Lyman's History of Old Walla Walla County: Embracing Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield and Asotin Counties (Complete)
9781465678010
213 pages
Library of Alexandria
Overview
A land of scenic charm, of physical interest, of fertile soil and ample resources, of climate in which living is a delight, of two great rivers and many impetuous tributaries, of mountain chains with rich and varied hues and contours of stately majesty,—such is the imperial domain included in that portion of the State of Washington lying east of the Columbia River and south of the Snake. While this region has distinctive physical features, it yet has a sufficient family resemblance to the other parts of Eastern Oregon and Eastern Washington to indicate a common origin. We may therefore properly take first a general view of this larger area. The greater part of the vast Inland Empire of Northeastern Oregon and Eastern Washington consists of rolling prairies, sometimes fairly hilly, with extensive "flats" in various parts, and low-lying, level valleys bordering the numerous streams. These valleys are usually quite narrow, the three marked exceptions being the broad valleys of the Walla Walla, Umatilla, and Yakima, the two latter being outside of the scope of our story. The Inland Empire varies in elevation above sea-level from about three hundred and fifty feet on the Columbia River to about nine thousand at the highest summits of the Blue Mountains. The larger part of the cultivated portions ranges from eight hundred to two thousand feet. The variations in elevation have a remarkable effect on temperature and rainfall, the former decreasing and the latter increasing very rapidly from the lower to the higher levels. The atmosphere throughout this region is ordinarily very clear, and the majestic sweep of the Blue Mountains and the wide expanses of hills and dales and flats lie revealed in all their imposing grandeur with vivid distinctness. As there is a general physical similarity in the different parts of this entire Columbia Basin, so has there been a common geological history. Broadly speaking, the upper Columbia Basin from near Spokane on the north to Wallowa on the south is volcanic in origin. The scope of this work does not permit any detailed discussion of the geology of the region, but it is of interest to refer to the fascinating little book of Prof. Thomas Condon, formerly of the Oregon State University, on the "Two Islands." Professor Condon was the first systematic student of the geology of the Northwest, and during his active career, extending from about 1855 to 1890, he accumulated a large and valuable collection of fossil remains as data from which to infer the stages in the geological history of the Northwest. One of his working hypotheses was that there were two islands as the first lands in what is now the Northwest. These were the Blue Mountain Island and the Siskiyou Mountain Island. Later geologists have not entirely accepted all the details of Professor Condon's hypothesis, though they regard his general reasoning as sound. It is generally believed now that there was a very early uplift, possibly a third island, in what is now the Okanogan, Methow, and Chelan highlands and mountains. At any rate, there is a general concurrence in the opinion that the oldest land in this part of the continent was those very regions where the two or perhaps three islands are supposed to have risen. The Chelan region and thence a vast sweep northeast and then southeast toward Spokane is of granite, andesite, and porphyry, the primeval crust of the earth. Again on the south, the core of the Blue Mountains, especially in the vicinity of Wallowa, is limestone and granite.
