Every time I drive through the Columbia gorge I think of what it once was and am sad that I can’t see the rapids that the Cascade Mountain range is named for.

If we “discovered” it today it would surely be some kind of national park or otherwise preserved. Instead it’s got multiple rail lines and highways running alongside a fairly smooth river.

Hard to imagine the deviation that would happen if a few of the Columbia dams failed, and the seasonal flooding would be another issue.