How Oregon's Great Meteorite Mystery was Solved

[@Axgoodofdunemaul]

I never heard of this case before. But what a great story. It's got everything: the wild west, my Pacific Northwest, wilderness hiking, surveying, chicanery, and a fabulous stone. Thanks for this.

[@M.Mae.M]

As a longtime Oregon resident I love these videos

[@gaff0057]

I absolutely love these videos! Everyone that I have watched shows a great dedication to the research and story of some amazing PNW tales! Keep up the good work!

[@thetruthexperiment]

Well, that all I need to hear. I subbed. I hope you’re right. Not like it would be the end of the world if I didn’t like it. At least it isn’t about shoes or socks. Who would make videos about that??

[@stellviahohenheim]

Shut up

[@josephdragan7734]

A fascinating story. Recently I visited the Hayden planetarium in New York City. They had on display the largest meteorite ever found in the United States called The Willamette Meteorite. The meteorite was discovered in Oregon's Willamette Valley in 1902; the valley's indigenous Clackamas Indians claimed it as a sacred object. But a local man took the meteorite and sold it to a private collector. The collector donated it to the American Museum of Natural History, where it has remained for 99 years. Although it apparently landed somewhere in Canada? the Missoula Floods pushed it down to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. I guess meteors just love that state :-)

[@scotttaxdal5297]

There was a cast copy of the Willamette meteorite in front of the Willamette institute of science and technology (Wistec) next to Autzen stadium in Eugene. It's a kid's science museum now with a nice planetarium, don't know if the display is still there...

[@atatterson6992]

Which all makes the destruction of the state by psychotic liberal "politicians" even more despicable. So sad...

[@ericlysne4920]

Peter- I LOVE your videos- I was just looking you up to show my roomate your video about the freeway system that could have been and I was like “omg he just posted a new video 4 hours ago, let’s watch that instead!” Really appreciate the content and research put into your videos- the freest system one was just fascinating thinking of what it all could have been like (and how much easier it would have been to get around the city). Keep it up, more Oregon PNW content!!

[@peterdibble]

Thanks a lot! 😊 Another Oregon topic is already well underway.

[@compostjohn]

This is one of the best little documentaries I've seen for a while. Thank you Peter!

[@islanduck]

Beautifully produced and edited! Another masterpiece Peter!

[@mitchfountain6523]

What an excellent job putting this all together. Thanks so much!

[@gildedingold]

Wow! I grew up in Port Orford. I remember reading an article on this meteor as a kid. Years later I remembered the story and wanted to reread the research. Googled for more information and couldn't find anything. So cool!

[@williamnelson3233]

See see s

[@williamnelson3233]

HiTX

[@williamnelson3233]

Tom Holland followed a 5-step workout routine to get in shape for Spider-Man - using nothing but dumbbells

[@williamnelson3233]

Loo

[@williamnelson3233]

No

[@Cacheingcants]

Such an amazing story that took a turn I never would have expected! Your content is such high quality an have enjoyed every video of yours (so far)!

[@oaktadopbok665]

Wow! I lived through this and never remember hearing of it. Fascinating! Thank you for your great work.

[@magiciangob]

Always love your videos Peter. Can't wait to see what you come up with next. Also really glad to see those numbers growing, you're going to be huge once the algorithm picks you up.

[@Richbund]

Very interesting and well told story. The music was great and listed in "Show More" section. Great job Peter.

[@DelusionaLCore]

Your work is an amazing masterpiece, keep going and never give up!

[@russell_szabados]

This was so well done. I thoroughly enjoyed it, thank you.

[@Soundbrigade]

This mystery was even better than any crime mystery. Besides we’ve been to Oregon twice and never seen any meteorites … However, we’d love to go back and visit the places you talk about in your vids. 👍

[@magiciangob]

Port Orford is a great town to visit, and is right in the middle of the most beautiful part of Oregon's coastline. Give yourself plenty of time when you visit. I've been several times over my many years of living in Oregon and still am surprised with new finds every time I visit.

