The Girandoni

Unlike our leisurely cruise through California, Bill is zooming up the coast of Oregon.  We traveled 180 miles today which is a long travel day for us. Along the way we encountered more coastline, lighthouses and bridges, in other words, more spectacular ocean vistas.

Heceta Head Lighthouse

Yaquina Lighthouse

 

 

We stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory and test drove a much smaller RV.

Our final destination for the day was Fort Stevens State Park.  Fort Stevens Military Reservation has guarded the mouth of the Columbia River from the Civil War to the end of World War II.   The fort was built during the Civil War to protect the northwest from British invasion from Canada if the British decided to join the war on the Confederate side.  In 1942, a Japanese submarine fired 17 shells at the fort, making it the only military institution in the continental United States to receive hostile fire during the war. 

In 1906 during a heavy storm the British ship, Peter Iredale ran aground on the Clatsop Beach, just south of the fort. You can still see part of the ship on the beach.

 
The fort was decommissioned after WWII, the guns dismantled and sold, and the land was eventually given to Oregon for a state park. 

The next morning we headed just a few miles down the road to the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park at the site of Fort Clatsop.  The Fort is a replica of site where Lewis and Clark with the Corps of Discovery wintered from December, 1805 to March, 1806. 

The high point of the visit came when Bill was talking with the ranger in the Visitor's Center and mentioned the air rifle that Lewis and Clark had on the expedition.  The ranger told Bill that a local antique gun collector had recently (within the last 3 weeks) given an original Girandoni air rifle to the center for permanent display.  She went to the back room and returned with the Girandoni.

The air rifle was used by the Austrian army from 1780 through 1815.  It could shoot 30 shots on one air reservoir load, but it took nearly 1500 pumps by hand to fill the air reservoir.  Bill and the ranger carried on a lively conversation for the next 30 minutes about the Girandoni.  They took it apart, inspected the engraving, discussed how to pump the chamber, load the cartridges and other gun stuff.  Bill and the ranger were both very excited about the Girandoni.

Today's 3 Fun Facts:

1. The Girandoni air rifle was the first repeating rifle of any type to be used in military service.
2. The captain's final toast to the Peter Iredale was "May God bless you and may your bones bleach in the sand."
3. The Girandoni was freakn' awesome.

Footnote:

The dump station at Fort Stevens campground is the Costco of dump stations.