The Willamette Meteorite is an extra-terrestrial rock that is part of the permanent collection of the American Museum of Natural History. This meteorite, which weighs 15.5 tons, is the sixth largest in the world and the largest in the United States.
A meteorite composed primarily of iron and nickel, the Willamette Meteorite formed billions of years ago as the solar system was still forming out of cosmic dust.A protoplanet is formed when dust particles combine due to gravity, and a core is formed when heavier metals like iron and nickel sink into the interior.In time, a collision between this protoplanet and another planetary body caused it to fracture, releasing chunks of metal-rich rocks into the atmosphere.
For the next several billion years, the pieces of the protoplanet circled the sun until about 17,000 years ago, when an orbit of the earth and that of one of the rocks intersected, resulting in the Willamette Meteorite. Somewhere in western Canada, a meteorite crashed at more than 64,000 kilometers per hour into the earth.
As glaciers moved across the Clark Fork River over the centuries, one ice barrier formed across the Clark Fork River, and the meteorite slowly made its way to Montana. The barrier had caused Lake Missoula to pour large amounts of water. An unprecedented flood was released when the ice dam crumbled as the meteorite hit the area. Near the modern-day city of Portland, the meteorite sank into the river bottom after being trapped in ice on its way down the Columbia River.
A meteorite’s deep crevasses were caused both by its high-speed atmospheric entry and by subsequent weathering. The mineral troilite was exposed to rainwater for thousands of years, resulting in a form of sulfuric acid that slowly dissolved the meteorite. Hollows developed gradually as a result. Â A meteorite was exposed to the elements as the water levels ebbed at the end of the last Ice Age. It is believed that rainwater mixed with iron sulfide in the meteorite over thousands of years produced sulphuric acid, which slowly dissolved portions of the rock and created hollows.
Prior to European settlement in Oregon, the meteorite was discovered by the Clackamas Chinook people. They believed that the meteorite represented the Sky People and exemplified a union of sky, earth, and water, hence the name “Tomanowos”. As a sacred site for the Clackamas, Tomanowos was revered. People revered it as a spiritual being with healing and empowerment powers. They cleansed themselves and purified themselves with the water collected in the crevices of the meteorite during various ceremonies. The water was used by tribal hunters before they went hunting.
An Ellis Hughes, a miner who recognized the meteorite’s significance, secretly moved the rock to his own property in 1902. The Oregon Iron and Steel Company owned the land where the meteorite originally stood. After it was moved to his land, he began charging admission to view the “Willamette Meteorite.” Upon discovering the theft, the meteorite’s legitimate owner sued and won possession. Mrs. William Dodge received the meteorite as a gift from the company and donated it to the American Museum of Natural History.
When the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (CTGRC) demanded the restitution of the Tomanowos in 1999, they left the Willamette Meteorite on display in the museum for nearly a century. A lawsuit was filed against the American Museum of Natural History, and an agreement was reached later that year that the meteorite would remain at the museum, but tribal members could celebrate once a year around it. The CTGRC also received a section of the meteorite that was cut from the larger rock.
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