This story really started 162 years ago next month when a ship sank after striking an uncharted shoal in the Columbia River near Fort Vancouver. “As a kid growing up in Greensburg, I never would have guessed that I'd ever be involved with shipwrecks and sunken cannons,” said Decatur County's own Greg Shine. A recent find has put Greg in the spotlight.

In February, this year, as Mike and Miranda Petrone were walking on the beach at Arch Cape, Oregon they noticed something that was different from anything else that had been washed up during the winter storms. It was indeed different. It turned out to be a carronade (a short cast iron cannon used from the 1700s until the 1860s) and another one was soon found in the same area. The cannons were recovered by the Oregon State Parks.

Greg then enters the story. A 16 year veteran with the National Park Service, he is chief ranger and historian at Fort Vancouver National Historical Site and the Vancouver National Historic Reserve. He also instructs graduate students in the public history field school at Portland State University. A graduate of Wabash College, he received a masters in U.S. History from San Francisco State University. He has contributed many articles about history in the Northwest to various publications including the Oregon Historical Quarterly.

“This past winter and spring, I became involved in one of the most interesting historical mysteries to occur in the Pacific Northwest in many, many years,” he said. “In February, winter storms on the Oregon Coast tore away the beach near Arch Cape and revealed these two old cannons. Speculation began that they were associated with the 1846 wreck of the USS Shark.”

Greg had researched and written about the Shark for his job as historian with the National Park Service and soon became deeply involved in the investigation. In fact, he was quoted in every newspaper story about the find beginning soon after the cannons were found. In a February story in the “Columbian” Dean Baker quotes Greg as saying that he was withholding judgment on whether the cannons came from the Shark which he described as a 198 ton clipper ship. He also told of a cannon that had been found on the same beach in 1898 that had inspired the name of the Oregon town of Cannon Beach. The Oregonian ran a story and described Greg thus: “Shine is on speaking terms, you might say, with one guy who might be able to identify those cannons when they're cleaned up: Lt. Neil Howison, the commander of the Shark. Not only is Shine an expert on the naval schooner, he also played Howison for several years in a candlelight re-enactment at the fort.”

The next month Greg was asked to give a public talk about the Shark titled, “USS Schooner Shark in the Oregon Country, 1846.” The interviews with Greg have continued from the time the cannons were found until the present. In April the “Columbian” ran a story about Gwen Wright being in the area. Wright, star of the Public Broadcasting Service series “History Detectives” was there for a program on the popular series. (It airs in this area on Monday evenings.) Again they sought out Greg for background and the history of the Shark.

In fact, Greg worked with them to provide background information and was host to them at the Vancouver National Historic Site. He wound up providing an on-air interview for the lead investigator. In describing the shooting of some scenes the reporter wrote that during the shoot, “Someone handed out blotting tissues to Wright and Shine so they could wipe oil off their faces. Those lights are hot. Shine will head for the Oregon coast in a few days for the filming of another segment.”

Greg said that he's been working with Eric Baker, an artist for the Portland Oregonian newspaper, on the text and graphics for a feature article. You can find it online at: http://www.oregonlive.com/travel/index.ssf/2008/08/uss_shark_opens_portal_to_the.html

The text is based on Greg's article that is scheduled for the winter issue of Oregon Historical Quarterly. He said it was fun working with Eric on the art and trying to piece together what the Shark looked like. “He is an amazing graphic artist. (Be sure to click on the ship “cut-away” graphic and open it up as a larger file. Take a good look at the ship's captain, too.) The Shark's first captain was Matthew Perry who later became Commodore Matthew Perry.

Note: I believe this program will air September 8 on WFYI but will make every effort to verify that by next week.

I love hearing from readers but am seldom at the Daily News. Please send emails to patjsmith@verizon or notes to 122 W. Sheridan, Greensburg, 47240.