Mossback
The Deadliest Avalanches in North America
Back-to-back disasters in Washington and B.C. killed more than 150 people in 1910. Knute Berger digs into the traumatic
Knute Berger
Knute “Mossback” Berger is an editor-at-large and host of "Mossback’s Northwest" at Cascade PBS. He writes about politics and regional heritage.
Latest work
Mossback
Mossback’s Northwest: How avalanches changed PNW train travel
In 1910, twin tragedies eroded trust in the railway system and over a century later stand as the most fatal ever in Washington and British Columbia.
Culture
Mossback’s Northwest: The Black pioneer who launched the Puget Sound settlement
Escaping a racist Oregon law, a man named George Bush became one of Washington’s most important homesteaders.
Mossback
Mossback’s Northwest: The Black migration from California to B.C.
Not finding the equality — or gold — they sought in the West, Black Americans left the ‘free’ state in 1858 for refuge in Victoria.
Indigenous Affairs
Tokitae’s death surfaced orcas’ complicated history in the PNW
The death of the whale at a Miami amusement park just before her planned release highlighted the species’ fraught relationship with humans.