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1937 Grand Coulee and neighboring geological wonders Otis W. Freeman

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Grand Coulee and neighboring geological wonders ·i GRAND COULEE \

and

EIGHBORING GEOLOGICAL WONDERS

by

OTIS W FREEMAN

• 1, ' ' l.--..j I.

Price 25c ,l. GRAND COULEE C'OPYnIGJTT, lfl~i, BY OTT8 "·· FREE~f.\X and

Neighboring Geological Wonders ,.. by OTIS W . FREEMAN, Head Department of Physical Sci ce E astern Washington College of Educaticn, C ney,

CONTENTS Page The Geological Background ...... 1 Some Characteristics of Basnlt Lant ...... 4 J?ro-F.i.i!--toric J>Ia n 1 Life ------·-··----·····-·······------·----·------······· ...... 5 Glacial Geology in Eastern "'ashington ...... 7 The Rcal,lands ...... -...... 8 Glacinl Effects at Grauel Coulee ...... 9 Other Glacial Drainage Changes ...... 11 • Geologic Origin cf the Grand Coulee ...... 11 Upper Grand Coulee ...... 12 Stemnbont Rock ...... 12 Dry }'nll, ...... 13 Lo"·er Grnnd Coulee ...... 14 Quinr:v Basin ------·······················-···········------····························----.. ·-····-----··-·---·····-··-····· 15 Holr·i 11 -t h e·G round ...... 15 The Geologic 8to1:· of Lake CIH·lan ...... 17 'J'hc G rn n ·1 Coulee Project ...... 18 Grnntl (,n1lee Dam ...... 19 Granrl Coulee Pon-er ...... -...... -... - ...... ~O C'olumhid Basin Irrigation Projert ...... 20

The Geological Background Tl1e story of the origin of the scenic waves carried awav, sorted and cle­ features of eastern \Vashington ranks rosited the debris. · Great thicknesses high among the geologic dramas of of sediments accumulated in ancient the world. IIeavings and tremblings seas in northern ancl eastern \ Vashing­ I of l\f other Earth, intrusions and out­ ton. \'olcanic actiYitv added other rock , 1,o urings of molten rock, erosion and types. Finally the ~rea was upli ftcd deposition by wind and running water. hv intense internal earth movements changes of climate from sub-tropical a;1cl high mountains replaced th( nrean to hitter rnld and from heavy rainfall i1· eastern \\'ashington. The resulting to semi-desert thick sheets of glacial l;•nd. for lack of a hettn name, may ice and tremendous floods of water, Le callecl the Spokane Tslancl, . 111n th·c ali have united to form, shape or af­ ;irea near tfi?it c1{y ancl in northern f.:ct the surface and bed rock of the Tdaho, and northwestern }-fontana has Columhi,1 Plateau and adjoining apparently remained 1. ml ,inn· the mountains. ancient eras dcsrrihecl. callul hy gl'nlo­ 1 he development of the area began i:,is ts, :\rcheozoic (primitive Ii k) ancl in the hazy geologic past, yrohaElY l'ro1 trozo1c ormcr TiTc 1 many hundreds of millions M vears unng the next era, the l'akmmc '°ii:t!'o . Fven in that remote lune chai1g­ (;i,m~i_ent life) aclclitional se1linwnts. FIGURE 1. GRAND COULEE DAM Published by the Author at Cheney, Washington. ii'1g weathrr conditions, chemi cals in like lime. tone!s. shalt• and sand,tnnt, the air and other agents broke up the were clepositl'cl in arms of the st•a that rc,cks dter which the wind, rivers and rowred part of thr nkanngan I Ii •h- -1- lands north of the Columbia Plateau .\lontana clear to •..\laska. The molten were a lo\dand containing lakes and forming several upiulds or anticlines, and some areas in the northern Cas­ rock cooled slowlv, since it existed in the deltas of ri\·ers. The climate "·as among them the Blue ;,fountains, cade Mountains. Again earth upheav­ enormous mas e~, called batholiths. mild and humid. \ · egetation fl our­ Dadger }Iountains, Saddle ;,fountains. als crushed and mashed together the The elements forming the molten i~hed, including varieties of palm Frenchman Hills, etc. il<' diments, changing some of them by n.agma had time to combine together whose fossils exist near Ble\\·ett Pass . \s the la\·a flows ad rnnced over i11tense heat and pressure into harder ,.nd crystallize, producing a sugary in the \\·enatchee Range. The vegeta­ 11,e hill\- surface that existed preced­ types of rocks, called metamomb.ic appearing or coarsely crystalline rock tion that collected in S\rnmpy places ing the· period of vukanism, the ba­ rocks ..Thu s limest n became marble, called g ranite. 1Ietals that were orig·­ wa presen·ed against decay and later salt first filled the valleys . \s flow sandtone dhangdd ~a~t zi_!.e, s le inally widely disseminated throughout was consolidated to form the coal in f,,llo\\·ed flo\v finally mo 't of the hill, t o s ate an san y muds ~ to the molten magma were collected by I"'ittitas County and other places. \':ere buried. only the hicrhe t ummits ::i. rgtlitte. Some volcanic activitv ac­ hot solutions underground and depos­ Then in the ;,Iiocene period of the remaining above the once molten ea. ccimpanied the earth movement '. The ited in cracks that resulted from the Cenozoic ( recent life) era came an One such hill oi hard quartzite that rn uun tains resulting from the earth cooling and contraction of the gran­ astonishing change. For hundreds. 1rns surrounded Ill· lava but never fo rces were later reduced in height ite. Such fillings formed numerous perhaps thousands, of centuries the rove red by such 1{ia terial is Steptoe hy erosion. l\1uch of the bedrock in veins of gold, copper, lead. zinc and a,ea that now forms the Columbia Dutte. a landmark in \\ .hitman Coun­ the Okanogan Highlands was formed other metals in the mountains of Plateau became the site of the 0 -reatest ty. The geologist. lsrael C. Russell, during this time. r.orthern \Vashington. ) c,utpourings of lava on the continent. suggested that similar hills elsewhere Du ring the Jurassic period of the Next followed a long period of ero­ Only the Deccan Plateau in India and l,e called steptoes and the term has 1fesozo1c (middle life), the next geo­ sion and eastern \Vashingto:1 "·as ·re­ I he plateau of southeastern Brazil I een adopted by geologist . The hills lagic era, vast quanJ:ities of molten duced to a hilly area in which the compare 1\·ith the Columbia Plateau near ;,[edical LakP, easih· visible from rock intruded the strata underground higher elevations were composed of in area and depth of lava. Fullv 100,- the Sunset Highway, a;1d other hills forming mountains from central the resistant rock types like quartzite 000 square miles in eastern \\"ashing­ 1.car Four Lakes on the Columbia Y\l ashi ngton and Idaho and western ar:d g ranite .. The southern Cascades t0n and Oregon, southern Idahq_ancl Basin Ilighwav are stcptoes. Kamiak norffiern ::'\ e1·ada and Cali form a were Butte near Pullman is another steptoe. .,. overn·helrned ll\· the floods of molten In Grand Coulee from 'teamboat ruck .• onlec)f the la;;a flows came Rock to the head of the coulee many I ~om the Cascade ;,fountains. The hills and knobs of granite jut out ).J ount Stuart area contains mam· from the canyon floor. These granite 1 cl:kes of solidified lava that prubabl)· hills were once completely buried by rl'present fil!iPgs of cracks in the the la\·a but the erosion of Grand Cou­ c;:i rth from \\·hich the molten rock lle re-exposed them. The mo,;t promi- P<,zed out. Doubtless long fissures op­ 11t'11t of these hills is l 'innacle Rock, cnccl in parts of the plateau itself out L ailed by some Sugar Loaf. near <11 \\·hich vast thick flowH emerged. Steamboat Rock. I [ a name \1erc de­ Jn \ · 1·ncrton the lava is a dark col­ sired for an old hill of hard rock th:it ! ' • ored rock, called basa t. ll \1·:i,; a rc­ \1·as once buried hy la\'a flows and markabh· fluid rock and in ranrons i:,•1\ has bL'Lll exhumed 1,y L'rn,101 1 , it tC'rtain llmrs ,·an be traced for 1;1iks 111ig-ht appropriately he calicd a '',ug-:ir al'd Sl'Cl11 tn lie alrnu,t flat thl' \1·hule 1, ,ai."' 'l'hr la\·a ilP\\" at the ll!'Pl'r t'll

