Oregon's quaint coastal towns are like pearls strung along Highway 101, born of historic legends emerging from the ocean mist. A drive to the coast will delight the senses with panoramic views of the wild sea, it's pounding thunder and the breeze suffused with invigorating freshness. Beckoning through turns of weather are the shops, the sand, the sunset sinking into blazing scarlet. The beachcomber, walking barefoot through gliding surf, is reunited with the cradle of life, completing a circle that began at the dawn of time. There is the sense of being a player in the theatre of history.

Oregon's beaches have been used as a traveling route since prehistoric times, and there is poetic completeness in the modern vision of this legacy, first proposed by Governor Oswald West, that the seashore was a public highway. Early settlers crossed the rocky promontories using Indian trails. At Hug Point, between Arcadia Beach and Arch Cape, a roadway was carved into the base of the headland, allowing travel at high tide. Incredibly, this feature has survived intact after more than 80 years. Other sections of pioneer roadway live on, converted to the Oregon Coast Trail at Cape Perpetua and the Yachats 804 Trail.

Native inhabitants passed on legends to coastal pioneers about shipwrecks and castaways that lived with the tribes centuries ago. Tantalizing stories were told of buried treasure at Neahkahnie and a fabulous lost gold mine in the northern Coast Range. Near Gold Beach on the southern Oregon Coast was the fabled kingdom of Quivira, present on old maps until the 1700's. Ancient clues are still being revealed in the sand, of Spanish galleons and Oriental junks cast adrift, of explorations untold.


Perhaps the most enigmatic area on the Oregon Coast is Neahkahnie Mountain, just north of the town of Manzanita. It is here that coastal lore and recovered artifacts intersect in a tangled web of mystery. Clatsop Indian legends speak of two ships, one that wrecked on Nehalem Beach with a cargo of beeswax, and a second ship that anchored offshore of Neahkahnie Mountain. A landing party from the ship buried a treasure chest on the slopes of Neahkahnie, marking the spot with an inscribed rock. Yet unfound, to this day it is guarded by the ghost of a man who was killed and buried along with the treasure.

Many industrious and resourceful people have attempted to find the lost wealth of Neahkahnie Mountain, literally honeycombing parts of it. The depression years were a flurry of activity. The many intriguing artifacts they have unearthed have only deepened the mystery. On display at the Tillamook County Museum are rocks found on Neahkahnie Mountain that bear cryptic symbols, as if mapping the treasure's location. Also on display are some of the blocks of beeswax that were obtained by early settlers. These bear stamped trade markings that were in use in the 1600's. Spanish galleons plied Pacific waters until the 1800's, with cargoes of beeswax destined for Catholic missions. When Lewis and Clark came upon the scene, local Indians had been finding and trading the beeswax for many years.

My wife and I traveled to Manzanita, a town clinging to the southern slope of Neahkahnie Mountain and spilling down into sheltered meadows where creeks meandered through whispering pines. Neahkahnie's forested dome held seaward a vertical rock face with a distant archway that captivated the eyes. The clouds had parted on this calm and comfortable April day, and we rolled on toward the wide beach. We parked and then walked northward as if pulled by the mystic gravity of Neahkahnie Mountain. Ahead, waves hurled against its sheer cliffs and flew skyward.

We strolled along Neahkahnie Beach and my wife found a piece of translucent light gray material near the high tide line. We inspected it closely, noting the rough and battered exterior. Many other objects had been rejected; pieces of plastic, wood, cork, and Styrofoam, but realization dawned on us. Amazingly, it was nothing less than the historic beeswax from the 1600's, carried partway around the world, shipwrecked, and lost for centuries. We got serious and found several more palm-sized pieces. It's especially rewarding to hold a tangible link to the past in your hand, one that has spanned cultures and verified one of Oregon's oldest legends.

As Oregonians, we take pride in our beaches and return to them regularly, finding peace and inspiration. Let the sunset find you a forgotten dream in the surf, and on the edge of twilight, hear the wind that whispers of treasure waiting in the moon shadows of Neahkahnie Mountain.

by J. D. Adams
j1mcm0s@earthlink.net