[@Soundbrigade]

@@magiciangob We drove along parts of the coastline and I think we stayed in Coos Bay. Been to Bend twice and visited alot of volcanos (Crater Lake ...). The landscape is so varying and everywhere breathtaking. PS. My wife directed me from Gold Beach to Grants Pass one evening with just diesel fumes in the tank. We made barely it ....

[@cynthiaweber8486]

Thank you for bringing a video of decent content. As old as I am, I still like learning. Take care.

[@markrowland1366]

Australia too has such a story. Early 1910's, In the northern territory. A character, a confabulation, became the centre of his story of an enormous gold reef. Hundreds went with the hope of it's finding. Some died. The 1980s Casino, Lasseter's, is named for him, implying, all who gamble are fools.

[@benny4894]

A local legend, love this story about my beautiful home. Thanks for sharing this lesser known history about Coos/Curry county

[@tankej]

Fabulous job - well done!

[@johnlowther4927]

Very entertaining and informative. Great job!

[@jonminer9891]

hello Peter. Good work. Lots of old photos and videos. Anyway, thanks for sharing! Stay healthy!

[@morkovija]

This is top notch quality content and I approve this message

[@patriciajrs46]

I love your pictures and cute check marks and such between the pictures. Very good. Thank you.

[@brucecunningham2944]

I've only been to Port Orford once but it is a beautiful little town I would love to return to. I had never heard this story before today, but I must admit, even if I had it wouldn't have stopped me from looking.

[@keeganryan7481]

baby wake up, one of the best oregonians dropped again

[@haroldmayhugh8834]

Very well done. Your video / pics, & story, made for an interesting presentation.

[@davymckeown4577]

One of the most fascinating stories I've watched in quite a while, at first I was thinking Evans was a Mary Hanning type character but he was a con man whilst she did so much more than sell sea shells by the sea shore. I think those still looking would have more luck searching for Nazi gold in a Bavarian lake lol. Thank you, looking forward to learning more.

[@KingofCrusher]

Haha nazi gold, classic. I mean you might as well be searching for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, lol.

[@embreeja]

Hello Dave Tatge, did I get you? Still, an amazing story!!! Then, there is also the story of the wandering Klamath warrior............ still haunting the hills as he searches, searches for ...........

[@ORWWmedia]

Nice Work! Thanks!

[@bobs5596]

my grandfather must have shared some of evans characteristics. when i was a just a lad, he told a story about a meteor crashing in the field across from his house. that would have been in the 1957-60 era, perhaps stories of this port orford had made the news papers and inspired him. i asked if it was hot and that prompted him to say he remembered seeing a small fire. he added he had never gone over to look at it. so me thinking if it was close enough to see flames, i could go and find the crater. he prolly had a good laugh at how he had fooled me to go on a wild goose chase. now i have a more substantial mystery. i used to walk a half mile or so to the bus stop every school day along an old tar road that would actually melt and bubble on hot days. along this walk i could clearly see rounded metal droplets stuck in the roads surface. i always thought they were pieces of an iron meteorite. i knew exactly where they were from observing them so many times. there was a little patch, and another, and finally another loner that was a big one, about a half inch or so. one saturday i took a screwdriver and went out and collected every one. i saved them, about 20 all together, in a little snap shut plastic box. several years later the road was repaved with modern asphalt and any further fragments are gone for good. i gave them to a friend about 15 years ago because he said he knew someone who might be able to ID them. the guy seemed to think they were produce from welding, but was unsure. anyway, a year or so went by and i had to ask the guy where are my meterorites. he did produce them, after a time, so it seemed he wanted to keep them. i guess a few are missing, but i still have them. i still need a positive ID.

[@merryhunt9153]

Thanks for an interesting film There is a meteorite museum in Odessa TX which has a slice of a spectacular pallasite meteorite.

