Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1896-05-15
ARE PILLARED COLUMNS
AND THEY RESEMBLE BATTLE
MENTED WALLS.
The Natural Curiosity of the Big
Bend COuntry-A Sight Well
Worth Seeing.

Special Land Agent Marsh Atkinson
has given the Seattle Times this descrip-
ton of the Grand coulee, in eastern WASH
ington:
Describing the Grand coulee is like de-
scribing the Grand canyon of Colorado.
1t has, however, its differences. No rush.
ing, turbulent river sends it's water
through Grand coulee. Once 1t might have
been the bed of the great Columbia, but
this is doubtful. The Grand coulee and
its extension reaches across a great
breadth of country. The Columbia, with
in the state of Washington, makes a
great sweep and describes a course that
on the map resembles not little an i'm
mense ox-bow. The Grand couee and its
extension stretches across country near
the two ends Of the ox-bow. Grand coulee
proper is about % miles long. 1t begins
not far from Coulee City, in Douglas coun-
ty, and extends to the Columbia The
country is a plateau. Wheat and other
things grow profusely. Leaving Coulee
City one sees in the distance the opening
to Grand coulee. The appearance of the
mouth at a distance is that of a number
of houses or the like, but as one drives
near the opening assumes shape, stone
buttresses and pillars columns and walls
of rock arise as from the level plain. They
assume character like that of the sides
| of battlemented walls. Driving forward
| one finds that he is soon within defile
| two miles WIDE He has left the plain
| and instead the drive is up level sand
| parched extent of country, with the bal
| ustraded, pillared and columned rocks
| rising higher at every step on either side.
| They may be 500 feet at the start, but
grow rapidly, and soon they are 600, 7oo
800 and 1000 feet high. The walls are clear
cut, well defined. perpendicular as the
sides of a house, except at the base where
through ages probably detached masses
have fallen, until at the present time they
resemble the mouths Of ruined granite
and marble of some ancient structure.
Grand coulee is two miles wide at It's
narrowest, seven miles at its widest.
Widest or narrowest, 1t is, however, the
same-those perpendicular sides hold their
own with perfect regularity. They might
have been dug to order SO mathematical
ly perfect are they. Grand coulee Is an
immense depression in the Big Bend
plateau. Driving in at the mouth there is
but one point where wagon may wind its
| tortuous way out from it's deep depths in
the whole rs miles of the coulee's length.
Only one other place is there where a
horse can climb the rugged sides to the
extensive plains above. In the early days
the first settlers utilized Grand coulee
as a great pasture. They drove their
| stock in, put man at the mouth, another
a the head. and the gates we're closed
| Now Grand coulee Is occupied by
ranchmen, who are most largely in the
cattle business, having from $50 to 500
head each. They raise truck in Grand
| coulee, but irrigation from the lakes with
| in 1t and from springs that are but too
| few in number is necessary. On the big
| plain above the finest of wheat is grown
| without irrigation. Here is remarkable
| contradiction of nature in her wild moods
| in other parts of the country. Usually III
the depths is found the water, the grass,
the vegetation in abundance and upon
the plain above is fierce heat and parched
soil. This is reversed at Grand coulee
| Only scattering bits of sagebrush, on the
| level, and about the lakes snatches CT
hardy shrubs of other species grow. That
is all. The huge walls are bare, brown
| rock, without a semblance of vegetation,
| and at certain times, when the bright sun
| strikes their stratiied sides, there can be
| seen mingling and mixture of tints and
| colors not unlike those seen in the rain
| bow.
| I'm the coulee there are numerous lakes,
| some that go dry in summer, and a rank
| growth of grass springs up In such, from
| which is harvested fine hay. Settlers in
| Grand coulee have to go far UP and enter
| side coulee known as Big canyon after
fuel. Bull pine grows in sufficient guam
titles for all needs. Big canyon, branching
off from Grand coulee, extends a short
distance, when it strikes the Columbia
river gorge at nearly right angles, the
| river being about 400 feet below the bed
| of Big canyon.
'In Grand coulee is Steamboat rock, a
| massive basaltic mass that covers about
| 900 acres, and is fashioned like big side
| wheel steamer. One side of the walls Of
Big canyon is composed of a steel-blue
granite that, when Clipped off, sparkles
like so many diamonds. On the other side
the wall is composed of black cinder-like
| basalt rocA, and these two dissimilar walls
form probably one of the most remark
able characteristics in all the domain of
nature. They are only few yards apart"
Major Atkinson has just returned from
an official trip to the other side of the
mountains. and his course took him
| through Grand coulee.