High on a barren, windswept bluff overlooking the majestic Columbia River Gorge in southern Washington State sits a strange concrete structure of pillars and columns encircling a large stone slab alter. Most motorists speeding along the interstate highway which hugs the great river below do not even know it is there, and only those who are actively looking for it can pick it out from among the other rocky outcroppings and cliffs. In the summer it is blistering hot and brush fires frequently sweep through the area. In the winter the bitter wind is funnelled up the steep gorge, howling fiercely and driving rain and ice sideways before it.

This is the Maryhill Stonehenge.

Commissioned in the early 20^th century by eccentric businessman Sam Hill, it was the first US memorial dedicated to soldiers who fought and died in WWI. Mr. Hill, a Quaker, believed that the original Stonehenge in Wiltshire had been used by the Druids as a sacrificial site and he wanted his replica to be a reminder that mankind is still being sacrificed to the gods of war. Inscribed with the names of those men who served and died in the war are these words: Continue reading →