WASHINGTON 1~;~~J CRAVEL COVERED AREAS CHANNELED SCABLANDS ~ GLACIATED AREAS OF THE ~ GLACIAL LAKE AR E AS COLUMBIA PLATEAU I'/, I PRE SE N T LAKES ON THE sc ,eLANDS O SC ALE IS ---- MIL( 5 ~ :~g ~ :c~~~ 6:!l~;,~~IAL DIV DES CROSSED B

}'IGURE 2. The Channeled Scablan cl s of the Columbia Plateau in Washington, after Bretz. Glacial Lake Nespelem, that overflowed through the Grand Coulee, occuJJ ied the \':\lley of the Co:nmbia River east of tile head of Grand Coulee. FIGURE 3. Steptoe Butte, an "!Bland" landmark of ancient quartzite surrounded by lava but never covered with the basalt flows. -2- 3 about ten degrees into the rock and of Grand Coulee above the mouth of for soil to form and forests to de­ ldwee n Quincy and \\·e·~atchee cast disappears beneath the overlying hori­ X orthrup Canyon shows an excellent velop. Incidentally since the Columbia cJ the mouth of :\Io,e · Coulee. A zontal flows. The contact between t111conformity at the contact of the Basin is now too arid for trees it [,, lassy. greenish-yellow material called rocks of different geological ages is hilly granite surface and the overlying palagonite. fills the spaces between the ) seems obvious that the Cascade :\Ioun­ called an unconformity. The east wall i!at lava flows. ta.ins then were of insufficient eleva- "pillow· " of !a,·a. tion to rob the west ,,·inds of their Hot pools and hot springs natural­ Some Characteristics of Basalt Lava moisture, and that eastern \\"ashing­ ly developed in some areas covered by ' 1 ton enjoyed a humid climate. IIad the The Grand Coulee offers an unex- t~ge Bridge. Some of these columns la Ya. In the hot pools grew certain Cascade i\Iountains never been creat- celled opportunity to study the char- are 10-15 feet in diameter and 100 to plants of low order called diatoms, a ed, the Columbia Plateau would haYc acteristics of lava flows. The edges of 200 feet long. Parking space and shel­ species of algae. The remains of the-e an abundance of rain, and the Colum­ more than a dozen successive flows ter for picnic parties is available here 1•:ants collected in chalky white beds bia Basin Irrigation Project 1rnuld can be counted where sectioned by for those wishing to study the columns oi diatomaceous earth. CoYered by l,e entirely unnecessary. erosion on the canyon walls. Others close at hand. Notice that the road later flo\\'S and now exposed in the "t the base of the cliffs are hidden descends from the Quincy Basin into The surface of the basalt cli fis i · ,ides of can,·ons b, ero ion the diato­ b,· the talus or slide rock that has ,. large natural amphitheater walled often colored bro11·n and greenish­ maceous ea;th outcrops in easily ac­ a~cumulated there. bY the enormous columns. Here in the yellow by a gro,1·th of lichen 11·hich cessible depo its that may sometime While most of the lava flows in Glacial Period some of the glacial melt l.,y some is mistaken for the natural he used for scouring soap. tooth pa te, Grand Coulee lie nearly flat and ap- 1':ater that poured down through the c;lor of the rock. heat insulation, etc. Large deposits l·~a r of about uniform thickness, ex- Grand Coulee into a lake that covered \ \'hen the basalt flowed into water occur southwest of OuincY, in .\dams amples can be found of flows that do the Quincy Basin cascaded down to it cooled suddenly and assumed spher­ Count,·. in Kittitas Count,· and other not lie quite flat and vary in thickness the Columbia River. This dry water- kal shape called pillow lava. At times places: About their vents ·ome ancient spring or other source of water hot springs deposited varicolored oval form flows are visible on the east wall K orthward two other abandoned wa- changed to steam by the hot lava masses of quartz somewhat re em- o f Grand Coulee near Steamboat trrfall sites exist. The first is the caused small explosion craters and 1,ling· the geyseritc of Yellowstone Hock. Potholes Dry Falls about six miles blister cones to develop. Some of these f'ark. Ground \\'ater occasionally de­ One of the characteristic features snuth of the Quincy-vVenatchee High­ are exposed in :\loses Coulee anponds formed by lava darn on the flo\\' and covered b,· hot hut not molt­ where the highway runs close to the ti ,ousands of years, separated succes­ surface of older lava flows. Later en lava, \\'hich keJ)t the \\'OOd from tai,t wall between Coulee City and siYe laYa floll's. The fact that a long these lake beds 11·ere buried under oth­ contact ll'ith the air and pren'nted its the Damsite. The colum'ls cLwlop per- time elapsed between lava flows is er flows of lava. In some places can­ c,,mbu tion. In other cases lava flows r,endirnlar to the surface of a flow. h ;o11·n by the fact that the upper sur- yons cut into the lava rock have ex­ .ippear to have coYcrrd jams of log,­ Tcm·ards the edge or corner of a flow face of some flows shows seYeral feet posed the lake beds. A111011g 1h esc in a none! or ri\'C'r, \\'hirh accounts fo1· the column. may dGvelop in a horizon- 0f soil and it would have required a areas are the so-called Latah beds 11ear ;\ great number of petri ficd logs found ta! position and even curved. \\'here long time for basalt to decay to form Spokane. Some of these are on Latah in limited areas like in the (~inkgo ihc highway rrnss 0 s the upper end of snil .\!so deposits occur of gravel left Creek, others on the sides of Spokane Fore t near \'antage. The lava asso­ Lake Lenore in the loll'C'r Grand Cou- Jiy torrential streams ancl of lake clays Valley, and one easily visited deposit ciated with the 1wt ri firflood of glacial melt water. Scores of picturesque rainy and quite unlike the climate of Ii~ rrl material 11·hen le it unclergrnund. lakes, used for fishing and pleasure resorts, occur in the 3cabland channels. tuday. The Cascades began to be built Fxposure to the air. ho\\'ever. cau~es t:p in the :.[iocene and the process :.Iany nf these logs have no bark and l'ttrified wocd can be dug out of i.he ro·,1inued during the Pliocene du\\'n petrified \YOOd to lose water and be­ 11cre badly battered, before undergo- I ottom of this cav£"\.\nother large ,,:most to the present time. This Cas­ come much harder than the original. ing petrifaction. Xo trees in this for- tcee cast is that in the Ilole-in- rade uplift shut off the rain-bringing J ,1dians were the first discoverers of c-st appear to have been grm1·i11g in the-Ground. 