As the anniversary of the wreck of the Peter Iredale, which happened on Oct. 26, 1906, is almost upon us, there’s one bit of the wreck’s history that is often forgotten: the ship’s missing bowsprit, the long metal spar extending from the bow that supports rigging and helps balance the vessel, according to Words Wiki.

For many years, the bowsprit stood proudly on the wreck, despite occasional worries about it falling off and impaling someone, or worse. Mother Nature solved the problem before human intervention.

An article in the Jan. 9, 1963, Eugene Register-Guard explains: “The bowsprit from the old wreck of the Peter Iredale was reclaimed from the sands of the Pacific Ocean Tuesday by a group of Astoria men using heavy equipment, including a high-pressure pump. The bowsprit was lost from the hulk of the wrecked landmark in a storm in November 1961.

“Various civic organizations talked of trying to recover it from the sand, but eventually it was covered completely. On Sunday, Dudley Goff of radio station KAST discovered the tides had uncovered it again. Tuesday, volunteers brought in a pump to remove the remaining sand and equipment to drag the … object up on the beach. ”

From there, it just disappeared. Tales about its location popped up occasionally, but in 2008, the late Dick Mattson, a history buff who lived in Warrenton, called to say he had found the bowsprit sitting outside, exposed to the elements, at Fort Stevens State Park. He hoped someone would save it. But it was heavy, fragile and large. No one wanted it.

The last time the Ear saw the bowsprit, in 2014, it was falling apart. It’s probably just a pile of rust by now. (Photos: Oregon History Project / Elleda Wilson)