Two powerful sons of a great spirit had fallen in love with the same maiden who could not decide who she preferred. So the two sons, Pahto and Wyeast, waged a war by hurling fire and hot rocks across the Columbia River at each other, devastating the land and making the earth tremble. These earthquakes caused a mountain to tumble into the river, turning a calm stretch of water into a violent cascade. This angered the Great Spirit, causing him to turn his two querulous sons into stone mountains overlooking the river. Wyeast became Mount Hood and Pahto became Mount Adams. The female cause of the battle became Mount St. Helens.
This Klickitat legend has firm roots in the geology of the Columbia River gorge which we passed through today under clear skies and in warm sunshine. The mountain in the background of the above image is Table Mountain. Half of this mountain slid into the Columbia River some 700 years ago. An earthquake triggered the slide and it temporarily dammed the Columbia, creating an unnavigable cascade, for which Lewis and Clark named the Cascade Mountains. Also in this image is the Bonneville Dam and hydroelectric facility. The dam and locks (M/V Sea Lion can be seen entering the lock chamber) were built between 1934 and 1937 as part of the National Recovery Act. The locks also allowed vessels to navigate upstream, past the cascades. It is no great stretch to claim that Wyeast, Pahto, and the Great Spirit of the Cascade Mountains were responsible for initiating a project that was to help bring this country out of the Great Depression.
