Tuesday, August 05, 2014

SCABLANDS---WHEATLANDS---A DEAD MAN TALKING

I'VE MENTIONED LAKE MISSOULA---an ancient lake created by an ice dam and containing 500 cubic miles of water that broke loose in a single day creating the world's greatest flood---rushing across the landscape of southeast Washington--sweeping away everything in its path and creating a vast eerie wasteland called the scablands.  Read about: here                                                                          


I drove into the scablands

a few miles to get the flavor of them.

Imagine that vast flood sweeping across here.

Spent the day in Sprague, Wa. A wheat/railroad town once larger than Spokane.  Walked around town chatting with folks and researching in city hall.

At a rest area I met this terrific guy: Steve Borejko a Canadian philosopher and motorcycle racer.  We talked a whole afternoon away 

Across the way you can see where the scablands end and  wheatlands begin

At exit 231 I parked for the night at this dead end road.  A strange and lonely man came by on his 4 wheeler to invite me to his campground across the freeway.  I politely declined but got his story. Summary: He's been  stuck for 30 plus years  operating an old Stuckys shop. Never saw a Stuckys??  Never ate ate their famous pecan roll?  Here's what they looked like

Next day on a whim I visited the dying town of Sprague, Wa.  Chatted with some folks--got intrigued--spent some hours reading the town history in city hall.  Learned this town was once larger than Spokane.
Wheatlands---You are looking at the breadbasket of America.  

I got entranced and decided to spend a night in its midst---found a remote road with a view and settled in.  Only one car came by.

Spent the next day in Ritzville --Library and around town.  A small touch of irony that the town has a Ritz theater.  Chamber of commerce lady said that it's possible that ritz crackers get their name from the local-- especially fine-- wheat.

A retired guy who sliced a model T lengthwise and mounted it on his garage.

And now we come to the DEAD MAN TALKING part.  I came here looking for this very spot. This is Columbia park in Kennewick, Wa.  and that is the Columbia river.  Right there---is  where a skeleton was found by a bulldozer operator--and set in motion one of the great legal battles of our time---Scientist versus Indians.  Turns out "KENNEWICK MAN" was 9000 years old and WAS NOT AN INDIAN.   And to the world's astonishment HE LOOKED EXACTLY LIKE PATRICK STEWART--captain of the star ship enterprise.

kennewick-man-03.jpg


Here they are side by side.  Isn't that amazing?
  Ahhhh yesss sweet people---do you get the drift of the controversy?  Who really---were the first people in America and where did they come from?  Read the story here :
N
Stayed the night and moved on along the north shore of the Columbia River

A lovely, lonely road
with about a thousand wonderful windmills along its edge.  It's 83 miles across here without a service station.
RANDY RUMINATES:  I'm on my way to a mystical, spooky place where I will do a daring deed.  Stay tuned.











here

4 comments:

  1. Great & very interesting post! I got a kick out of the information in the link to Kennewick Man that scientists were baffled because they believed there had been a single migration event across the Bering Straits that brought the ancestors of modern Native Americans to these shores. Yeah, 'cause the ancient people were like, "Yeah, some folks went that way last year, so we can't ever go that way again." Looking forward to your spooky adventure post!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Randy, the book "Bretz's Flood - The Remarkable Story of a Rebel Geologist and the World's Greatest Flood" is something you might enjoy reading. It took quite a while for the evidence of the flood to be gathered, analyzed, and accepted. I have been curious for some time about "scablands". The power of the flood was so strong that all the soil was swept away from the basalt rock bed. It's quite a fascinating story. Nice to see the photos of the area.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Anita: Thanks-- And yes I know the story. Bretz is lionized all over this area. Now that we know the facts---it's obvious from looking at an aerial photo that a great flood rushed across here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Anita: Thanks-- And yes I know the story. Bretz is lionized all over this area. Now that we know the facts---it's obvious from looking at an aerial photo that a great flood rushed across here.

    ReplyDelete