Palouse River
Crisp, bright morning air and light met us on deck. The Palouse River sat still and reflective. It was cold outside. And I mean cold. The basalt layers above the Marmes Rock Shelter were just emerging from shadow, yet remained hooded beyond the cattails. Ancient human remains were discovered here in the 1950’s. These remains were considered at the time to be the oldest known in North America. Later a Jefferson Peace Medal (given out by Lewis and Clark) was found near more recent human remains at the mouth of the Palouse River. Both sites are now under thirty feet of water due to the waters backed up by Lower Monumental dam in 1969. Just a couple of months ago, the human remains which had been taken away for study, and the Peace Medal placed for temporary safekeeping with the Nez Perce National Historical Park (where we were yesterday), were reunited and now are buried somewhere on the land belonging to these people who have lived here forever.
Zodiacs were deployed and ferried kayakers upriver, wrapped tight against the sharp air. Next a group took off on a luxury school bus to see the Palouse Falls. This impressive cataract is only a trickle compared to what once roared over the entire Columbia Basin, taking the land by surprise, again and again. Each flood was separated by thousands of years; however nothing alive now remembers the massive volumes of water tearing down the canyons and river valleys. Yet the memory is there, visible in the layers of Columbia River basalt, the columns and “hackly entablatures” exposed. J Harlan Bretz, whose name is now so closely associated with these floods, was the first to really understand what happened here, yet it took decades for the scientific community to accept his interpretation.
Zodiacs quietly broke the mirror of reflected sagebrush and cat-tails along the banks; red-tailed hawks screamed overhead; the iridescence of raven feathers gave them multihued bodies; the sun kept shining, thank goodness, and warmed us all.
Lower Monumental lock and dam was successfully negotiated, and the personalities of each Corps member was explained by Jerry, and sunset closed the day earlier than before. We pay our dues to daylight savings.
Crisp, bright morning air and light met us on deck. The Palouse River sat still and reflective. It was cold outside. And I mean cold. The basalt layers above the Marmes Rock Shelter were just emerging from shadow, yet remained hooded beyond the cattails. Ancient human remains were discovered here in the 1950’s. These remains were considered at the time to be the oldest known in North America. Later a Jefferson Peace Medal (given out by Lewis and Clark) was found near more recent human remains at the mouth of the Palouse River. Both sites are now under thirty feet of water due to the waters backed up by Lower Monumental dam in 1969. Just a couple of months ago, the human remains which had been taken away for study, and the Peace Medal placed for temporary safekeeping with the Nez Perce National Historical Park (where we were yesterday), were reunited and now are buried somewhere on the land belonging to these people who have lived here forever.
Zodiacs were deployed and ferried kayakers upriver, wrapped tight against the sharp air. Next a group took off on a luxury school bus to see the Palouse Falls. This impressive cataract is only a trickle compared to what once roared over the entire Columbia Basin, taking the land by surprise, again and again. Each flood was separated by thousands of years; however nothing alive now remembers the massive volumes of water tearing down the canyons and river valleys. Yet the memory is there, visible in the layers of Columbia River basalt, the columns and “hackly entablatures” exposed. J Harlan Bretz, whose name is now so closely associated with these floods, was the first to really understand what happened here, yet it took decades for the scientific community to accept his interpretation.
Zodiacs quietly broke the mirror of reflected sagebrush and cat-tails along the banks; red-tailed hawks screamed overhead; the iridescence of raven feathers gave them multihued bodies; the sun kept shining, thank goodness, and warmed us all.
Lower Monumental lock and dam was successfully negotiated, and the personalities of each Corps member was explained by Jerry, and sunset closed the day earlier than before. We pay our dues to daylight savings.
