The memorial marker you see here was placed by the D.A.R. (Daughters of the American Revolution) in memory of the original burial location of John Edmund Pickernell. When the Stringtown area was developed, Pickernell's remains were exhumed and relocated to the Ilwaco Cemetery, so the marker you see here is not the location of his gravesite any longer.
Pickernell was born in New Hampshire in 1818, coming to Oregon in 1837 as a young man employed by the Hudson Bay Company. He met his wife-to-be, Emaline Redhead, a Native American, when she was a guest at Fort Vancouver learning to live as a Christian woman. They were married in 1838 and had four children.
For many years he acted as pilot on the lower Columbia, operating tow and passenger boats through that dangerous channel. Many serious wrecks had taken place at the mouth of the river, and often boats would anchor and wait for weeks before daring to venture across the bar. For several years he was one of only three white men living in what is now Pacific county, Washington, on the north shore of the Columbia. Pickernell died near Ilwaco, Washinton in 1877 in the Meriweather shipwreck.
In memory of Laurie Freeman aka geocache reviewer "Wizard of Ooze", aka geocacher Half-Canadian and Scooter the Wonder Dog. This geocache was originally placed by her for the enjoyment of the geocaching community.