Case file · Sacred site
Tsagaglal, She Who Watches
High on a basalt cliff above the Columbia River, at Columbia Hills Historical State Park, the painted and carved face of Tsagaglal, 'She Who Watches', looks out over the old village sites of the Wishram (Wasco) people.
1700 CE · 45.65, -121.10 · status: legend
The account
In one Wishram story she was a chief who was told by Coyote that the world was changing and that women would no longer be chiefs; he turned her to stone so she could keep watch over her people. The image is generally dated to the last few centuries before contact (the year here is approximate). Since vandalism in 1993 it can be seen only on guided tours.
The sceptical view
Versions of the story differ, and some archaeologists link the image to burials nearby; the year is an estimate, not a record.