Columbia River Basalt Group
- Issaquah’s Field of Memories: A Century of Heartbeat & Heritage (issaquahhistorymuseums.com)
Next time you pass by Veterans’ Memorial Field in Issaquah, pause for a moment. What are your memories here… pony rides and three-legged or snail races on Fourth of July; watching the DockDogs or printmaking with dead fish during Salmon Days; or that time you laid in the field on a warm August night watching for shooting stars? All of the above for me. On an ordinary day you’ll likely spot dog walkers, joggers, kids romping around the train-themed playground, a game of bocce ball on the new court at the Senior Center, and games of catch in the field. What you don’t see are stumps, steer wrestling, and the cheering crowds of a bygone era. This unassuming park has a surprisingly rambunctious past, a story that starts with a group of firefighters and ends with a modern-day community hub.
- Deschutes River (Wikipedia)
The Deschutes River (/dəˈʃuːts/ də-SHOOTS) in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many of the tributaries that descend from the drier, eastern flank of the mountains. The Deschutes provided an important route to and from the Columbia for Native Americans for thousands of years, and then in the 19th century for pioneers on the Oregon Trail. The river flows mostly through rugged and arid country, and its valley provides a cultural heart for central Oregon. Today the river supplies water for irrigation and is popular in the summer for whitewater rafting and fishing.
Columbia River Basalt Group map shows main regions of basalt exposure in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Nevada, USA. (usgs.gov)