Willamette Meteorite

Last updated • 7 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Willamette
At American Museum of Natural History 2024 005.jpg
Willamette Meteorite at the American Museum of Natural History
Type Iron
Structural classification Medium octahedrite
Group IIIAB
Composition91% Fe, 7.62% Ni, 18.6ppm Ga, 37.3ppm Ge, 4.7ppm Ir
Country United States
Region Oregon
Coordinates 45°22′N122°35′W / 45.367°N 122.583°W / 45.367; -122.583 [1]
Observed fall No
Found dateUnknown
TKW 14,150 kilograms (15.60 short tons) [2]
Commons-logo.svg Related media on Wikimedia Commons

The Willamette Meteorite, officially named Willamette [3] and originally known as Tomanowos by the Clackamas Chinook [4] [5] Native American tribe, is an iron-nickel meteorite found in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the largest meteorite found in the United States and the sixth largest in the world. [6] [7] There was no impact crater at the discovery site; researchers believe the meteorite landed in what is now Canada or Montana, and was transported as a glacial erratic to the Willamette Valley during the Missoula Floods at the end of the last Ice Age (~13,000 years ago). [8] It has long been held sacred by indigenous peoples of the Willamette Valley, including the federally recognized Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGRC).

Contents

The meteorite is on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, which acquired it in 1906. [7] Having been seen by an estimated 40 million people over the years, and given its striking appearance, it is among the most famous meteorites. [9] [10] [11] In 2005, the CTGRC sued to have the meteorite returned to their control, ultimately reaching an agreement that gave the tribe access to the meteorite while allowing the museum to keep it as long as they are exhibiting it. [10] [12]

Physical characteristics and formation

Close-up of the meteorite Willamette-meteorite-7637.jpg
Close-up of the meteorite

The Willamette Meteorite weighs about 34,200 pounds (15,500 kg). It is classified as a type III iron meteorite, being composed of over 91% iron and 7.62% nickel, with traces of cobalt and phosphorus. The approximate dimensions of the meteorite are 10 feet (3 m) tall by 6.5 feet (2 m) wide by 4.25 feet (1.3 m) deep. Most iron meteorites like Willamette have originated from the differentiated core of planetesimals or asteroids that collided with another object. Willamette has a recrystallized structure with only traces of a medium Widmanstätten pattern; the result of a significant impact-heating event on the parent body. [7] [13] The Willamette Meteorite contains higher concentrations of various metals that are quite rare in Earth's crust. For example, iridium, one of the least abundant elements in Earth's crust, is found in the Willamette Meteorite at a concentration of 4.7  ppm, thousands of times more concentrated than in the crust. [14]

Emplacement and erosion

Glacial Lake Columbia (west) and Glacial Lake Missoula (east, in blue) were south of Cordilleran Ice Sheet. The areas inundated in the Columbia and Missoula Floods are shown in red. The meteorite was rafted by the floods embedded inside an ice block. Wpdms nasa topo missoula floods.jpg
Glacial Lake Columbia (west) and Glacial Lake Missoula (east, in blue) were south of Cordilleran Ice Sheet. The areas inundated in the Columbia and Missoula Floods are shown in red. The meteorite was rafted by the floods embedded inside an ice block.

The lack of an impact crater at the discovery site was only explained after the 1920s, with the new understanding about the Missoula Floods, one of the largest floods documented. These floods were caused by the collapse of an ice barrier during the last deglaciation.

The meteorite presumably landed on an ice cap in what is now Montana or western Canada, and was dragged by the glacier ice to the vicinity of an ice barrier that formed across the Clark Fork River. This barrier had ponded a huge amount of water at Lake Missoula right at the time when the meteorite reached the area and the ice barrier became unstable and breached. The resulting flood involved up to 10 million cubic meters per second of water discharge, with large blocks of ice rafting down the Columbia River and the Willamette Valley at the end of the last Ice Age (~13,000 years ago). [8] Some of these ice rafts included boulders (known as 'glacial erratic' by geologists) like the Willamette meteorite, which eventually sank in the flood waters and settled where they were found by humans.

The deep crevasses of the meteorite resulted from both its high-speed atmospheric entry and its subsequent weathering. Exposed to the elements for thousands of years, rainwater interacted with the mineral troilite, resulting in a form of sulfuric acid which slowly dissolved portions of the meteorite. This resulted in the gradual development of the hollows that are visible today.

