Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 26.djvu/438

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372
Lewis A. McArthur

to be shipped from the Pacific Northwest. The spars were lost in rough weather, but this does not rob Meares of the glory of starting our lumber industry.

Cape Perpetua, Lincoln County. Cape Perpetua, which is in the extreme southwest corner of the county, is one of the historic geographical features of Oregon. It was discovered on March 7, 1778, by Captain James Cook, the famous English explorer, and it has been frequently asserted that he named the cape because the bad weather seemed to hold him perpetually in sight of it. It is apparent from a careful reading of his journals that this was not the case, but that he named the headland for St. Perpetua, who was murdered in Carthage on March 7, 203, for it was on St. Perpetua's Day that he made his discovery. A pious gentleman advises the writer that Perpetua the Martyr was a noble lady of Carthage, and in the face of her father's pleadings and tears, professed the faith and was thrown to the beasts and beheaded.

Cape Ridge, Lane and Lincoln Counties. The western extremity of Cape Ridge is Cape Perpetua, and it received its name on this account. It lies between Yachats River on the north and Cummins Creek on the south, and Cape Creek, a short stream in between the two bisects it unequally, with the larger portion to the north, this terminating in the cape. Cape Ridge rises rapidly from the cape, and about a mile and a half from the ocean, it has an elevation of 1400 feet, and about three miles from the ocean there is a well defined summit 1947 feet high. This ridge together with others extending from the ocean finally blends itself into the Coast Range at higher elevations. For the geography of this feature see the U. S. Geological Survey map of the Waldport quadrangle.

Cape Sebastian, Curry County. Cape Sebastian derives its name from the fact that on January 20, 1603, Sebastian Vizcaino on an exploring expedition north from