[@mainerockflour3462]

Bravo! Well done!

[@lurchie]

Excellent documentary about my home state!

[@pmae9010]

Well told, thank you.

[@williamogilvie6909]

I worked at a NASA research center for several years. In the lobby of one building there is a display case filled with several meteorite specimens, with accompanying descriptive labels. I always would linger there whenever I was in that building.

[@davidearlagoura]

WELL DONE!!!! Very well made video!

[@j-max]

As a native Oregonian, I remember visiting Oregon Museum of Science and Industry on a grade school field trip. They had the Willamette Meteorite on display…(or perhaps it was a well made replica), but I recall thinking how incredible it seemed, absolutely huge and shiny black!

[@cadmanchannel]

Thank you for an interesting story!

[@YouTubeallowedmynametobestolen]

Well done, sir.

[@everybodysayparty]

Great way to start my morning!

[@stevenverhaegen8729]

That was nail-biting suspens... 😮😊

[@M.Campbell]

Excellent video. Thanks!

[@stewartmackay]

This was excellent, thank you.

[@genebohannon8820]

"You can watch a thief, but you just can't trust a liar. ". Irene Brown. She was my grandmother

[@VanessaScrillions]

Wow!! I live in Brookings, about an hour or so south of port Orford!!

[@billolsen4360]

A meteorite fell in my Grandma's garden in Portland, OR. She GAVE IT AWAY to the local college museum, not realizing that it was valuable.

[@Jeff-jg7jh]

Three trips from the east cost to the west coast in 1850. That's tough. If meteorite was sticking five ft. out of the ground it wasn't a meteorite. Even a "little" meteor @ 10 tons would have blown a big hole in the ground, saying it could somehow stayed intact during the decent. They worked with what they knew back in those days and they were abundantly short of knowledge (a little joke). I knew this before I saw the end of the vid. Great, well researched history. Good job. Of course, that doesn't mean a meteor has never exploded over the region. Get out there and look. Now there IS a big meteor in the NW but it got moved by a glacier there a few million yrs. ago. That's what I heard.

[@adamr149]

Thanks! Another fascinating story.

[@251omega]

So, all those sacks of letters were good for two things. They were used to prove that Santa Claus was real, and later, to help solve the Oregon Meteorite mystery. ---> Wow! I didn't know that Evan's maps and personal letters were stored in the same warehouse that stored the ARK of the COVENANT! (I Never stopped learning things!) ---> [Miracle on 34th Street - Raiders of the LOST ARK - Two or three more scenes from movies that I didn't recognize. Did anyone else recognize any of them?]

[@mikemcintosh9933]

Whether you are looking for bigfoot, a meteorite, or chasing any other myth, the mountains of the northwest a re a wonderful place to spend time.

[@karlaverbeck9413]

As a school kid, we were taken to see the Oregon meteorite. I remember touching it .

[@mewintle]

That was awesome!

[@DrWondertainment821]

I didn't even know we had a meteorite mystery.

[@dyson9422]

The amazing coincidence is that Nickel Mountain (Hanna Nickle Mine) near Riddle, Oregon is so close.

[@clintongryke6887]

Very interesting.

[@Lisargarza]

Lovely story. I would change final line to “If history has proven anything, it’s that there a sucker born every minute,” lol.

[@MichelleZoske]

I love Oregon and live in the tillamok forest . giants and elephant and large worm like beasts... Oh my

[@michaelhart7569]

Nice detective story.

[@markharder3676]

What did Evans write about his transit of Panama in his diary? His account might support or refute the hypothesis that he acquired the Imilac in Panama.

[@jamesboykin7319]

Well Evans darn near made it to the Willamette meteor in Independence.

