Frederic Homer Balch
Pacific Northwest author Frederic Homer Balch (1861-1891) is most famous for publishing one book, The Bridge of the Gods: Romance of Indian Oregon, published by Binfords & Mort in 1890. He had planned his book to be the first in a six-volume set of tales set in the majestic Northwest. Balch's vision was cut short because he succumbed to tuberculosis at the relatively young age of 29.
Learning Oregon’s Geographical History
Balch set out to make the Oregon’s naturally majestic landscape as famous as “Scott made Scotland.” Balch grew up in the Willamette Valley and spent much of his life traveling throughout Oregon collecting tales of Oregon’s history from various Indian tribes. Conversing with the “savages” was not viewed upon as a wholesome activity and consequently Balch was outcast by many of his peers. However, Balch's collection of Indian mythology proved invaluable for his writing.
Chief Multnomah’s Myths and Stories
Balch's book is a fictional mix of legend and fact about a New England missionary who visits the Northwest and ends up traveling with a multi-tribal chief named Multnomah. Balch sets the story among natural beauty of places like the Columbia Gorge, and also portrays much of Oregon’s physical history through Indian legends and myths he gathered in his real-life adventures. One of the most interesting stories is the Indian mythology behind the Bridge of the Gods, a natural land formation across the Columbia river that collapsed several centuries ago.
The Mythical Bridge of the Gods
According to the legend cemented in Balch's book, the collapse of the Bridge of the Gods happened because of a violent conflict between two mountain spirits, Wyeast (Mt. Hood) and Pahto (Mt. Adams). Both were vastly jealous over each other’s love for the Beautiful Loowit (Mt. St Helens). They threw red-hot boulders at each other, causing the earth to shake. Their disruption angered Tyee Sahale (The Great Spirit) who then shattered the Tomanowos (Bridge of the Gods). The broken fragments created what is today known as the Cascade Rapids, which are permanently submerged behind the Bonneville Dam.
Geologic Record of the Event
According to scientific history, the bridge existed and was created by an enormous landslide between the lava cliffs of Table Mountain and the North wall of the Columbia Gorge, somewhere between 1100 and 1250 A.D. The bridge damned the river, standing about 200 to 300 feet above sea level, high enough so Native Americans could safely cross the river. The Bridge collapsed around the 1690s, which coincides with the date of the last Great Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes. The story of its collapse serves as a highlight of Balch's book.
Frederic Homer Balch died 8 months after the publication of his first book came out and never collected royalties on it. It’s a shame that he was never able to live out his dream of writing wonderful tales set in the pristine beauty of the Pacific Northwest.
Resources
Harris, Stephen L., “Frederic Homer Balch and the Romance of Oregon History” Oregon Historical Quarterly Winter 1996-97, p. 390-422
