Cape Blanco is a prominent headland on the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

coast of southwestern

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

in the United States, forming the westernmost point in the state. Cape Blanco extends further west than any point of land in the contiguous United States (lower 48 states) except portions of the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and th ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, including Cape Alava, the true westernmost point. The cape is part of Cape Blanco State Park and is the location of the

Cape Blanco Light Cape Blanco Light is a lighthouse located on Cape Blanco, Oregon, United States in Cape Blanco State Park. Construction of the light In a deed recorded in 1867, John D. and Mary West sold the United States a tract of land. The Light-House ...

, first lit in 1870. The cape may have been named by explorer Martín de Aguilar in 1603 for its appearance, as ''blanco'' means "white" in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

. In 1775,

Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra (22 May 1743 – 26 March 1794) was a Spanish Criollo naval officer operating in the Americas. Assigned to the Pacific coast Spanish Naval Department base at San Blas, in Viceroyalty of New Spain (present ...

named the point Cabo Diligensias. It was later renamed Cape Orford by Captain George Vancouver in 1792, but this name fell into disuse and Cape Blanco became the common usage.

Geology

The cape, a relatively level landform with cliffs facing the sea, is about higher than the ocean. It consists of layers of uplifted marine sediments, ranging in age from 80 million years at the bottom to less than 500,000 years at the top. The uplift is continuing; Cape Blanco is rising by several millimeters each year. Generally, landforms on the north and south end of the

Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Columbia ...

are rising as the ocean floor slides under the continent, while the central part of the coast "seems to be folding down." Landforms near the cape include beaches, bluffs, and reefs. Visible to the south are Needle Rock, Blanco Reef, and Humbug Mountain. To the north are Gull Rock, Castle Rock, and Blacklock Point. Blanco Reef is a group of irregular rocks and ledges that are from offshore and are up to high.

Geography

Cape Blanco is in northern Curry County, about north of Port Orford, along a mountainous and isolated stretch of the coast bounded to the east by the Coast Range. It lies about west of U.S. Route 101. The

Sixes River The Sixes River flows about through coastal forests in southwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains a rugged region of the Klamath Mountains along the Pacific north of Port Orford. It rises in the mountains of northern Curry County, so ...

empties into the Pacific Ocean along the north side of the cape. A walk along the

Oregon Coast Trail The Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) is a long-distance hiking route along the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of Oregon in the United States. It follows the coast of Oregon from the mouth of the Columbia River to the California border south of Brookin ...

leads south from the park to the mouth of the Elk River.

Climate

Cape Blanco has very mild temperatures year round, with an all-time record high of only . Annual precipitation is high, but there is a distinct drying trend in summer, which gives Cape Blanco a warm-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(Csb) according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system. During winter storms, wind speeds can reach at the cape. Extreme winds at the cape and over the Blanco Reef make this part of the coast especially dangerous for ships.

Recreation

Activities at the park include hiking, horseback riding, fishing, camping, picnicking, and beachcombing, among others, and visiting the lighthouse, a pioneer cemetery, or the Hughes House, on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. The property belonged originally to Patrick Hughes, who came to the cape in 1860 in search of gold and who eventually established a dairy ranch along the lower Sixes River. Restored by the Friends of Cape Blanco, the two-story, eleven-room ranch house was completed in 1898.

Literature

In Jules Verne's early science fiction book ''

The Begum's Millions ''The Begum's Fortune'' (french: Les Cinq cents millions de la Bégum, literally "the 500 millions of the begum"), also published as ''The Begum's Millions'', is an 1879 novel by Jules Verne, with some utopian elements and other elements that se ...

'', a

Utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...

community named Ville-France is established in 1872 on the South Oregon beach. Verne gives the location of this fictitious community as "eighty kilometres north of Cape Blanco". Cape Blanco is also noted on a map of

Brobdingnag Brobdingnag is a fictional land, which is occupied by giants, in Jonathan Swift's 1726 satirical novel ''Gulliver's Travels.'' The story's main character, Lemuel Gulliver, visits the land after the ship on which he is travelling is blown off co ...

in '' Gulliver's Travels''. It is also mentioned in Chapter 3 of ''

Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...

'': "And that harpoon-so like a corkscrew now-was flung in Javan seas, and run away with by a whale, years afterwards slain off the Cape of Blanco."

Gallery

File:Cape Blanco State Park.jpg, North side of the Cape File:Cape Blanco and Lighthouse.JPG, Cape Blanco and lighthouse File:Cape Blanco looking north.JPG, Cape Blanco looking north towards Gulf Rock, Castle Rock and Floras Lake State Park

References

External links

*
Cape Blanco Heritage Society
{{authority control

Blanco Blanco (''white'' or ''blank'' in Spanish) or Los Blancos may refer to: People *Blanco (surname) Fictional characters *Blanco, a hobbit in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth * Blanco Webb, character in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' * El Blanco, albin ...

State parks of Oregon Oregon Coast Landforms of Curry County, Oregon Parks in Curry County, Oregon