Monday, Jul. 13, 2009

Book highlights importance of Wallula Gap

By Loretto J. Hulse, Herald food writer

WALLA WALLA -- Passing through the Wallula Gap, you probably wouldn't think it's an important site in the Pacific Northwest.

But the towering rock walls, scrubby brush and once free-flowing Columbia River are a National Natural Landmark and a significant spot on the path of the Ice Age floods.

The gap is marked by the narrowing of the Columbia River halfway between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It's here the Ice Age floods raced through, Native Americans lived, fur trappers traded and railroads thrived, making it an important historical and cultural landmark in the West's landscape.

"Everyone passed through the gap, the Oregon Trail, the railroad, boats and later steamboats. All three ways of travel converged at the gap," said Bob Carson, Whitman College professor of geology and environmental studies.

Carson finds the area so fascinating he spent nearly six years working on Where the Great River Bends: A natural and human history of the Columbia at Wallula. He wrote several of the chapters and edited the contributions made by 10 other professional photographers, biologists, historians and archeologists.

Since the book's recent publication Carson has traveled Washington and Oregon giving free slide show lectures on the Wallula Gap and has one scheduled at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Burbank Library. After, he'll answer questions and sign copies of his book.

"I love giving presentations to people who live in the area I've written about. It's much more meaningful and exciting for me to talk to local people than to give a presentation in Spokane or Yakima. This is the closest presentation I've done to the area featured in the book," Carson said.

Of the 15 presentations Carson's given on Where the Great River Bends, one of the most fun for him was one in Touchet.

"When people from the area come to my presentations, they ask more questions and tell stories. I learn from them," he said.

For example, in 1915 there was an Open River Celebration held in Wallula celebrating the opening of the The Dalles-Celilo Canal. Thousands of people crowded the town of Wallula, many arriving by steamboat, which could now navigate the Columbia River easily, he said.

"I greeted a number of people and one man had brought a pennant from that celebration. His father had given it to him. That was exciting to see," Carson said.

Where the Great River Bends focuses on a very specific locality, the Wallula Gap and the town of Wallula to Sand Station Recreation Area in Umatilla County at the south end of the Gap.

"The whole area is just 10 miles long as the crow flies, 17 by road, and only two miles wide," he said.

Where the Great River Bends is loaded with more than 200 black and white and color illustrations, maps and photos, some dating back to the 1860s.

"It was a challenge (to write). I wanted something for everyone. Some people may just look at the photos, many of which are full page and in color. But at the same time the expert on history or on biology will get a lot out of it too," Carson said.

While Wallula Gap is important historically and geologically, it's still influencing modern day wildlife and how we travel today.

"The McNary National Wildlife Refuge is there but where you see the signs is only part of the refuge. There's also a larger -- and growing larger -- delta wetland at the mouth of the Walla Walla River," he said.

"At a time when wetlands are mostly disappearing, this delta is growing out into the reservoir because of the silt coming down from the Touchet River," Carson said.

Plus, he said, there are highways over the Blue Mountains, but none pass over the Horse Heave Hills. The Horse Heavens extend from the Cascades to the Blues and the only place railroads go through is the gap," he said.

To help underscore the importance of the Wallula Gap, Carson has included a map giving giving a blow by blow description of what you see. It describes everything, what animals, what plants, what geology you're looking at.

Also included are historical tidbits like the spot Lewis and Clark camped.

Copies of the soft cover Where the Great River Bends will be for sale at Tuesday's slide show lecture. Cost is $35.

If you can't make Carson's presentation, Where the Great River Bends is also available at Adventures Underground in Richland.

The library is at 875 Lake Road, Burbank. For more information on the slide show lecture and book signing, call the library at 545-6549.