Content deleted Content added
edited caption to photograph |
Repairing links to disambiguation pages - You can help! |
||
Line 3:
'''Joseph Canyon''' (Nez Perce: '''an-an-a-soc-um''', meaning "long, rough canyon"<ref>{{cite web|last=Sambur | first=Jeff | title=On the Trail of the Nez Perce:Searching for the Promised Land|work=Native Peoples Magazine|url=http://www.nativepeoples.com/article/articles/238/1/On-the-Trail-of-the-Nez-Perce/Page1.html|date=1 January 2007|accessdate=2008-03-17}}</ref>) is a {{convert|2000|ft|m|adj=on}} deep [[basalt]] [[canyon]] in northern [[Wallowa County]], [[Oregon]], and southern [[Asotin County]], [[Washington]], [[United States]]. It contains '''Joseph Creek''', a tributary of the [[Grande Ronde River]], which flows into the [[Snake River]] and then into the [[Columbia River|Columbia]]. The geology is typical of the [[Columbia River Plateau]], formed by the [[Columbia River Basalt Group]], and the exposed canyon walls provide a striking view of [[flood basalt|flood basalt flows]] and [[Dike (geology)|dikes]]. The canyon floor contains [[sediment]]s deposited by the [[Missoula Floods]].<ref name="reidel">{{cite journal | last = Reidel | first = Stephen P. | coauthors = P. R. Hooper and S.M. Price | title = Columbia River Basalt Group, Joseph and Grande Ronde canyons, Washington | journal = Centennial Field Guide Volume 1: Cordilleran Section of the Geological Society of America | pages = 351–356| date = 1987 | url = http://www.gsajournals.org/archive/0-8137-5401-1/1/0/pdf/i0-8137-5401-1-1-0-351.pdf | accessdate = 2008-03-17}}</ref>
The canyon was named after [[Chief Joseph]] of the [[Nez Perce (tribe)|Nez Perce]], who is traditionally thought to have been born in a cave on the east bank of Joseph Creek in Asotin County.<ref>National Park Service, [http://www.nps.gov/nepe/planyourvisit/nez-perce-national-historical-park-sites.htm Nez Perce National Historic Park Sites]. Accessed 17 March 2008.</ref><ref name="reidel"/> Prior to European settlement, the Nez Perce used the canyon bottomlands as a travel corridor from summer camp sites in the [[Wallowa Valley]] to winter camp sites along the Grande Ronde and Snake Rivers. [[Elk]], [[bighorn sheep]], and [[mule deer]] were plentiful, as well as native plant foods associated with [[bunchgrass]] habitat.<ref name="nezperce">Nez Tribe Wildlife Program, [http://www.nezperce.org/Wolf/Draft_Plan_11'05'02.pdf Precious Lands Wildlife Area Draft Management Plan], November 2002. Accessed 17 March 2008.</ref> In later centuries, the Nez Perce grazed [[horse]]s on the canyon [[grasslands]]. Beginning in the late 1800s, pioneer settlers [[homestead]]ed in the area, grazing [[sheep]] and [[cattle]] and planting fruit [[orchard]]s. However, the rocky terrain prohibited extensive agricultural production.<ref name="nezperce"/>
The '''Joseph Canyon Viewpoint''', at a highway pullout along [[Oregon Route 3]], is one of 38 sites that form the [[Nez Perce National Historical Park]]. The viewpoint is located approximately {{convert|30|mi|km}} north of [[Enterprise, Oregon]] and {{convert|11|mi|km}} south of the Washington border, in the [[Wallowa-Whitman National Forest]].<ref>U.S. Forest Service, [http://www.fs.fed.us/npnht/tour/josephcanyon.shtml Nez Perce National Historic Trail: Joseph Canyon Viewpoint]. Accessed 17 March 2008.</ref> The canyon itself is private land and is used for [[ranching]], [[hunting]], and some grain crops.<ref name="reidel"/><ref name="nezperce"/>
| |||