[@bardmadsen6956]

Now that is a meteorite! I have a scant hypothesis from reading tons of mythology and comparing what it would sound like flying through the air to a cuckoo birds' herald... The call of that type of bird is noted in legends of scattered parts of the world. Along with sky shaking booms in the blue sky, the vast majority wrongly conclude it is from lightning instead of superbolide. The Willamette uniqueness makes one wonder what the missing part was made of and how the progenitor was formed...

[@Lou.B]

Excellent!!!

[@clayz1]

It seams fishy that he could claim that the Oregon sample is a piece of a really big intact meteorite, simply because they have a tendency to fragment, or even explode into thousands of little pieces.

[@dennismckown4951]

if Evans kept going over budget, how come the government kept funding his expeditions? was he the only suveyor?

[@batguano7174]

fascinating stuff

[@ResortDog]

It is. A dead gold miner told me it is dead center under a logging road and when you see where, see how it blasted a furrow into it locally. They were trying to grade the road and broke the grader essentially, then tried to drill to blast. It broke the drills without penetrating, so they over filled and went on. The land owner/logger? did not tell his son where it was exactly and Fred died of kidney cancer.

[@kurtbilinski1723]

Given that they scientifically proved it's part of the same rock from South America, your dead gold miner was then describing an entirely different one, with an equally vague story. Or just pulling your leg.

[@ResortDog]

@@kurtbilinski1723 The actual sighted meteorite wasn't found back then. They thought it was this one thinking back at what happened with the road and drilling it to blast it out and being unable to put a drill hole in it, unlike any rocks we normally drive over. He might have been lying. I can tell you for a fact the stage coach robbery in Keno Oregon treasure went with the shot gun guard to Argentina with his family a couple years later. Its a road thats still used, un paved. Get a jeep equipped with a metal detector & start driving. There are a few lost gold mines out there too.

[@jaredsimpson1323]

So wrong u are,there is and has been a nasty little monster called the Smithsonian. I grew up in oregon. The area in question.. is still very much being searched for. Without any bother from locals due to $ and intimidation.

[@ResortDog]

@@jaredsimpson1323 There is a meteorite that was not found yet. Its not on private land.

[@petergambier]

Thanks for posting up this interesting story which, as you discovered, was really a decades old lie. Also, I was hoping, that with a name like Plotkin, he had succeeded in finding this illusive pallacite, but then it wouldn't have been a mystery anymore.

[@alankjosness2093]

I initially thought this was to be a tale about the Willamette meteorite and became nervous when the "Willamette" didn't enter the story. When l finally realized that this tale was likely about one 19th Century man's scam. Given that, I wonder why Dibble chose not to bring a truly remarkable alien and its ride aboard a chunk of ice to a field near West Lynn. That Tomanowos (as the Clackamas Chinook christened the stone) was ignored in this story is bound to create confusion.

[@mirozen_]

Just fyi... The western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad is Tacoma, WA and not Seattle, WA. 😉

[@bryandraughn9830]

I would think that some other nice specimens would have been found simply because so many people were looking in the area. I found lots of them but I was in the Arizona desert where they really stand out.

[@electricitysucks5]

Thank you, very well done.

[@JamminOTR]

As someone who studied geology in the pnw this was a lot of fun. I've heard parts of the story but nothing as well laid out as what you've done. Thanks!

[@marksprague1280]

I was raised in the area and have heard the stories since childhood, including variations on the tale of it being buried under a road. When I was a kid, one of the locals pulled a prank of standing above a road at night, and when a car came down the road firing a flare which went high over the car and fell into a field below the road. This triggered a report of a fallen meteorite, which escalated to a search of that field by a university professor and students.

[@CRneu]

Your videos deserve 10x the views. The effort/quality does not reflect the view count and it's sad. These are amazing videos! Good job Peter! I appreciate it

[@morkovija]

Share among your friends. Do your part

[@brentsmith7021]

As a 5th generation native of Coos County and having been in the Iron Mt/Powers Ranch region from time to time, I found this episode extremely interesting... and here I thought i was fascinated enough about Portlands freeway infrastructure you documented. Truly incredible work and I enjoy your episodes immensely.

