Tillamook, OR

Yesterday, the 9th, we made a 2:45 run that only covered 67 miles. Why so long and only 67 miles? Lots of small seaside towns along the way and a very curvy HWY 101 along the coast.

This trip through the area we are staying at a campground (21 sites with full hookups) owned and operated by the local Elk's Club #1437. Nice quiet setting about 4 miles from their Lodge which we will visit.We will be here for 4 nights before heading up into Washington.

History

The city is named for the Tillamook people, a Native American tribe speaking a Salishan language who lived in this area until the early 19th century.

Anthropologist Franz Boas identifies the Tillamook Indians as the southernmost branch of the Coast Salish peoples of the Pacific Northwest who were separated geographically from the northern branch by tribes of Chinookan peoples. The name Tillamook, he says, is of Chinook origin, and refers to the people of a locality known as Elim or Kelim. They spoke Tillamook, a combination of two dialects. Tillamook culture differed from that of the northern Coast Salish, Boas says, and might have been influenced by tribal cultures further south, in northern California.

Historically, the Tillamook economy has been based primarily on dairy farms. The farmland surrounding the city is used for grazing the milk cattle that supply the Tillamook County Creamery Association's production of cheese, particularly cheddar, gourmet ice cream and yogurt, and other dairy products. Approximately one million people visit the cheese factory (located north of Tillamook on Highway 101) each year.

There is also a large lumber industry that is experiencing a comeback from the replanting that followed the Tillamook Burn forest fires of the mid-20th century. Burned remains of some of the trees can still be found in the forests surrounding Tillamook.

Tillamook also serves tourists on their way to the ocean beaches and as a location for second homes.