Huh, It’s Not Really Called the Columbia Basin

No matter how long you've been here, you know this area as the Columbia Basin. Plenty of businesses are named "Columbia Basin ___." There's a college here that goes by Columbia Basin College. But what if I told you, it's not really called the Columbia Basin?

If you were to look up the region on Wikipedia, this area is actually called the Columbia Plateau. It's called this because it's a flood basalt plateau. To oversimply it, the region was crafted by lava. In fact, the lava pushed the Columbia River on the course it's on now. The Columbia Plateau also includes Yakima and Spokane.

Anyways, there you go. I was very surprised when I read this. It's been a hot minute since I've sat in a history class. Maybe I should enroll in some classes at Columbia Plateau College.