Modern history

The Willamette Meteorite has been venerated by the Clackamas people since long before it was removed from its location in the Willamette Valley near the modern city of West Linn, Oregon.[ citation needed ] In 1902, Ellis Hughes [15] was the first European settler to recognize the meteorite's significance. At that time the land was owned by the Oregon Iron and Steel Company. Hughes attempted to claim ownership of the meteorite, and secretly moved it to his own land. This involved 90 days of hard work to cover the 34 mile (1,200 m) distance. The move was discovered, and after a lawsuit, the Oregon Supreme Court held that Oregon Iron and Steel Company was the legal owner. [16] [17]

Willamette Meteorite in the early 20th century Willamette meteorite.jpg
Willamette Meteorite in the early 20th century

In 1905, Sarah Tappan Hoadley, wife of William E. Dodge Jr., purchased the meteorite for $26,000 (around $920,000 in 2024). After displaying it at the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, she donated it to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where it has been on display since 1906. [18]

The Clackamas people have long used the meteorite, which they call Tomanowos, in ceremonies.[ citation needed ] In 1999 the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGRC), a confederation of Native American tribes, demanded that it be returned and filed an action pursuant to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) against the American Museum of Natural History. In response, the Museum filed a federal lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment against the CTGRC in 2000. An agreement with the Museum was reached later that year in which the meteorite would remain at the museum with tribal members being able to conduct a private ceremony around the meteorite once a year, and that ownership will be transferred to CTGRC should the museum cease to have the meteorite on display. [12]

In response to a student's request in 2007, Representative John Lim introduced a resolution that would demand that the museum return the meteorite to Oregon. The tribes said they were not consulted, they did not support the resolution, and were content with the current arrangement with the museum. [19]

The 28-pound (13 kg) crown section of the meteorite that had been traded to the Macovich Collection for a Martian meteorite in 1997, was planned to be auctioned in October 2007, which led to claims by the CTGRC of insensitivity. [20] [21] [22] Bidders dropped out when an editorial in the Portland Oregonian newspaper asserted the CTGRC would file a lawsuit against the new owner, but the CTGRC disavowed the editorial and said they had no such intent, and that they could not stop the sale. While the newspaper printed an apology, the specimen was withdrawn. [23] [24] [25] A lawsuit was filed against the newspaper in Oregon Circuit Court and failed. [26]

A 4.5-ounce (130 g), 7.5-inch (19 cm) piece of the meteorite, also with a Macovich Collection provenance, was purchased in a 2006 auction and was displayed at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, until it was returned to the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde on February 22, 2019. [27] [28] [29]

Mass

A historical marker in the Willamette area of West Linn, Oregon. The plaque reads: "In 1902 Ellis Hughes discovered the
15+1/2 ton Willamette Meteorite, the largest ever found in the United States, about 2 miles N.W. of this place. Marker erected August 4, 1962 by West Linn Fair Board." Willamette Meteorite Marker.jpg
A historical marker in the Willamette area of West Linn, Oregon. The plaque reads: "In 1902 Ellis Hughes discovered the 15+12 ton Willamette Meteorite, the largest ever found in the United States, about 2 miles N.W. of this place. Marker erected August 4, 1962 by West Linn Fair Board."

Different sources report different weights of the Willamette Meteorite, ranging from 15,500 kilograms (34,200 lb) [30] to 12,700 kilograms (28,000 lb). [31] Circa 2008, pages of the American Museum of Natural History website stated both "15.5 tons" [32] and "14 tons". [33] [34] There are differences between the metric ton (1,000 kilograms, 2,204.6 lb), short ton (2,000 pounds, 907.18 kg), and long ton (2,240 pounds, 1,016.0 kg), each of which may simply be called a "ton". In 1906, the American Museum of Natural History stated that the weight of the meteorite was "at least 31,200 pounds, or about 15.6 tons", [2] consistent with American usage of "ton" usually meaning the short ton. As of 2023, the American Museum of Natural History website gives the weight as "15.5 tons". [35]

