Kloochman Rock

The rock is an andesite intrusion that formed when magma pushed upward then cooled and hardened while remaining underground. Research published in the 1930s and 1940s suggested the andesite may have been part of the Fifes Peaks Formation which includes lava flows erupted by an extinct volcano to the northeast.{{Cite journal |last=Warren |first=Walter C. |date=Nov–Dec 1941 |title=Relation of the Yakima Basalt to the Keechelus Andesitic Series |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30062575 |journal=The Journal of Geology |volume=49 |issue=8 |pages=797 |doi=10.1086/625015 |jstor=30062575 |bibcode=1941JG.....49..795W |s2cid=129046253 |access-date=2023-09-15 |archive-date=2023-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230915122208/https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/?next_url=/ezproxy/r/ezp.2aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuanN0b3Iub3JnL3N0YWJsZS8zMDA2MjU3NT9zZWFyY2hUZXh0PVRpZXRvbitWb2xjYW5vJnNlYXJjaFVyaT0lMkZhY3Rpb24lMkZkb0Jhc2ljU2VhcmNoJTNGUXVlcnklM0RUaWV0b24lMkJWb2xjYW5vJmFiX3NlZ21lbnRzPTAlMkZiYXNpY19zZWFyY2hfZ3N2MiUyRmNvbnRyb2wmcmVmcmVxaWQ9ZmFzdGx5LWRlZmF1bHQlM0FjODZiZWQwZjdhMGI2NjJkNjIzZjRmM2ZiNjBiMTMzOCZzZXE9Mw-- |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }} This relationship was removed in later geologic maps of the region and are now believed to be separate geologic units.

It is estimated to have formed between the Oligocene and Pliocene epochs.{{cite report |url= |title=Geologic map of the Mount Rainier Quadrangle, Washington |last=Schasse |first=Henry |date=1987 |publisher=Washington Department of Natural Resources |location=Olympia |edition= |page= |pages= |access-date= |format= |chapter= |section=}} This time period coincides with the growth of the Cascade Mountains, a volcanic arc formed by the subduction of the Juan de Fuca Plate under the North American Plate but is not listed as a volcanic vent in geological maps produced by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources.{{Cite web |title=DNR Map Viewer |url=https://geologyportal.dnr.wa.gov/2d-view#wigm?-13518807,-13445428,5866956,5902767?Surface_Geology,500k_Surface_Geology,Map_Units,Volcanoes,Volcanic_Vents,Vent_Locations |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=geologyportal.dnr.wa.gov |archive-date=2023-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527075826/https://geologyportal.dnr.wa.gov/2d-view#wigm?-13518807,-13445428,5866956,5902767?Surface_Geology,500k_Surface_Geology,Map_Units,Volcanoes,Volcanic_Vents,Vent_Locations |url-status=live }} It predates modern Cascade volcanoes like Mount Rainier to the west.{{Cite journal |last1=Humphreys |first1=Eugene D. |last2=Grunder |first2=Anita L. |date=2022-11-04 |title=Tectonic controls on the origin and segmentation of the Cascade Arc, USA |journal=Bulletin of Volcanology |language=en |volume=84 |issue=12 |pages=102 |doi=10.1007/s00445-022-01611-2 |bibcode=2022BVol...84..102H |s2cid=253269903 |issn=1432-0819 |doi-access=free }} After cooling, the surrounding material eroded at a faster rate leaving behind the formation seen today.{{Cite sign |title=The Story of Kloochman Rock |date= |publisher=Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=71522 |access-date=September 15, 2023}} It is surrounded by dense forest.{{Cite web |last=Jenkins |first=Brian |title=Kloochman Rock |url=https://www.summitpost.org/kloochman-rock/151295 |access-date=September 15, 2023 |website=Summit Post |archive-date=October 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030200613/https://www.summitpost.org/kloochman-rock/151295 |url-status=live }}

File:Kloochman Rock.jpeg is visible in the bottom left corner.]]

Kloochman is a Chinook Jargon term meaning woman or wife and stems from a Yakama legend telling of a respected chief, Me-ow-wah, who had no desire to have a wife. Despite this, according to the legend, nearby chiefs sent princesses leading Me-ow-wah to leave his village for the mountains. When his people found him, the chief consulted with his father and made a sacrifice of himself and the potential brides. Legend holds that Me-ow-wah became Goose Egg Mountain {{Convert|1.5|mi|km|abbr=on}} to the north while one of the women became Kloochman Rock.

The Yakama-Cowlitz Trail used by the Yakama and Cowlitz peoples to cross the Cascades passed near the north side of Kloochman Rock. There is evidence that this route was used as early as 9,200 years ago making it one of the oldest known cross-Cascade trails. The Naxchiish-lama band of the Yakama had summer villages in the region.{{Cite journal |last=Bentley |first=Judy |date=Summer 2018 |title=Nine thousand years on the Yakama-Cowlitz Trail |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=31h&AN=130403886&site=eds-live&scope=site |journal=Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=4–12}}

William O. Douglas, who would later become a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, climbed the rock in 1913 at one point reportedly dangling {{Convert|200|feet|meter|abbr=on}} in the air. This and other experiences in the Tieton River watershed played a role in his political views.{{Cite journal |last=Sowards |first=Adam M. |date=2006-04-01 |title=William O. Douglas's Wilderness Politics: Public Protest and Committees of Correspondence in the Pacific Northwest |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/25443282 |journal=The Western Historical Quarterly |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=21–42 |doi=10.2307/25443282 |jstor=25443282 |issn=0043-3810 |access-date=2023-09-15 |archive-date=2023-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230915122215/https://academic.oup.com/whq/article-abstract/37/1/21/1905625?redirectedFrom=fulltext |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }} Rock climbers continue to use the rock but the top can be reached by scramble.{{Cite web |title=Kloochman Rock |url=https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/kloochman-rock |access-date=2023-09-15 |website=Washington Trails Association |language=en |archive-date=2023-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328173022/https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/kloochman-rock |url-status=live }}

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Category:Chinook Jargon place names

Category:Mountains of Yakima County, Washington

Category:Wenatchee National Forest

Category:Yakama