On the waterfront of pioneer Astoria, law and order could be up to just one man -- in this case, Gen John Adair the first Post Office and Customs House officer charged with regulating traffic on a river that was FOUR MILES WIDE at the narrows!! In such circumstances, it helped that there was a detachment of U.S. Army regulars at the fort -- but even THEY weren't force enough to reckon with the likes of Capt. William Tichenor, in command of the schooner Emily Farnham!! Capt. Tichenor's response to law enforcement was simply to KIDNAP the army officers and sail away with them out into the ocean. NOW WHAT, SOLDIER??? Find out in "Incient on the Emily Farnham" -- Special Thanks to "Stephanie Beckon".

1. SMITH HUBBARD & TICHENOR
GOLDENGATE’S
!!!
for April 7, 2013
KIDNAPPED !
WHAT COMPELLED CAPT. WM. TICHENOR
to SAIL AGAINST ORDERS from the ASTORIA (Oregon)
CUSTOM HOUSE COLLECTOR “GENERAL” JOHN ADAIR,
 ABDUCTING TWO ARMY MEN and TRIGGERING
“The INCIDENT on the EMILY FARNHAM” ?
But first ….

2. From the desk of ….
WELCOME BACK, PLAYERS !!!
This Week – we find ourselves going BACK to Old
ASTORIA (Oregon) !!! in this “All New”
KIDNAPPED! Issue
 On our COVER This Week !! yet another masterpiece
from the brush – and EYE and MIND -- of Capt. Cleveland
Rockwell, U.S.C.&G.S. !! A beautiful picture…. very still ..
very calm … BUT!! This seeming calm belies a waterfront
that is … trembling …..
PREGNANT WITH ACTION !!!
LET’s LOOK!!!
This time, Players -- it’s
one of Capt. Cleveland
Rockwell’s masterworks
of the Lower River,
Smokey Sunrise, set
again in the Columbia
river, looking eastward,
or upriver, from directly
off Astoria (Oregon) –
thus, at about five miles
from the river’s mouth.
 As the sun rises and
the foggy haze lifts, then
disperses, the light
reveals the sails of many
small vessels, and a
number [Two, anyway !!
– Ed.] of ocean-going
cargo ships riding very
low in the water; their holds
clearly filled to capacity. These ships could have anchored overnight in the main shipping channel offshore at Astoria
(Oregon), and with the sunrise they are now still aligned with the channel, and awaiting a bar pilot –a pilot like Capt.
Rockwell’s chum, Capt. Geo. Flavel [See the recent MOONLIGHTING Issue !! (March 24 , 2013) – Ed.] and, with
him, the right conditions of wind and tide, for crossing out to the Pacific (Ocean) – Ed.]
But … PLAYERS!!!! Look carefully!!! For it appears we are looking at the stern of the closer ship, and it already
under tow, being nudged in to Astoria. It is probably from San Francisco (California) !!! The bar pilots must have been
up before dawn, to bring in this vessel, from where she “stood offshore” from the mouth of the river, during the night.
Now, at this hour, there is little breeze: the water is smooth, and the sails hang almost slack on her yardarms! In the
foreground -- wait – the forewater !! -- the men -- or boys, more likely -- in the skiff have hooked a piece of driftwood
and are clearing it from the harbor, where it might cause problems for navigators: for instance, by getting snarled in tow
lines. So much to see!!!!

3. Players: Let’s take an even CLOSER LOOK … !!!! [Great paintings are sometimes worth it !!!! -- Ed.]
What Rockwell’s painting reveals only upon  close [!! – Ed.] inspection, is the Stars and Stripes raised at the
vessel’s stern, and the line of signal flags running up to the mizzenmast. Even this detail is only barely detectable in
the oil painting, but in Rockwell’s sketches – such as the one shown here at right  [From the WTF archive !!!! – Ed.]
-- the signal line with 12 or 13 flags is impossible to miss!!! What’s being signalled, you ask?? PLAYERS!!!! How
about the name of the vessel; then, her port of departure, her cargo, port of destination [Astoria, Cathlamet, St. Helens,
Portland, or Oregon City, to name most of them – Ed. ] and probably a request for a pilot ….. Already on the scene!

4. In the center  background, under the sun, is Tongue Point, a navigational bearing point and distinctive promontory on
the river; and the saw mill a mile or two downriver, well into the day’s work, marks the center of Upper Astoria ,
where the home of “General” Lt. John Adair was located. You may remember Upper Astoria  from the
MOONLIGHTING issue, where we showed some of Capt. Rockwell’s survey of the Columbia’s south bank at Astoria !!
Rockwell has written the name “Upper Astoria” TWICE on this chart !!!!
Sharksville is at the bottom!!! At Astoria, proper – on the waterfront.
At the time [1849 !!! – Ed.] when General Adair was appointed as
Astoria’s first Collector of Customs, Washington City [“D.C.” – Ed. ]
was still some distance away: and this was true, whether you wanted to
reach it by sailing around the Horn, or maybe take the shorter route, by
steamer to Panama, then by mule-train across the Isthmus of Panama,
to Chagres, etc. -- or just tackle the matter DIRECT by riding horseback
overland through trackless wilderness inhabited by sometimes unfriendly
Indians! Suffice it to say, that support in the way of finances and
staffing for the Astoria Customs House, was less than adequate, and it
took a concerted and long-drawn-out letter-writing campaign by Adair
and many others, to eventually win increased allocations for the
Collector’s work in Astoria. Meanwhile, as the office was getting up and
running, the Custom House was located in General Adair’s home,
purchased for that purpose in Upper Astoria: a lonely outpost. 
PLAYERS: This is where our story opens This Week!!!
See the SYNOPSIS, below!!!
Yes: As I promised Last Week, Players: in This Issue, I’m re-opening!!
the sought-after CLOSED CIRCUIT S.Y.M.-Zonia™ from April 1,
2012, entitled …
The INCIDENT on the EMILY FARNHAM, cont’d
… which was submitted to S.Y.M.-Zonia™ by none other than the
illustrious former Archivist-in-Training, Stephanie Beckon herself ,
who located, it – of course – in the archives of the law firm of Smith,
Hubbard & Tichenor, LLP, [SH&T, LLP – for short – Ed.] 4th
&
Garrison Sts., Port Orford (Oregon) !!!! PLAYERS!!! She should be
back in her basement office by now, and the firm re-opened !!!
Maybe we’ll learn soon!!!

