It was a 225-foot mound of black basalt on the north bank of the Columbia River, three miles downstream from the mouth of the Cowlitz River. This rock had long been a landmark to the Indians of the area, and was noticed by the American and British explorers who first traveled the river.
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Broughton apparently chose Mount Coffin as the name for the stone hill after observing that the rock was used as a burial ground by the local Indians. The top and slopes were nearly covered with canoe-caskets and blanketed remains of the deceased placed different levels on the rock according to their caste in life.
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In 1908, Mr. Bush sold Coffin Rock to Star Sand and Gravel Company of Portland. The gravel company soon installed a rock-crusher and began a methodical conversion of the rock into rip-rap material for dikes and jetties, and into crushed rock for roadways and foundations.
By 1952, Coffin Rock had been reduced to the level of the surrounding land. At that time Weyerhaeuser bought the property on which the famous landmark once stood. The site became occupied by the company’s Longview Chemical Plant. Again, the land had been raped and robbed of one of its sacred places.