Shatter Hill

From BCMystery Wiki: The Work of W.H. Cameron / Bill Cameron
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Shatter Hill is a mesa in Barlow County in the Melisende Dulac Series.

Map of Shatter Hill

Details

Located in southern Barlow County, the Old Mortuary and Pioneer Cemetery can be found on its tableland, as well as Escallier Crater State Park. The northern rimrock of Shatter Hill is visible from Crestview, possibly inspiring the name of the high country hamlet. Kimble's Hole Mine is located at the foot of the hill in a draw on the southeast face of the hill. Other mines once dotted the southern and eastern face, but are now mostly collapsed and lost after a sequence of small earthquakes between 1910 and 1917.[1]

During the early days of Oregon settlement, the mesa was informally known as Ragged Top.[2] After the 1869 death of Oregon Trail pioneer Molly Claire Maguire due to a fall, the hill was often referred to as Molly Claire's Shattering. In time, the name was formalized as Shatter Hill.

Geologists believe the mesa was formed during a period of local uplift 600,000 years before the present as part of the eruptive events that would form Lost Brother Butte. Though 500 feet higher in elevation, the basalt on the mesa's tableland is stratigraphically contiguous with the surface rock of the broad valley lying between Shatter Hill and the volcanic peak. The structure of the valleys to the south is a mix of sedimentary and metamorphic rock with igneous intrusions. Copper, silver, and some gold have been found in commercially viable concentrations on the south side of Shatter Hill, though the period of active mining ended shortly after the turn of the 20th century.[3]

Associated Characters

Appearances

Can be seen on the Barlow County map

References