3.5 miles southwest of \1 inds from the Pacific ocean and re­ the fossil fore t near \·antage. They situ whrn overwhrlmed by the laYa. ~r,okane, near the bridge that crosses ,ultecl in progressive lessening of chipped and mined the hardened ends ,\fter logs had been 1;uried under Pock Creek at the bottom of the val- rainfall and greater extremes of tem­ < f outcropping logs making arrnw- grouncl by the lava flows, ground \\'a- l<'y. Other 1burn when ig- studied the wood of petrified logs in nized by the pits where once a log end was picked up and dissolved 1iny hit nited. Yet this charcoal had remained the Ginkgo State Park, for the e tab­ nutcropped with scattered flakes of liv tinv bit, and the less soluble silica under ground for certainly more than :ishment of which he was primarily re- discarded material nearb). ,,:aK cfepositcd in the form of <]Uartz a million vears. in place of the wood. Thus the wood :.[uch ,;n be told about the climate Glacial Geology in Eastern Washington \'.as slowly replaced hy quartz. Petri- of the Inland Empire during the pe- f;uI woocl is wood that has been re- riod of lava extrusion from the fossil Glaciation is the primary cause for imum thicknes in certain nClrth-,outh pl;tcc·cl h\' stone, not wood that has leaves and fossil l\'OOd. :\'early 200 dif- numerous drainage changes in Eastern trending Yalleys. like the Ok. nng-an, { 1,u·n chang<'cl to stone. f, rent species of plants, mostly trees, \\"ashington a11cl the dcl'elopment of Columbia. Col\'illt: and !'end d'()rulle. In sen·ral places standing stumpK hm·e been identified from the fossil j most of the p,rtacular scenic features Tn the Okanogan \ all('y the 1rt' at­ oi [r('('S were buried under the lava l0 a1·cs found. These fossils include ohsen·ed todav. t::incd a thickness of -!{XX) tn ~Ol .\ few hundred thousand year. aQ;o ~ \I hich solidified around th m. In some pinrs, aspen. and other trees now liv- lt extenrlecl across thr tanyon c;,s<·s thC' 1100d was llllrned or later ing in \\'ashington, together \\'ith doz- a profound change of climate causccl nf the Coiumb1a __!3wer north of tht' 0 1 clecay<'Canada. The result­ r;u1vnn 1s 2000 il'l't --;-kt'Jl am! "a~ ing enornwus glacier has been calll'cl wm r,f a rann1n or th 0 ruttini of a r,1 h· in California. r~mpkteh· hlorkl'd by tr· from li,·lti\\' rork cut fnr (ailroacls hi.t.:·hwavs, is 'hie olant fas. ii of the :.fiore1:e the Cormoraine has melting ice caused marginal lakes to that erosion of the scablands ,ms ac­ complished by the yearly melting of land channel six miles Ion~. :\" orth of a horse-shoe shape. The west branch accumulate between the ice front and the continental ice sheet over a time 1he Hok-in-the-Ground is Bonnie 1s on the \\'aterville Plateau looking the top of this divide. Once across the Lake. Ilundreds of lakes, varying in down upon Lake Chelan. The southern C:ivide the slope of the Columbia Pla­ measured in centuries or even thou­ sands of Yearn. The writer favors size from a few hundred fe t to everal face crosses the Sunset Highway and teau descends about 2000 feet in a 111 ore time ·for the erosion than Bretz miles in length, dot the surface of the Moses Coulee west of Coulee City. hundred miles. This caused the fl ood 1,lateau. One of the scablancl chan­ ~he eastern limb runs along the we,;t waters to pour swiftly down across allowed but recognizes that evidence seems to indicate the arrival of an ex­ nels between Cheney and Spangle is 51de of upper Grand Coulee, crosses the face of the sloping plateau towards traordinary volume of water some­ thirteen miles wide. the top of team boat Rock and on the lower Snake and Columbia Rivers. times. This would indicate occasional towards the northeast. The movina These glacial flood waters possessed Glacial Effects at Gra11cl Coulee. ice quarried huge boulders of blac~ g reat erosive power. They washed off great floods to extend and supplement the eroRion done bv the ordinarv The most spectacular glacial drain­ basaltic lava from the edae of the fertile top soil on nearly 2000 square floods of glacial melt ~\'ater. Scablancls age cha1,nel of all is the Grand Coulee. \\'aterville Plateau and dro;ped them miles of land. The result resembles present a bizzare appearance. Turrets, In pre-gk,cial times a mall tributary where the glacier melted. Some of sheet flood erosion on a grand scale. potholes, buttes, ridges, elongated flowed north and entered the Colum­ these glacial boulders or eratics are as . \ bandoned water channels meet, di­ lakes. s1rnmps and meadow land are hia Ri1·er at the head of Grand Coul e. hrgc as a good sized barn or house. vide and unite again in a bewildering ro_mmingled in a bewildering manner. . \nothcr valley prohahly started in The farmers call the eratics ''haystack "ay. Early Qioneers called tbe ha.re \\ here water flowed most wiftl1· l;arker Camon we,t of Steamboat rocks." The largest is near the west lava rock, "scabrock" an~ con­ down the slopes of the plateau or w,;s goct:: ancl e:--itcncled southward 1n ncad rim of Crand Coulee and is called s1sti rg of scabrock wa~"scab ands." cunccntrated in one channel through Coulee City. Cbcial l ,ake >Jespelen ''f'ilot Pock.'" lt can easily be seen Between the anastomosing channels some other cause. rock walled basins that Ol'rnpiccl Columbia \ alley cast fro111 1 <'a r [Iartline nearly fifteen o f the scablands were left numerous tk were f requenth· excavated in the solid miles a 11·a \'. island-like hills of the original sur­ of the ice dam at the mnuth of the flows of la,·a. ·Rock Lake in northern ( lbnug·an \alley. rci,;e until the ll'ater ll t•forc ·the (;lacial Period Eastern face covered by deep fertile soil. The \\"hitrnan County is the largest such ,tarLd floll"ing m·n the cli1·ide he­ \\ asl1 ingtnn waR a rolling' rountry rhan1;eled scablands are an example of body of water. This lake is ten miles l11·ee·1 the lll"O cnukes heiore men­ 111u, Ii lil:e thf' f'al ouse reofon of todav ;1 youthful topography incised into a long, one lo t1rn mile,; wide, "·iih cli fis t; J>' ed. Cltll"C' started this prn1·ecl the l'OVl'r d \\ :th 'I