Replicas

A replica of the meteorite is in Eugene, Oregon, outside the University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History on the University of Oregon campus. [18] A 15 size replica stands in Fields Bridge Park in West Linn, Oregon. [36] The only exact replica in existence is currently installed in the Chachalu Museum at the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde (CTGR) in Grand Ronde, Oregon. The aluminum replica was CNC-milled from a 3D model produced through photogrammetry [ citation needed ] by artist Garrick Imatani, working in conjunction with the CTGR. Imatani also created an interpretation of this meteorite that is on permanent display at the University of Oregon in Straub Hall. [37]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willamette River</span> 187-mile Columbia River tributary in northwest Oregon, US

The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is 187 miles (301 km) long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward between the Oregon Coast Range and the Cascade Range, the river and its tributaries form the Willamette Valley, a basin that contains two-thirds of Oregon's population, including the state capital, Salem, and the state's largest city, Portland, which surrounds the Willamette's mouth at the Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clackamas County, Oregon</span> County in Oregon, United States

Clackamas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the native people living in the area at the time of the coming of Europeans, the Clackamas people, who are part of the Chinookan peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Linn, Oregon</span> City in Oregon, United States

West Linn is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A southern suburb within the Portland metropolitan area, West Linn developed on the site of the former Linn City, which was named after U.S. Senator Lewis F. Linn of Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, who had advocated the American occupation of the Oregon territory as a counterclaim to the British.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missoula floods</span> Heavy floods of the last ice age

The Missoula floods were cataclysmic glacial lake outburst floods that swept periodically across eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Gorge at the end of the last ice age. These floods were the result of periodic sudden ruptures of the ice dam on the Clark Fork River that created Glacial Lake Missoula. After each ice dam rupture, the waters of the lake would rush down the Clark Fork and the Columbia River, flooding much of eastern Washington and the Willamette Valley in western Oregon. After the lake drained, the ice would reform, creating Glacial Lake Missoula again.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty with the Kalapuya, etc.</span> 1855 treaty between the United States and Native Americans

The Treaty with the Kalapuya, etc., also known as the Kalapuya Treaty or the Treaty of Dayton, was an 1855 treaty between the United States and the bands of the Kalapuya tribe, the Molala tribe, the Clackamas, and several others in the Oregon Territory. In it the tribes were forced to cede land in exchange for promised permanent reservation, annuities, supplies, educational, vocational, health services, and protection from ongoing violence from American settlers. The treaty effectively gave over the entirety of the Willamette Valley to the United States and removed indigenous groups who had resided in the area for over 10,000 years. The treaty was signed on January 22, 1855, in Dayton, Oregon, ratified on March 3, 1855, and proclaimed on April 10, 1855.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalapuya</span> Native American tribe

The Kalapuya are a Native American people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Valley of present-day western Oregon in the United States, an area bounded by the Cascade Range to the east, the Oregon Coast Range at the west, the Columbia River at the north, to the Calapooya Mountains of the Umpqua River at the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willamette Falls</span> Waterfall on the Willamette River in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States

The Willamette Falls is a natural waterfall in the northwestern United States, located on the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon. The largest waterfall in the Northwest U.S. by volume, it is the seventeenth widest in the world. Horseshoe in shape, it is 1,500 feet (455 m) wide and forty feet (12 m) high, with a flow rate of 30,850 cu ft/s (874 m3/s). Located 26 miles (42 km) upriver from the Willamette's mouth at Portland, Willamette Falls is a culturally significant site for many tribal communities in the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clackamas people</span> Tribe of Native Americans in the US state of Oregon

The Clackamas Indians are a band of Chinook of Native Americans who historically lived along the Clackamas River in the Willamette Valley, Oregon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon</span> Federally recognized Indian tribe in Oregon, United States

The Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGR) is a federally recognized tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Plateau. They consist of at least 27 Native American tribes with long historical ties to present-day western Oregon between the western boundary of the Oregon Coast and the eastern boundary of the Cascade Range, and the northern boundary of southwestern Washington and the southern boundary of northern California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Ronde Community</span> Indian reservation in Oregon, US

The Grand Ronde Community is an Indian reservation located on several non-contiguous sections of land in southwestern Yamhill County and northwestern Polk County, Oregon, United States, about 18 miles (29 km) east of Lincoln City, near the community of Grand Ronde. In the mid-19th century, the United States government forced various tribes and bands from all parts of Western Oregon to be removed from their homes and placed on this reservation. It is governed by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. The reservation has a land area of 19.197 square miles (49.72 km2). The community had a population of 2,010 in the 2020 United States census. However, there are approximately 5,400 enrolled tribal members, most of whom live elsewhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spirit Mountain Casino (Oregon)</span> Native American casino in Oregon

