The Puzzle of the Pimpled Prairie

Despite two centuries of speculation and science, a strange prairie full of small, evenly spaced hills south of Olympia remains a mystery. 

Cascade PBS’s resident historian Knute Berger unearthed some of the theories on the famous Mima Mounds’ origins in a recent episode of the Mossback’s Northwest video series, but there’s more left to explore. 

In this episode of Mossback, Berger joins co-host Stephen Hegg to dig deeper into the many explanations that have been put forth over the years, including earthquakes, fires, floods and ancient gophers. Plus, we get a peek behind the scenes at the Mossback’s Northwest video shoot at the Mima Mounds and local geologist Patrick Pringle weighs in. 

For more on all things Mossback, visit CascadePBS.org. To reach Knute Berger directly, drop him a line at knute.berger@cascadepbs.org. And if you’d like an exclusive weekly newsletter from Knute, where he offers greater insight into his latest historical discoveries, become a Cascade PBS member today. 

---

Credits

Hosts: Stephen Hegg, Knute Berger

Producer: Sara Bernard

Story editors: Sarah Menzies, Adam Brown

Studio recording: Roger Basquette