From the mountains carved out by prehistoric glaciers, to the Native
Americans who first inhabited the land and the first pioneers who
created the town, Kettle Falls has been through it all. The name of the
town originated from the nearby falls on the Upper Columbia River. The
falls, plummeted nearly 50 feet carving out “kettles” in the quartzite
rock below. According to the natives, "the kettles were three squaws
deep."
Kettle Falls Historical Center----People of the Falls interpretive exhibit
The mighty Columbia river was dammed to create one of the wonders of the US---The Grand Coulee Dam. It turned desert land into farm land and gave electricity to the state. But it also ruined a way of life for many. The dam also killed the mighty salmon runs because the builders hadn't the foresight to make ladders or riverways for the fish to return up stream.
A picture of the falls and how it was fished before it was covered by the dam. It is many many feet underwater now. The dam was finished in 1940
Before the Washington tribes had horses and could make teepee out of hides they used Rush Grasses which grew along the banks of streams and rivers.
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10 comments:
It always saddens me to think that of how we alter nature and so many people's/communities' way of life with little thought of the consequences. Wonderful and sobering images. (I was just watching a geology documentary on BBC, so many dams concentrated in the northern hemisphere have altered the earth's tilt - it now completes it a single turn slightly faster than it did 40 years ago).
oh, how terrible. our greed and haste does immense harm...
What a fascinating and interesting post. Makes one wonder why we can't try to determine the results of our actions before we do them. So often we're defined by rush to judgement.
Nice to hear from you. I'm still enjoying a break!
Thanks for the interesting history and the beautiful mural. It's a shame the waterfall was submerged by the dam.
Yeah, and Celilo Falls too...
Neat post. The Rush grasses and tall wheat grass is TOUGH! The animals don't like to eat it when its tall. Great pics.
The dams have been beneficial but detrimental at the same time. Not sure how I feel at times about them.
There is a great little cafe in Kettle Falls that we had lunch in this past summer. I think it is called Little Gallea.
You have touched on something that kind of hits a spot with me...I often wonder if for all our progress, if we have really accomplished anything at all...just want more and more....this while I sit in my air conditioned home...only stepping outside to hang up clothes. No joke.
The image of onrushing water is pretty compelling. Controlling the water changed the history of this area. Was it the Army Corps of Engineers who facilitated the damming of the river? They may have the technology but not necessarily the common sense that was lacking in this project. If the ACE had its way, San Francisco Bay would have been filled in with water only left in the deepest channels. Thank goodness citizens rose up and said no. Too bad Kettle Falls didn't have the standing to bring power to the table. I appreciate the history lesson and the mural. Thanks for contributing to this week's Monday Mural.
So much land altered in the, other false, name of progress.
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