04/03/13 Update: We've moved the location a little bit and changed the hint. If you see a hiding spot with velcro, ignore it. That is the old hiding spot.
Please respect the "NO TRESPASSING" signs at the old factory (paper mill) next door.
Across the river is the oldest continuously operating Paper Mill in the United States along with the Willamette Falls Locks which have been there since 1873.
From here you can see Willamette Falls, the largest waterfall in the Pacific Northwest by water volume, second largest in the United States behind Niagara Falls.
To your right is the Oregon City/West Linn Arch Bridge built in 1922. Designed by Conde McCullough, the Oregon State bridge engineer who is primarily known for building many of Oregon’s beautiful coastal bridges on U.S. Highway 101.
At the nearby bench, take time to view the history plaques that tell about the "Beaver Coin".
If you go through one of the gates in the fence to get a better view, enter at your own risk. There is no railing beyond the fence so please be careful with kids and dogs and don’t go at night when you can’t see where you’re going. It’s a steep drop into the river if you don’t watch what you’re doing.
The Oregon Exchange Company ran a coin mint near this very spot. The coin mint took California Gold Dust and turned it into $5 and $10 gold coins. Before the gold coins were minted, people exchanged gold dust for currency. Before that, chips of flint rock were glued to paper which was signed, dated and that was used as money. Before that, trade was dependent on the markets provided by the Hudson’s Bay Company where wheat, furs, crops and other commodities were traded as currency. The use of actual standardized money in the form of gold coins made commercial trade much easier and helped moved Oregon toward statehood.
The 2011 Oregon City Chamber of Commerce geocoin depicts one side of the $10 gold “Beaver Coins” that were minted here. The Oregon Exchange Company was formed by several prominent local businessmen. The letters K.M.T.R.C.S. on the coin represent the last initial of each of the members.
The letters O.T. at the bottom of the coin stand for Oregon Territory as the date was 1849 and Oregon was 10 years away from becoming part of the United States. This info is an excerpt from © Pioneer Gold Coins and Patterns of the United States by Donald H. Kagin Ph.D.