How the Cascade Mountain Range Got Its Name

The Cascade Range, also known as the Cascade Mountains, is named after the "cascades" or rapids on the Columbia River. This area includes a dangerous section called the Cascades of the Columbia, which made navigation difficult for early explorers and fur traders. These rapids were created by an ancient landslide known as the Bonneville Slide. The massive landslide took place an estimated 400 to 1,000 years ago. The rapids drop about 37 feet over nearly six miles, with the main rapid falling 21 feet in less than half a mile. Early in 1805, during their expedition, Lewis and Clark described the mountains near these rapids and called the area the "Great Shute." They referred to the surrounding peaks as "the mountains at the cascades."

When did the Cascades' name debut?

The term "Cascade Range," also known as "Cascade Mountains," was first written down by Scottish botanist David Douglas. He recorded it in his journals during the 1820s while exploring the Pacific Northwest for the Hudson's Bay Company.

Who first called the mountain range "the Cascades"?

Douglas didn't accept the honor of naming it. He suggested that fur traders might have used it as early as the 1810s, after Fort Astoria was established. The Cascades' name became more widely known through maps and reports later on. Charles Wilkes mentioned it in 1841, and John C. Frémont described the Cascade range in 1843, noting that the Columbia River and other waterways cut through it in cascades.

What was the Cascades Mountain range almost named?

In the 1830s, Boston advocate Hall J. Kelley proposed renaming the entire mountain range "Presidents' Range" and naming each peak after a U.S. president. However, the name "Cascade" stayed. The rapids were bypassed by the Cascade Locks in 1896 and later covered by the reservoir created by Bonneville Dam in the 1930s.