Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1870-06-11
The Basalts Of Oregon.

-ftym W uSuiuStOu PaPeg VIC learn mat
ct the, late session Of the Academy Of
Science at Washington the most interest
ing Feature Of the last days proceedings
was = graphic lecture on the Basalts Of
Oregon, Washington and Idaho, by r, w.
Raymond. After speaking Of the Dsllss
themselves, he said that on the road from
Dalles City to Canyon City, along the
Sante river, was tremendous thick ness Of
bsssItic oyerthrows two thousand feet
high. The river had taken its way
through the chasm Of the original up
hcaval and worn it deeper, He explored
the singular phenomens Of the caves north
of the Dalles. There was no ice in Port.
land last summer when he visited the
place, but few miles further it was
abundant; and, Oh inquiry, he learned
that it was mined from the ice caves forty
miles up the Salmon river, near the foot
of Mt Adams. An expedition set out for
the caves. They were not large but beau.
.tiiul, and filed with the purest ice in mid
summer. Here was possible hint of the
tho lost rivers which puzzle the discoverer
This was volcano country, and the CEN
ters of lines Of eruptions could be traced
by the terraces. The ground under the
horses feet sounded hollow from the fall
ing in of the roofs of old caverns from one
to four miles in length, which were old
duets of the lava. lie had seen the same
thing on Vesuvius in tho eruption of
1859-6O, which was not from the crater,
but at the sides as from bleeding wound.
The stream of lava cools at the sides and
top, protecting the hot stream beneath.
Finally the orifcc becomes chokcd with
stones and clotting lava at the eruptive
point, and the lava flows away, leaving
the duct empty, ending a: some elevation
ofthc surface which tore up the duct In
the ice caves, the roof had fallen at corn
crs. but on the sides and floors the smears
of lava could be seen in fbrous masses,
spirting on the rooflike door. In these
caves the water trick!es from thawing
snow, in winter freezing as it falls, form
ing bcrgs of tons of ice reaching nearly to
the top of the cave. This is much colder
than common ice, and lasts all summer
Just below the lower line of Mt. Adams
was to be found a miniature paradise,
where all the fora of the Pacific Coast
grew luxuriantly attended by myriads. of
humming birds which disappear for other
regions with the flowers. The great
Shoshone Falls, second only to Niagara,
carved their way through basaltc rocks,
remarkably distinct in their hexagonal and
columnar form. Geological surveyors
here can make no mistake in reading the
text. He stood ut one time over a cleft
ten inches wide and FIVE hundred feet
deep. The river had eaten out below the
basalt, which by gravity and clearagc had
settled into broken line, different columns
separated by tufa settling sometimes with
out breaking. -Four hundred feet the
river has cut through the basalt, and there
are two hundred feet Of porphyry below
the basalt. The Lost River is found on
entering the canon of the Snake River,
where, from perpendicular face Of porphy-
ry midway of the cliff, cascade issues
from the rock in furious, large stream.
No water is to be found on the surface,
but the settlers pretend to identify it with
river one hundred miles to the North.
This was probably a volcanic drift from
which the tufa had been wrought out of
the way, and formed channel under
ground for the water. The speaker
wished to see this interesting region
thoroughly surveyed by the Government.