Portland State University PDXScholar Anthropology Faculty Publications and Anthropology Presentations 6-2013 Environment and Archaeology of the Lower Columbia Elizabeth A. Sobel Missouri State University Kenneth M. Ames Portland State University Robert J. Losey University of Alberta Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy . Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/anth_fac Part of the Archaeological Anthropology Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Citation Details Sobel, Elizabeth A., Ames, Kenneth M. and Robert J. Losey, "Environment and Archaeology of the Lower Columbia," in Chinookan Peoples of the Lower Columbia River, pages 23-41. University of Washington Press (June 2013) This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ONE ENVIRONMENT AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE LOWER COLUMBIA Elizabeth A. Sobel, Kenneth M. Ames, and Robert J. Losey HE Columbia is the great river of the American West. The interplay of river, ocean, mountains, and climate produced a rich and produc­ Ttive but dynamic environment, and people have lived in and adjusted to this environment for at least 12,000 years. The fourth largest river in North America, the Columbia is exceeded in water volume only by the Mississippi, St. Lawrence, and Mackenzie Rivers. Its source is in British Columbia, on the west slope of the Canadian Rockies. Between there and where it enters the Pacific Ocean, the Columbia flows 1,268 miles (2,040 kilometers), winds through four mountain ranges, descends 2,657 feet (810 meters), drains 257.993 square miles (668,200 square kilometers), generates more hydro­ electric power than any other waterway in North America, and historically has supported more salmon than just about any other North American river (Roberge 1985:11-16; Schwantes 1989:12). The Lower Columbia generally refers to the river's final 196-mile (315-kilometer) run from the western edge of the Columbia Plateau to the Pacific Ocean. The Lower Columbia begins at The Dalles, a constricted por­ tion of the river channel also called Five Mile Rapids or the Long Narrows. From there to the Pacific, the river flows through four distinct physiographic provinces-Cascade Range, Willamette-Puget Lowland, Coastal Uplands, and Outer Coast. Below The Dalles, the Columbia cuts 75 miles (120 kilometers) westward through the Cascade Mountains, which extend north from California though Oregon and Washington to British Columbia. At 14,436 feet (4,400 meters), Mount Rainier is the highest peak and is visible from the Columbia River on Boyd, Robert T., Kenneth M. Ames, and Tony A. Johnson, eds. Chinookan Peoples of the Lower Columbia. pp. 23-41. © 2013. Reprinted with permission of the University of Washington Press. 23 a clear day; other high stratovolcanoes visible from the Lower Columbia are Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, Mount Hood, and Mount Jefferson. Lower peaks in the Cascade Range are generally 3,000-6,500 feet (914-1,981 meters) high. Rainfall is heavy on the Cascades' western slopes, averaging as much as 98 inches (250 centimeters) annually. Dense forests are dominated by Doug­ las-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), western red cedar (Thuja plicata), and western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) (Avery 1961:23; Orr et al. 1992:141-48; Schwantes 1989:?-14). The Columbia River Gorge, where the river passes through the Cascade Range, was created some two million years ago and is defined by steep basal­ tic walls up to 3,900 feet (1,200 meters) high. The Gorge formerly contained a waterfall and a series of rapids that early Euro-American travelers called the Cascade Rapids, now submerged beneath Bonneville Dam. Tides affect Columbia River water levels as far east as Bonneville Dam, 186 miles (300 kilometers) from the sea. As the only near-sea-level passage through the Cascade Mountains, the Gorge is extremely windy and wet and occasionally very cold, particularly during winter periods when winds push into the Gorge from the east. Moist coastal air moves eastward through the Gorge and upward, over the mountains, generating roughly 71 inches (180 centime­ ters) of precipitation annually (Orr et al. 1992:153-55; USGS 2008). After leaving the Gorge, the Columbia takes its 53-mile (85-kilometer) course through the Portland Basin, called the Wapato Valley and Colum­ bian Valley by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. This lowland-which contains the cities of Portland and Gresham, Oregon, and Vancouver, Washington-is part of the larger Puget-Willamette Lowland, an alluvial plain some 137 miles (220 kilometers) in length and 18 miles (30 kilometers) in average width. The lowland runs south from Puget Sound to southwest Oregon, flanked on the east by the Cascade Range and on the west by the Coast Range. The Puget-Willamette Lowland is humid with a long