Chetlo Harbor, Washington
Encyclopedia
Chetlo Harbor, also known as over the years as Cougar Bend, Napoleon, and Stanley, was a small settlement located near the southwest coast of Washington State, in the southeast corner of Willapa Bay
at the mouth of the Naselle
River. The population of the settlement was approximately 50 people at its peak. The businesses there over the years consisted of a salmon
fishery and canning operation, a logging operation, and a mining company. Chetlo, or Jetlo, is a Chinook
Jargon
word meaning oyster
.
The isolation of the river is hard to imagine now. There were no roads on the lower river and not over four or five power boats on the whole river. The gas engine was not very reliable in those days. The people were served by a boat out of South Bend once a week. I believe they brought the mail, freight, and passengers, if any. They also did the shopping for you as well. The lack of transport was why there were one-room schools all up and down the river, some only a couple of miles apart.
It was rather a hard life, but when people played, they played hard too. Dances lasted all night. There were no babysitters, so all the children were brought along, parked on beds when they got sleepy, and sorted in the morning. Basket socials were a big deal also.
All the log towing was done by tugs, and there was quite a fleet of them; the Flora Brown, Agnes, Launel, Myrtle, Queen, and the Defender. The Defender was the newest and most powerful, but it did not work out because it had too much power and speed. When it was pushing the logs, they went out under the tailstick. The loss and salvage almost broke the owner. Someone decided to do something about the isolation on the lower river.
A town was plat
ted a mile or two below the present highway bridge on the west side of the river and above the old Sunshine Mill. The machinery from the mill had been moved to South Bend years before. The town started out as Napoleon, then later named Chetlo Harbor. A dock and a store were built and building lots were sold.
They began building a sawmill over on the straits. Why I don’t know, as there was no water there at low tide. The mill was never finished. When it was almost done it burned and was never rebuilt. There was a boardwalk from the town over to the mill, a quarter of a mile or so through the woods.
The Chetlo Harbor Packing Company was owned by Joe Rowell
and Douglas Rowell, brothers, a cousin, an attorney named Horne. The operation fished prior to opening a cannery and sold its catch to fish buyers. In 1914 a cannery was constructed and Nick Kussman was hired as foreman. The operation was ready for the fall 1914 salmon season and canned 10,000 cases. The cannery was caught in the price squeeze initiated by the coastal salmon trust, in their attempt to put small Alaskan canneries out of business. The cannery ceased operation in 1915. The cannery employed about 30-40 people. A post office post office was established December 19, 1911, and closed February 15, 1918.
Willapa Bay
Willapa Bay is a bay located on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state in the United States. The Long Beach Peninsula separates Willapa Bay from the greater expanse of the Pacific Ocean. With over of water surface Willapa Bay is the second largest estuary on the United States Pacific coast...
at the mouth of the Naselle
Naselle, Washington
Naselle is a census-designated place in Pacific County, Washington, United States. The population was 419 at the 2010 census. Though very near Columbia River's estuary, the valley's Naselle River flows west into nearby Willapa Bay and then into the Pacific Ocean. Close about the town lie the...
River. The population of the settlement was approximately 50 people at its peak. The businesses there over the years consisted of a salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
fishery and canning operation, a logging operation, and a mining company. Chetlo, or Jetlo, is a Chinook
Chinookan languages
Chinookan is a small family of languages spoken in Oregon and Washington along the Columbia River by Chinook peoples.-Family division:Chinookan languages consists of three languages with multiple varieties. There is some dispute over classification, and there are two ISO 639-3 codes assigned: and...
Jargon
Jargon
Jargon is terminology which is especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, group, or event. The philosophe Condillac observed in 1782 that "Every science requires a special language because every science has its own ideas." As a rationalist member of the Enlightenment he...
word meaning oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
.
The isolation of the river is hard to imagine now. There were no roads on the lower river and not over four or five power boats on the whole river. The gas engine was not very reliable in those days. The people were served by a boat out of South Bend once a week. I believe they brought the mail, freight, and passengers, if any. They also did the shopping for you as well. The lack of transport was why there were one-room schools all up and down the river, some only a couple of miles apart.
It was rather a hard life, but when people played, they played hard too. Dances lasted all night. There were no babysitters, so all the children were brought along, parked on beds when they got sleepy, and sorted in the morning. Basket socials were a big deal also.
All the log towing was done by tugs, and there was quite a fleet of them; the Flora Brown, Agnes, Launel, Myrtle, Queen, and the Defender. The Defender was the newest and most powerful, but it did not work out because it had too much power and speed. When it was pushing the logs, they went out under the tailstick. The loss and salvage almost broke the owner. Someone decided to do something about the isolation on the lower river.
A town was plat
Plat
A plat in the U.S. is a map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. Other English-speaking countries generally call such documents a cadastral map or plan....
ted a mile or two below the present highway bridge on the west side of the river and above the old Sunshine Mill. The machinery from the mill had been moved to South Bend years before. The town started out as Napoleon, then later named Chetlo Harbor. A dock and a store were built and building lots were sold.
They began building a sawmill over on the straits. Why I don’t know, as there was no water there at low tide. The mill was never finished. When it was almost done it burned and was never rebuilt. There was a boardwalk from the town over to the mill, a quarter of a mile or so through the woods.
The Chetlo Harbor Packing Company was owned by Joe Rowell
Rowell Laboratories, Inc.
Rowell Laboratories, Inc., a pharmaceutical manufacturing company, was founded in 1929, was located in Baudette, Minnesota, and later included facilities in Marietta, Georgia and Orlando, Florida. Rowell Laboratories, Inc...
and Douglas Rowell, brothers, a cousin, an attorney named Horne. The operation fished prior to opening a cannery and sold its catch to fish buyers. In 1914 a cannery was constructed and Nick Kussman was hired as foreman. The operation was ready for the fall 1914 salmon season and canned 10,000 cases. The cannery was caught in the price squeeze initiated by the coastal salmon trust, in their attempt to put small Alaskan canneries out of business. The cannery ceased operation in 1915. The cannery employed about 30-40 people. A post office post office was established December 19, 1911, and closed February 15, 1918.