The 1872 North Cascades Earthquake
Washington Reporting Localities




ACCOUNTS EVALUATED
Entiat-Ribbon Cliffs, W. T.



Data Source Date Code Remarks
Yakima Herald March 3, 1892 E Wenatchee Republic December 13, 1906 - (Christmas Edition) Wenatchee Daily World June 15, 1922 E Wenatchee Daily World August 8, 1925 D The Wenatchee Daily March 25, 1931 D World Wenatchee Daily World June 7, 1932 D Wenatchee Daily World August 16, 1932 - Wenatchee Daily World August 6, 1959 - Wenatchee Daily World July 13, 1960 D Wenatchee Daily World December 19, 1965 - Wenatchee World February 17, 1972 N/A Wenatchee World February 24, 1972 - Wenatchee World December 7, 1973 - Smith, John H.D. D account Beninger, Patricia - interview Palmer, Lucille E The Night the Mountain Fell -


A. Period Account: Primary source for evaluation of intensity or felt report.
B. Period Account: Insufficient data to evaluate intensity.
C. Period Account: Item appearing as dispatch, summary or brief des- cription or duplicate data with more complete data available in other sources.
D. Later descriptive account identified with period sources.
E. Later descriptive account not confirmed in period documentary sources. *Designates duplicate data not included in compilation.
_________________________________________________________________________

Entiat - Ribbon Cliffs, W. T.
Yakima Herald
March 3, 1892
Yakima, Washington

Did You Feel Her Shake?

"All Nature Like an Earthquake, Trembling Round" -- Yakima Gets a Taste of It-- The Upheaval of 1874.

The earthquake of Tuesday morning was felt all along the coast, according to dispatches, from Santa Anna, California to North Yakima. Here it shook the houses and awakened the sleepers at about three o'clock. They felt vibrations distinctly from east to west. The Heg and Howlett families on the hill reported it in town, and Mr. Ross, who lives in the smaller of the brick Cadwell buildings, felt it distinctly. At Fort Simcoe, it is reported as so violent as to have shaken some of the little Indians out of bed in the dormitory of the school buildings. At the Dalles and at Portland it was distinctly felt, and most accounts mention three distinct shocks.

Clerk Charles Lombard of the Yakima Indian Agency writes as follows: "Three earthquake shocks occurred here on Thursday the 26th ult., a very light one at 2:45 a.m. and two heavy ones at 3 and 3:20. The latter frightened the inhabitants, made the houses rock, and shook down a portion of the plastering in the new boarding house. It also wrenched the office sufficient to tear away the light wire fencing attached to the front. Mrs. George L. Mattoon was frightened into sickness; and has not as yet been able to recover from the dizziness with which she was attacked."

Central Washington has experienced several lively shakes, but the only ones of any importance were those of 1874, which H.H. Allen, B.E. Snipes and other old-timers recall with some feeling of awe. Their effect in Yakima was not so severe as in the country to the north of us, where they changed thr face of nature to a considerable extent. There were no less than sixty-four distinct shocks occurring at night in midsummer, and all along the upper Columbia could be heard the falling of rocks as mountains were torn down and hurled upon plain or into the river. Not since Washington has been known to white men has there been so great an earthquake within its confines. The indications of its destructiveness are still seen in great crevices and broken trails. A great mountain at Chief Wapato John's ranch, near the mouth of the Chelan river, was rocked into the Columbia, damming that huge stream, flooding the chief's ranch, carrying away his house, and forcing him to fly for his life. It was a number of days before the waters washed away a portion of the rocks and receded to anywhere near their original level. Chief John was so thoroughly scared that he never returned to his ranch.



Entiat - Ribbon Cliffs, W. T.
Christmas Edition of the Wenatchee Republic
December 13, 1906
Wenatchee, Washington

"Reminiscences of the Olden Times"

The erosion of the hills, constantly going on in this country, finally culminated when half of Ribbon Mountain fell into the river, damming it completely. For several days below Orondo the river was completely dry.