FIGURE 5. Meadow in t!Je timbered scabland between Cheney and Spangle formed I'IGUB.E G. PL thole in Othello Channc!ll, exca.va.ted over 100 J eet deep by a giant by the filling with vegetable matter of a small, shallow Jake. wflirlpool in the bed o! a. mighty nvec in tb& Glacial Per10d. - !> southeast edge of the \\'aterville Pla­ -Grand Coulee Dam. \Vhen the Colum­ tf-3.u called the Coulee :slonocline. This hia \'alley was dammed by ice in the cataract rapidly ate headwards clea1{ Clacial Period, a lake formed that ap­ to the Columbia River. Once ui,pe~ p·,-oximated the size of the artificial Grand Coulee served as outlet for\ Jake to be created by the Grand Coulee all the glacial melt water, and other Dam. Silt deposited in this lake is sc.:abland channels were abandoned well exposed at the town of 1\ espelem, since Grand Coulee was hundreds of hence the lake was named by the feet lower than any other outlet. author, Lake Xespelem. J:he excava­ Moses Coulee, which is crossed by tion for the Grand CoufeelJarnwaterfall several miles south of 1,ake probably existed, quantities of Mansfield. About midwav in :s-foses boulders, mud, silt, gravel and debris Coulee, several miles no;th of Pali­ of all sorts was deposited in the Co­ Rades there is a series of abandoned / lumbia Yalley. With the disappear­ c!ry rapids which divide the coulee into ance of the ice clam the Columbia an upper and lower portion like Dry R iver resumed it cour e and aban-

FIGURE 7. Drumheller Channels that carried glacial melt water south from the flooded Quincy Basin in the Glacial Petiod.

Falls divides Crnnd Coulee. The floor cloned Crane! Coulee. During the pos­ of :\foses Coulee has been dneply filled sibh· tll'enl\· thousand or more years with silt and gravel. It \\·as once rnn­ that ha 1·e ·elapsed smce the Ciacial siclerahly deeper than a t present. l'eriod. the river has intrenrherl itself I 'revious to the Clal'ial I 'rriocl thl' i1' the gravel and other d,pr,,its made. Columbia River at the head of <;rand hut 11 as unable to erode its bed rlnll'n Coulee flowed down a scricH of rapids tc as lo\\' a point as it had rear heel in a gorge nearly 2000 feet dt"'Jl. The prrredi·'g th° ClaLial l'rriod. h nee· river had cul through the over-lying !,eel r11ck of thr C:ranrl C, ulce clam,ile lava and into the underlying granitl'. 11 as rn1·rrecl by fifty t

FIGURE 9 General view of Grand Coulee Dam Site taken from up­ stream. The view shows the west end of the foundations of the dam shortly aft­ er a portion of the river was pennitted to flow through its new channel on the west side November 5, 1936. The down­ stream cross-river cofferdam was com­ pleted high enough to completely

