Getting history on the record

Tillamook museum shines a light on local military history

The United States’ 250th birthday offers an opportunity to pause and reflect on the country’s past, honor the contributions of all Americans and look toward the future.

One such opportunity for reflection can be found in “Searchlight,” a rotating series highlighting military history, currently on display at the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum.

The second installment, “A Retrospective of American Military History Over 250 Years,” uses artifacts from the museum’s collection to reveal little-known aspects of America’s military history.

“The main goal of the ‘Searchlight’ is to engage our local community with memories and stories they can see themselves, their friends and family members in,” said Exhibit and Program Developer Jenny Teece. “As our country celebrates its 250th, we felt that it was important to reflect on military conflicts that have ties to our local community and community members.”

One notable item in the exhibit is a drum from the Civil War.

The story, as printed in the June 21, 1928, edition of the Tillamook Herald, reports that William Burton Flagg, a fifer and drummer with the Union Army’s 2nd New York Heavy Artillery, captured a drum from Confederate forces at Appomattox, Virginia, on April 8, 1865.

In the article, Flagg recalled hearing a rumor about a quantity of tobacco stored in a nearby barn across enemy lines. He and a companion slipped past Confederate troops in pursuit of the tobacco and saw “the drum hanging on a stack of guns before the last tent in the row.”

His companion urged him not to risk being caught, but Flagg wanted the drum. He slipped behind the tent, made away with the drum and drumsticks and, on the way back to camp, the pair found the barn where the tobacco was stored and took what they could.

After making it through enemy lines unnoticed, the two were detected upon reaching their own picket lines and held until morning, when they were released by a colonel. The next day, General Robert E. Lee surrendered.

Flagg fought in 13 battles and served from December 1863 to July 1865. He returned his government-issued drum and instead kept the captured drum as his trophy. Flagg later became a resident of Bay City. The drum was donated to the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum by Henry Heisel and the American Legion on Oct. 1, 1941.

Another notable artifact is a propeller from a B-17 bomber that crashed on Cape Lookout on Aug. 1, 1943, killing nine of the 10 crew members. The sole survivor was Bombardier Wilbur L. Perez. A plaque erected by the Oregon State Highway Commission 500 feet from the crash site on the Cape Lookout trail commemorates the accident.

As Perez recalled in an oral history recorded in 1990:

“During the war they had these fire watches…[someone] had reported to the military that he thought there had been a plane crash. And they denied it. They said there was no indication for it. Apparently, he had probably reported it to the Tillamook base…and there was no report of a missing plane from the Air Force or Air Corp then. So, I suppose the information he got was the best they had. But he was determined and made a trek up there and found the wreckage. And then went reporting back. Went back then and returned the next day.”

Thanks to a partnership with the Tillamook County Historical Society and a grant from the Tillamook County Cultural Coalition, Perez’ oral history and 28 others have now been digitized and are available through the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum’s Research Library. To schedule an audio appointment, contact Collections Manager Clara Scillian Kennedy at clara@tcpm.org.

“From the Archive” is expected to remain on display through August 2027.

Founded in 1935 by Tillamook County pioneers, the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum offers 19 display areas focusing on the history of the North Oregon Coast. Its collection includes 55,000 objects and 20,000 photographs ranging from prehistoric specimens to the modern day.

The Tillamook County Pioneer Museum is located at 2106 2nd Street and is open from 10 am to 4 pm Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, go to tcpm.org.