> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.cascadepbs.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# The Deadly Mouth of the Columbia
- URL: https://www.cascadepbs.org/podcasts/mossback/2025/03/the-deadly-mouth-of-the-columbia/
- Published: 2025-03-19T11:55:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-10-07T09:01:23.000Z
- Description: The tumultuous mouth of the Columbia River, near Astoria, Oregon, is beautiful but deadly. Thousands of ships have capsized and wrecked on its shores over the centuries.
- Author: Knute Berger
- Tags: Mossback, #podcast, #dovetail_a916617c-2cc4-416b-9488-cd66e5f9b5ea

The tumultuous mouth of the Columbia River, near Astoria, Oregon, is beautiful but deadly. Thousands of ships have capsized and wrecked on its shores over the centuries. 

That’s earned it the menacing nickname “Graveyard of the Pacific,” although that’s not the only gloomy moniker in the region. 

Cascade PBS’s resident historian Knute Berger explored some of this history in a [recent episode](https://www.cascadepbs.org/mossback/2024/11/mossbacks-northwest-graveyard-pacific) of the *Mossback’s Northwest* video series, but there are more stories left to tell. 

In this episode of *Mossback*, Berger joins co-host Stephen Hegg to discuss the early explorers who coined so many of the area’s depressing names, from Cape Disappointment to Dismal Nitch; the natural forces that make the river's mouth so treacherous; some of the area’s most famous shipwrecks; and the deadliest tragedy to ever occur here and its uncanny parallel to Berger’s own family history. Plus, Berger shares his adventures from scouting and shooting the video for *Mossback’s Northwest*, including breathless hikes, sandy mishaps and barking sea lions. 

*For more on all things Mossback, visit [CascadePBS.org](https://www.cascadepbs.org/mossback)* *. To reach Knute Berger directly, drop him a line at [knute.berger@cascadepbs.org](mailto:knute.berger@cascadepbs.org).* *And if you’d like an exclusive weekly newsletter from Knute, where he offers greater insight into his latest historical discoveries,* [*become a Cascade PBS member*](https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/134265/donate/1?ref=cascadepbs.org) *today.*

*\---*

Credits

Hosts: [Stephen Hegg](https://crosscut.com/author/stephen-hegg?ref=cascadepbs.org), [Knute Berger](https://crosscut.com/author/knute-berger?ref=cascadepbs.org)

Producer: [Sara Bernard](https://crosscut.com/author/sara-bernard?ref=cascadepbs.org) 

Story editor: [Sarah Menzies](https://crosscut.com/author/sarah-menzies?ref=cascadepbs.org)