FIGURE 10 View of the west side foundations of the Grand Coulee Dam from upstream. The Colmnbia River is now flowing through the low blocks shown in the i m m e d i ate fore. ground. During high water the river will also pass through the low blocks show,1 in the distance. ( Cour­ tesy of Dept. of Con­ servation and De­ velopment.) the elevation of the floor of Grand filled valley called "\\'agon Road Cou­ Coulee and represents the filling of lee" was the old rnur ·e of the coulee J:a~e X espelern after the upper Grand which was filled with ice, the river de­ ., Coulee had been eroded and the lake ' eloped a new channel which it re­ II: ;., II: .i::: -~ 'O ., ...... ,..!...... , ~ II: 0 "..., C) i:: ., !f'vel was determined by the elcYation tained after the ice melted away. 'C - .Q .s :;l 0 ..c:: El ..., 0 ~ , ..., 'O"" 0 " 0 of the Coulee floor. The lower ter­ 0 0 :::: 0 :3 bl) .... t:: ln the Spokane Va!ley vast quanti­ .... bl) i:: "" 'O ::: .... H i:: 0 " ..., ::: 0 .... races have been developed by the Co­ E 'O ;:: ~ 0 -~ ...." "' ti"' ~ 0 cl 0 'O ties of gra\'el were deposited, filling ~ ..., i:: .i::: 0 ·; ~ 0 :;l" >, i:: •. -~ ~ >, "";:: 0 0 :i> 'C ~ " ~ s lumbia River since the Glacial Period. ~ "" +' ..c:: .; ... "' .... (.) ..., ;;::: .... ::: ~ ,.0 ~ up much of the valley and blocking p " "" 0 .9 .s .0,: " "" .Q .Q .... " ~ " 6 Q) "· 0 : .µ 0) .; Glacial Lake Nespelem had an ex­ ~ "~ 0 ...," (.) :.a "" ..., "' "' the ends of tributary valleys. Back of 0 .... ::: "fil ~ .~ 'g bll ..c:: A i:: ;:: .... ., 0 "' i:: ~ "'.... !l "' -~ treme depth of about 1400 feet and ~ ..c:: II: "';J "" u j;: .s -~ the barrier thus formed lakes accumu­ 0 "' .8 ..c:: f ...... -~ ~ " " C) " ..., .s: Q) bl) +' s .... ~ E "" ~ E (.) +' .B g "' 3l . ..c:: was lowered to 500 to 600 feet deep A ..., >, C) 0 0 C) s· "' 'o ::: ~ C1) +I "' 0 lated in the side Yalleys. This accounts .... i:: "' 0 "" 0 :a A"" p ,, "' j;: :;l "' ., ~ .i:: Ct,.( t .; after erosion of the upper Grand ~ i -~ .., ::: "' " ~ ..c:: 0 for ?\ ewman Lake, Liberty Lake, Sal­ "'"' z ~ "' &:5 ' .., ::! > Coulee. te e :\Iarsh, Spirit Lake. Twin Lakes, etc. The course of the Spokane River Other Glacial Drainage Changes. itself was changed. In a number of Since the Cordilleran Ice Sheet was piaces it ,vas forced out of its old bed thickest in the deepest valleys and and suoerimposed on hard outcrops of thinner on the mountains, the ice granite or other resistant rock. The would melt slo\1·er and linger longer in narrow gorges, rapids and waterfalls the Ya ll eys at the close of the Glacial thereby resulting, have determined the I 'eriod than on the adjacent mountain location of many power plants along slopes. The ice seems to have stag­ the Spokane River, like Post Falls, nated and since it had a thicknrss of .l\'ine :\Iile, Long Lake and Little close to -+000 feet may have required Pall s. The upper and lower falls of thou ands of years to have completely the Spokane River in the city of Spo­ disappeared. The Okanogan \'alley kane itself, are formed by the river retained the \\·asting ice a long time. dropping over extra-resistant beds of .\farginal lakes developed on either la\·a . side of the stagnant glacier. Their Deep Creek Canyon, down the Spc,. on·r-flow carried the melt wat<'r to k:rne River near the line Mile power the Columbia \"alley through side can­ plant, has ancient g ranite on one side yons or spillways, of which a compli­ l'f the canyon and lava on the other. cated srrics adjoins the Okanogan The valley here developed on the con­ \"all ev esprciall y on the west. A sim­ tact between two different kinds of iiar situation developed in the Col­ rock. Tumbled boulders and potholes ville. Columbia and Pend d'Oreille re­ i 1 the canyon floor, fo, ii leaves in gion. Much of the terrace deposits ancient l.ike clays deposited between i:, the Okanogan, Colville and Pend two lava flows, and the unconformable t!"Orrille Yallc\·s were deposited in the rc,ntact of two types of rock formed in marginal lakes adjacent to the stag­ widely separatecl geological periods nalit'g ire. In 8ome places drainage make Deep Cr ck Canyon of much changes resultrd. For example, be­ srienti fie interest hesicle being a love­ I ween Omak and Tonasket a gravel ly scenic spot.

