Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1893-08-14
4 Wonderful Lake.

Long before mankind ever heard OF
this little earth and started its con-
quest from sea monsters, says the Ia
coma Ledger, the area that is distin
guished by the name of Palouse coun-
try had been subjected to violent up
heavals and radical changes in topo-
graphy. A great island sea rested here
for many centuries, and the chemical
action of the waters enriched the soil
simultaneously with levelling the sedi-
ment in the form of vast plain. In
ternal convulsions, whether of volcanic
origin or from shrinkage of the planet
consequent upon the cooling process
then going on-perhaps both combined
raised the submerged plain high and
dry. with steep decline to the west
ward.
Tho rushing food cut the land into
ridges and ravines, high bluffs and lonely
rocks being scattered promiscuously in
living evidence Of the revolution. The
surface thus presents a broken and pic
turesque scene. Chief among the pro-
ducts of these prehistoric convulsions
and deluges is canyon over in the
northeastern part of Whitman county
containing Rock Lake, a sheet of wa
ter twelve miles long by about one hum
dred rods wide, borlered by cliffs az
cendirg perpendicularly to heights of
LOO to $500 feet.
The canyon of Rock Lake runs east
TO west. 1t is deep hole in plateau
of solid rock, and the bottom has never
been sounded by man. The eastward
extremity falls abruptly from the bed
of small creek down and down five
hundred feet, over another cascade,
down another plunge of six hundred
feet, and off finally over second cas-
cade three hundred feet to the bottom.
Down at the bottom is valley, one
by three miles in extent, and covered
with the pretti,st coat of tropical
foliage to be found anywhere.
The climate in this declivity is as trop-
ical and delightful as that which gives
Hawaii an envied fame all the world
over. The temperature seldom falls
below CO. Fahrenheit and rarely goes
above 90o.
The cold of winter is seemingly un-
able 10 reach the level of the valley,
owing to the internal warmth natural
ly belonging.to to a hole so deep. The
heat of summer is tempered by the
cooling influence of the lake adjoining.
| The west end of this little Garden OF
Eden jumps abruptly over precipice
100 feet into Rock Lake, and the west
ern end of the lake, twelve miles
farther oil, finds an outlet through a
narrow passageway between hills slop
ing sharply and soon breaking into
dismembered pyramids of basalt rock.
An Indian legend of this remarkable
lake makes it the home of a monstrous
sea.serpent. The remnants of the red
tribes which used to frequent its shores
tell their white neighbors that no In
dian can venture into the water,
either for bath or pleasure trip in q
canoe, without being swallowed whole
by hideous reptile, and to this day
the aborigines look upon Rock Lake
with the same apprehension that an
old-time orthodox ponders over the
terrors Of purgatory.
Their legend says anentlre tribe
was lashed to destruction and eaten
not many centuries ago, all to satisfy
the greed of this very monster. AT
another time, during the outbreaks
quelled by Colonel Steptoe in 1858, a
band of noble red men, in their eager
ness to escape the vigilance of Uncle
Sans bluecoats, tried to conceal them
selves above the lake in the little para
disc, but were overtaken by the great
fish, the legend avows, and sent to
eternity.