growing season, high biodiversity, and high biomass. Historically, this biologically rich landscape encompassed multiple habitats, including wetlands, riparian forests, oak woodland savannas, and meadows. The adjoining foothills bore coniferous forest. The Columbia's course through the Wapato Valley is broad and slow, weaving through swampy bottomlands, winding among islands, and diverging into numerous sloughs (Ames and Sobel 2009:2; Hajda 1984:51-55; Orr et al. 1992:203-4; Schwantes 1989:7-14). Departing the Wapato Valley, the river flows 62 miles (100 kilometers) through the Coast Range. In Oregon, the crest of the Coast Range averages Boyd, Robert T., Kenneth M. Ames, and Tony A. Johnson, eds. Chinookan Peoples of the Lower Columbia. pp. 23-41. © 2013. Reprinted with permission of the University of Washington Press. 24 E. A. Sobel, K. M. Ames, and R. J. Losey 1,500 feet (460 meters) in elevation, and some peaks rise more than 4,000 feet (1,200 meters); in Washington, the Willapa Hills have rounded peaks gener­ ally less than 200 feet (60 meters) in elevation. The coastal mountains have mild winters, cool summers, and thick vegetation dominated by Douglas-fir, red cedar, and western hemlock (Livingston 1969:1-3; Orr et al. 1992:167-80; Schwantes 1989:7-14). As the Columbia River flows through the Coast Range, it enters its estuary and becomes exceptionally broad, flowing through flat, sandy plains and reaching its maximum width of 9 miles (15 kilometers) about 12 miles (20 kilometers) before reaching the Pacific Ocean. The river mouth is almost 4 miles (6 kilometers) wide between Cape Adams on the south and Cape Disappointment on the north. The Columbia's broad entrance, where heavy fogs are typical, prevented European and US explorers from detecting the mouth of the river until 1792, 17 years after the first maritime explorations of the Pacific Northwest; the expeditions that sailed by the river's mouth during those years thought it was simply a bay (Hajda 1984:35-46; Ruby and Brown 1976:24-58). The Columbia's mouth is not only large but also exceedingly rough, and entry into the river is treacher­ ous. Since European arrival in 1792, hundreds of individuals have died and some two thousand vessels have sunk trying to cross the river mouth. It is the third most dangerous river entrance on earth and the only US entrance requiring river bar pilots (Dietrich 1995:97). Most of these environmental features were in place well before European contact. The Columbia Plateau is 17 million years old, and the Cascade Moun­ tains are 2 million years old. Over the past 20 thousand years, the Lower Columbia River area was significantly modified by geological processes, including glacial activity during the Late Pleistocene or Ice Age. Between 19 and 12.5 thousand years ago, glacial Lake Missoula in eastern Montana repeatedly breached ice dams, generating a series of catastrophic floods across eastern Washington and the Lower Columbia River Basin. Carrying ice, huge boulders, and tons of debris, the so-called Missoula Floods scoured eastern Washington and then entered the Columbia River about 81 miles (130 kilometers) east of The Dalles. The floods steepened the walls of the Columbia River Gorge and deposited huge volumes of gravel and other sediments in the Wapato Valley (Orr et al. 1992:209-14). The most recent large-scale geological events affecting the Lower Colum­ bia are the Cascade Landslides in the Gorge. The latest of these, the Bonne­ ville Landslide, occurred between AD 1400 and AD 1500, and its debris formed a natural dam that temporarily blocked the Columbia. The river Boyd, Robert T., Kenneth M. Ames, and Tony A. Johnson, eds. Chinookan Peoples of the Lower Columbia. pp. 23-41. © 2013. Reprinted with permission of the University of Washington Press. Environment and Archaeology 25 Years AD/BC Region Estuary Wapato Valley AD 1850 Early Early Early AD 1750 Modern Modern Modern AD 1500 Late Ilwaco 1 Multnomah AD 1000 Pacific .. - .. ..... .. ........ Phase AD 500 .. .-· .................. ....... ·- . - ···- ···- ··- . AD 1 llwaco2 Merrybell BC 500 Middle Phase 1000 Pacific 1500 ....... .... - .... - ............... ...... Sea Island 2000 Phase 2500 Early ???? 3000 Pacific 3500 4000 4500 ???? 5000 5500 6000 6500 Young's River ???? 7000 Archaic Complex 7500 8000 8500 9000 ???? 9500 10000 10500 ???? ???? 11000 Clovis/Stemmed 11500 Pts 12000 ???? 12500 Paislev Cave FIGURE 1.1. Archaeological cultural phases for the Greater Lower Columbia River eventually breached or eroded the dam, possibly causing a significant flood event downstream. Landslide debris on the floor of the river created The Cas­ cades (O'Conner 2004; Pringle et al. 2002; Schuster and Pringle 2002; Bour­ deau 2001). Massive earthquakes have affected the Columbia every 500 years, on average, for at least 3,500 years, the last in 1700 (Jacoby et al. 1997; Losey 2002; Satake et al.