July 2011 Archives

Last week Colin attended an Idaho Repetory Theater workshop for kids. They learned and performed a play titled Where Stories Come From (A Traditional Zulu Story). Before the play, they put on masks and did a little song and dance. This, I believe, is a cat mask:

The play is about an early family living in Africa. The children want to hear stories from their parents, but the parents don't have any stories to tell. They visit a number of animals and eventually, underwater spirits. The spirits trade some stories for a carved picture, and that's how the first people got their stories.

There were more kids in the workshop than speaking parts, so they took turns playing the main characters. It was quite a hoot and a little confusing!

Today I returned to Steptoe Butte to take some more pictures. My goal was to be at the top just before sunrise, but even by leaving at 05:00 I was an hour late. (Note to self and others: be sure to double check time zone and DST settings when using the NOAA Solar Calculator.) Despite the late arrival and somewhat hazy horizion, I got a handful of pictures that I like (after color enhancing). I was especially excited to see a crop duster working nearby.

Steptoe Butte stands about 1000 feet above the surrounding terrain. You can easily see it from a couple of places on highway 195 between Colfax and Rosalia. Here's how it looks from Hume Road:

According to a placard at the top, the Butte is made of 400-million-year-old Quartzite. Up on the top it is easy to see many rocks, which, not being a Geologist, I assume are Quartzite. They certainly look different that most of the rocks around here. The Butte is surrounded by (volcanic) basalt flows, which are only 15-17 million years old. On top of the basalt is a couple hundred feet of fertile Palouse soil:

The Butte, and a nearby town, are named after US Army General Edward J. Steptoe, who, in 1859, lost The Battle of Pine Creek against Native Americans in the region. The Butte itself was not a factor in the battle, which took place near Rosalia and along Pine Creek. There is a small Steptoe Battlefield State Park in Rosalia.

Whats great though, is that Steptoe Butte is the model and namesake for all geologic formations of this type. Islands of older rock that are surrounded by newer volcanic flows are called Steptoes!

In 1947 Virgil McCroskey donated the land for use as a state park with the instructions "For the enjoyment of all the people for ever and ever." In 1965 it was declared a National Natural Landmark. Its a popular location for photographing the Palouse. A number of professoinal photographers offer workshops where they take students up to the Butte.

We blew about $20 on legal fireworks, which I must say, are quite the letdown. We were surrounded by neighbors that put on much better shows, with fireworks that I can only assume are of the less-than-legal variety.

The setting crescent moon made a great backdrop for the displays by our neighbors to the West. These are such serious fireworks that some in our household confused them for the community display in Pullman, 8 miles away.

For comparison, here is the Grand Finale from our own $20 investment: