The Early Years

The Indians

The original occupiers of the land around Southview were Indians who belonged primarily to the Siuslaw tribe.  It is unknown when the Siuslaw Indians arrived in this area, or where they came from.  The Siuslaws lived on both sides of the Siuslaw River until 1876, when the white settlers arrived.  They traveled by canoe on the river, used bone, horn, or stone tools, drums for communication, and shells for money.  They made camps all along this part of the coast as they gathered seafood from the ocean, meat from the surrounding forests, and vegetables from the land.  They lived on elk, deer, fish clams, mussels, berries, roots, wild vegetables, honey and eels.  They spoke three distinct dialects – Hanis, Miluk and Chinook.

The Siuslaws fought a few battles in the area.  In 1835, the Columbia Indians stole women and children from the Siuslaws for slaves.  In the early 1870’s, the valley Indians came over the mountains and attacked the Siuslaws.

In 1852, Joel Palmer of ‘the government’ signed a treaty with the Siuslaws that each tribe was to retain certain amounts of land in exchange for relinquishing 2,500,000 acres.  No payment was made for the land, and the treaty was never ratified.  The Tsiltcoos and Siuslaw reservations were moved to Siletz in 1875.

The remaining descendants of the tribe now form part of the Confederated Tribes of the Siuslaw, Lower Umpqua and Coos Indians, and most live in the Coos Bay area.  An annual pow-wow is held in Florence in the spring.  Future plans for the tribes include possible restorations of forestland from the Siuslaw National Forest, a natural food business, ecotourism, and a casino and recreation resort on North Fork Road.

An Early White Settler

Captain William A. Cox was one of the founders of Florence, having owned the property and platted the site upon which part of the town grew.  He was born in Nova Scotia in 1832, and was involved in numerous business ventures until, in 1880, he moved to Florence.  He stayed in Florence for a time, and then moved up the river to Acme, where he homesteaded 160 acres of land.  He lived there for 20 years.  During that time he owned a large stock ranch up the coast from the mouth of the Siuslaw besides his property in Florence, and a 1,300 acre ranch where he raised purebred sheep and cattle.

Captain Cox had lots of friends.  He was always ready to help in any civic undertaking.  He built one of the finest houses in Florence, and that house still stands today at 439 Juniper.  He owned land at the foot of Cape Mountain and the site of the Sea Lion Caves, part of which is Southview today.  When one is down on the beach, looking north toward Sea Lion Caves, one readily sees a 'sea stack' which is known as Cox Rock, probably because the early Harrington papers (see below) talk about someone named Cox going to get seagull eggs from there at low tide.

Cox had one daughter, Lily.  He named the “little lake at the foot of Cape Mountain” for that daughter.  He died in October of 1912.

Although not an ‘early settler’, John P. Harrington, a linguist and anthropologist with the Smithsonian, left a journal of notes collected from his travels up and down the coast with local Indian informants in 1941-42.  In his notes, Harrington talked about a "trip with Frank, (from) Florence to Yahack (Yachats)”.  He says “Going from Florence with Frank, upon passing the northern-end-of-the-sand beach, we started to climb up a big grade and cut.  When at or near the top we passed a painted wooden signboard on our left saying Sea Lion Cave and as we were right at this sign Frank pointed out, pointing at the vicinity of that sign that that vicinity is Pennik.  Pinnik is ca. 1/4 m. s. of the mouth of Horse Creek.  It is a beautiful place, and you can see Coos Bay on a clear day from there.  There is no house or any building there.  The place is pretty well elevated, on top of the cliff, and there are no buildings at all, all the way from Sea lion Cave to Berry Creek."

(Editors Note:  The name Pennik or Pinnik that Harrington refers to in his journal is actually recorded in local lore as being spelled 'Panuuch,' which means "beautiful" or "pretty."  My thanks to Bill Jaroncyk for researching this!)

It appears quite clear from talking to local Indian representative Patty Whereat that Pennik (or Pinnik) was the Indian name for what is now Southview.  And those of us who live here now know that not only can we see Coos Bay on a clear day, but those two ‘humps’ one can see on very clear days (just over the jetty) are actually Cape Arago and Cape Blanca!

Archaeology of the Area

In June of 1999, the Waldport Ranger Station conducted an archaeological 'dig' in the dunes just north of Lily Lake.  The actual locations were determined by reading the field notes of  Lloyd Collins, an archaeologist who walked the entire Oregon coast in 1951 and 1952.  Collins had discovered evidence of two such shell middens in our area, and mapped their location for future excavation.

Shell middens are accumulations of broken shells, fire-cracked rock and other bones and debris left by Indians who had lived or camped there in the past.  The dig, attended by Cliff Harvey and Jill Myers (both residents of Southview), was successful at finding the two middens, along with evidence of fire cracked rock, assorted animal bones, a very early rifle cartridge, and some rudimentary Indian jewelry.  Although these campgrounds were only about 125 years old (the old rifle cartridge would have been used by the earliest white settlers to come through the area, which was circa 1850-1870), evidence discovered during other archaeological digs in our area show there were inhabitants here more than 8,000 years ago.

Lily Lake and Highway #101

Highway #101 has not always existed in its currently configuration.  In 1910, H. S. Meekham compiled a map of this part of the Oregon coast, and it shows the original road up the coast, some of which was on the beach itself.  An interesting discovery, however, is that, at least in 1910, the original road up the coast was on the west side of Lily Lake, not the east side.  The map then shows the road slowly climbing toward a point just about where the current entrance to Southview is, at which point the road, more or less, follows the present day configuration.  This 'cut' in the hill is still visible from Baker Beach.

When one looks down at Lily Lake from Southview, and one knows about this old configuration of road, one can readily see where the original roadbed on the west side of the lake was.  One can also see, although not so readily, where the road turned around toward the northeast, and where it ultimately came to present day #101.  Several current residents of Southview have walked in this area by the lake and have found remnants of the old blacktop roadbed, although it has long since grown over.

In the late 1880's, several cabins were built by locals at the north end of Lily Lake.  An early, handwritten map of that area identifies many of those "cabins".  There was also a farmhouse in this area, no doubt having been built by Capt. Cox.  The map indicates that the farmhouse could have been built by "McCrays", although I don't know who they might be.

The map identifies a "cow & horse barn", the "first cabin" with "store bought window" and "boards off of beach".  It shows where the "Cabin by the Sea" was located, as well as "Brookside", "Bonniebrook", (no doubt references to Berry Creek) "Cookhouse & BunkHouse", Sheep Barn" and a "root cellar built in dunes".  Further, it identified a trail "to beach, trail in again at Heceta Beach".  It identified, but didn't name, about a half dozen more locations where cabins were built, including one by "R. Moshe in 1934".

An aerial view of Lily Lake and Southview taken in October of 1930 (click on the 'Photos of Southview' button on the main page, where that photo is displayed) clearly shows not only the 'new' Highway #101, but also the 'old' road on the west side of the lake, and the road that led from the west side of the lake up to what is today the present highway.  The photo was taken to document the results of a forest fire that had burned off Cape Mountain to our southeast, but it clearly shows Southview as a barren hill.  No trees at all in 1930.  This is verified by counting the rings on the trees that were taken down on Lots 4, 5, and 6 just recently; none showed growth of more than 65 years.

The Forest Service burned all the structures on that land at the north end of Lily Lake in 1984, choosing to keep areas west of Highway #101 pristine and untouched.

The Davidson Years

Don Davidson is a man who understands people.  He is a man who helps people, and who knows how to make people richer for their efforts.  Don's love of his family is well known, and he approaches business at Davidson Industries, Inc. with a strong desire to make his life, his family's lives, and his friends and associates lives, better.

Davidson Industries deals in lumber.  Their operation east of Florence has, over the years, enriched him and those around him and, for that, he makes no excuses.  He treats all his employees like they're members of his own family, and they all show their appreciation for that by working hard for him.

In 1960, Don Davidson had a vision.  One warm summer day as he stood near mile marker 181 of Highway #101 on the beautiful Oregon coast, what he saw interested him.  The incredible beauty of the area sent chills up his spine, and he knew, given the right opportunities and timely decisions, he could create a situation where people from all over the world could come and enjoy this most beautiful of God's creations with him.

He looked down on Lily Lake to the south of where he was standing.  The clean, clear freshwater lake was just one sand dune away from the stunning Pacific Ocean, and he instantly realized that the setting was perfect for promoting this area to others.  It was then that he began to dream of someday creating a destination resort in this immediate area.  He began almost immediately to make plans to acquire the land around Lily Lake, as well as other parcels in the immediate area.

He wasted little time.  On the 1st of May 1961, he bought all the land around Lily Lake and other land east of the highway, all known then as the "Ed Nelson Tract".  And then he began what would be more than 20 years of work on plans for the destination resort he had dreamed of.  On the 27th of June 1972, he bought a piece of property north of Lily Lake and west of the highway, then known as the "Eva Graves Tract".  Then, on the 9th of November, 1977, he bought another piece of property, this time one south of his Lily Lake property, a piece then known as the "Emil Skoog Tract".

At the same time the purchase of the "Emil Skoog Tract" was being negotiated, Mr. Davidson had his eye on another piece of property to the north and east of the "Eva Graves Tract".  The land he was looking at had been bought by a corporation named Sealine, Inc. in 1961.  Principals in the corporation included Oregon natives Bob and Shirley Merz, who were very helpful in putting the chronology of these events together.

This piece of property was immediately east of Highway #101 starting roughly at mile marker 181.  He noticed that the natural lay of the land was ideal for a sweeping road up, first toward the east, then circling around toward the north.  He noticed the stunning views from all locations on the piece of land.  And most important of all, he immediately noticed the strong appeal the land would have for long term residents in the area.  In 1974, he was successful in purchasing the land.

It is this piece of property, known then as the "Sealine Inc. Tract", that became Southview.

After buying this piece of property, Don bought (on the 29th of January 1991) the land east and south of the "Sea Line Inc. Tract”.  The land east of this was owned and operated by Berry Creek Construction Co., and the area was rich in gravel and road-base quality rock.

But others were also interested in owning this land, especially those parcels between Highway #101 and the Pacific Ocean (the "Eva Graves Tract", the "Ed Nelson Tract" and the “Emil Scoog Tract”).  For one thing, the area around Lily Lake is especially rich in Native American heritage, with several sites currently being excavated where Indian encampments have been discovered.  The people who populated this area thousands of years ago were hunters and gatherers, and they found the rich abundance of shellfish and other food stocks in the area to their liking.  And because this specific site was so rich with local history and culture, other entities wanted to preserve the area in as unaltered state as possible.

As Don began making his plans for a destination resort know publicly, opponents of the plan came forward.  The U.S. Forest Service wanted the land as well.  Recognizing that it would be a long battle and an uphill fight to get approval for his plans over the objections of the federal government, he sold the land to the Forest Service in 1984 (probably under threat of condemnation!).