simpson.' ______________________________
_____________________________ Tall Ships Photo Gallery
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_____________________________ There are some maritime historians who would question whether the Western Shore was an actual clipper ship as the following passages suggest. "Nearly 400 American clippers were launched in early '50s; but in early 1857, the year following the loss of the Sea Witch, only ten left the ways; and the last one of all was launched in 1859." ~ Alexander Laing "Brave ships, beautiful ships, were still to come in seemingly endless procession. The long powerful cargo carriers - "California clippers", and "Wool clippers" - and the trim yachtlike British clippers, were still in the future, and fine craft they were. For their work and day no better craft were built, but ton for ton they were not the lofty racing queens of the fifties, nor were they handled by men of clairvoyant intuition and reckless skill that marked several of the masters of the earlier clippers" "...With the close of 1860 we may bid farewell to the American clippers." ~ Carl C, Cutler But after a serious long, hard look at the Western Shore, and the ship building history and pictures of the Tall Ships of the Coos Bay expounded upon here on the accompanying Web pages, we have concluded that yes, indeed, the Western Shore had many of the qualities and lines of a medium clipper. She has earned the right to be considered as such for her record-setting passages to Liverpool stand to this day. ____________________________ The History of the "Oregon Clipper"
_________________________________ ECS ~ Many more Tall Ships of the Coos Bay pictures will be going up on this Web site in the coming days and we urge everyone to surf back here often and see these wonderful pictures as we post them. Here is one picture of the Forrest Home, a 173-foot four-masted schooner launched in 1900 on the Coos Bay. She was built by Emil Heuckendorff. She is seen here in Auckland, New Zealand, where she was sold and renamed Holmwood. She was scrapped in March 1940.
11/02/04 ~ The Tall Ships Photo Gallery in large page format just went up! ______________________________
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