Files
Download
Download Piece Here (6.3 MB)
Date Range
Fall 2018
Contributor
Donald T. Austin
Description
“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.”
Norman Maclean
Dimensions
33.5" X 18"
Exhibition
Faculty
Material
Digital Inkjet Proof; Images produced with iPhoto 7+ phone camera; Typography and layout produced in Adobe Illustrator
Place
Dry Falls, Washington
Provenance
Columbus, Ohio
Time Period
Fall 2018
For Sale?
Yes
Recommended Citation
Austin, Donald T., "Dry Falls" (2018). Don Austin - Be Well Out Here: The Big Go West. 23.
https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/bewell/23
Comments
The ice dam that held back Glacial Lake Missoula formed and broke dozens of times during the last Ice Age some 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. Each time the dam broke, water, ice, sediment and boulders (some as big as houses) raced out over Western Montana, Northern Idaho, Eastern and Central Washington and Northern Oregon at speeds approaching 80 mph and in some places 1250 feet deep. Glacial Lake Missoula held more water than Lake Erie and Lake Ontario combined and drained in just 48 hours when the ice dam broke. Dry Falls in Central Washington is one of many scars left on the landscape from those catastrophic events. During the run-off, Dry Falls was five times the size of Niagara and moved more water than all of today’s rivers around the World combined. Standing at this viewpoint and imagining this epic event is beyond humbling.