Charles Hall, Board Member and Co-Founder of Lower Columbia Chapter Ice Age Flodds Institute presented his miniature of the Willamette Meteorite to Rick Thompson upon his resignation as Board President of the Chapter in preparation for his and Sylvia’s move from Oregon to join family members on the East Coast. Sylvia Thompson also resigned her Secretary Board position.
Rick is well known for his many years of study of erratics carried by the mega floods of 15,000 years ago, often called the Missoula floods which had major impact on the landscapes of Montana, Idaho, Eastern Washington and Northern Oregon. Such erratics were carried in glacial icebergs late in the last Ice Age. Rick published his first book on the subject, “The Hunt for Iceberg Erratics.” His second book, “GigaFlood” is now in its second revised edition.
The Willamette Meteorite is thought to have fallen to Earth many thousands of years ago onto the large ice sheet and glaciers covering Western Canada. There was an ice dam at the Purcell Trench which eventually collapsed sending icebergs throughout the flood path toward the sea. They carried erratics, among them the Willamette Meteorite. It drifted into Lake Allison (the Willamette Valley); beached and grounded on a bar 400’ above sea level where the iceberg melted and stranded the Meteorite. It was different from every other erratic as its composition is nickel-iron and it has a ring to it when struck. Native Americans called it “The Visitor From The Sky.”
For all these reasons, the Willamette Meteorite is the most awesome erratic. I wanted Rick to have my copy of it for his enjoyment and to thank him for his nearly 10 years leadership as President of the Lower Columbia Chapter, Ice Age Floods Institute. Lower Columbia Chapter IAFI was founded in 2005 by Mark Buser and myself. In 2014, the Lower Columbia Chapter joined with the Tualatin Historical Society to meet monthly at the Tualatin Heritage Center.
Charles Hall: Co-Founder, Chapter Board Member & Treasurer for Lower Columbia Chapter, Ice Age Floods Institute