One Of the Biggest Floods In Earth's History May Have Happened Here In Washington

The extraordinary landforms puzzled geologists for years. It wasn't until the early 1900s that a high school teacher would be bold enough to inquire about where these formations came from.

Farmers that live in the region during the early 1900s quickly wrote off the land as being meaningless, unable to use these rocky parts to plant their wheat. But lucky for us the same could not be said of America's geologists. In 1909 the high school teacher J Harlen Bretz would make a trip to the University of Washington to observe the U.S. Geological Survey's latest topographic map of the Quincy Basin.

After studying the new topographic map, Bretz pointed out that there was a huge cataract on the western edge of Quincy Basin. From the map, Bretz had estimated that there was a place in the Basin that spilled water out into the Columbia River. While there appeared to be no current source of water, it was determined that if there was a source of water fro this location that it would've treated a canyon waterfall that would be bigger than Niagara Falls.

After questioning the staff about this peculiar feature, no one could provide him with any answers. It was allegedly the lack of questions answered that would drive Bretz to earn his Ph.D. to become a geologist.

The now trained geologist would spend two season out in the field, only to return with a answer that many would immediately argue against. Bretz's findings were that the region had experienced a massive flood, one that was possibly the largest in all of Earth's history. Explaining that all of this other hypotheses couldn't have been true, he went on to write about his theories on how the Scablands came to be what we see today.

While the hypothesis that Bretz had come up with made sense to some, the majority of fellow geologists didn't agree with what he had to say. Naysayers questioned Bretz hypothesis by retorting back wondering where all of the supposed water would've come from.

Geologist Joseph Pardee reported that the source of the extensive water had come from an enormous body of water we now refer to as the Glacial Lake Missoula. The outed evidence that supported Bretz's original hypothesis came to light and would begin to change the minds of many previously doubting geologists.

After taking trips to see the area for themselves in person, many geologists changed their mind once they saw the land that clearly looked as though it was created by some sort of flood.

Later on another geologist by the name of Richard Waitt who was working with the USGS would publish fascinating new findings in the year 1980. After exploring the Walla Walla Valley in Southern Washington, Waitt realized that it was more than obvious that the area had experienced more than one flood over time. Originally arguing that there must have been at least 40 floods that rage through the Scablands, later evidence would suggest that it was more likely that over 80 floods took place during the end of our last Ice Age.

Maintaining a wonderful sense of humor even in his latest years of life, Bretz would apparently make a joke after receiving the award that all of his enemies were no longer alive and that there was no need for him to gloat over the much-deserved recognition. Sadly, J Harlen Bretz would pass away just two years later after receiving the Penrose Medal.

So what is the final determination of how this remarkable area came to be? Over a two to three thousand year period of time, roughly 13,000 years ago, an ice dam broke and continuously unleashed a torrent of water onto the area. Those who have researched the land's origin claim that if this same kind of water flow were to be unleashed today that the majority of Portland's skyline would be completely submerged by floodwaters. Isn't that quite the image to imagine!