Lt. Neil M. Howison, U.S.N., arrived in the Columbia River on 1 July 1846 aboard the 300-ton United States Naval Survey Schooner Shark to investigate part of the Oregon Country. His report helped create public interest in the Oregon Territory and shape a decision on the boundary between English and American lands. The Shark was wrecked while attempting to leave the Columbia on 10 September 1846. In an effort to get the ship off the spit, the three masts were chopped down and the cannon were thrown overboard, but the vessel began to break up and the crew escaped in boats. Part of the deck, with a small iron cannon, drifted ashore south of Tillamook Head near this location, giving Cannon Beach its name.