Entiat - Ribbon Cliffs, W. T.
Wenatchee Daily World
June 15, 1922 page 5
Wenatchee, Washington

WHEN A MOUNTAIN SLIDE ONCE DAMMED THE MIGHTY COLUMBIA

Earthquake Shock of December, 1872, Accompanied by Gigantic Rock slide Was Natural Phenomenon Here

Fifty years ago there occurred in this country an earthquake, the like of which has never been experienced before or since within the knowledge of any inhabitants who reside here or who were capable of submitting their story to posterity. This quake shook off the big mountain north of Entiat and sent great rocks crashing down from all of the peaks in the Cascades. One of the most interesting tales of the earthquake is told by Henry Livingstone, the Tonasket centenarian. He says:

Livingstone's Story
In December, 1872, occurred the big earthquake. It shook all of the central part of the State of Washington. All of the old timers in the country remember it. It was of special interest for several reasons. The mountain now known as Rib- bon Cliff located between Entiat and Winesap was shaken off and thrown precipitately into the Columbia River, damming the entire Columbia. I was located at Lake Wenatchee with a party of Indians. I was working on the J. Cooke survey under a man by the name of Ward who had charge of the survey on the east side of the Cascade mountains. A man by the name of Sheets had charge of the survey on the west side. Morrison, who represented J. Cooke, had written asking that I take the money used for paying for the work from the Dalles to the top of the Cascade mountains. It was while we were on this trip that the big shake occurred. It happened at about 11 o'clock at night as I looked at my watch at the time. The Indians were terrified. The Indians were the best fighters which I could hire from the Indian Chief down the river. But good fighters that they were they were nearly scared to death. They said "Mesatchee skockum moos-moos mesatchee menoloose Siwash," meaning "mad bulls down in the earth, these will kill all the Indians."

The big shake came with an awful smash. Great rocks rolled down the mountainside in all parts of the Cascades. Along the south fork of the Skagit was dammed up. In the Cascades west of the lake one whole peak was shaken off. Dis- turbance deep in the earth could be heard in its dull deep grinding which was terrifying to all who heard it.

At the time of the big shake, the Indians could not make out how it all happened. As they said, it made a rumbling and groaning like wild bulls and they thought that was what it was. I told them that they need have no fear as the great Sah-hah-lee-Tyee was not angry at them. I had about sixty Indians with me and I did not want them to get a blue streak so I told them that they would not be hurt. As near as I can remem- ber the rumbling and the shake lasted about three minutes. By the noise you would have thought the whole world was bursting open. By going up the north fork of the Skagit today, you can see where a mountain peak, between eight hundred and one thousand feet high, broke off. This peak which was shaken off is perhaps thirty-five or forty miles from the Great Northern so it cannot be seen from the railroad.



Entiat - Ribbon Cliffs, W. T.
Wenatchee World
June 15, 1922
Wenatchee Washington pg 5

Jack Splawn's Story of the Shake
In the late fall of 1872 we cowboys, having finished marking and branding the calves on the range, came into Yakima City to disband and celebrate the season's work at the Sage- brush saloon, the first in the county. About ten o'clock at night when things were coming along fairly swift there came a sound like some one hitting the, side of the house with a flat board; then the building began to shake. The boys ran to the outside to see who was trying to turn the house over; when we reached the outside we saw the flagpole at Schanno's store waving to and fro, people were running out of their homes in their night clothes, the dogs set up the howl, while the chickens crowed. A friend of mine who preferred to visit his best girl than to celebrate with the bunch, when the quake stuck the house, thought it was the gang trying to upset the small building. Out he came with, a gun in hand and full of fight. I was the first one he met and he wanted to know If I was mixed up in trying to turn the house over that he was temporarily occupying? If so, friendship would cease and war begin. We informed him that he was on the wrong trail, as he was not of so much importance that we cared where he went or what he did; but this was a bigger circus than cowboys could start, and was run by a higher authority. It was an earthquake. When the fact dawned on him his eyes bulged out, resembling two drops of indigo in a pan of buttermilk. Turning he ran for the house he had just come out of saying, "I must save Hattie." A woman in her nightdress, barefooted, and bareheaded, passed me on the run yelling "Where is John?" John, her husband, was in a poker game at. the saloon.

