Mossback
Racism, History and the Great Outdoors
A few seasons ago, the Mossback’s Northwest video series profiled Catherine Montgomery, an early 20th-century wilderness advocate who has been dubbed “the Mother of the Pacific Crest Trail.”
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
The People of the Columbia River
In 1996, some of the oldest human remains ever found in North America were discovered along the banks of the Columbia River, ultimately illuminating Indigenous presence in the region since time immemorial.
Mossback
How Horseless Carriages Took Off
At the turn of the 20th century, almost no one had a car in Seattle. There weren’t traffic laws or paved roads, and at first, only the wealthiest people could own these “horseless carriages.”
Mossback
The Forces That Carved the Columbia
The Columbia River has been carved up by more than a dozen dams over the past century. But it’s the colossal floods and lava flows from millions of years ago that truly set it on its winding path.
Mossback
A history of vaccine skepticism, from 1920s Seattle to RFK Jr.
Current debates over Trump’s controversial DHHS nominee echo the Pacific Northwest’s reputation a century ago as a bastion of “alternative medicine.”