Fort Stevens Review

Summer 2019 Newsletter

Fort Stevens Review is published by the Friends of Old Fort Stevens, an Oregon 501(c)3 Organization, helping to preserve the history Of Oregon’s Fort Stevens State Park.

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Excerpt from this newsletter:

The Long Road From Cast Iron Coast Defense Guns To Ones Of Forged Steel And The Impact On The Harbor Defenses of The Columbia
By D. Lindstrom

As the United States fought the Civil War, both the Union and the Confederacy, as did many other nations, defended their harbors and coastlines with cannons made of cast iron. Furthermore, early on the Civil War demonstrated that fortifications made of masonry were history, as enemy cannon balls quickly demolished them. The new technology was to construct earthen parapets behind which cannons were installed. The hope was that most of the enemy’s incoming cannon ball shots would simply bury themselves in the dirt. Regardless of more reliance on earthen parapets to protect cannons and cannoneers from the enemy, there was mortal danger lurking inside the surrounding parapet. Once in a while a cast Iron cannon had a defect causing it to burst on detonation, wounding and killing the cannoneers..

Spring 2019 Newsletter

Fort Stevens Review is published by the Friends of Old Fort Stevens, an Oregon 501(c)3 Organization, helping to preserve the history Of Oregon’s Fort Stevens State Park.

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Excerpt from this newsletter:

In Their Words, Recollections of Those Who Were Fired Upon 
– Edited by D. Lindstrom

This is the season to remember the 1942 attack on Fort Stevens by the I-25, a Japanese Submarine. By this time most readers are probably asking, “What else is there to say?” Rather than interpreting it again, first hand experiences are presented here without interference! These individuals were at widely separated locations and as expected, the reader will find differing views of the incident. The following recollections were made fifty years later, so memory and the “fog of war” is at play….

Winter 2019 Newsletter

Fort Stevens Review is published by the Friends of Old Fort Stevens, an Oregon 501(c)3 Organization, helping to preserve the history Of Oregon’s Fort Stevens State Park.

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Excerpt from this newsletter:

“The World Must Be Made Safe For Democracy” – Story by D. Lindstrom

The Winter and Spring newsletters for 2018 carried parts one and two of a three-part story outlining the experiences of John Ferguson and the 65th Artillery, Coast Artillery Corps during World War I. The series was interrupted by an article outlining the US Army’s Spruce Division which appeared in the Summer 2018 newsletter. (The afore mentioned newsletters are available on the FOOFS web site.). This story is part three and the conclusion of the series…..