№7 I sell guns to clams

I’m a little behind in sending out dispatches. Here is a longer dispatch with many images to bring back an equilibrium. I still have a hankering to create some portraits along the way. Believe it or not, this has been a challenge. In this world of endless content streams, people have become camera-shy.

The day before Thanksgiving, I set out on a 333-mile round trip through parts of western Washington and the Long Beach Peninsula. The plan was to visit Pe Ell, Washington (pronounced peel) and follow the road further northwest to see where things lead.

Traffic on Interstate 5 at 6 AM was unusually heavy due to the approaching holiday, something I didn’t consider when I set out on my trip; once off the busy freeway, I had an open road.

Before my first destination, I stopped by the Little Crane Cafe in Vader, Washington, for a Denver Omelet and coffee. I listened to the locals gleefully discuss politics. I quickly turned my attention to the sound of the freight trains passing right next to the building while I ate my omelet, thinking of the days when train crews would make this restaurant a regular stop along the way for a hearty breakfast or lunch.

The air was filled with a mixture of low-hanging fog and a fast-moving marine layer, which was a delight to observe as I drove toward my first destination. I stopped occasionally to take photos of the landscape of this idyllic patch of Washington state.

The Wikipedia entry for Pe Ell is ambiguous about the town’s rather odd name's origins. Speculation about some early settlers’ names not being pronounceable by the native population strikes me as plausible. This did happen in Shaniko, Oregon, where the natives could not pronounce the name of the postmaster, August Scherneckau. The book “Origin of Washington Geographic Names” has an entry for Pe Ell that reads:

“… white men adopted the name with the mistaken idea that it was an Indian word. ‘In fact it is an Indian pronunciation of the name of a one-eyed French halfbreed, Pierre, who used to pasture horses in this prairie.’ The real Indian name of the place, he says, is Tsachwasin…”

A map of the Northern Pacific Railway from 1900 designates the location as ‘Pee Ell.’

It’s unclear when the post office arrived in Pe Ell. The Postmaster Finder only has records dating back to 1954. County records indicate that the Post Office has been at its current address since 1915.

If you decide to visit, don’t hesitate to go inside the post office. The interior is a beautiful time capsule. It’s right next to “The Pub.” The Willapa Hills State Park Trail has replaced the railroad. The trail spans 56 miles from Chehalis to South Bend. You can make it a spring or summer weekend bike trip activity and stop by the Post Office and “The Pub” for lunch in Pe Ell midway.

Many things remain frozen in time here, including the defunct service station with an out-of-service phone booth.

Further down the road in Menlo, Washington, the post office is tucked away in the back of a general store. It has been there since at least 1969. A modern roll-down shutter replaced the classic frosted glass window with bars at the service counter. Some of the mailboxes still feature letter-coded combination locks.

Menlo was named by rail workers who established a station along the Northern Pacific Railway branch line to Willapa Harbor. Preston was the preferred name, but it was already used somewhere else along the line. A nearby homestead was named after Menlo Park, California, by a clever real estate investor. As mentioned in the book “Origin of Washington Geographic Names” by Edmond S. Meany, the large Menlo Park sign for the homestead was cut in half, and the Menlo piece was attached to the station.

The Post Office came to Bay Center in 1876 when it was still called Bay Centre. The American spelling style was introduced sometime in the 1890s.

The Oysterville Post Office, established in 1858, holds the distinction of being the oldest continuously operating post office in the state of Washington. Serving as a pivotal anchor for the small community, the post office was housed next to the Oysterville Store. However, the store closed at the onset of the pandemic. Today, the post office stands as the sole remnant of this once-thriving part of the community. Notably, the post office was targeted for closure back in 2012. Postal officials allegedly proposed that residents could pick up their mail in Bay Center, situated on the other side of Willapa Bay. This suggestion was deemed impractical, as Bay Center, 6.3 miles as the crow flies, is only accessible through a 47-mile drive around the bay.

The defunct Oysterville Store used to sell a controversial bumper sticker that raised questions and suspicion amongst dudes and Canadian border agents alike. The origin story and true meaning of the message is unclear for many, but I’m going to go with a pro-clam and anti-clam gun position.

I visited the Oysterville Historic Cemetery to pay my respects to Michael and Petra Mathers, a photographer and an author and illustrator of children’s books, respectively. Petra and Michael passed away by suicide in their home on February 6, 2024. Hearing of their passing was incredibly emotional for me as Michael’s work has been a major source of inspiration to me as a photographer. I had been meaning to reach out to Michael to get together to talk about the art of the photo project.

I last saw Michael in 2019 at his gallery opening, where he showcased his latest project titled “Finding Astoria Work Spaces,” a series of photographs capturing Astoria (Oregon) residents at work. Michael’s photobooks, “Portraits: Friends and Strangers” and “Riding the Rails,” are excellent additions to any good photobook collection.

The Post Office in Nahcotta made it for 132 years until it was finally shut down in March of 2021. Seattle Times photographer Steve Ringman got some wonderful photos for a story about the closing of this little post office on Willapa Bay.

The last photo of the day at 4:50 PM in Chinook, Washington before heading 79 miles back home to Portland.

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