Spirit Mountain Casino is a Native American casino located in Grand Ronde, Oregon, United States on Oregon Route 18. It is operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, and was created to "enhance economic self-sufficiency opportunities for the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, its members and surrounding communities; to promote economic diversification by the Tribes: to support a variety of housing, educational and cultural programs under the direction of Tribal Council". It is the state's busiest tourist attraction, drawing three million visitors a year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hallie Ford Museum of Art</span> Museum on the Willamette University campus in Salem, Oregon, U.S.

The Hallie Ford Museum of Art (HFMA) is the museum of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, United States. It is the third largest art museum in Oregon. Opened in 1998, the facility is across the street from the Oregon State Capital in downtown Salem, on the western edge of the school campus. Hallie Ford exhibits collections of both art and historical artifacts with a focus on Oregon related pieces of art and artists in the 27,000 square feet (2,500 m2) facility. The museum also hosts various traveling exhibits in two of its six galleries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oswego Lake</span> Kolk depression/Reservoir in Clackamas County, Oregon

Oswego Lake is a lake in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, that is completely surrounded by the city of Lake Oswego. Though the lake is naturally occurring, it has been significantly altered because of the concrete dam that has increased its size to 431.7 acres (1.747 km2). The United States Geological Survey records the official name as Lake Oswego and, because of its artificially increased size, classifies it as a reservoir. To distinguish it from the city, however, the lake is usually called Oswego Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erratic Rock State Natural Site</span> State park near Salem, Oregon

Erratic Rock State Natural Site is a state park in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, United States. Featuring a 40-short-ton (36 t) glacial erratic from the Missoula Floods, the small park sits atop a foothill of the Northern Oregon Coast Range in Yamhill County between Sheridan and McMinnville off Oregon Route 18. The day-use-only park is owned and maintained by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

In the first decade of the 2000s, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs sought to build a casino in the Columbia River Gorge. They ended their pursuit of the project in 2013. They considered various sites, as early as 1999; the most extensive plan called for a 60-acre (24 ha) facility with 250 hotel rooms in Cascade Locks, Oregon. The proposed site is within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, and adjacent to a federally designated wilderness area, but within the city limits of Cascade Locks..

The culture of Oregon has had a diverse and distinct character from before European settlement until the modern day. Some 80 Native American tribes were living in Oregon before the establishment of European American settlements and ultimately a widespread displacement of the local indigenous tribes. Trappers and traders were the harbingers of the coming migration of Europeans. Many of these settlers traveled along the nationally renowned Oregon Trail, with estimates of around 53,000 using the trail between 1840 and 1850. Much has been written about Oregon's founding as a "racist white utopia," as many original laws were passed to keep Black Americans out of the state. Indeed, in 2019 the population was still 87% white and 2% Black.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willamette Valley</span> Valley in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States

The Willamette Valley is a 150-mile (240 km) long valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the Oregon Coast Range to the west, and the Calapooya Mountains to the south.

<i>We Have Always Lived Here</i> 2015 public artwork in Portland, Oregon, U.S.

We Have Always Lived Here is a 2015 public art installation by Greg A. Robinson, installed at Tilikum Crossing in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The work consists of two traditional Chinook basalt carvings sited at both ends of the bridge, plus a bronze medallion on the northeast side of the bridge.

Smoke Signals is a newspaper published by the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in the U.S. state of Oregon since the late 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Heron Paper Company</span> Defunct paper mill in Oregon City, Oregon, U.S.

The Blue Heron Paper Company was a paper mill at Willamette Falls in Oregon City, Oregon, on the southeast bank of the river across from the Willamette Falls Paper Company, the T.W. Sullivan hydroelectric plant, and the Willamette Falls Locks and canal.