5. SYNOPSIS
As our story opens, it is mid-November, 1850. The Incident on the Emily Farnham begins at the wharf before
General Adair’s home in New or Upper Astoria – REMEMBER!!! His home is doubling as the U.S.  Custom House …
Arriving with a boatload of passengers from San Francisco -- but booked for Portland, another 80 miles upriver --
Capt. Tichenor originally moors the Emily Farnham here at General Adair’s place – but, instead of running up to Portland
he is anxious to debark ALL his passengers in Astoria, and return to San Francisco, for another load, to allow as many
citizens as possible to file for a Donation Land Claim, before the Oregon Land Law expires December 15, 1850!
That’s just one month away – and Tichenor needs ALL that time to make another round trip to San Francisco
(California) !! Almost all the passengers consent to this breach of contract – but there is ONE HOLDOUT who
complains to General Adair, and files a LAWSUIT in Federal court!! Capt. Tichenor need to SAIL!! -- but as conflict
with Gen’l Adair escalates, Adair tries to impound the Emily Farnham, and Tichenor is having nothing of it!!! Instead,
he weighs anchor and – running at night because he knows the channel intimately, he drops down the river and anchors at
Clatsop Anchorage at  Tanzy Point …. Where General Adair and his Army troops soon catch up with him ….
PLAYERS!! For more help, you may want to BEGIN reading in the FOUR APPENDICES at the end of the Issue !
MIDDLE (Later: Desdemona) SANDS

N  
PLAYERS: The illustration above is taken from the MacArthur-Bartlett Chart of the Mouth of the Columbia River
(1851) which resulted from the U.S.C.S. survey of the Pacific Coast, in 1850 – YES: taken the same year as our story!!!
In fact, as is clear that Lt. MacArthur charted the shipping channel as far upriver as Adair’s U. S.  Custom House,
and he spent considerable time in discussions with General Adair. [More on this, in some other S.Y.M.-Zonia™! -- Ed.]
This Chart of the Mouth of the Columbia River is the highly detailed navigational chart commissioned by A.D. Bache of
the U.S.C.S., which -- for its professional execution and accuracy, stands out in STARK and dramatic contrast to the now
famous MacArthur-Bartlett botch -- the “THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND” series of coastal survey maps, which
were executed – haphazardly – during the course of the same 1850
survey, and which -- on account of their multiplicity of errors --
have been the occasion of some good discussion lately, here at
S.Y.M.-Zonia™ , between myself, Stephanie, and Unk-Nown, over
the last few weeks – including up to … just Last Week!!!
Unk-Nown Stephanie Beckon
But FOR NOW, without any….. … further… adieu ….

16. A final note from …
THERE YOU HAVE IT !!!!
PLAYERS:
As promised we have now RE-OPENED the
CLOSED CIRCUIT !!!
AND, if you were following closely the course of
our investigations over the last year, you might
realize now just HOW MUCH of the production
for the year 2012, we in S.Y.M.-Zonia™ owe to
Stephanie’s uncovering of this critical – otherwise
LOST !! -- event in Oregon and California
history, the Incident on the Emily Farnham --
originally released only to the CLOSED
CIRCUIT of our working group of contributors,
and special EXPERTS, on April 1, 2012; but
which we now RE-RELEASE to a wider audience
– in fact, to a WORLD-WIDE audience !!! -- with
all its original errors in formatting, transcription,
and editing!!!! Woweee!!! In fact, the only thing
NEW is my introduction, which sketches out – and
sketches out merely !! -- something of the setting along the river at the time of the events occurring – as set forth
hereinabove -- at the house of Collector of Customs “General” John Adair!!! In Upper Astoria (Oregon)  !!
PLAYERS!!! I’m almost out of time!!!! I’m definitely out of room!!!! But … I ask you ---
What could be behind … this remarkable story?
What would induce Capt. Tichenor, whom we thought we knew better from a handful of events in his seafaring life, and
his founding of Port Orford (Oregon) to KIDNAP two regular Army forces – an officer, Lt. Woods and Pvt. Butler –
and take them captive – certainly as live HOSTAGES held as sureties against future interference by the meddling and
officious Custom House Collector, the so-called “General,” John Adair, or perhaps some of his other … minions –
and to sail them, willy-nilly, on an unticketed voyage down that uncharted Oregon Coastline that had only recently been
first surveyed by MacArthur & Bartlett, U.S.C.S., in the still unpublished and thoroughly botched charts… the ..
THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND !!!
.. and then to leave them in Humboldt Bay (California)? Of all places … worse than even Astoria (Oregon) !!!!!
WHAT COMPELLED CAPT. WM. TICHENOR to SAIL AGAINST ORDERS from
ASTORIA (Oregon) CUSTOM HOUSE COLLECTOR “GENERAL” JOHN ADAIR,
 ABDUCTING TWO ARMY MEN and TRIGGERING
“The INCIDENT on the EMILY FARNHAM” ?
I ask you…. Players ….
YOU ARE NOW LEAVING
POP. 0