Foreign Rocks In
C olum bia G orge
Caused By Flood
Stones from the distant Rockies
found on barren basaltic scab-
lands of the Columbia river gorge
in The Dalles area have posed a
question for geologists: How did
these “foreign” rocks, known to
e a rth -scientists are erratics and
composed of m inerals unknown in
th e gorge, get into the river chan
nel 1000 or more miles from their
home cliffs?
S. C. Sargent, corps of engi
neers, Portland, presented thé an
sw er in a paper presented recent
ly at the joint m eeting of the
N orthw est Scientific association
and the Oregon Academy of Sci
ence, at Reed college. The erratics
w ere rafted down the Columbia
in the tentacles of tree roots,
especially pines.
Floods Tremendous
“T ree-rafted E rratics Along the
Columbia R iver’’ was the title of
the engineer’s paper. Geologists
have long known that a cataclys-
mis flood of prehistoric tim es re
sulted in giant e rra tic s being
rafted down the Columbia on ice
floes, but not until recently was
any g reat attention given the
sm aller rocks, m ostly granite,
schist and quartzite, th a t are
found strew n over the barren
lavas of the Columbia gorge.
Twice in historic times, in the
Columbia floods of 1894 and 1948,
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19-ft
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DAILY
F reight Service
C cust Freight
Lines
DAVE FRANKLIN.
Owner
Phone 2634
BOB WILLIAMSON
Local Agent
BROOKINGS
CLINK
Office hours. 9 a. m. 5 p. m.
DR. R. E. SMITH
DENTIST
PHONE 2831
Dr. Richard L. Smith
OPTOMETRIST
DR. ROY M. W HITE
OSTEOPATHIC PHYSICIAN
and Surgeon
Emergencies at Any Hour
PHONE 2701
Evenings by Appointment
the trun ks of trees, w ith rocks of
up-river origin gripped in their
roots, have been tossed out over
the gorge basalts and left to
w eather on the river scablands.
Most of the tree tru n k s carried in
by the 1948 flood still tightly hold
their cargo of rocks in their
meshed roots. Tree tru n k s from
the 1894 flood are ro ttin g rapidly,
and rocks in most instances have
been released, to nestle as strange
cousins am ong the native lava
boulders.
Many Large Stone*
some of prehistoric times. The
trees that served as rafting agents
long ago rotted aw ay and deposit
ed their stones and boulders in
an area foreign to th eir origin.
Most of the tree-rafted rocks
are found at high w ater m arks in
the Columbia gorge, where the
battered stum ps and twined roots
came to rest as the flood crests
passed Phil E. Brogan in The
T R E N C H IN G
th eir narrative, chapter upon
chapter, com pactly stored, line
a fte r line enserived in tiny hiero
glyphics. w ith here and there
am ong them , as for illustration,
a print of strange leaf or insect,
a tra c k of long-vanished beast.
And in some, like the illum ina
tion in an old m anuscript, colored
gems whose depths hold a con
c e n tra te beauty of light, ready to
spring forth in dazzling rays.
E a rth fast, absorbed in its busy
ness of being, a rock lies, contin
ually telling . . . telling.
I am
not
Debs.
O ur whole social life is in es
sence but a long striving for the
victory of justice over force. -•
Galsworthy.
Tow n a n d C ountry
Gas C om pany
Call Ph. 3521, Crescent City, or
w rite P. O. Box 342, Crescent
City. J. E. (Jim ) DAYTON, dis
tributor. B utane tanks for rent,
sale or lease. Office located nt
Anderson Plum bing Co., Fresno
S treet, ofli Pacific Ave., Crescent
City.
Screened Sand, and Gravel
Salvage Sand
and Gravel
Top Soil
Fill Dirt
Drainage Rock
Phone 2341
Leonard Real Estate
W ORK
DRAINAGE DITCHES, ETC.,
At .$12.50 PER HOUR
The ideal society would e n a b le 1
e\er.v man and woman to develop I
•dong their individual lines, and
not attem p t to force all into one
mould, however adm irable. J. p.
Frank's P lu m b in g & E lectric Shop
P. O. Box 1240
F /'r/Z
HARBOR, OREGON
House South of Sunset M otel
WHITE APPLIANCE CO.
ANNOUNCES
SPECIALIZED REPAIR
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for
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GORDON OLSEN
BILL MARTZ
McCULLOCH CHAIN SAW DEALER
Across from Shell Station
Brookings, Oregon
P. O. Box 195 Brookings, Oregon
Phone 2274
DONE
SEWER LINES. WATER LINES.
AUTHORIZED
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free,- Eugene V.
Portland Oregonian.
Sargent in presenting his paper
at the Portland conference, said
that e rratics weighing up to 200
pounds have been found gripped
in the roots of trees transj>orted S. Haldane.
down the Columbia gorge by
floods.
Geologists say it is evident that
m any of the “foreign” rocks found
scattered over the river bottom
scablands in The Dalles area were
rafted in by trees in earlier floods,
BROOKINGS AUTO PARTS
lies in jagged fragm ents be
side the highway w here construc
tion is going on. Exposed for the
first tim e to hum an sight are
planes of mingled black, gray, and
w hite flakes, glinting w ith bits of
mica here and there. Here, on
closely w ritten tablets, ancient
alm ost beyond our imagining, is
an account of p art of the ever-
changing grow th of the earth. F or
the silent rocks have th eir own
m eans of com m unication. Sealed
m ore surely, more imperviously,
than those cylinders holding rec
ords of inform ation concerning
today's custom s, th a t have been
pieced in subterranean vaults for
possible discovery by peoples of
the future, are the archives stored
w ithin them.
They all give testim ony, they
all tell their share of the chron
icle. The solitary giant resting
on some pasture hill, holding the
su n ’s w arm th long a fte r nightfall,
its rough sides fronded w ith lich
ens, the greenery of ferns clu st
ered about its base.
Rugged
ledges that for centuries have re
sisted the se a ’s intent and rh y th
mic onset. Even a humble and
dusty pebble lying in the midst
of the city come from who
knows w h e re ? —this. too. offers
its contribution. Hold it in your
hand and m arvel that the un-
guessable forces pent w ithin it do
not shiver it to atom s. T here
it lies, small dun-covered, yet a
sort of small window through
which we peer at a world that
resounds w ith trem endous foot
steps
tram pling
the
heaving
ground, the ro ar of fierce winds
through the houghs of colossal
trees, the stir and hiss and rum
ble of volcanic upheaval all the
surging tum ult of a planet in the
making.
Rocks are the grist of the e arth ;
tirelessly do the mills of w eather
and tim e grind them down. But
before becoming dust they hoard
THURSDAY. JANUARY 22. 1953
M a to t B u ild in g
Phone 2891