Long before white settlers arrived in 1853, the Coos Indians lived in villages near the bay, which now bears their name. Just south of Coos Bay and 2.5 miles north of Cape Arago (originally known as Cape Gregory), is a small, detached piece of land with sheer cliffs called Chief's Island by the Indians. The shape of the island has been aptly described as a bony right-hand fist, with an extended index finger pointing northward. It was on the tip of this finger-like extension that the first Cape Arago Lighthouse would be erected in 1866. , Coos Bay, June 2012 076