Geologic Origin of Grand Coulee The Cram! Coulre ~lretrhrs for ()0[) feet with a remarkahlv flat floor fifty miles between the Columbia Ri\·- rontaining a few permane,it lake. and { er and the Quincy Basin across tlw 11,anv shallow ephemeral lakes that \\'aterville l'lateau, a raised portion of disappear in sumnwr leaving alk;ili the Columbia Plateau. The (~rand flnts. \t Coulrr l'itv the strep wall• Coulee consis s. nf l\\o parts. Thr up- nre replaced hy g-,•ntle r slopt's and per roulee extc,.,ds from north of here the Sun,rt 11 igh\\'a) (. 'o 10) Coulee City to the Columhia. Tt has rro,s s the vallt'). This op n portion is a length of 25 miles, a width of one -4 or 5 miles long and opens into a \ tr, ovtr five miles and a depth of 800- gravel filled area on the t'a t called - 11- the Hartline Basin. The lower coulee The Steamboat Cataract is supposed ~all~of b have begun about three miles north triangular shape t,rn miles long and surface before the extrusion of lava. t11 r I lartline Basin and extends to of Coulee City where the flat lying about h of a mile ,yide tapering nearly Then completely coYered by the lava ( Soaµf;aKe nearly 20 n1ilcs. ~ rncks of the \ \. ater\'illc Plateau dip tc points at the ends. It stands 900 flows the granite areas are now ex- ut:"th(' lower coulee arg_ 400 or SO(: steeply in a monocline fold under the fret above the Coulee floor and was 1,osed b,· the erosion of the coulee. The ( fr?t high ancitTlevaDc" 11·i.dth seldom gra\'el that fills the Hartline Basin once a part of the level plateau surface granite· hills show smoothing and exceeds t\\'O miles. J cast of Coulee City. The plateau de­ i11 which Grand Coulee was incised. rounding by both ice and water. A scends at the monoclinc 600-800 feet .. The rock, once an island in the extinct pause at LoYer·s Lane through which Cpper Gralld Couler. i'I about a mile which caused swift Steamboat Falls, \\'as crossed from the the higlrn·ay runs will enable one to tapids in the '·Grand Coulee River'' west to the east by a little side stream see these features. Here also are dikes from the main river that cut a notch of a lighter colored intrusive rock .\ccordi ng to J. Harlen Bretz of the .:\Ed initiated the cataract that eroded l niversity of Chicago. the upper t:pstream clear to the present Colum- over 100 feet deep into the surface and forming bands and ribbon in the Grand Coulee was cut b\· the head­ 1 ia River. A cat~ract would drop into wore back a small re-entrant on the granite as they cut across the surface ward erosion of a giant w~ter fall rath­ a plung·e pool at its foot and by break­ east side. Steamboat Rock can be in de\'ious ways often inter·ecting each er than by the downward erosion of a ing off and undercutting the jointed climbed only by a trail that follows the other. In the rounded granite hills stream. Reasons for believing that a a11d fractured lava rock would erode broken slope on the east developed by 1;orth of Steamboat Rock is found waterfall accounted fer the Grand µractically to the same depth all the I the side rivulet. The top of Steam­ Devil"s Lake. nearly a mile in length, Coulee are: ( 1) the very steep walls distance the falls receded given uni­ boat Rock is crossed lengtlrn·ise by occupying a basin scooped out by gla­ of the gorge like N"iagara Gorge be­ fr,rm rock. Only where hard granite p2rt of i.he terminal moraine of the t ial and \Yater erosion. low the falls, (2) the very flat floor glacial ice sheet that descended the outcrops in the coulee is any great Dry Falls. dropping only a few feet in 25 miles, change noticed in the smooth flat Okanogan Valley, blocked the Colum­ Lo\\·er Grand Coulee begins at Dry ( 3) depressions filled with silt on the floor . . \ t the start about three miles bia River and compelled the glacial Falls where the coulce floor drops rnulce floor that resemble the plunge aliove Coulee City, upper Grand Cou­ melt water to £1011· through the Grand OYer 400 feet in a group of five re­ pools found at the base of a falls, ( 4) lC'e has a width of about 11/ miles. Coulee. Some of the boulders. brought 2 for many miles to the top of the cesses extending for a di ·tance of ciozens of recesses formed by side wa­ This continues for about eleven miles 1 3 \ miles along the brink of an ex­ terfalls that ceased operating when th<: 11 hen the coulee broadens out and be­ rock and left by the ice when it melt­ .;'· tinct cataract. Che t\\·o 11·e tern re­ main falls ate headwards and drained Lomes miles wide. Then it nar­ ed, are granite rocks 11·eighing hun­ 51/2 cc·sses are well di. pla ,·ed from the vista them or their water supply as will h ap- rn\\'s to about 11,s again at its head ' dreds of tons and as big as a house. house at Dn· htlls State Park ..\t the 1,rn to ,\merican Falls at :-S:ia~ara al ,o,·e the dam site. Bretz explains the In the thousands of Years since thev foot of the ·t,rst rece. 1s Falls Lake, when I lorseshoc Falls erodes abo\'e ".;dening of Grand Coulee near Steam­ were dropped t,Yo of the biggest rock·s at the base of the second r<'ces - is Coat Island. The giant falls eroded l·oat Rock as the result of a great in­ ha\'e been split into fragments by usually an alkaline flat. The two al­ heaclward up Grand Coulee clear to L,.eaHe in th~ volume of flood waters the action of heat changes and ex- co,·es are nea.-ly separated by Uma­ the Columbia \'alley and lowPred th<' 11,at spread widely and de\'eloped a pansion by frost. Glacial groo\'CS on tilla Rock resembling Steamboat Rock level of glacial Lake Nespelem that water fall 3 to 4 times as broad a pre­ the solid bedrock arc ,·isible at the iu origin. East\\·ard the Dn· Falls filled that valley hy 800 feet. The fnli-; ,·iously existed. ( south tip of Steamboat Rock. Steam­ boat Rock has been i olated. Only a drop off into Deep l ,ake, a lovely body attainccl their greatest width at ~1na111- . \ ,·cry large deep river once flowed ftw horses occasionally graze on its cf water about 11 :.! miles long. At boat l~ock. ] !ere they extcnclc>;I witl1 through the Crane! Coulee feel by gla­ « wiclth of S',~ miles and a maxinaim sranty vegetation since no water oc­ the far encl of Deep Lake two alcoves c;al melt water from the wasting ice curs on the summit in summer. Hence enter from the north and one from th~ 1,L ight of oat Cataract. the coulee itseli. Ice jams of floating Stramhoat Rock s1ood as an islaml ~ top of Steamboat is a flower garden. yon. ~iparently II ater once fell alopg tr<' or some ol h r factor caused pond­ the ent1 re three 1rnlc f ron oL Tirv lictwcen .two branch s of the h_i,g- rata­ ing in the upper roulee. The silt and The fact that the coulee west o( l·~1lls. l'he water in the eastern or rart like· Coat Island separates • 'iag­ rock flows produced hy glacial grind­ S_teamboat Hock was already cut pre, } ~l l ,ake rhutl' \\·as s11 i it ancl con­ ;,ra Falls today. On 111(' ca;;t rnulcc i 11g \\'as denositC'ci in the calm waters v1ous to the last advance of the glacic:11 tained great II hirlponls. The II hirl­ \\'all ad 1an·11t t~ ~teamhoat Rork three c, f the po mis to form lake beds. [ l ori­ 1s proven ll\· much oi 1hc bedrock in sidC' raiaracts al · ups( rl'am and tH'ar- j'ools, using rocks as 1oohs. ktYC ex­ zo11tal lake heels are well expoi-;cd in Barker Ca11yon being well poli 'heel, cavated spectarular potholes in the 1, hack to tlH' main roui<"c \1he11 th<' sc·veral ruts. near the highwa \' south 1ounclcd and grooved ln· ice action. solid laYa. The plltholl's are roughl\' lwadwarcl tro~ion of the main falls r i .