Near Schanno's store stood an old Indian with his blanket wrapped around him, silently gazing at the stars, apparently unmindful of the things happening around him. When I asked him if anything like this had ever occurred here before, he turned his eyes on me, saying" "This land, before the coming of the whites, was only inhabited by the Indians who worshiped the Great Spirit in ceremony and song, and who obeyed the teach- ings of our forefathers and were happy until the paleface came among us with their forked tongue, religion and fire water. Since that time this country has been going to the bad. Look at these white men and women running out of their homes screaming. They have been wicked and are afraid to die. Indians are always ready when the Great Spirit calls. The paleface are a strange people. This is a warning they had better heed."

Soon I saw him light his pipe, mount his horse and ride off in the darkness for his lodge down on the reservation.

There was no damage done -in the Yakima Valley. In the Tieton Basin south of Soda Springs, there were many slides and uprooted trees. Further north and above the Wenatchee, the quake was much harder, especially just above the mouth of the Entiat River. Part of a large mountain broke off and slid into the Columbia River, almost damming it up for a short time. This slide caused what is now known as Entiat Rapids. Wapato John, an Indian who had a small farm and a trading post a few miles above where the mountain slid into the river, had it destroyed by back water. He thought it was a bad Ta-man-na-was, and moved up to Lake Chelan where he and his followers settled and are now residing.

Lighter shocks forming many small fissures in the earth, were felt for several years in the surrounding mountains.



Entiat - Ribbon Cliffs, W. T.
Wenatchee Daily World
June 15, 1922
Wenatchee, Washington

Another Story of the Big Shake Which Dammed the Columbia

Another story of the big earthquake-- the biggest shake perhaps that this country ever saw--was told some time ago to the Daily World by Peter Wapato, the well known Indian of Chelan. This was the earthquake which shook down the mountain north of Entiat, now called Ribbon Cliff. The mountain, when it landed, went into the Columbia River and entirely dammed that stream.

It happened in December 1872. Peter says he was then fifteen years old. That winter, according to Wapato, there were many shakes throughout the entire winter. These shakes, when they came, would be within intervals of half hour, an hour and sometimes longer.

Peter relates that he, with the Wapato family, were living at what is now Winesap. During the night there occurred a terrific quake and accompanying it a booming noise, a most awful one, for old Broken Mountain (or Ribbon Cliff) was headed for the river. And they were within a few hundred yards when the crash came.

The great quake was so great, says Peter, that the log house in which they were living was torn apart and they spent the balance of the night in the open, fearing to go inside for fear the logs would tumble and crush them.

The mountain broke off about midnight. The water in the river rose, the river being completely dammed. The water broke through the nature-made dam the next morning. But the dam remained there and it was several days before the water below got back to its normal flow.

The effect of the earthquake was felt at Chelan. At what is now Chelan Station a great hole opened in the earth and a veritable geyser was thrown into the air to a height of twenty or thirty feet. For weeks the Indians from all parts of the country came to see the strange phenomenon and Peter says they were "awful scared!" The geyser con- tinued all winter but got weaker and as time went on it subsided. Springs -in this locality still remain to show the place where there occurred this remarkable water spout. The water now being used to irrigate the Beebe orchards comes from this same point and comes through some subterranean channel from Lake Chelan.



Entiat - Ribbon Cliffs, W. T.
Wenatchee Daily World
August 8, 1925
Wenatchee, Washington

WHEN RIBBON CLIFF HAD A MONSTER UNDER IT ONCE SUCKED DOWN BOATLOAD OF LOGGERS

John B. Wapato Tells of Coming Indian Picnic

By Rufus Woods

John B. Wapato of Manson, who is calling an Indian picnic to which Indians and whites are both invited for August 13th, 14th and 15th at Manson comes from an interesting family. His grandfather was John Wapato, who settled on Wapato Flat in 1880 and who died at the age of 100 years about 15 years ago.

The original John Wapato was one of the most thrifty Indians of the Northwest. In fact he had 1,000 head of cattle at one time. The writer of this article fifteen years ago visited old John Wapato during the last years of his life and found in him one of those in- tensely interesting characters. He brought the first plow into this section of the country and when he broke the plow he had to take it by canoe to Walla Walla to have it mended. He traded in horses and cattle. In 1881 during the deep snow he lost practically the entire 1000 head and was left with only a few.

