The Willamette Meteorite | a Large piece of Extra-Terresetrial Rock

I’m glad having you around here today, the Willamette Meteorite, at 15.5 tons, it is the largest meteorite ever found in the United States and the sixth largest in the world. It’s also one of the treasures of the American Museum of the Natural History’s permanent collection is a large piece of extra- terrestrial rock called the Willamette Meteorite. 

The Willamette Meteorite is made up of iron and nickel, and like all others, it was formed many years back when the solar system was still forming out of cosmic dust. The force of gravity made these dust particles to come together to form protoplanets and heavier metals like iron and nickel sank into the interior to form the core. This protoplanet must have collided with another planetary body, causing it to fracture, sending rocks rich in iron and nickel out into space. 

 Centuries back, moving glaciers slowly moved the meteorite to Montana to the vicinity of an ice barrier that had formed across the fork River. This barrier had ponded a huge amount of water at the lake Missoula. As the meteorite reached the area, the ice dam crumbled releasing one of the largest floods ever documented. Hooked on ice, the meteorite floated down the Columbia River until it’s ice case broke and the meteorite sank into the River bottom near the modern day city of Portland. 

The particles of the protoplanet continued to circle the sun for the next several billion years, until about 17,000 years ago, when the orbits of the earth and that of one of the rocks which will eventually become the Willamette Meteorite intersected. The meteorites crashed into the earth at more than 64,000 kmph, somewhere in an ice cap in western Canada. 

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When the last Ice Age ended, as the waters ebbed, the meteorite became exposed to the elements. Many years later, rain water mixed with iron sulfide in the meteorite produced sulphuric acid, which slowly dissolved portions of the rock creating hallows on its surface. 

The Clackamas Chinook people, who lived in the Willamette Valley of Oregon before the European settlers arrived were the first to discover the meteorite. The Clackamas named the meteorite ‘Tomanowos’, hoping the rock to be a representative of the sky people and exemplifying a union  between the sky, earth and water. The rock was used in various ceremonies, using the water collected in the meteorite’s crevices to cleanse and purify themselves. Tribal hunted dips their arrowhead in the water before they go hunting. 

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In the year 1902, a miner named Ellis Hughes saw the meteorite, seeing the importance of the rock, he secretly moved it to his own property, a task that took three months. When the meteorite was on his land, he began charging to view the ‘Willamette Meteorite’. The land where the meteorite originally stood be longed to the Oregon Iron and Steel Company.

 When  the theft was discovered, the rocks legitimate owner sued for and Won the possession of the meteorite. Afterwards, the company sold the meteorite to Mrs. William Dodge, who then gifted it  to the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

The Willamette Meteorite remained on display at the museum for over a century, in the year 1999, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGRC), a confederation of Native American tribes, demanded that the revered Tomanowos be returned to them. A law suit was filed against the American Museum of Natural History, and later that year, agreement was reached according to which the meteorite remained at the museum but tribal members were allowed to conduct a private ceremony around the meteorite that was cut from the larger rock was returned to the CTGRC. This is all you should know about Willamette Meteorite, if you find this article interesting share to your friends and family. Happy reading!!