·tcamlmat Rock. Thr l>1~t "dn· Barker Canyon enters ('.rancl Couke rirrular, with preripitous, and in son{c n·n1<,vrd thrir source of wat•r., 'orlh­ lard" farms m the unilee grow croi;s northwest of Steamboat Rock. p!ares O\'l'rha11,ging· 11alls. The 1)n· rup Can on is the 1h1rf one· of thrse 111 the ,oil formed from thn lake beds. From the north end of .'tl'amhoat Falls seem to ha\'c originatnl Sl'H'r;il t~ibutaritc < >nly a narrow notch srpa­ ltributaries to Grand Coulee but soap suds. This gave the lake its in the spring; some of which last ;ill arc: Park Lake, Blue Lake, Lake so much 11·ater came clown the main m,me. Soap Lake water has been found summer. This region has been called J ,enore or Alkali Lake and Soap Lake. crulee that part of it flowed up these efficacious in the treatment of skin dis­ "The Potholes." f:1 times of high water the upper lakes former tributaries and reached the eases. rheumatism. and other things, The water that spread out O\'er the 01 er flow into the lower, hence Soap ('uincy Basin by way of Dry Coulee g-iving rise to the health center of Soap Ouincv Basin drained to the Columbia Lake, that has no outlet. is highly al­ on the east side of Iligh Jiill. The Lake at the lower end. Since 1925 G;,th ,,·estwarcl and . ou th ward. The kaline, rnntain~·1 part of soluble ilood water deposited thick gravel bars the lake has steadily shrunk, the ap­ outlets 11·estward were over three dry Ralts per 1000 The original valley of that clip eastward away from Grand parent cau e being a cycle of less ra1n­ waterfalls into the Columbia River. lc,wer Grand e before the glacial Coulee, completely blocking the mouth fall in the region. The beaches formed These falls ate headward and left large ptriod, occupied a down fold or a r,f the former tributary canyons. during former higher levels of the alcoves on the east cliff wall of the 5yncline between two up-folds or anti- Se,·eral minor features are worth at­ l;,ke are clearly visible. Columbia River canron. The road to rl1nes, I figh Trill on the cast and the tcntion in the lower Crand Coulee. Vantage Bridge occupies the sou th­ end of the \\'aterville Plateau on the From the head of l'ark Lake, a side Q 11i11 c,, Basin. em-most of these abandoned cataracts. 1..c•st. \\'here the rocks were steeply trip of three miles brings one to Deep The muddy \\'ater that poured down The southern outlet leads throug-h can­ folded downward at the edge of the Lake, the plunge pool at the eastern Grand Coulee as a torrential flood in yons eroded on the cast end of the platrau, has been called the Coulee c·id of Drv Falls where some remark­ the Glacial Period, spread out over Frenchmen IIills and Saddle :-I0tm­ .\fonocline. The pressure and tension able potho,lcs can be . een and studied. the Quincy Basin at the foot of the t,,i11 upfolds. Bretz named th<'. e out­ resulting from the folding of the lam . \t the head of Blue Lake. boats are co ulee. In the waters of shi fling lets the Othello and Drumheller Chan­ rock cauRcd the basalt to be much arnilable for a viRit to the Fossil For­ stream channels and shallow tempo­ nels. They conducted the water hack f racturrd and broken. During the Gia- <·st across an inlet of the lake. IIollows rary lakes, \'ast quantities of mud ancl to the lower Columbia l~i,·er cn1 the rial l'eriod such vast quantities of kit hy stumps and logs arc well ex- gra\'C'I II ere deposited. Even large south side of the Big Drnd wat,·r came down the Grand Couke J oscd between t1rn lava flows on the ihat the synclinal valley \\'as too small fore of the cliff. l'nfortunatelv, \'isit- Hole-in-the-Ground lo carry the quantity of water av;iil- r,r. have carried off most of tJ{c petri- :\Tuch intcrcHting geographic pht­ do,en lava flows can hC' cou11lt•cl on the ablr. ,\s a result, the deep torrent of iiul 11·00(! itRelf. \ natural bridg-e is nomena exists al the IIole-in-1.he- rock walls. 'l'hl' <·1 idence for a Ill'\\' glacial melt water tore into the frar- Jncatccl a milr or two cast of the bath- 1,round bet WC'en Hock Lake and Bon- fiow consists of such thin"s :is h:ikt·d tun·d rocks on the mo~1ocli11e ancl ing hearh at the head of J3Iue L;ike. It 1 ie Lakt about twrnty miles south of sc ii at the top of tlw und,·r~I) ing flow; t'rDdt'cl there a new ranyon occupied hv is 01 the side of a drv water course Cheney. This is a rock walled pre­ tharrrd roots and wood, pdrified tit' st·1ws of lakes b~fore mentioned. In ;a1cl 11·as formed In· th-e sidewise ero- cipitous canyon, 600 fl'd dt·<·p and fiYc \\'oocl, r;i~ts of trees. and "ran·l dc­ tht'~t' lakes islands can he seen where ,1r,• of the slrea1i1 11'11ich excavated milts long. carved in the solid la1a. J'C>sits all of 11hirh 11·cnild ,. i,t he­ the l.11·,1 steeply dips forming small •• ca,· •. Then the rnlargcmcnt from Togethc·r II ith tht' associated lakl's, the t11,·,·11 l\nJ flm1, a1•d lhl' ,try puro11 liogbarks. 1 he dipping- Jaya rork in ;.l < ,-e of a crark in the rocks rnt into I lole-in-the (;ruund forms a most in­ o•· ,rorian·o11s la 1·a at thl' ha,e of the the monorline is rk:1rh· \'i~ible 011 the the Lark side of the rave, thereby teresting srablancl .-J1a111:el. , 'early a 01erl)ing ilow. 11ht·11 tlw 111 ,lten ro,k -1~ - 15- cooled quickly in contact with the from enlargement of an under-ground The Geologic Story of Lake Chelan ground. The Devil's \\'ell is the crack from the face of a cliff to the largest tree cast. It is on the west surface of a rock terrace formed by a Lake Chelan extends ~or sixt}; miles Yards out of its old bed by the rock wall, a few hundred feet below the resistant lava flow. A few yards south ido the heart of the Cascade 1o!;n­ fall. bridge crossing Rock Creek on the of the natural bridge is a cave about -tains and forms one of the most beau­ After manv million of years of highway through the Hole-in-the­ 30 feet long whose upper end is tiiul mountain lakes in the world. The erosion the · mountains that were Ground. The top of a once buried hill ..:rumbling where ground water seeps lake valle\' resembles a drowned can­ formed bv the granite intru ·ion were of mica schist is exposed at the base in. In future years a hole will develop yon o.r a f10rd of Norway Comfort­ considerably worn clown. Then in the of the west wall less than a mile north from the surface into the head of this able launches carry passengers to the Miocene period of the Cenozoic era of the head of Rock Lake. This shows cave creating another natural bridge. Lc·ad of the lake and afford one of great quantities of

