[or-roots] Port of Portland

[judikat]

I'm trying to resolve a research problem from various clues about how my
grandfather came West around the turn of the 19th/20th century.

Was the Port of Portland a major port for Merchant Marine vessels?  I just
read it opened in 1891.  Are there records of seamen either joining or
leaving a crew? If so, where would I find records [crew lists, seaman's
certificates] and how could I get access to them?

Two of his daughters had different views of his seamanship.  One said he was
in the Navy and that there was a tiny tattoo of an anchor on his wrist.  The
other said he was in the Merchant Marine because he told her he "punched
cattle" on board ship.

Figuring he must have entered service around 1897/98,  I checked with the
Navy Department a while back and came up with nothing.  During WWI, he
registered for the draft at the age of 40 when he was living in Redmond.
Why would he register for the draft if he had already served in the Navy?

The MM story is more credible to me.  In 1906 he was married in Portland and
lived there for at least 6 years.  He worked as an electrical inspector for
the Portland Electric Company.  As part of his job, he inspected different
areas of the city, some of which took him into the "opium dens" where he
spoke a little Chinese.  Putting two and two together, I figured he may have
learned his electrician skills through the Merchant Marine and learned some
Chinese while in the Pacific.

He was born of German immigrants in Philadelphia, PA in 1877.  It is my
belief that he joined the Merchant Marine from there and sailed his way
West.  This sounds more likely than the story he told of earning his way
across the U.S. by reading newspapers in railroad stations and bicycling
across the Mojave Desert where he was cared for by Tehachapi monks [no such
thing--I lived there for 21 years]--smacks too much of the Horatio Alger
stories of the era.  He was an avid reader--especially of National
Geographic.

Any insights and suggestions, especially from the sailors of the group?

judikat@ teleport.com