Rattlesnake Mountain, Benton County, Washington
| Rattlesnake Mountain | |
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The view of Rattlesnake Mountain from the Horn Rapids Golf Course in Richland.
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 3,527 ft (1,075 m) |
| Prominence | 760 ft (230 m) |
| Isolation | 10.26 mi (16.51 km) |
| Coordinates | 46°24′20″N 119°36′38″W / 46.40556°N 119.61056°W |
| Geography | |
 Rattlesnake Mountain
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| Topo map | USGS Iowa Flats |
Rattlesnake Mountain (Native American name Lalíik meaning "land above the water") is a 3,527 ft (1,060 m) windswept treeless sub-alpine ridge overlooking the Hanford nuclear site. Parts of the western slope are privately owned ranchland, while the eastern slope is under the federal protection of the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve, a unit of the Hanford Reach National Monument, managed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Rattlesnake Mountain is often described as the tallest treeless mountain in the world, but this claim appears to be without foundation. The highest winds recorded on Rattlesnake were around 150 mph (241 kilometers per hour).
The Yakama Nation referred to Rattlesnake Mountain as Lalíik, meaning "land above the water". Some historians speculate that the origin of the name Lalíik refers to the inundation of the Columbia River Plateau during the Missoula Floods, as Rattlesnake would have been one of the few mountains not completely inundated by flood waters reaching depths of 1200 ft (366 m). Geologists have found glacial erratics on Rattlesnake at heights up to this level. However, there is scant evidence placing human settlements in the area at the time of the floods, 12 to 13 thousand years ago. Lalíik is held sacred by native peoples of the Columbia Plateau, including the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Wanapum, Cayuse, Walla Walla, and Yakama, and remains a spiritual epicenter to this day.
In 1943, Rattlesnake Mountain was seized by the United States government under eminent domain and became a buffer zone for the nuclear project at the Hanford site. In 1956, US Army installed a Nike Ajax missile base on the southeastern end of the ridge and maintained it until 1960, when it was closed.
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