came down the Columbia River. It Three mile from the Stehekin land­ able to the project but nothing "''.lS 2 '·ri,·er of dirt" one and one-third seems probable that this Okanogan ice ing at the head of the lake, Rainbow may have invaded Lake Chelan basin done until 1933 when the government miles, up -1-50 feet. into Rattlesnake Falls, 300 feet high, plunge to the can­ undertook a policy of 1,· rk relief ' Cam·on. The last excarntion in the going up as far as ·w apato Point. The yon floor out of a tributary hanging projects and started the constructior bed· of the ri,·cr was finished about [;roof of this is found in occasional Yalley. X umerous waterfalls visible of power darns at Bonneville and . \pril 1, 1931. Sand and gra1·el boulders of basalt which co uld not from Lake Chelan itself add to the Grand Coulee. In the summer of are washed at a pit hig-h abo1·c the h.lve come from the Cascades via the scenic attractiveness of a launch ride 1935, the original low clam across the nver on the east side, and carried over Chelan Glacier since no basalt exists tu the head. No highway reaches the Columbia at the head of Grand Coulee the Columbia on a belt conveyor sev­ there. _\ lake occupied the Chelan head of Lake Chelan from outside. intende ii River in the United States, and v as mentioned. Surveys were under­ ner built. The 60-inch hl'lt conveyor second; (2) trnuhl' \\'ith loo L' dchri, lli,)SSeSSlllg f'e avai]ab]e power than taken under both government and • was the largest ever used anrl handled sliding into the c ·c\\'atio11 rnntrollc,l any other river system in North Am~r­ lstate auspices. The reports were favor- - 60,000 cubic yarrls per day, rarrying Oil the we t. bank by raina T(' and re- \ -18- - 19- f, moval of extra material and on the .\luminum, nitrates, calcium carbide, east bank by artificially freezing the electroh-tic metal refining, alloy-steel, ground to form a temporary datn a1~d numerous other chemicals. Over against slides; ( 3) the enormous (-00,000 horsepower can be utilized on llepa:-tmun c>I C1111>lrYati, n & lkn·lopment. ( >I., mpia. \\ a,h \ quantity of material, owr 1.5,000,000 the Columbia Basin Project \\'hen C'olumi>ia .!3a,in Commi,,i,Pl, Ci, ic lluilcling. :,;pllkane. \\ a,h. cubic yards, that required remoYal to rnmpletely developed. Chamber c,f Commerce. :,;p<>kane. \\ ash. reach bedrock and the enormous mass :\'orth,' rn l'ariiir Raih1·a1. of concrete to build a dam with over Co/11111bia Basin lrrigatio11 Project. l '11in·rsit_1· oi \\ ashing-10·11. :,;cattle.\\ a,h. 21 ., f he volume of Boulder The Grand Coulee site was selected ~tate Colkg·e of \\'ashington. l'ullman. \\'ash. clam· ( 4) construct10n o our great over other possible power sites because Bureau of Reclamation. \\'ashing-ton. I) . C .. ancl Couler !)am, \\ a,h. ~r dams, one on each side of the of th possibility of irrigating jt,200.- river and t\\·o across the ri,·er itself The Crand Coulee. ll\ /. l larlan Bretz .. \merican <:,,olngical :,;ncil't1·. Rroacl­ 000 w~ af laud .tmit, when fu ly de­ \1'::I\ at J.;(,th :~r.. :,;,·11 · \\irk. '\. Y. l'rire S-t.00. to oermit excaYation of dirt and pour­ nloped. can supporfseveraf hundred ing of concrete. The government thousand peoe!_e. The proposed irri- furnishes required cement. steel and 1;ation deY I me · q11ir_e the other materials used in construction. ,umprng of water from the artificial • The author acknowltdges help from the iollm,·ing inr cl'rtain illustration,: The estimated entire cost of the hke aboYe the dam about 267 feet into Sf,o!.·a11c Clt,11,1/;cr of Co111111C'ra. lico110111ic' Gro,,raphy. lounllll of Gcoi:,rap!ty. high rlam and power plant is a1:o~ncl a .2::, mile long stora e reservoir im­ a11d [)rpartrnr11/ of Ce111scr,·atio11 a11d /)c,Tlop111cnl. 0/yrnpia. 11·ash. $130.000,000. The co t of reclanmng pounc ec on t e oor o ran Coulee 1,200.000 acres of land \Yill total about lJy ~wo di~. on~r the head of the $200,000.000 more. However, since c;u ee and the other near Coulee City. revenues from the sale of power From ihe Grand Coulee reservoir the should pay for the clam and power \\'ater could be distributed by gravity plant in al~out forty years in addition tn supph· nearly one million acres. to half the cost of reclamation, and Over 200.000 a~lclitional acres could the entire re ·lamation of desert land he irrigated when needed by pumping \\·ill be S1Jread over -1-0 or SO years, from the supply canals. Surveys by gov<:rnment engineers estimate that government scientists prove that the the go,·ernment will invest not ov~r soil i fertile and both soil and climate '?(,(),( 0 all of which should ult1 - \\·ell adapted for a large variety of agricultural crops. \\'ater only ts lacking and this \\'ill be supplied by (;rand Coulee f'o~, 1cr. iz rigation. Be,;ide making homes for l 'ltimatch- 2,700.000 horsepower thousands of families and ultimately (" 11 he -t7,000 horsepower at the start. ratrd there. the Columbia Basin 1rri­ The dfccti,·e head of water for power ~ ation Project can he relied on to buy uHe will lie

Freeman e Grand Coulee and neighburirg geological wonders

NO N· CIRCU LATING • CLO L lAU\