Oregon documentary highlights Columbia River bar’s jetty system and its importance to the Pacific Northwest

The Civics Education Initiative, a statewide program sponsored by the Oregon State Capital Foundation. They help Oregonians learn how our government and democracy work and how you can get involved and make a difference. Grant applications to help nonprofit and educational organizations support civics education programs throughout Oregon are open now through September 30th at Oregoncapitalfoundation.org. This fall, let Curiosity lead you to Newport. The Newport Festival of Arts and Culture brings together music, arts, markets, culinary experiences, and community celebrations on the Oregon Coast. From September through November, take in world-class performances, explore the historic Bayfront, and discover the stories that make Newport unique. Unlock exclusive lodging offers for OPB listeners at Discovernewport.com slash OPB. The Newport Festival of Arts and Culture? where creativity is in the water. This is Think Out Loud. I'm Jeff Norcross. Charles Wilkes, a commander in the U.S. Navy, once wrote, mere description can give little idea of the terrors of the bar of the Columbia River, one of the most fearful sites that can possibly meet the eye of the sailor. The Columbia Bar is a system of sand and shoals where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. It is exceedingly hazardous and hard to navigate. There are over 2,000 shipwrecks in the vicinity of the bar that we know of. There's a new documentary film about the treachery of the Columbia Bar and the attempts to tame it. It's called Taming the mouth. Brett Eichenberger is the director and the founder of Resonance Productions in the Portland area. Jill Remen Snyder is a producer and writer on the film and they joined me now in the studio. Welcome to Think Out Loud. It's good to have you. Thanks for having us. Let's start with a clip from the film and it gets kind of at the danger of the place. Let's hear that first. This is the most dangerous bar in the world. That's why it's called the Graveyard of the Pacific. There are more than 2,000 shipwrecks within 50 miles of where we're sitting right now. Here at the museum, we mark over 2,000 wrecks on our large wall map that have happened on the Columbia River Bar. And even to this day, it's all the modern technology that's available and weather warnings. It's still a very dangerous place for mariners.

From the first recorded crossing in 1792 to the present day, the Columbia River Bar has claimed hundreds of vessels and lives, leaving behind a legacy of wreckage and warning. Brett, how did you balance the beauty of the Columbia River with the destructiveness of it when telling this story? That's a great question, Jeff. It just, we kind of let the camera do the talking. You know, I mean, growing up here in Oregon and being familiar with this region, you know, we just, we went out there and we took what Mother Nature gave us. And, you know, and I think that the beauty of it is deceiving because it lulls you in. It pulls you in. It hypnotizes you. And I think that, you know, especially. how storms will roll in unannounced, and we talk about that in the film. There's definitely a deception that is involved in the Columbia River Bar. Can you talk about the practical challenges of filming in such a treacherous place? You know, it's funny because we kept praying and hoping for poor weather because we needed it. And for whatever reason, during the two years that we were producing and shooting this documentary, we got some incredible weather and some calm seas. And you'll see some of the calmest Pacific Ocean you'll ever see in this documentary. And so we were on call for storms and king tides, if you will. So that was a little bit of a challenge to get. We just didn't really have, you know, some of the classic windstorms and crazy storms that you're used to in the Pacific Northwest. We just didn't really get them like we needed them to tell this story properly. Fortunately, we were able to get them towards the tail end of production. Oh, well, that's lucky. Yeah. So what is your understanding of why this place is so hard to navigate and so treacherous and so destructive? Basically, what it comes down to is there's no delta. And the Columbia River goes right into the Pacific Ocean. It doesn't spread out. It's like a channel that goes right into the ocean. Exactly. It just doesn't slow down. And that moves sediment fast and it builds sediment up, which means that they're constantly dredging. And we talk about this in the film. And so that just really creates an area there in that bar that is... always changing, hard to navigate. And, you know, there's the big, and I don't think a lot of people know that the big ships, the cargo ships that are going in and out of the bar have to be piloted by a bar pilot. Yeah. These captains are not able to take their ships in and out of the Columbia River. These are pilots that board these ships and their one job is to navigate through this area. Yeah, yeah. Jill, you grew up in seaside, Oregon. What stories did you grow up hearing about the Columbia Bar and the mouth of the Columbia and how treacherous it was? I had a lot of classmates and friends who either they themselves would go out fishing or they had fathers that would fish or shrimp or crap. So I would hear stories growing up. And some of them, gosh, in second grade, I had a friend who's...

