Rattlesnake Mountain (Benton County, Washington)

The Yakama Nation referred to Rattlesnake Mountain as Lalíik, meaning "land above the water". Some historians speculate that the origin of the name Lalíik refers to the inundation of the Columbia River Plateau during the Missoula Floods, as Rattlesnake would have been one of the few mountains not completely inundated by flood waters reaching depths of 1200 ft (366 m). Geologists have found glacial erratics on Rattlesnake at heights up to this level.{{cite web|url=http://agg.pnl.gov/projects/iafi.2002.pdf |title=Ice-Age Floods Features in the Vicinity of the Pasco Basin and the Hanford Reach National Monument |access-date=2007-11-07 |last=Bjornstad |first=Bruce |author2=Karl Fecht |date=2002-10-19 |format=.pdf }} However, there is scant evidence placing human settlements in the area at the time of the floods, 12 to 13 thousand years ago. Lalíik is held sacred by native peoples of the Columbia Plateau, including the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Wanapum, Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Yakama, and remains a spiritual epicenter to this day.{{citation | last=Prengaman | first=Kate | title=Yakamas unhappy defense bill to open sacred summit to public | newspaper=The Seattle Times | date=2014-12-14 | url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/yakamas-unhappy-defense-bill-to-open-sacred-summit-to-public/ }}

In 1943, Rattlesnake Mountain was seized by the United States government under eminent domain and became a buffer zone for the nuclear project at the Hanford site. In 1955, US Army installed a Nike Ajax missile base on the southeastern end of the ridge and maintained it until December 1958, when it was closed.{{cite web | url=http://www.historylink.org/File/9711 | publisher=HistoryLink | title=Nike Missile Bases: Washington State Cold War Defenses | access-date=2019-02-08 }}

The Rattlesnake Mountain Observatory was established at the summit in 1966, utilizing some of the former missile base infrastructure, and remained there until its relocation near Wallula, WA in 2009. The observatory's main telescope was installed in 1971 and is a 32-inch (0.8-meter) telescope housed inside a 24-foot domed enclosure. This telescope is the largest permanently mounted telescope in Washington State. The telescope was used regularly through the early 1980s, but soon fell into disuse. Due to its location, renovations and upgrades were done to allow for remote control. Observatory operations were directed by a local nonprofit group founded by scientists and engineers from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory at Hanford.{{cite web|url=http://www.emsl.pnl.gov/docs/annual_reports/cis/annual_report1999/1558b-2k.html |title=Automation of Rattlesnake Mountain Observatory—Science Education and Opportunity for the 21st Century |access-date=2007-10-12}}

It was announced 14 March 2008 that the Department of Energy would not renew the permit, license or easements for the observatory or most of the other entities that maintain communication equipment on the mountain. The area would instead be returned to its natural conditions, citing the cultural sensitivity of the area.{{cite news | first=Annette | last=Cary | title=DOE to evict Rattlesnake Mountain tenants | date=2008-03-22 | work =Tri-City Herald }} The removal of the observatory from Rattlesnake Mountain began in the latter part of May, 2009, and was completed in June of the same year. In late 2012, the telescope moved into its new home at Pacific Northwest Regional Observatory in the hills near Wallula, Washington.{{cite web|url=http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2012/11/12/2167787/rattlesnake-mountain-telescope.html#storylink=misearch|title=Rattlesnake Mountain telescope gets new home |access-date=2013-01-06}}

Section 3081, "Ensuring public access to the summit of Rattlesnake Mountain in the Hanford Reach National Monument",{{cite web | url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr3979/text/enr#link=B_XXX_H_3081&nearest=H1FFC28B5644E408889EBE59A666CF8B4 | title=Text of H.R. 3979 (113th): Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal … (Passed Congress version) }} of the Carl Levin and Howard P. “Buck” McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr3979|title=Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (2014 - H.R. 3979)|website=GovTrack.us}} directs the Secretary of the Interior to provide public access (including motorized access) to the summit of Rattlesnake Mountain. The Yakama Nation objected to opening their sacred site to motorized access.{{cite web|title=Congress Approves Bill to Force Opening Access to Yakama Nation Sacred Site - Last Real Indians|url=http://lastrealindians.com/congress-approves-bill-to-force-opening-access-to-yakama-nation-sacred-site/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017001707/https://lastrealindians.com/congress-approves-bill-to-force-opening-access-to-yakama-nation-sacred-site/|archive-date=October 17, 2018|website=lastrealindians.com}} Access was expected to begin in Fall 2019,{{cite news|last=McIntosh |first=Brittany |url=http://www.nbcrightnow.com/story/39290793/after-70-years-public-access-to-rattlesnake-mountain-summit-will-re-open-next-fall |title= After 70 years public access to Rattlesnake Mountain summit will re-open next fall |publisher=KNDU-TV |date=October 15, 2018 |access-date=October 15, 2018}} but it was still closed in October 2020 as the Fish and Wildlife Service has not released a final environmental study amid continued consultations.{{Cite news|last=Cary|first=Annette|date=October 18, 2020|title='Natural treasure.' Why Rattlesnake Mountain is still closed 6 years after a law passed|work=Tri-City Herald|url=https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article246467845.html}}

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{{Commons category|Rattlesnake Mountain (Benton County, Washington)}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071009033715/http://www.aastaonline.org/observatory.html The Alliance for the Advancement of Science Through Astronomy: Rattlesnake Mountain Observatory]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080917223615/http://www.hanford.gov/?page=354&parent=326 Department of Energy Hanford Site Virtual Tours: Rattlesnake Mountain]

{{Washington State hills and ridges}}

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Category:Landforms of Benton County, Washington

Category:Tri-Cities, Washington

Category:Religious places of the Indigenous peoples of North America

Category:Ridges of Washington (state)

Category:Mountains of Washington (state)

Category:Sacred mountains of the United States