Where the Great River Bends

Book excerpt: A remarkable place where geography has defined history, Wallula Gap is that narrowing of the mighty Columbia River halfway between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. In this book, Bob Carson and his colleagues tell a fascinating story ¿ of a striking land where the forces of geology worked on a spectacular scale, of a desert oasis where Native Americans, explorers, fur traders, promoters and entrepreneurs, and modern-day agriculturalists and wind farmers have all made their mark. Through the prism of Wallula, the historic gateway to the Columbia Plateau, readers learn much about the region.