Bandon
By The Sea
Bandon,
Oregon
Sept-Oct., 2000
One of the 
charming
little seaside towns that we found on the Oregon Coast was a
place called Bandon. It's located where the Coquille River flows
into the Pacific Ocean. We went through 2 years ago and Bob went
crabbing with some friends we met. (See Crabbing). The town itself is very interesting. It was
obviously an old fishing town. However, most of the stores have
been refurbished. It's a place where a lot of nature exploration
is possible. They have an old lighthouse that you can take a tour
of. Their beaches are famous for the beautiful agates you can
find. There are times that the Dungeness Crabs are plentiful in
the water (in late September), and then the Salmon start their
run. You are permitted to fish for the Salmon on a very limited
basis. I think at the time we were there it was three fish per
person, per day, and those each had to be of a certain size. The
fish were so thick in the river it was almost impossible not to
catch one.
One of the things that we particularly liked to do was wander the
beaches which 
was very easy to do since the sand was
well-packed and solid to walk on. The Oregon Coast here was like
it was most places along the northern Pacific Coast, rugged. The
view of the rocks from the beaches was just spectacular. Some
rocks, as we found, you could actually walk to during low tide.
But it is always wise anywhere on the ocean to be aware of the
tide times and don't get caught stranded by an incoming tide. In
Bandon we found out that every 24 hours and 50 minutes, the tide
rises and falls twice. While we were in town we heard a local
legend about something called Face Rock. Everyone said that we
had to see it. Legend in hand we dutifully trudged out to the
location where they said we could find Face Rock and lo and
behold there it was. Now 
you have to understand that I have always had an
overactive imagination when it came to legends and this was no
exception. The legend of Face Rock is an old Indian legend. The
story goes that there was to be a potlatch (an Indian
get-together) of several famous Chiefs. Chief Siskiyou was chief
of a tribe who lived in the mountains. He was the first chief to
arrive with his beautiful daughter Ewauna. Ewauna had never
before seen the sea and she decided that she had found the place
where the beautiful clouds were made. She was fascinated by the
sea, but her father warned her not to go near the shore because
there was an evil spirit called Seatka who lived in the ocean and
if he saw her he might claim her for his own. Several days later
other tribes began arriving for the potlatch. Soon, there were
many people there. One night after having feasted most of the
day, all of the peoples in the tribe fell asleep. It was then
that Ewauna took her cat and kittens and her dog, Komax, and went
to the oceans edge. She dropped her basket 
containing the cat and kittens and told Komax to
watch them. She ran out into the sea and started swimming. The
moon was full and made the cove like daylight. As she swam Komax
howled trying to warn her of the danger. She paid him no heed but
swam on. Then the moon became obscured by a black hand and the
next thing she knew she was being grasped by a fearsome creature
who came out of the water near her. Komax, who had failed to make
her hear his danger cry, swam out with the basket and, as the
monster seized his beloved mistress, sunk his sharp teeth into
the hand. Howling with rage, the creature threw off the dog,
causing him to drop the basket. Grabbing the cat and kittens, the
monster threw them far out into the sea. Seatka held the girl
tightly, trying to make her look at him, as his treacherous power
lay in his eyes. This she refused to do, telling him she never,
never would look at him, keeping her face toward the friendly
moon. At sunrise, her father awoke, and finding his daughter
gone, gave
the alarm. They all rushed to the sea. Fearfully, they gazed out,
seeing the dawn break through the white mist, and then they saw
the beautiful face of Ewauna lying on the sea, smiling up at the
white clouds coming from the North. To the West, they saw her cat
and kittens and near the beach, poor Komax baying for his
mistress. Behind the large rocks near the shore sits Seatka,
gazing at Ewauna, still trying to catch her eye. But never, never
does she falter. Many, many moons has she been there. Now, they
have all turned to stone.
Is this simply a story to explain the strange shaped rocks along
the shore? Or did something strange really happen at water's edge
in Bandon hundreds of years ago. The realists of you will
probably say, of course they are nothing but rocks, but we
romanticists might sit and ponder whether or not something
happened that brought about this legend.
There are so many delightful things to see and do in Bandon,
don't pass by without spending at least some time here to
discover and learn for yourself.
* * * THE END * * *
Good Luck! Have Fun! and Stay Safe!
Laura