What: Earthquake Shakes Puget Sound on June 29, 1833.
Date: June 29, 1833, William Tolmie February 3, 1812- December 8, 1886.
Summary: On June 29, 1833 William Tolmie witnesses something extraordinary, the first recorded earthquake in the Puget sound region. Tolmie, a Hudson's Bay Company officer in charge of Fort Nisqually, recorded these events in his journal. Tolmie and three others were out reviewing land when the earthquake happened and when they returned they realized it had been felt at home too. The Indians had their own take on things..."'The chief's [Heron's] medicine is strong, He has gone up the hill to shake the grounds.'" This event is important because the first recorded earthquake of the Puget Sound is a big deal. Earthquakes often kill many people and luckily this one did not.
In August of that same year Tolmie traveled on a botany adventure and discovered a new species of saxifrage, which is now called, Tolmie's saxifrage. Tolmie's Peak in Mount Rainier National Park is also named after him.
Sources: HistoryLink.org & Wikipedia.com
This is crazy because saxifrage is my absolute favorite Holarctic perennial plant and here you are writing about it! That's nuts.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be so cool to read up on Native American spirituality. They seemed to have thier own interpretations of natural events that would be so interesting to find the orgions of....although I think written records were not part of their traditions, so it may be hard to find. :(
ReplyDeleteKelly nice little post here! Pretty interesting that the Indians took the earthquake as the medicine man shaking the hills.
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