The quaint coastal town of Astoria, Oregon is rich in beauty
and history. Situated at the mouth of the Columbia River, Astoria’s past
included such great events as the Lewis and Clark expedition reaching the
Pacific there.
View West From the Astoria Column |
The townspeople agreed with Budd and Litchfield that Coxcomb
Hill, at 600 ft. elevation, would be the best place for the proposed histogram.
New York philanthopist, Vincent Astor, whose great-grandfather, John Jacob
Astor, settled Astoria and began the Pacific Fur Company, contributed finances
for the Astoria column. His family previously funded the purchase of Coxcomb
Hill for the project.
Astoria Column |
To do the artwork, a round wooden scaffolding was
constructed. The scaffold dangled from the 110 ft. viewing platform and circled
the column. Pusterla would take his drawings up on the scaffolding, apply a
fresh base coat to the column side, put the drawing in place and then blow
colored powder into the holes that outlined the figures. When he lifted the
paper away, he could see the outlines of the drawing. He then applied the
lighter plaster and added the shadows and outlines necessary. Pusterla demanded
his work be perfect, often removing the previous days work when it didn’t meet
his standards.
By the day of dedication, only three bands of the mural were
completed. The three days of festivities weren’t postponed. 8,000 people showed
up to see the histogram. Pusterla continued his work and completed the artwork
in late October 1926.
Along with the artwork, there were text panels that circled
the tower. The words below are the text starting from the bottom and going to
the top. You can see the artwork up close here.
BEFORE THE WHITE MAN CAME
ROBERT GRAY ENTERED IN COLUMBIA GREAT RIVER-MAY 11, 1792
FINDS AN INDIAN VILLAGE ON THE BANK OF THE RIVER.
LT. BROUGHTON NAMES MT. HOOD, OCT. 1792
INDIANS GREET THE EXPLORERS
LEWIS AND CLARK REACH THE PACIFIC OCEAN
CORPS OF DISCOVERY BOILING SALT WATER FOR SALT-SEASIDE
FORT CLATSOP ESTABLISHED – DECEMBER 1805
INDIAN FISHING AND BOAT BUILDING INDUSTRY
ASTOR’S OVERLAND PARTY LEAVING ST. LOUIS
ASTOR’S SHIP “TONQUIN” SAILS FROM NEW YORK, SEPT. 8, 1810
ASTOR’S “TONQUIN” ARRIVES AT MOUTH OF COLUMBIA, APRIL 1811
OVERLANDER CROSS THE DIVIDE LED BY WILSON PRICE HUNT
DESTRUCTION FO THE “TONQUIN” NOOTKA SOUND-1811
FIRST OVERLAND ASTORIAN ARRIVE
SOLD TO NORTHWEST FUR COMPANY-BECAME FORT GEAORGE BRITISH
U.S. SHIP “ONTARIA” FLYING AMERICAN FLAG 1818
COMING OF PIONEERS 1837-1848
THE RAILWAY ARRIVES 1893
Around the cupola—ROBERT GRAY, LEWIS & CLARK, JOHN JACOB
ASTOR
In 1961, Lord John Jacob, a descendant of John Jacob Astor, attended Astoria's sesquicentennial. He
dedicated a memorial to the Chinook Indians at the Astoria Column. The memorial is a replica of a burial canoe, the same that would have been used for Chief Concomly's burial.
Chief Concomly's Burial Canoe |
In 1988 the Friends of Astoria Column was established. The
column artwork had not been preserved and was deteriorating. This group raised
money to get the column restored. They continue today to support this
historical monument. You can read about the restoration work here.
Have you ever visited Astoria? Have you climbed the column?
One of the popular things to do there is to purchase a balsam glider and throw
it from the platform. Of course, you have to climb about a million steps to do
it. (In reality only I believe there are only about 170 steps.) The climb is
well worth the effort. The view is incredible and you can sometimes see bald
eagles soaring overhead.
Please leave a comment to be entered in a drawing. I am giving away an insulated cup from the Astoria Column and a copy of Immigrant Brides, or another of my books if you have that one.
Please leave a comment to be entered in a drawing. I am giving away an insulated cup from the Astoria Column and a copy of Immigrant Brides, or another of my books if you have that one.
Nancy J Farrier is an award winning author who lives in
Southern California in the Mojave Desert. She loves the Southwest with its
interesting historical past. Nancy and her husband have five children and one
grandson. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play
with her cats, and spend time with her family. Nancy is represented by Karen
Ball of The Steve Laube Literary Agency. You can read more about Nancy and her
books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.
I haven't been to Astoria but now I'm adding that to my list for the next time we travel up CA into Oregon and Washington. I love towers like that- I climbed the one on Bunker Hill on the east coast as a teenager and thought it was so cool :) Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeletecolorvibrant at gmail dot com
http://heidi-reads.blogspot.com
Thank you, Heidi. I love climbing towers too. I hope you get to Astoria. It's a wonderful place.
DeleteVery interesting article, Astoria sounds like a place I would like to visit. Thank you for the giveaway
ReplyDeletegriperang at embarqmail dot com
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThank you, Angela. I do hope you get the chance to visit Astoria.
DeleteHow interesting! Thank you for sharing and thank you for the giveaway!
ReplyDeletemauback55 at gmail dot com
Thank you, Melanie.
DeleteWe climbed this column with our kids approximately 15 years ago. So interesting and definitely worth it! Our youngest was scared and my husband had to carry her two-thirds of the way up and all the way down! I was just glad I made it. I had new bifocals, and going down was definitely a challenge.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I didn't have to carry anyone up or down those stairs. It is fun, and worth the climb.
DeleteI would love to visit this place. I don't think I will hike the colum though don't like hights so it's a no for me. But I bet it's pretty nice on the outside.
Deleteoh.hello.hiya@gmail.com
Astoria sounds wonderful and I would love to visit! Oregon is one of the states that we have not visited...yet! Thank you so much for sharing this interesting post and generous giveaway!!
ReplyDeletetexaggs2000 at gmail dot com
Thank you, Britney. I hope you get the chance to go to Oregon. It's such a beautiful state.
DeleteThanks for sharing. I would love to visit this site. jsmithrock88@aol.com
ReplyDeleteThank you. I hope you have the chance to visit.
DeleteHi Nancy! Thanks for such a great post. I have been to Astoria, in fact I've been wanting to go back ever since I left! I, however, have never heard of the Astoria Column. I went there b/c my most favorite/greatest movie ever made was partly filmed there in the 80's: The Goonies! I took many pics of the houses in the film, the town itself, and later drove down to Haystack Rock, almost an hour up the highway.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win a copy of Immigrant Brides! I've been dying to read it since it came out!
kam110476 at gmail dot com
I was near Astoria, OR but did not look for the column and now I wish I had. I love all that history painted on the column. I have The Immigrant Brides but would love another of your books, Nancy, if I win. I like Painted Desert or Grand Canyon Brides, as I enjoy "collections' and meet different authors and read several stories around a central theme, Thanks for your post. Sharon wileygreen1ATyahooDOTcom
ReplyDelete