The Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest was occupied by a diverse array of Native American peoples for millennia, beginning with Paleoindians who explored and colonized the area roughly 15,000 years before Europeans arrived. The Pacific Coast is seen by a growing number of scholars as a major migration route for late Pleistocene peoples moving from northeast Asia into the Americas. Archaeological evidence for these earliest Native Americans is sketchy--in part because heavy glaciation, flooding, and post-glacial sea level rise have radically changed the landscape--but fluted Clovis-like points found in the region were probably left by Paleoindians at least 13,000 years ago. Even earlier evidence for human occupation dating back as much as 14,500 years ago is emerging from Paisley Caves in central Oregon.

With a history of human occupation spanning many millennia, and the incredible richness of Pacific Northwest fisheries (salmon, etc.), it is not surprising that the Indian Tribes who occupied the area historically were some of the most complex hunter-gatherer-fishers in history. They lived in large villages or towns, built plank houses and large canoes, and had sophisticated artistic and technological traditions. In British Columbia and Southeast Alaska, for instance, maritime tribes like the Tlingit and Haida erected the large and elaborately carved totem poles that are iconic of Pacific Northwest artistic traditions. Throughout the area, thousands of descendants of these proud Pacific Northwest tribes still live and many of their cultural traditions continue to be practiced.

Wikipedia.org Pacific Northwest

White Dove

Thank you, CoCo! It's great to see people taking an interest in my home. Northwesterners tend to be a rugged bunch always ready for a hike and fishing. I caught a 23 lb. salmon when I was 15. (Don't forget a few words on our friendly vampires. Tee-hee!:)

compound complex

Thank you, White Dove, for responding.

I love the PNW, not only because of its being so close to home, but also because of my long-time interest in the writings of Betty MacDonald. She was the first woman [so I understand] to write about life in this great wilderness (some of it fairly tamed): The Egg and I, The Plague and I, Onions in theStew ...

I have read these books several times each, and I cannot fail to smell the salt air and see a regal Mount Rainier rise haughtily and stately above the clouds.

Good for you!

CoCo

White Dove

I lived where Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens could be seen. I saw MSH errupt and experienced it's ashfall that Sunday morning in 1980. Meeting let out early so we could get home safely.

compound complex

Mount Hood, called Wy'east by the Multnomah tribe, is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of northern Oregon, it was formed by a subduction zone and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located about 50 miles (80 km) east-southeast of Portland, on the border between Clackamas and Hood River counties.

Mount Hood's snow-covered peak rises 11,249 feet (3,429 m) [ 1 ] and is home to twelve glaciers. [ 6 ] (Older surveys said 11,239 feet (3,426 m), which is still often cited as its height). It is the highest mountain in Oregon and the fourth-highest in the Cascade Range. [ 7 ] Mount Hood is considered the Oregon volcano most likely to erupt, [ 8 ] though based on its history, an explosive eruption is unlikely. Still, the odds of an eruption in the next 30 years are estimated at between 3 and 7 percent, [ 9 ] so the USGS characterizes it as "potentially active", but the mountain is informally considered dormant. [ 9 ]

Wikipedia.org Mount Hood

White Dove

Mt. Hood has had earthquakes.

BurnTheShips

Lovely, I plan on being there next month. Well, BC, just over the border.

BTS

FlyingHighNow

Julian and I took the Amtrak Coast Starlight from Emeryville, CA up to Portland, OR. It was gorgeous and otherworldly. The good thing about not growing up there is that it's like riding through a fairytale forrest, rather than something I am used to. Beautiful painting, Coco.

FlyingHighNow

We could see Mount Hood from the train. We also passed Mount Shasta.

The Pacific Northwest

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