Mueller, Marge & Ted Mueller. Fire, Faults and Floods: a Road and Trail Guide to Exploring the Origins of the Columbia River. University of Idaho Press. Moscow, Idaho. 1997 (reviewed by Laura Johnson)
Summary:
A common tactic for geologists seeking to reach a wider audience seems to be to write a travel guide into their work, possibly with the belief that the best way to understand the big picture effects of geologic change is to stand directly next to the features it produced (despite the fact the aerial photography was the definitive force in confirming Bretz's 1927 theory of cataclysmic flooding as the source of Washington's scablands). However, the road guide is an excellent platform for “Fire, Faults and Floods.” In the Preface the authors explicitly state that this text was written for a lay-audience in hopes of spreading interest and understanding of geological change in general as well as its profound effects on the Columbia River Basin between the coastal Oregon and even into northern Idaho.
The text is a truly excellent source for both as lay audience and geology enthusiasts. The chapters are divided by geographic region and features within that region. The episodic nature of their subdivisions makes it easy to mentally follow the authors' journey. The introduction features a map which highlights and labels the areas covered in each chapter and recommends the maps the authors found useful while exploring the area. Each chapter focuses on the traveling reader by beginning with an overview of the rest stops, gas stations and parks facilities within the region, as well as hiking and driving conditions.
The focus then jumps to a general geologic history of the particular region, moving on to specific geologic features and their significance. For example, Chapter 9: Briggs to Portland, OR: The Columbia River Gorge describes how the ancestral Columbia River was moved farther north with each basalt flow; how the Missoula floods exposed patterns of ancient river drainage for future analysis by geologists; and how the Missoula floods created several temporary lakes, like lake Lewis behind Wallula Gap, where huge ripple patterns can still be seen high up on giant gravel deposits today. The chapter then subdivides into explorations of the importance (and restroom facilities) of places like the Crown Point formation, Oneonta Gorge, Mitchell Point and Rowena Plateau.
Critique:
What I found most interesting about this source was the accessibility of its information, and thus the ease at which I related the geologic history of the Columbia basin to my travels in north-central Oregon and to Native American myths. The authors note that several massive landslides in the Columbia Gorge were the result of river channel slope instability caused by ancient flood saturation. They also note that a particularly large landslide about 750 years ago [ed. note: now dated as January 1700] was a probable source for the Bridge of the Gods legend. This intrigued me, because another potential source outlined a creation myth, which in a geological context may be an ancient explanation for the huge temporary lakes that formed behind Wallula Gap and The Narrows during the periodic Missoula floods.
Chinook legend has it that a giant, ravenous beaver named Wishpoosh lived in a lake at the top of the Cascade Mountains. When Coyote decided to kill the destructive beaver the splashes from their fight created a series of smaller lakes which all the way to the ocean, where they finally washed out to sea. The Chinook believe that the tribes around the Columbia estuary were born from dismembered parts of the beaver. Could it be that this legend is an allegorical history passed on from an ancient people present in the Cascade Mountains more than 12,000 years ago? The cataclysmic floods ended at the end of the last ice age, about 12,700 years ago, so this story would have to date from before then.
My observation is at least ironic, given that early evidence for the Missoula floods was fought by geologists in the 1920's, who believed that the same types of geological forces we see today had always been the only ones at work. They believed that accepting a cataclysmic flood as explanation for Washington's scablands was tantamount to accepting Noah's flood as scientific truth. In fact, several peoples in Asia Minor have flood myths that date around the same time (including the Babylonians with Uta-Napishtim) which lends credence to an actual flood in Asia Minor around 5600 BCE. I think there is a distinct possibility that ancient myths involving natural disasters could be confirmed and explained scientifically if the myths were compared with archeological and geological evidence.
Robert D. Clark Honors College, University of Oregon
HC 441: Science Colloquium, Columbia River Ecology
Fall term, 2005
Send e-mail to the Webmaster