Click image to enlarge
|
Biddle Butte, Washington, from Rooster Rock State Park, Oregon.
Columbia River and mudflats below Rooster Rock are in the foreground.
Image taken October 18, 2003.
|
Biddle Butte (Mount Zion) ...
|
Biddle Butte (also known as Mount Zion) is located in Skamania County, Washington, at Columbia River Mile (RM) _____, 2 miles west of Prindle and _____ miles east of Washougal. Upstream is located Beacon Rock.
The Butte was named for Henry J. Biddle, an early conservationist of the Gorge.
-
"... Biddle's main concern was for the preservation of Beacon Rock and the
Hamilton Mountain area, plus a nearby butte that became known as Biddle
Butte. He bought these properties prior to 1920, built trails and picnic
areas and maintained them all as public parks. He changed the name of the
huge monolith known at the time as Castle Rock back to Beacon Rock, as it
had been called by Lewis and Clark.
Biddle also succeeded in building a trail to the top of Beacon Rock, an
amazing engineering feat, finishing the task in 1918. This trail still is
enjoyed by thousands of hikers each year
..."
["Columbian.com" Website, 2006, "History"]
Biddle Butte looms over the basalt cliffs of Cape Horn. An early name for Biddle Butte was "Cape Horn Mountain".
Good views of Biddle Butte (Mount Zion) can be had from across the river at Rooster Rock State Park and from the Bridal Veil Overlook.
|
Click image to enlarge
|
Cape Horn, Washington, with Biddle Butte above, from Bridal Veil Overlook, Bridal Veil, Oregon.
Image taken October 11, 2004.
|
Boring Lava Cone ...
Biddle Butte (Mount Zion) is a small olivine Boring Lava Field shield volcano that postdates the Troutdale Formation. A small basaltic-andesite intracanyon flow can be seen emanating from Biddle Butte. Biddle Butte lava caps the Cape Horn basalts. Similar Boring Lava vents in the Portland, Oregon, area are inferred to be less than 730,000 years old.
[More]
|
Early Biddle Butte ...
|
An 1860 cadastral survey (tax survey) for T10N R5E shows today's Biddle Butte being called "Cape Horn Mountain".
The 1911 U.S. Geological Survey's topographic map
"Mount Hood and Vicinity, Oreg.-Wash.", 1:125,000, shows the name "Mt. Zion", with an elevation of 1,458 feet.
The 1948 and 1966 NOAA chart #6156, "Columbia River, Vancouver to Bonneville"
and the 1985 chart #18531, "Columbia River, Vancouver to Bonneville", shows "Mt. Zion", with an elevation of 1,458 feet.
The U.S. Board of Geographic Names made "Biddle Butte" the official name in 1989.
|
|
From the Journals of Lewis and Clark ...
|
|
Return to