[3] The intended use for the vessel was to establish regular steamship service between Tillamook, on the coast of Oregon, and Portland.

[4] Up until that time the bad navigation conditions at the entrance, called a "bar", to Tillamook Bay, had made it not always possible to make regular trips.

"[6] The Elmore was intended to carry a big load of freight on a light draft on the shallow waters of Tillamook Bay.

[4] On July 9, 1900, the Elmore was towed downriver to the Willamette Iron Works for the boilers and machinery to be installed.

[8] The engine, built by Willamette Iron and Steel Works, was a fore and aft compound condensing type steam engine, with cylinder sizes of 10, 20 and 20 inches and a 20-inch stroke, generating 100 nominal horsepower and 300 indicated horsepower, could turn the propeller shaft at 125 revolutions per minute.

[10] The ship had double steam winches mounted both fore and aft, cargo ports, and the latest freight handling machinery.

[6] The ship carried patent anchors, had an auxiliary schooner sailing rig, and was fitted with towing bits.

[9] On Friday afternoon, at 4:00 pm, September 21, 1900, Elmore arrived at Astoria from Portland, where the new steamer attracted attention.

[6] The steamer tied up at the wharf of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company on the 22nd, and was scheduled to start regular freight and passenger service the following day, September 23, 1900, between Astoria and Tillamook.

[14] In December 1907, the Pacific Navigation Company advertised itself as the only freight and passenger steamship line between Astoria and Tillamook, Nehalem, Nestucca, Siletz, Yaquina, Alsea, Siuslaw, and Umpqua, Oregon.

[15] Elmore's designated route had been to reach Tillamook City, which was about 2.75 miles up a shallow winding waterway known as Hoquarten Slough, which had been dredged by the Corps of Engineers but only to a depth of 9 feet on mean high tide.

[20] In 1906, the only regular shipping line running to Tillamook was the Pacific Navigation Company, owners of Sue B.

Freight shipped into the bay during 1902 totaled 4,067 tons, and consisted of coal, fruit, grain, feed, and flour, hay, machinery, wool and woolen goods, and miscellaneous merchandise.

[21] On January 7, 1903, Sue H. Elmore arrived at Aberdeen, Washington and began loading about 8,000 cases of canned salmon to be carried to Astoria.

Harrison, or "other first-class vessels", to Tillamook, Alsea, Nehalem, Siuslaw, Umpqua and other intermediate points on the Oregon coast.

[3] The work was scheduled to be completed by Monday, November 2, 1903, and consisted of a new keel, a new propeller, new planking, and a thorough painting.

[26] The case was investigated on April 25, 1904, and as a result the license of master of Vosburg, E. Loll, was suspended for 30 days for carelessness and unskillfulness.

[26] On March 1, 1906, in Tillamook, the cook on board Sue H. Elmore was fined $130 for violating a local option law prohibiting the sale of alcohol.

[17] On other occasions, steamers were delayed by days and even weeks on account of heavy seas on the Tillamook and Columbia River bars.

In 1906, local interests sought federal funding to deepen the channel and eliminate several sharp curves in Hoquarten Slough, but the Department of War recommended against this on the grounds that the volume of commerce was too low to justify the expenditure, and much of the traffic would be subsumed in a few years by a rail line then under construction.

[30] The local newspaper urged merchants to make increased use of Elmore, as the lack of business might force the steamer off the route.

[32] When Elmore was returned to service in 1916, its schedule was changed so that it now departed Portland every Wednesday night for Tillamook.

[17] However, a line was then in the process of being built from Hillsboro, Oregon, by the Pacific Railway and Navigation Company along the Nehalem River.

[17] However, in 1907 the railroad was expected to be completed to Tillamook within a few years, and it was projected that once that occurred, much of the water-borne freight would then be carried overland.

[18] According to a report submitted to Congress from the Army Corps of Engineers, "it would appear that there is not sufficient business at this harbor to warrant the use of large vessels and apparently those of small capacity cannot successfully compete with the railroad, which offers shorter and more direct market connections.

[35] In 1922, Bergen was shown to be owned by Herbert F. Simpson, with a home port (the place where the vessel's official documentation was kept), of Los Angeles.

[37] The ship was later transferred to San Diego where it served as a tug for the Star & Crescent Boat Co. under the name Cuyamaca.

[2][38] This had occurred by 1930, when Cuyamuca's owner was shown as the Star & Crescent Boat Co., with an office at the foot of Broadway in San Diego.

[37] In 1930, Cuyamaca was registered as a fishing or towing[39] vessel, homeported in San Diego, with a crew of 11, not including the master.

[44] The 1.03 acre park is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Front Street and Main Avenue (Highway 101) in the city of Tillamook.