Mount St Helens History

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MountStHelens.com Information Resource Center History - Mt. St. Helens Mount St. Helens, located in southwestern Washington about 50 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon, is one of several lofty volcanic peaks that dominate the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest; the range extends from Mount Garibaldi in British Columbia, Canada, to Lassen Peak in northern California. Geologists call Mount St. Helens a composite volcano (or stratovolcano), a term for steepsided, often symmetrical cones constructed of alternating layers of lava flows, ash, and other volcanic debris. Composite volcanoes tend to erupt explosively and pose considerable danger to nearby life and property. In contrast, the gently sloping shield volcanoes, such as those…show more content…
Helens, as painted by Canadian artist Paul Kane following a visit to the volcano in 1847 (Photograph courtesy of the Royal Ontario Museum). Indian Legend of Mount St. Helens Eruption Before Mt. St. Helens blew its top is was a beautifully symmetric rounded snow-capped mountain that stood between two powerfully jagged peaks Mt. Hood ( which Indians called Wy'east) and Mt. Adams ( which Indians called Klickitat). According to one Indian legend, the mountain was once a beautiful maiden, "Loowit". When two sons of the Great Spirit "Sahale" fell in love with her, she could not choose between them. The two braves, Wyeast and Klickitat fought over her, burying villages and forests in the process ( hurling rocks as they erupted?). Sahale was furious. He smote the three lovers and erected a mighty mountain peak where each fell. Because Loowit was beautiful, her mountain (Mount St. Helens) was a beautiful, symmetrical cone of dazzling white. Wyeast (Mount Hood) lifts his head in pride, but Klickitat (Mount Adams) wept to see the beautiful maiden wrapped in snow, so he bends his head as he gazes on St. Helens. This is one of many indian legends involving Mount St. Helens. See Bridge of the Gods…show more content…
1400 segment of the 50,000-year eruptive history of Mount St. Helens (after USGS Bulletin 1383-C). Mount St. Helens is the youngest of the major Cascade volcanoes, in the sense that its visible cone was entirely formed during the past 2,200 years, well after the melting of the last of the Ice Age glaciers about 10,000 years ago. Mount St. Helens' smooth, symmetrical slopes are little affected by erosion as compared with its older, more glacially scarred neighbors--Mount Rainier and Mount Adams in Washington, and Mount Hood in Oregon. As geologic studies progressed and the eruptive history of Mount St. Helens became better known, scientists became increasingly concerned about possible renewed eruptions. The late William T. Pecora, a former Director of the USGS, was quoted in a May 10, 1968, newspaper article in the Christian Science Monitor as being "especially worried about snow-covered Mt. St. Helens." On the basis of its youth and its high frequency of eruptions over the past 4,000 years, Crandell, Mullineaux, and their colleague Meyer Rubin published in February 1975 that Mount St. Helens was the one volcano in the conterminous United States most likely to reawaken and to erupt "perhaps before the end of this century." This prophetic

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