Old John Wapato was a member of the Entiat tribe. The present John B. Wapato says: "As far back as we can find out, the first chief of the Entiat tribe that-we know about, was Te-Hus-Keen, which means "mountain." Te-Hus-Keen's mother was a captive from Puget Sound and in that way new blood was injected into the veins of the Entiat tribe. My grand- father, John Wapato was a nephew of old chief Te-Hus-Keen. When the treaty with the govern- ment was made, my grandfather was advised to go to Chelan, where there would be plenty of grazing and it was there that he settled in 1880.

"He sold many cattle to the miners who were heading into the Cariboo country in the Sixties and Seventies. He also operated a store and trading post, but he had a hard time in keeping accounts, as he did not know how to make characters in order to keep track of what the goods cost him. Many of the soldiers who traded with him did not pay. The Chinamen who dug gold along the Columbia were regular customers of my grandfather. However, he had no trouble in dealing with them as they were few compared with the Indians and he had them so scared they had to settle. He lost no money from the Chinese miners.

"His store was located at the mouth of Wells Coulee. Later he moved it to Chelan, where he settled on Wapato Flat. When the big snow came in 1881 it found him ill prepared. In those days it was necessary to cut hay with a cycle and in order to get a quantity of hay for the winter's supply, large numbers of men would have to be employed. But eight feet of snow was too much.

"He didn't make the money he should have made on the fur traders. He took in fur from the Indians in exchange for goods, but it was necessary for him to carry these furs until the fur traders came along and he did not charge enough, so that he always handled furs at a loss. He should have made a big profit on this line.

"The Wapato family lived at the mouth of Wells coulee at the time of the big earth- quake in 1872. Prior to this earthquake there was a great undercurrent and swirl of water underneath the edge of the mountain now known as Ribbon Cliff. In the earlier days, white loggers came up the Columbia river, cut the logs and rolled them into the Columbia. As they went back they would drive the logs. One party of eight or ten white men had come up along in the 60's. The Indians were always afraid to go anywhere near this great undertow along the side of the mountain. The Indians believed there was a great monster there ready to swallow them, so they always stayed clear and went on the east side of the river. The loggers were in a big bateau. They started down the river and did not know of this under- current. They were sucked under, bateau and all. Their provisions were in the boat together with axes, saws and other materials. While they were all carried down into the water, they hung-on to the boat and floated down the Columbia to the mouth of the Entiat where they were rescued by the Indians.

"That was at the time of the first big Indian spree in this part of the country, for the miners had on board two kegs of whiskey. These kegs were rescued from the water and given to the Indians and the whole 200 or 300 of them went on a big spree. They didn't like the liquor at first, but they all tasted of it and kept on tasting it. The loggers exchanged this whiskey for what food they could get in the way of dried salmon, for they wanted to get down to the mill near Portland.

"When the big earthquake occurred in 1872, the whole side of the mountain fell into the water and since that there has been no "monster" underneath the Ribbon Cliff Mountain. The Wapato family were living at the mouth of Wells Coulee two miles above. The quake was so great that all the dirt on their log cabin was shaken down and the logs from one side caved in. The members of the family were afraid to go under the cabin any more, so they spent that night out in the open, although there was a light snow on the ground.

"The earthquake opened a seam in the earth at Chelan about a quarter of a mile from where the Campbell hotel now is. This seam opened up right in the middle of an Indian camp and soaked their provisions with foul smelling water. This was a real catastrophe in those days, as all the food they had stored for winter was destroyed. Another opening occurred down near what is now Chelan Station. A great gusher threw water into the air 20 or 30 feet. It was several feet across."

John Wapato had several children including Charlie, Sylvester, Peter and two daughters, Mary Ustah of Okanogan and Mary Anniz, who is dead. His wife Madaline, is still living. She is now 100 years of age. Charlie Wapato had two boys, Paul and Frank. Sylvester has four children, two sons and two daughters and Peter has three boys and three girls. John B. Wapato and Ed Wapato who is helping his brother in the picnic are sons of Peter Wapato.