She and her father were on a sailboat that started to go down in the Columbia and right there in the mouth. And I want to say it actually made, it was actually on the National Enquirer. It actually made that news. So I've heard these stories. So I've been aware of the danger my whole life. But I will say, and I'm embarrassed to say, I didn't fully understand what the jetties were and what their purpose was. I just took them for granted, just thought they were. this naturally occurring pile of rocks, for lack of better term. Okay, and we'll talk more about the jetties and more of the efforts to try to tame the bar a little bit later on. But I'd like to get a little bit more into personal history of the Columbia Bar, and you bring a lot of examples into the film of people who feel and live there and have observed the stories throughout their entire lives. Let's hear a little bit more of that. I've been hearing stories of the Columbia River Bar since I was a young boy. In fact the first one I ever heard was from my father who was in the Merch Marine as a young man and said that the most frightening moment he ever had aboard a ship was the first time they crossed the Columbia Bar. I could hear the fear in his voice and he rarely showed fear of anything. First time I remember reading the newspaper. A crab boat called The Mermaid needed to be rescued, and three Coast Guard boats were involved in that rescue. It was something about reading all these guys were like in their 20s. They were young men who died out there heroically. That's Randall Dan Sullivan, who is the author of The Graveyard of the Pacific, one of the experts in a new documentary called Taming the Mouth. It was made by director Brett Eichenberger and writer and producer Jill Remen-Snyder. Brett, can you talk more about the personal stories of the Columbia Bar that you uncovered in the making of this film? Yes. And a lot of those stories just came from Randall Dan Sullivan, who we just heard. And then we were able to talk to some of the community members. You know, Dan Todd is someone that we feature in the film who talks about how, you know, they had 110,000 pounds of fish on board. And they started taking on water. What was interesting was how many people we weren't able to feature that had had issues with the bar. And we're talking about year-round. In fact, during the production of this film, there was a father and son who were in a small craft crossing the bar. I believe it was in July or August of 2025. And they succumb to the bar. You know, it's, um, so we were constantly hearing stories of people who said things from, I almost lost my life to, I'll never cross the bar again, to I've never been so seasick. You know, but there's, but very rarely did we hear stories of people who said, oh yeah, it was fine. Yeah. You know, you know, and we talk about this in the documentary as well. There, you know, there was this guy who, um,

came from the East Coast. He talks about, yeah, yeah, the Columbia Bar I've heard about it. It's nothing. And he went out there, and they hit a swell, and they ended up hitting the bottom of the bar, and he took it seriously after that. So it's... It's definitely dangerous. We heard many stories. Yeah. And Jill, you spent some time with an important character in your film. What role did Captain George Flavel play not only on the bar, but, you know, for the entire Astoria seaside area? Well, he's one of the, he's a critical player in the Astoria region. I mean, just the, he helped build up the entire city. And not only did he, well, I believe. McAndrew Burns referred to him as the octopus at the mouth of the Columbia with his tentacles and everything. But I think that had a positive impact. I mean, he helped with the first fire department in Astoria, also with like hotel and lodging warehouses for all the industry that was coming through on the boats and whatnot. But also just, I mean, even today, the Flavela House Museum. I mean, growing up in the coast, that's something every kid goes to on a field trip. Were there any stories that you uncovered that you hadn't heard before? specifically tied to Flavel or... To the bar. To the bar in general. Yeah. You know, Brett touched on this a little bit, but during filming, just interacting with the community, people coming forward and asking us, like, oh, what are you doing? And when we tell them, we're making a documentary about the jetty restoration and the mouth of the Columbia... So many people would come forward and start sharing stories from their childhood about being out on boats or fishing off the jetties and either what fish they caught or how dangerous it was. So it was really interesting to see just what a critical role and what a connection it is for everyone in the community. Your film is called Taming the Mouth, after all. So let's talk about efforts to make the Columbia Bar a little less treacherous. What kind of infrastructure was put in place to make that happen? And when was it put there? So the jetties were... The construction of the initial jetty started in 1885. And these are just like lines of rocks. They're essentially lines of rocks. And honestly, Jeff, that's kind of the way I thought of them when we were approached to do this film. I thought, oh, yeah, lines of rocks. How do you tell stories about lines of rocks? And what's so interesting about the jetties is when Congress funded them, it was the largest civil engineering project in U.S. history.

