Storms reveal secrets on Oregon's coast

PORTLAND -- The storms that lashed Oregon's scenic coast this winter have dredged up an unusual array of once-buried secrets: old shipwrecks, historic cannons, ghost forests -- even oddities known as "red towers."

One of the first ships to emerge from the sands was recently identified as the George L. Olson, which ran aground at Coos Bay's North Jetty on June 23, 1944.

The shipwreck has become a tourist attraction on the southern coast of Oregon. Interest had become so great that the Bureau of Land Management had to reroute traffic around the ship and post signs warning visitors to leave it alone because it is now an archaeological site.

Shipwrecks and other curiosities began showing up after December when Pacific storms pummeled the state, damaging thousands of homes and causing an estimated $60 million in damage to roads, bridges and public buildings.

The storms brought high seas, which caused beach erosion. Although sands commonly shift in the winter, this season appeared especially dramatic. There were reports that up to 17 feet of sand eroded away at Arch Cape.

"It's really an unusual event, the magnitude of it," said Chris Havel of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

Other shipwrecks have emerged recently -- a wooden ship near Bandon, also on the southern coast, and another where the Siuslaw River flows into the ocean near Florence.

Little is known about either ship, Havel said, and sands have reclaimed the Siuslaw wreck.

"In modern days, we don't let people leave shipwrecks. If a boat washes up on shore, the owner has to come and remove it," Havel said. "Back then, the only craft that would really survive would have to be a pretty good size."

Ships aren't the only things surfacing on the coast.

Ghost forests are groves of tree stumps, some estimated at 4,000 years old, that were engulfed by the sea. Because of shifting sands, many have suddenly popped up.

The stumps are especially impressive at Arch Cape, where locals say they haven't seen them for some 40 years, according to Tiffany Boothe of the Seaside Aquarium.

"The forest floor is actually uncovered, too. You can see the floor," she said. "There's like these mud cliffs. As you're walking on it, it resembles clay. It's definitely not sand."

Arch Cape also was where a pair of historic cannons were recently discovered by beachcombers. The origin of the cannons, each weighing between 800 and 1,000 pounds, is not known.

State archaeologist Dennis Griffin supervised the removal of the cannons, which were placed in tanks of fresh water and burlap for preservation.

The "red towers" are strangely shaped deposits of iron hidden beneath the sand. The orangy-red lumps, most no more than 3 feet tall, are usually buried deep beneath the sand but now dot the coastal landscape.

"These formations could be gone in the next week. That's how fast the coast changes," Boothe said.

The George L. Olson, uncovered around the New Year, has drawn a great deal of attention because its origin was a mystery until recently.

After determining the wreck resembled the schooner, local archaeologists delved into its history, determining where and when it went down. The facts added up, said Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Megan Harper.

But it was a local man's photograph from 1947 that really convinced the agency, she said.

"It showed him and his brothers on the shipwreck with the words "George L." on the hull," Harper said. "Once we saw that, it was, 'Yep, that's the one.' "

The George L. Olson was a 223-foot-long wood-hulled schooner launched in 1917 and originally named the Ryder Hanify. It eventually wound up on the southern Oregon coast, where it hauled lumber until it ran aground.

The wreckage has drawn curious crowds, including about 3,000 visitors this past weekend, Harper said.