MANZANITA – Have you thanked Oswald West lately?

Assuming you're like most Oregonians, you've strolled Oregon's beaches a time or two. You've explored the tide pools, watched the surfers, combed the sand for an exotic treasure. Odds are you've picnicked, flown a kite, maybe even spent a night beneath the stars on that blanket of sand.

So go ahead, as the monument to West on Neahkahnie Mountain says: "...thank Oswald West ..."

Wednesday marked 100 years since the former governor sent Oregonians one big fat Valentine with the gift of public beaches.

"This guy was a visionary," says Richard Walkoski, communications and research division manager of

. "He went before the legislative body and made his points, basically talking about how we must preserve this wonderful thing that we've been blessed with here in Oregon. He preserved it by having it declared a highway."

Oswald West

It wasn't as outlandish as it may seem. Back then, there was no road system on the coast, so if you wanted to get from point A to point B, often as not, you drove down the beach.

"There was a stage route that went down the coast," says Walkoski. "At

, they had carved a road into rock because it went right down to the waterline, so at high tide there was no way to get around it, even with the road. To this day you can see the ruts in the rock. That north coast route was along the shore.

If you look at the headlands and all the forest lands east of the shoreline, it's kind of hard to keep the road open even in this day. So it was not much of a stretch in 1913 to say that was going to be a highway."

But while West may have had some practical purposes in mind, it seems he wasn't completely innocent of other motives.

In 1958, this group of cars gathered on the sand near Cannon Beach.

Cars are a common sight on some of Oregon's beaches, including Sunset Beach near Gearhart on the north coast.

In a story published in The Oregonian in 1967, West is quoted from a 1949 interview as saying, "I pointed out that thus we would come into miles and miles of highway without cost to the taxpayer. The Legislature and the public took the bait – hook, line and sinker."

Whatever his intentions, West ultimately gave Oregon the best protected, most widely accessible beaches in the country.

"One of the things so significant about Oregon is that back when we could do it for the entire shoreline, someone did it," says Walkoski. "If you had waited 50 years even, you would have gotten big stretches but you wouldn't have gotten the whole coast."

West's action also paved the way for the

which forever preserves and maintains 362 miles of Oregon's beaches for the public's uninterrupted use.

"When you talk about Oswald West, he is considered the father of the Beach Bill, says Walkoski. "What he did was set in motion the wheels of preservation. Other people were thinking commerce and trade, and he as governor was thinking, 'We better keep this beach open.'"

Oregon's beach facts

Miles of beaches:

362

Lighthouses:

The Oregon Coast still has many lighthouses. Among them (alphabetically) are: Cape Arago near Coos Bay; Cape Blanco near Port Orford; Cape Meares near Tillamook; Cleft of the Rock near Yachats; Coquille River, near Bandon; Heceta Head near Florence; Tillamook Rock near Cannon Beach; Pelican Bay near Brookings; Umpqua River near Reedsport; Yaquina Bay at Newport; Yaquina Head north of Newport.

Sites to see:

Astoria Column in Astoria; Wreck of the Peter Iredale, near Warrenton; The Gearhart Golf Links (built in 1891, it is considered the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi); Tillamook Cheese Factory near Tillamook; Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport; Devil's Churn south of Yachats; Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay; Sea Lion Caves near Florence.

Museums:

The Oregon Coast has many museums. Among them: Columbia River Maritime Museum, Astoria; Garibaldi Museum; North Lincoln County Historical Museum; Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area Interpretive Center; Oregon Coast Aquarium; Hatfield Marine Science Center; Coos Historical and Maritime Museum; Bandon Historical Society Museum; Curry County Historical Museum.

Bridges:

Many of the iconic bridges carrying U.S. 101 the length of the Oregon Coast were designed by Conde B. McCullough (1887-1946), who was deemed "Oregon's Master Bridge Builder." Among those he designed are the Old Youngs Bay Bridge in Astoria; the Wilson River Bridge near Tillamook; the Depoe Bay Bridge; the Rock Creek Bridge; the Yaquina Bay Bridge; the Cummins Creek Bridge; the Cape Creek Bridge, the Siuslaw River Bridge; the Coos Bay Bridge; and the Rogue River Bridge.

Highest bridge:

Thomas Creek Bridge just north of Brookings is 345 feet high.

Parks:

There are 77 developed state parks along the coast.

Largest cities

(recent estimates): Coos Bay (16,000), Newport (10,000), Astoria (9,500); Florence (8,400); Lincoln City, 8,000; Brookings (6,400); Seaside (6,550); Tillamook (5,000)

Walkoski isn't the only one who thinks West was a visionary. Lucy Gibson, spokeswoman for the

, goes one step further, suggesting he must have been some sort of time traveler.

"Where did he come up with the foresight to even start talking about this way back when it was customary to homestead and a lay a stake to a piece of land?" Gibson ponders. "I would have loved to have been sitting in the drawing room with the whiskey and cigars. How did that conversation even begin? He was a complete and total visionary."

West was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada on May 20, 1873, and came to Oregon when he was 4 years old, according to the Oregon Encyclopedia. He grew up to be the 14th governor of the state.

In 1911, he was visited by President Theodore Roosevelt, who, according to "The Crusade to Save Oregon's Scenery," wrote of his meeting with West, "I found a man more intelligently alive to the beauty of nature ... and more keenly appreciative of how much this natural beauty should mean to civilized mankind, than any other man I have ever met holding high political position ..."

And so it is today, Oregonians continue to thank the man who 100 years ago saved their beaches.

"There's only one other place that has what we have and that would be Hawaii," says Gibson. "This morning I had a lady call me from California and she was so excited to be able to come here because she knew she would be able to get anywhere on the beach.

"She said, 'We don't have that here.' She was so stunned, so impressed by that. Living here, we don't realize people don't have that in other places."

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