by the Army Corps of Engineers. And they had to go through phases because they were learning on the job, if you will. And, you know, when we first went out there to see the South jetty, which is the most prominent jetty, I was blown away by the scale of it. You know, this is a jetty that at one point was four or five miles long. And the jetty has such an impact on the bar that it's changed the land around. the area so the area around where Fort Stevens is and even across the mouth of the Columbia near Cape Disappointment a lot of that sand has built up because of the jetties and the way that the water flows now But going out there and actually getting on the jetty to film some of the construction taking place on the refurbishment of the jetties, you know, these rocks are 30 to 40 tons. And, you know, you would see an entire semi-truck, an oversized load, bringing one rock. And you've got tens of thousands of rocks built into these jetties. Is it working? It's absolutely working. How? It's working by changing the flow of the Columbia. I mean, it's obviously it's not completely tamed the mouth. That's impossible. Yeah. You know, we're doing the best that we can. But it's working and keeping commerce $24 billion of commerce a year going in and out of the Columbia River. Of course, like I mentioned earlier, it's not safe enough yet to let the captains pilot their own ships in and out. You know, there's still that. But, you know, this is a mouth that used to be six miles wide. It's now two and a half miles wide, I believe. You mentioned that it's changing the land around the mouth as well. Is it changing it in a good or a bad way? You know, I would say that it's changing. in a good way. It's creating the beaches that we use for recreation for our enjoyment. And we talk about that in the film a little bit. You know, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, we got to give them all the credit in the world because they're the ones that are out there dredging. They'll go out there two weeks at a time to dredge. And so they take care of a lot of, you know, the replacement of that sand and that sediment. Let's talk a little bit more about the river. not just as a method and a channel for commerce, but just as an important part of the landscape. And let's get some thoughts on that from your film right now. The Columbia River, to me, symbolizes life. It was life for the Indian people for thousands of years. It connected them all together. The Columbia was the main trade route and the main source of food in that had the biggest runs of salmon. And they were very dependable. And they fed the Indians for thousands of years. It's this beautiful lattice work of interconnected people.

There were many, many generations for thousands and thousands of years that honored the river and took care of it and appreciated everything about it. And I would hope that that continues. I think that modern generations, we get a little disconnected. We can just go to a store and get food and not think about where does it come from. You don't have that food that you want unless you make it or catch it yourself. This river connects us to the world. And for a lot of people, we just don't even think about that. I love that clip. And it brings up an important point. This river has been a lifeline for indigenous communities for thousands of years. And it only became a problem when we tried to put ships on it, right? Yeah, yeah. So do you keep that in mind as you made this film? 100%. I mean, we wanted to, we absolutely wanted to feature the indigenous story and how this river factored into their livelihoods, how it brought communities together, how it was essential for their lifestyles. And this goes all the way down the river, you know, from, especially at the mouth of the Columbia, because you had... You know, you had a lot more going on with the Pacific Ocean coming in. But, you know, many of these tribes, whether it was the Klatsup or the Chinook, they were traveling way down the Columbia River to trade and to do things. So it, like we say in our documentary, it did so much good. And it continues to do so much good in a modern way. Yeah. And Jill, I guess last question is for you. Since you grew up in this area, I'm wondering if your experience working on this film has changed your relationship to the Columbia, be it a lifeline for people or a destructive force. I took it for granted. And there is an awareness now of just how much it connects to everyone and how... What a vital role it is, whether, as we discussed, the commerce or people's livelihoods, or just recreation and enjoyment. There's just so much more than I realized growing up. Yeah. Well, it was a beautiful film. I really enjoyed watching it, and I enjoyed talking to you about it. Thank you both. Thank you, Jeff. Thank you. Brett Eichenberger is the director of the documentary Taming the Mouth, and Jill Remensnyder is a writer and producer on the film. You can see it streaming now on Prime Video and Apple TV.

