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Step
outside the museum and look to the left. This is a copy of the
Willamette Meteorite. The object is called a meteorite
only after it has landed on Earth. While the object is still
in space, it is called a meteoroid. When the object reaches the
atmosphere, it is called a meteor.
In 1902, Ellis Hughes found and claimed the meteorite from the
property of the Oregon Iron and Steel Company outside Oregon City.
Hughes and his family built a road and dragged the 15-ton meteorite
to their home less than a mile away. They charged the public 25
cents to see the famous rock from outer space. Since it was assumed
that the meteorite landed on the property of the Oregon Iron and
Steel Company, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled the company had
the rights to the meteorite. Because there was no crater indicated,
experts later suggested that the meteorite could have been moved
to the area by a large flood, possibly washed down from Washington
or Montana. The rock was moved up the Willamette River for the
Lewis and Clark Exposition. Finally, the largest meteorite found
in the United States was sold and donated to the Museum of Natural
History in New York City where it is still on display.
Native people of the Willamette Valley named and used the meteorite
for ceremonies long before Hughs claimed the space rock for himself.
There are currently tribes in Oregon that are making an effort
to bring the meteorite back to its state of origin.
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