For decades, geologist J Harlen Bretz was ridiculed for arguing that a catastrophic Ice Age flood had carved much of the Pacific Northwest. In the 1970s, satellite imagery helped confirm the massive flood scars he had identified. At age 96, Bretz received geology’s highest honor and joked, “All my enemies are dead.” J. Harlen Bretz endured decades of ridicule after proposing in the 1920s that a catastrophic Ice Age flood had carved the Channeled Scablands of the Pacific Northwest. The geological establishment largely rejected his idea, favoring gradualism and the belief that landscapes were shaped primarily by slow erosion over immense periods of time. Bretz’s theory gained acceptance decades later as aerial photography and satellite imagery revealed enormous ripple-like features across the landscape that were difficult to appreciate from the ground. The evidence supported his argument that Glacial Lake Missoula had repeatedly burst through its ice dam, sending enormous floods across the region and reshaping it in a matter of days. At 96, Bretz finally received the Penrose Medal, geology’s highest honor, and reportedly joked to his son, “All my enemies are dead.”(Historic Vids)