Fishhawk Lake-The Story of Greasy Spoon Road

 The legend is this from storytelling being passed down through the locals and from some research I did back in 2011 and an old railroad history website.

 This particular set of logging roads (a mile away from Fishhawk Lake Reserve and Community) have been around since the 1800s. They stretch from Fishhawk Road clear to Astoria, a coastal city an hour away, all gravel and dirt, windy and high in elevation, with fingers of dead ends that branch off in a few directions.

According to longtime, generational logging neighbors, there was an Asian family that set up a simple cafe/diner/camp cookhouse somewhere up off of Greasy Spoon Road (actual location unknown) to feed the loggers. At one time, there was some kind of railroad that passed through (remnants of it are still in Birkenfeld Oregon off of Neverstill Road), with one of its stops at Thompson Siding, the location of where our current clubhouse is and old railroad trestles are buried under the lake. Logs were shipped by railroad, or by horses, earlier on. 

These fellas worked long hard hours, toiling in the forestlands and it is still a very physically demanding job. I am sure that hunger was a big part of their daily demand, and feeding scads of starving loggers took copious amounts of cheap food FAST. 

If any of you have eaten at a “greasy spoon” (I did while in college after closing up my boyfriend’s bar nightly and it was the only place open after 2am), it’s basic food with plain ingredients and involves lots of lard, butter (if you’re lucky) or bacon grease! This is my definition. Wikipedia didn’t have any definition, but instead shot me over to “diner”, breakfast, and nothing much else. Maybe I should define it and send it to them?? I did find something that put the phrase “greasy spoon”  into “wobbly terms” (love that!), which is defined as this:

Wobbly lingo is a collection of technical language, jargon, and historic slang used by the Industrial Workers of the World, known as the Wobblies, for more than a century. Many Wobbly terms derive from or are coextensive with hobo expressions used through 1940s.

Origin and usage[edit]

Words and phrases in Wobbly lingo may have different meanings in different contexts or in different geographic areas. The “lingo” developed from the specific needs of the organisation as well as the experiences of working-class people. For several decades, many hobos in the United States were members of, or were sympathetic to, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Because of this, some of the terms describe the life of a hobo such as “riding the rails”, living in “jungles”, dodging the “bulls”. The IWW’s efforts to organise all trades allowed the lingo to expand to include terms relating to mining camps, timber work, and farming.

Any way you look at it, the term does amuse the senses and seems to please all who hear it or read it when I use it as an adjective or noun while mentioning it from photos I’ve taken up there or a hike, or run that I’ve made up Greasy Spoon Road. I have had endless opportunities to take photos throughout the days and seasons and I never get the same shot twice. It even spurned a poem from my soul recently Quiet After a Forest Rain. 

Logging still goes on today, along with hunting (much to my dismay) and a few other manly activities, but mostly it’s just there for folks to take a jaunt

or an ATV ride if they feel so inclined and it is always a perfect venue for photo ops. Be sure and take a knowledgeable friend or a GPS, because it will be quite easy for you to get lost if you don’t know your way. If you get up high enough, you can see the Columbia River in all of its splendor!

OR: you can come along virtually with me and never get lost!

Gayle Rich-Boxman

REALTOR® Vernonia Realty Direct: (503)755-2905
Specializing in Fishhawk Lake Recreation Club
“Your Gateway to the Lake!”
(Fishing, boating, swimming, wildlife,& so much more!)
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Original content posted on ActiveRain 2014 by Gayle Rich-Boxman