CASCADIA #3: Mount St. Helens a Volcanic, Topless Goddess (43 years after the epic eruption)
Episode description
This episode is dedicated to Grammie Donna, who would have turned 93 years old today. I think she'd like this episode and the description of Mount St. Helens as a topless goddess. I miss and love you, Donna.
To say I know Mount St. Helens intimately is an understatement. I’ve breathed bits of her into my lungs and nostrils. I filtered her ash through my ten year old fingers and collected cups of her for god knows what reason after her epic 1980 eruption. Legends about the mountain stretch back thousands of years to her human life as a goddess, tell of the men that fought for her heart and the devastating results. She is volatile, romantic, squatchy, topless, and some geologists describe her as antisocial. Geographic features near the peak are curiously named Ape Cave, Ape Valley and Spirit Lake. It is 43 years to the day when Mount St. Helens erupted, the perfect moment to shine a spotlight on her. Let’s get into it!
Mount St. Helens Basics:
Mount St. Helens rests in the southwest corner of Washington state, 97 miles south of Seattle and 52 miles north of Portland, Oregon. Prior to her eruption, she was the fifth highest peak in Washington and had a conical-shaped cap earning her the nickname, ‘Mount Fuji of America.’
In 1792, Captain George Vancouver named the volcano for Britain’s ambassador to Spain, Alleyne Fitzherbert, also known as Baron St. Helens, though native peoples named the mountain, Loowit, thousands of years earlier.
Show Sources and More Reading:
Original Tacoma News Tribune newspaper after Mount St Helens erupted:
https://www.discoverwalks.com/blog/united-states/unbelievable-facts-about-mount-st-helens/
https://www.livescience.com/63505-mount-st-helens-location-explained.html
Great Native Legends of Mount St. Helens:
https://cascadiabioregion.org/department-of-bioregion/native-place-names-loowit-mt-st-helens
https://volcano.oregonstate.edu/native-american-myths
https://www.discovermthood.com/legend-of-three-mountains/
https://columbiagorgetomthood.com/2020/07/03/legend-of-the-mountains/
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