Editing North Bend, Oregon (section)

==History==
Before Europeans visited the Oregon coast, Native American tribes claimed the Coos Bay region as their homeland for thousands of years.<ref name="chamber">[http://www.oregonsbayarea.org/community/coos-bay-north-bend-charleston-history.htm "Bay Area History"]. [http://www.oregonsbayarea.org Oregon Bay Area Chamber of Commerce]. Accessed September 2010.</ref> Members of the [[Coos people|Coos]], [[Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians|Lower Umpqua]], [[Siuslaw people|Siuslaw]] and [[Coquille Indian Tribe|Coquille]] tribes lived, fished, hunted and gathered along Coos Bay and its estuaries, along rivers, and in meadows and forests.<ref name="chamber"/>
[[File:Saw mill and ship yard, North Bend, Coos County, Oregon.jpg|thumb|Saw mill and ship yard, North Bend, 1884 illustration]]
Approximately 400 years ago, British and Spanish explorers first approached the South Coast.<ref name="chamber"/> In 1579, [[Sir Francis Drake]] is purported to have sought shelter for his ship, the [[Golden Hind|''Golden Hinde'']], around [[Cape Arago State Park|Cape Arago]].<ref name="arago001">{{cite book |title=The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake: 1577–1580 |pages=363 |author=Samuel Bawlf |isbn=0-8027-1405-6 |year=2003 |publisher=Walker & Company; 1st Edition (May 1, 2003) |location=New York}}</ref><ref name=City>[http://www.coosbayonline.com/cb/aboutcb/CBHistory.htm "History of Coos Bay"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207013026/http://www.coosbayonline.com/cb/aboutcb/CBHistory.htm |date=2012-02-07 }}. City of Coos Bay. Accessed September 2010.</ref> Trader and explorer [[Jedediah Smith]] was in the region seeking furs and the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] sent [[Alexander Roderick McLeod]] to search for an inland passage.<ref name="chamber"/>

The 1852 stranding of the schooner ''Captain Lincoln'' on the North Spit and the survivors' encampment and rescue brought attention to gold prospectors who came to [[placer mining|mine placer]] from area beaches.<ref name="chamber"/> In 1853, the Coos Bay Commercial Company arrived from the [[Rogue Valley]] and created routes for settlers.<ref name="chamber"/>

Thomas Symons founded Yarrow in 1863. Louis Simpson bought it in 1902. Simpson brought Yarrow and his father's sawmill site Old Town together in 1903 under the name North Bend.<ref>[https://www.oregonsadventurecoast.com/our-area-north-bend "North Bend"]. Oregon's Adventure Coast. Accessed September 2021.</ref>

Empire City was established and was the county seat of government until 1896.<ref name="chamber"/> Entrepreneurs were drawn to the area's ample natural resources, and sawmills and shipyards at Old Town North Bend and Empire City spurred economic development and attracted workers.<ref name="chamber"/> Rivers and [[slough (hydrology)|slough]]s provided a means to transport people, forest, agricultural and coal products, and towns provided hubs for inland transportation.<ref name="chamber"/> Some of the early industries in the area included timber harvesting, shipbuilding, farming, coal mining and [[salmon]] canning.<ref name="chamber"/>

Prior to around 1915, the Coos region was largely isolated from the rest of Oregon due to difficulties in crossing the [[Oregon Coast Range|Coast Range]] and fording rivers. Instead, the Pacific Ocean was used to link people to other areas, including San Francisco. That was an easier two-day trip compared to traveling inland over rugged terrain.<ref name="chamber"/> In 1916, trains linked the region to other interior settlements and towns, increasing commercial trade and tourism<ref name="chamber"/>
[[File:StateLibQld 1 148659 K.V. Kruse (ship).jpg|thumb|right|Schooner ''K.V. Kruse'', built in 1920 by Kruse and Banks in North Bend]]
Significant urban growth occurred in the 1920s, and during the 1930s to 1950s, large-scale growth occurred.<ref name="chamber"/> Per the Oregon Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, during the 1930s to 1950s:

<blockquote>
Shipyards contracted with the U.S. Government to build [[Minesweeper (ship)|minesweeper]]s and rescue [[tugboat|tugs]] for World War II defense purposes. Large national lumber companies set up operations and expanded significantly for the next two decades. Jetty improvements, commercial fishing and crabbing shaped the development of [[Charleston, Oregon|Charleston]]. The completion of the North Bend Bridge (now [[Conde McCullough Memorial Bridge]]) in 1936 and the [[U.S. Route 101 in Oregon|Roosevelt Highway]] significantly improved modern transportation connections and provided the final link in opening the Coos region to the outside world. The formerly remote district known as the Coos Bay country had come of age.<ref name="chamber"/>
</blockquote>

During the [[interregnum of despair]] between Franklin Roosevelt's election and his inauguration, the only bank in North Bend, the First National, was forced to temporarily close its doors, precipitating a cash-flow crisis for the City of North Bend. The city solved this problem by minting currency using [[Umbellularia|myrtlewood]] discs printed on a newspaper press. These coins, in denominations from 25 cents to $10, were used to make payroll and the city promised to redeem them for cash as soon as it became available.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Myrtle Tree Story| work = Myrtlewood Factory| access-date = April 6, 2014| url = http://www.realoregongift.com/Myrtle_Tree_Story/myrtle_tree_story.html| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131218214420/http://realoregongift.com/Myrtle_Tree_Story/myrtle_tree_story.html| archive-date = December 18, 2013}}</ref>

However, when the bank reopened and the city appealed for people to bring their myrtlewood money in to redeem it, many opted to keep their tokens as collector's items. After several appeals, the city gave up and announced that the tokens would remain legal tender in the city of North Bend in perpetuity. Until the 1960s, people occasionally did cash in their tokens, but the remaining pieces have become very valuable through scarcity and historical interest. Fewer than 10 full sets are believed to exist.<ref>{{Cite web
| last = John
| first = Finn J.D.
| title = In North Bend, myrtlewood money spends like the real thing
| work = Offbeat Oregon History
| access-date = April 6, 2014
| date = August 29, 2010
| url = http://www.offbeatoregon.com/H1008e_north-bend-myrtlewood-money-still-legal-tender.html
}}</ref>