[@mikehuesser1058]

My Mom's former house on Patricia Dr. in Gladstone has a rock protruding out of a south facing hillside which is etched with a depiction of a meteor and several lines trailing from it falling from the sky. It's been over 30 years since Mom sold the house but I remember it well because the older neighbor told me the Oregon Historical Society had been there previously and said it was common for the young indigenous warriors to record events of their "spirit walks" as a right of passage. This young man depiction was his memory of the Willamette Meteorite in my opinion. It was overgrown when I found it clearing brush from the front of the property. The house has an extremely steep driveway shaped like a horse shoe ( drive up one side and down the other side) and the rock is right in the middle. I would like to see it again someday.

[@superfreakmorris4251]

That's cool that u even got to see it you know !!!

[@conniemcgee8547]

That is so amazing 😊

[@S.E.C-R]

This sounds cool… I’m 12 miles from Gladstone. I should take a quick drive up there to see if it’s visible!

[@fairwitness7473]

If it's a pictograph, it needs to be preserved. Someone should call the state university archeology department so they can document it.

[@kellysuggmcd]

@@nancid5265 Thanks! Do you have pictures?

[@benmcreynolds8581]

At first I heard *Bald mountain, and I live in Corvallis Oregon my entire life. There's Bald hill here right by the coastal range area (ish) and I was like (it would be crazy if it was there?) This is so well made I LOVE this video! Thanks for making great content about my home state that holds such amazing things that are not if ever covered or documented in modern form. I appreciate your work a ton. *I have always wondered if a nifty little video could be made covering the history about the little mining camps of quartzville and Bohemia Mountain. Then Clear Lake , the Blue Pool, fish lake, lost lake (that yearly drains itself through a geological hole in the volcanic sedimentary layers under a certain region of the lake which refills each year. Then clear lake and the blue pool are both fed by underground aquifers. Ancient trees are perfectly preserved in clear lake due to the water composition and temperature. Man the Natural World is just so awesome.

[@AidanKedzierski]

Your videos are absolutely fascinating. Your channel came up in my recommended feed a few months ago and I'm so glad it did. Your production level is so good and I'm neither a historian nor from the Pacific Northwest and I just end up engrossed. A channel focused on the history of a region's landscape is a niche that so few explore and yet you find such amazing topics and discuss them so thoroughly and with such depth. I could truly see your videos as a multi-episode docuseries on a streaming service. They're just that well done. I'm passing this video link onto my friends in the hopes of spreading the word about your channel just a little bit. You deserve all the views you get and more.

[@peterdibble]

Wow, thanks so much for the kind feedback! 😊

[@DramaMustRemainOnTheStage]

❤

[@dboconnor57]

You hit this one out of the park. I was drawn in and held throughout. I love a good mystery, and this was fascinating, and fun! Well done Mr. Dibble!

[@bos2pdx2yvr]

Wow! I lived in Oregon for 18 years and never heard of this mystery. Thanks for this excellent documentary about it! I always enjoy your videos and look forward to seeing more of them. You cover a great variety of topics that make me homesick for the Rose City and the Beaver State. Thank you!

[@tylers6709]

Gosh, you do an amazing job making a subject that is not exactly interesting to me become very interesting! I hope you keep up the great work and keep teaching us all.

[@jeffbuckles]

I was literally just today thinking "I hope he's still making videos." And here we are! I've been in Oregon since the late 70's and didn't know about this. Not only well-researched as many have said, but assembled into a story arc that remains engaging throughout and delivers a satisfying conclusion.

[@axiomist4488]

What does LITERALLY mean ???? Please explain .

[@l.l.2463]

As a native Oregonian I thoroughly enjoyed this. Thank you so much!

