Description

Ocean, by Orlo Redford Chamberlain. (2016). 69 pages, with photos and illustrations. Published by Tillamook County Historical Society. (Written in 1982.) The Chamberlain family homesteaded on the Pacific Ocean in south Tillamook County on the south side of Cape Lookout. in 1885. They built a house from the timbers and lumber from the wreck of the Struam that washed ashore near their property. Ezra Chamberlain built a water-powered sawmill to deal with the heavy timbers salvaged from the ship. Ezra and Hannah Chamberlain’s son, Orlo, wrote this book from his recollections of his first ten years living on the homestead. He is a gifted storyteller, remembering details of schools, bears, fishing, and exploring this unsettled land.

The book has an addition about how the Chamberlain property became Camp Meriwether. The Chamberlain children inherited the 488 acres and decided to sell the property to the Columbia Pacific Boy Scout Council for $21,000 in 1926. In the 1950s, the Boy Scout Council added 240 acres from Tillamook County. The new property gave Camp Meriwether 790 acres. The property now includes a nine-acre Lake Chamberlain, rugged cliffs, and two-and-a-half miles of coastline. Maps and pictures are included.