Finally, today, senior producer Alison Frost joins me in the studio to read some of your recent feedback. Hi, Alison. Hey, Jeff. Well, we talked earlier this week about the botulism outbreak that's threatening birds in the Kalameth Basin, and we asked bird lovers on Facebook what birds they're excited to see. And Kendall Leeper said, White Pelicans. And Brenda Holmes. Staunchew said, Muir. Yeah, the Vancouver Bird Alliance wrote, there's too many to choose from. Commonloons on the Columbia River, horned grebes at Vancouver Lake, trumpeter and tundra swans at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. I guess we'll just have to have a celebration for all of them. And the Bird Alliance of Oregon, whose biologist we talked to, wrote, we are most excited about shorebirds this time of year, specifically the long-billed dowager. New research shows that many of them fly non-stop directly from the Russian Arctic to Oregon. We recently talked about the organ premiere of the world's first mariachi opera that premiered in Portland in Hillsborough. We asked opera fans on Facebook what they love about the art form. Candy Lopez wrote beautiful music, saturated with emotion and drama. What's not to love? Zander Almeida wrote, It's So Beautiful, All Languages, All the Fields, one of my favorite genres. Kate Strohacker said, Absolutely Love Opera for the Story. Rebecca Duncan said, I love the immense talent of the singers, musicians, composers, costumers, stage designers, and more. There is nothing like it. And Jocelyn Clare Thomas said, it's the ultimate art form because it contains all art forms. And finally, we talked yesterday about talking in Esperanto. That language created in the late 1800s intended to enable communication across countries and cultures. We asked people on Facebook for their thoughts about Esperanto. Dave Kilby wrote, This Country Can't Even and handle a switch to the metric system that the rest of the world uses, let alone learn a whole new language for everyday use. Eric Alexander said universal language already existed. Linguafranca, French, was the language used by aristocrats to communicate across borders. It has since become English. Maybe Mandarin will become the new linga, linga franca someday. Inventing a new language is redundant, especially one so Eurocentric as Esperanto. Jacob Holgate wrote, dude. I don't even have enough time to learn Spanish or American Sign Language. Latin is a better option, wrote Rob Jerome Powell. And Tatiana Turdahl added, if the UN made it one of its languages, it might just become more useful. Alex Miller, an Esperanto enthusiast, added, The American Good Film Festival is now taking submissions. There's no cost, and anyone can enter. You can watch over 200 of those Esperanto Festival short films. on the Esperanto USA YouTube channel. And finally, Raul Duke threw in this fun fact, William Shatner filmed an entire movie in Esperanto. What? Yes, that was my reaction, so I had to look this up. And Raoul is entirely correct that William Shatner movie was a 1966 Esperanto horror film called Incubus. There's my weekend viewing already worked out. We always appreciate your comments and your suggestions in whatever genre. And you can leave them on our Facebook page. We're at OPBTOL. And you can also send us an email at think out loud at opb.org. Or always, you can give us a call. We love to get those voicemails at 503-293-1983. Thank you, Alison. You're so welcome, Jeff. Tomorrow on the show, Phileen is a style of music that combines traditional Cuban bolero with American jazz and blues.

Portland vocalist Jesse Marquez will explore the genre in a series of performances and conversations over the next month in the lead-up to the Montevilla Jazz Festival, and we will talk with Jesse Marquez about her connection to Cuba and the musical relationship between that island and the United States. Our production staff includes Malia Fas, Roli Hernandez, Gemma de Carlo, senior producer Alison Frost, and managing producer Shiraz Sadiq. Idrisa Guy is our intern for the summer. Maline Silva and Layla Isbel engineer the show from the Gert Boyle Studio. Our technical director is Stephen Cray, and our executive producer is Stagefan Wing. If you don't want to miss any of our shows, you can listen wherever you get your podcast. Our nightly rebroadcast is at 8 p.m. Thank you for tuning in to Think Out Loud on OPB and KLCC. I'm Jeff Norcross. Have a great day. Think Out Loud is supported by Steve and Jan Oliver, the Rose E. Tucker Carlson Charitable Trust, Ray and Marilyn Johnson, the Susan Hammer Fund of Oregon Community Foundation, and the Langs-Fingard Family Fund.