[@bixanorak]

Rivetting beyond description! Masterful summary of carefully gathered pieces of data. Congratuations - I'm now off to watch your other documentaries! 😊

[@goodmaro]

Hilarious use of stock footage! A great detective story told by a great documentarian.

[@marilynfranks8995]

Evans, you sir, were a miscreant! lol I like the footage of the cowboys and cowgirls dancing near the end. Made me laugh after all that serious fact finding. What a great historical video. Your production skills are top notch!

[@vernowen2083]

I myself, am from the Pacific Northwest and had never heard of the meteorite. When younger I would go to Native reservations and seek out elders to discuss the past. This led me on some interesting and often dangerous hikes into the mountains. I've never shared the places I found as a result of these discussions, for fear they would be desecrated by fortune hunters. I never betrayed the trust offered to me by those I had spoken with and to this day, they and myself are the only ones who know of these places.

[@allinaday9882]

Yet, your anonymity is lost?

[@thomasesteb9589]

Yeah sure

[@altond511]

From the title of this story, I thought you were going to tell the story of the meteorite from Oregon in the New York museum at the Teddy Roosevelt park. I first saw a picture of this meteorite in a book that i acquired in about 1945 but obviously that wasn`t it. This is a 16 ton meteorite which I finally got to see a few years ago.

[@emigdiogreen7439]

Yes More Oregon/PNW Content!!

[@kevinbyrne4538]

Good story with a surprise ending. Thank you for producing and posting this video.

[@georgewaters6424]

Good work. Really enjoyed your content and style.

[@MendTheWorld]

Great video. As someone deeply interested in the scientific process as a pathway to reliable knowledge about the world, and as a geologist myself, I found several aspects of this story particularly compelling: 1) Science works so well in part because it is self-correcting. When there is evidence that is incoherent with _other_ evidence-based understanding about the world, it’s an indication that the one or the other is probably incorrect. 2) All scientific beliefs are based on: a) underlying evidence and b) a plausible narrative that ties together all the available evidence (rated according to reliability). This process-described as abductive reasoning, or “inference to the best explanation”-is particularly relied upon in geology, where scientific conclusions typically cannot be definitively tested or proved by controlled experiments, but can only be inferred, based on available evidence. This sort of reasoning process is quite similar to what is used in criminal forensic investigations. Was there a motive? Was there the means? And was there the opportunity? All three questions were answered here. Of course, the meteorite may still be out there, but the narrative reached at the end seems very compelling! Bravo! Well done. In the present case

[@zen4men]

"Science works so well in part because it is self-correcting" But blind over C_o_V_i_D !!!!!!

[@scottprather5645]

Thank you for the very good and professionally done video...and no overdone irritating sound effects in the background thank you again for that!!

[@Tser]

Another amazing PNW documentary! I love them! Thank you.

[@EfficientRVer]

Well done. Finding that it was a fraud, saved me a side trip from other adventures and searches I have planned for this year when I go out west! At some points in this video, I was ready to take a crack at it, hahaha.

[@allenra530]

There were quite a number of "scientists" in the years before 1900 who brought "amazing discoveries" to a credulous public in the cities of Europe and eastern North America. Many of them gained government support for their "research" even though they were little more than scams. Although I spent some time in Port Orford, where an aunt and uncle lived, I had never heard of this story. Thank you for making the documentary

[@MagnificentlyHighAlien]

You'd also think that a 5 foot, 10-11 ton meteorite would leave a crater, and not just stick out of a mountainside.

[@halweilbrenner9926]

Good point

[@S.E.C-R]

I love this story… it’s crazy to me that one guy managed to keep this going for over 100 years! I bet there are still people out there looking for it though, hoax or no hoax, because that’s just how some people are!

[@TheTarrMan]

A $11,074 debt in 1858 would be a $394,742 debt today. (... in 2022) Edit : I have no idea how I would pay that off.

[@danielcarroll5667]

A very fascinating story that you turned into an equally fascinating video ! Thanks !