Discussing the Indian picnic John B. Wapato said: "My father, Peter Wapato, is the one who is very anxious to have a picnic every year. He wants Indians all over the country to come and have a good time. We saw them all during the Fourth of July celebration at, Okanogan and they tell me they are all coming. The Indians are going to stage all the games and sports, but the whites are invited to come and see the fun.



Entiat - Ribbon Cliffs, W. T.
Wenatchee Daily World
August 8, 1925
Wenatchee, Washington

"When the big earthquake occurred in 1872, the whole side of the mountain fell into the water and since that there has been no "monster" underneath the Ribbon Cliff Mountain. The Wapato family were living at the mouth of Wells Coulee two miles above. The quake was so great that all the dirt on their log cabin was shaken down and the logs from one side caved in. -The members of the family were afraid to go under the cabin any more, so they spent that night out in the open, although there was a light snow on the ground.
"The earthquake opened a seam in the earth at Chelan about a quarter of a mile from where the Campbell hotel now is. This seam opened up right in the middle of an Indian camp and soaked their provisions with foul smelling water. This was a real catastrophe in those days, as all the food they had stored for winter was destroyed. Another opening occurred down near what is now Chelan Station. A great gusher threw water into the air 20 or 30 feet. It was several feet across."



Entiat - Ribbon Cliffs, W. T.
The Wenatchee Daily World
March 25, 1931
Wenatchee, Washington

Peter Wapato Tells of Night in 1872 When Quake Shook Down Mountain and Dammed stream

Peter Wapato of Lake Chelan, has told the Daily World some interesting data reports of the history of this section of the district. His son, Edwin, acted as interpreter.

"Formerly the Indians from Wenatchee and the Okanogan all spoke the same language. This also applied to the Colvilles and Nez Perce. The Flatheads however, spoke an entirely different language. The Yakimas, Nez Perce and Walla Wallas, and Umatillas also spoke a language of their own.

"My father, John Wapato, was born in ---- His mother was a Puget Sound Indian there Indians of Puget Sound also spoke another language from those in this section of the country.

Moses Was Real Chief

"Chief Moses who was the principal chief in all the country here was a Chelan Indian. He spent most of the time around the Big Bend country and in the Moses Lake and Moses Coulee district. In the summer time with his band he would go into the mountains.

"Long Jim, now living near Brewster was also a Chelan Indian and he was related to Chief Moses. Long Jim's mother was a relative of Chief Moses. The chief in charge of the Indians in Wenatchee was Carmow.

"Chief Moses' brother Quiltenoo wants to fight, but Chief Carmow did not wish to fight, so Chief Carmow let soldiers across and at this time Moses' brother said he would shoot Carmow.

Raised Potatoes
"My father, John Wapato, brought him a plow which he used to plow Wapato Flats and raised potatoes. He sold potatoes to the prospectors and he sold them to Yakonas how he came to be called John Wapato means potato.

When he was asked about the winter he said: "We never had dry weather like we have now. Every year we would have snow two or three feet deep. It was not necessary to use any water on the land at Chelan.

"When I was 15 years old there was a great shake of the ground and rocks rolled down from the mountainside. That same year there was no snow. That was in 1872. The big shake came all at once but it continued to shake for four or five years.

"The Wapato family was located near what is now known as Ribbon Cliff. We were in a log house with a dirt room, near the cliff, but it shook so much that all the roof shook down. The shake filled up the Columbia river and all one night the Columbia river was dammed. The next morning the river went through.

"While we had no snow that winter on Lake Chelan, the next winter we had a snow this high (as he reached with a stick 8 1/2 feet high). We had another big snow about two years after Chelan was settled as a town.

Oil and Water Released

"At the time of the earthquake the earth cracked open at Chelan station where the springs are now located. The water shot into the air as high as The Daily World build- ing and it continued for a week, then got lower and lower until it was nothing but springs.

"Then when the earthquake occurred the mountain east of the river cracked open. Black water came out of the split in the mountain- side." (Mose Splawn tells about this same incident and he says that he had this fluid examined and his report was that it was oil.),