Reedsport to Brookings, places to stay; winter deals Initial contact with this part of the southern Oregon coast was quite peaceful, made in 1792 by George Vancouver. However, by the 1850s the U.S. had a bad case of the Manifest Destiny and a wrathful lust for land and gold. Any treaties with local tribes were routinely disregarded, and things came to a head quickly in proto-Port Orford when Captain William Tichenor arrived with nine men in a steamship in 1851. The problem was they showed up with a cannon and guns, landing right at the native's seaside village – a group called the Qua-to-mah. Tichenor took off back to San Francisco, leaving the men to fend off an angry mob, and this turned into a few days of deadly skirmishes on what is now known as Battle Rock.