References

  1. Willamette meteorite, West Linn, Clackamas Co., Oregon, USA. Retrieved on October 30, 2008.
  2. 1 2 The American Museum Journal, American Museum of Natural History, 1906.
  3. Meteoritical Bulletin Database: Willamette. The Meteoritical Society. Retrieved on August 16, 2008.
  4. Alaimo, Michelle (30 June 2016). "Tribal members visit Tomanowos" (PDF). Smoke Signals. The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  5. "Willamette Meteorite Agreement". American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  6. O. Richard Norton. Rocks from Space. USA, Mountain Press, 1994.
  7. 1 2 3 "Cullman Hall of the Universe: The Willamette Meteorite". American Museum of Natural History. Archived from the original on 2007-12-21. Retrieved 2007-11-02.
  8. 1 2 Pugh, R. N.; Allen J.E. (1986). "Origin of the Willamette Meteorite". Abstracts and Program for the 49th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society. 600: 208. Bibcode:1986LPICo.600E.208P.
  9. "The Willamette Meteorite". Houston Chronicle. October 26, 2007.
  10. 1 2 Weiser, Benjamin (February 29, 2000). "Museum Sues to Keep Meteorite Sought by Indian Group". The New York Times.
  11. Science Channel's "Top Ten Meteorites". Retrieved on November 29th, 2010.
  12. 1 2 Sullivan, John (June 23, 2000). "Pact Leaves Meteorite With Museum". The New York Times .
  13. ^ Vagn F. Buchwald: Handbook of Iron Meteorites, University of California Press 1975.
  14. Scott, E. R. D.; Wasson, J. T.; Buchwald, V. F. (1973). "The chemical classification of iron meteorites—VII. A reinvestigation of irons with Ge concentrations between 25 and 80 ppm". Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 37 (8): 1957–1983. Bibcode:1973GeCoA..37.1957S. doi:10.1016/0016-7037(73)90151-8.
  15. Lange, Erwin (1962). The Williamette Meteorite • 1902 - 1962. Portland State College.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  16. Oregon Iron Co. v. Hughes, 47 Or 313, 82 P 572 (1905).
  17. Preston, Douglas. Strange Journey: Further Travels of The Willamette Meteorite. Meteor Treasures. Retrieved on October 31, 2007.
  18. 1 2 Geology Tour. Archived 2005-12-14 at the Wayback Machine University of Oregon: Museum of Natural History. Retrieved on October 31, 2007.
  19. Walsh, Edward (March 26, 2007). "Oregon's Pet Rock" . Retrieved 2010-10-23.
  20. Chang, Kenneth (February 14, 2002). "Uproar Over a Sliced, and Revered, Meteorite". The New York Times .
  21. "Tribe: Sale of space rock 'insensitive'". CNN. 2007-09-14. Archived from the original on September 14, 2007. Retrieved September 15, 2007.
  22. "Cow-killing meteorite sells for $1,554". CNN. 2007-10-29. Archived from the original on October 30, 2007. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
  23. The Oregonian, Saturday, October 20, 2007 – Apology/retraction on the editorial page
  24. Chan, Sewell (September 14, 2007). "Tribe Alarmed by Auction of a Meteorite Fragment". The New York Times. Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  25. Tims, Dana (October 22, 2007). "For sale: 30 pounds of controversy". The Oregonian . Retrieved April 18, 2014.
  26. Darryl Pitt v. Advance Publications, et al., Oregon Circuit Court, 0810-14798 (2008)
  27. "Willamette Meteorite to Return to Oregon as Part of Evergreen Aviation Museum's Collection". Salem-News.com. 2006-04-14. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  28. Tims, Dana (2008-06-06). "Space history stands tall in museum". The Oregonian . Retrieved 2008-06-06.
  29. "A Piece Of Sacred Meteorite Is Returned To An Oregon Tribe". Oregon Public Broadcasting. 2019-02-22. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  30. Meteoritical Bulletin Database: Willamette
  31. Harry Y. McSween. Meteorites and Their Parent Planets. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
  32. Planets Zone, Rose Center for Earth and Space. Archived 2007-12-21 at the Wayback Machine American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved on August 16, 2008.
  33. Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites. Archived 2008-07-05 at the Wayback Machine American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved on August 16, 2008.
  34. AMNH Special Collections: Astronomy slides. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved on August 16, 2008.
  35. "The Willamette Meteorite". amnh.org. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  36. "The Willamette Meteorite, Information Sources and Links". Clackamas County Oregon History and Genealogy. Retrieved on August 16, 2008.
  37. Bull, Brian (10 May 2018). "A Sacred Meteor To Be Celebrated, Blessed, Through New Art Installation". www.klcc.org. Retrieved 2019-03-06.