The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1915-03-04
It was Patrick Henry who said that
the only means of forecasting the fu-
ture is by recalling the past.

the only means of forecasting the fu-
ture is by recalling the past.
Geological Conditions Making Kenne-
wick What it is Today
| In the great long ago - perhaps
millions of years this region was a
vast system of VOLCANOES and the only
reminders we have is Mts. Rainier,
Hood, Adams and minor peaks to the
north of this section.
We have evidence of natures gil
gantic struggles at Flume No. l, on
the Kennewick canal. Here can be
seen how large boulders were cast
hither and thither and then the hot
flow of mud filling up the interstices,
then turning into hard, stony mass.
Then we have imprints of fish, fern
an grasses, etc., in the "White
Bluffs" 35 miles up the river. Again
we can see undisputed evidences of
the great upheaval at Providence Hill
and five miles south of Kennewick the
rocks have been cleaved as though
cut to order, all standing on edge.
Mr.. Sonderman, one Of the early
settlers, has in his possession piece
of charred wood encountered by a
drill through APO feet of solid rock.
This piece of wood was found in the
"Horse Heaven" Is miles southwest
of Kennewick.
Biologists tell us the location of
Kennewick and adjacent lands, was
once an immense lake, fed by num-
erous mountain streams, evidence of
which may still be seen in the Horse
Heaven canyons and very familiar
one is the empty, but still evident
stream bed in section II, of Kenne-
wick Highlands.
Through ages these lava-laden
mountain streams, their courses ran,
carrying volcanic ash, worn rocks, etc.,
from far up among the Rockies,
gradually filling up this lake. Mean
while through chemical friction and
of nature by means of avalanches,
land slides, meeting glaciers, etc., the
courses of the streams were changed
until they formed one mighty river
referred to in Bryant's Thanatopsis
as the Oregon" but explored by Cap
tain Gray in 1892 and named Colum-
bia. We have evidences of several
water levels ten miles east of Ellens-
burg, Wash. Here the waters made
their erosions in solid rock. Does it
require days, weeks, months or years
for water to cut into hard rock :?
Surely it must have taken at least a
few days!
Then we have "fault line" 80 miles
to the west of here, which extends
from river to river, or north and south
and which will forever deprive this
section from artesian water. Now
we are obliged to consider the glacial
period. Did those great ice bergs ever
cross Kennewick lands? If not how
do we account for those big, smooth,
granite boulders found in isolated
sections? We have no granite hills
or deposits within 200 miles Of this
section! Then we know there are
these great deposits of volcanic ash
500 feet deep, and we have these same
conditions every year around US, on
ly on smaller scale.
Was this country ever inhabited by
human beings before this great dis
turbance took place? We know not.
If so did they grow strawberries, and
peaches and plums, etc., and did they
have any marketing problems to
solve?
And so, having fair conception Of
our soil formation, with which our
learned men of today are now making
every effort to test and to determine
just what is best adapted to grow
upon these volcanic deposits, let US
go back to Kennewick, with which we
are most concerned.
Was this country ever inhabited by
mastodons? Yes. A shoulder blade
or part of one was uncovered by Mr..
Richards in 1898 and was about three
inches thick and two feet wide. This
was uncovered about seven miles from
Kennewick in one of the canyons and
several tusks of these animals have
been found.
Indians
The Indians of this locality con-
sisted principally of the Umatillas,
Wallowa and Yakima. They made
their homes along the Columbia, the
Snake and Yakima rivers, ranging up
and down stream according to climat-
ic conditions, etc. Their occupation
was barter and sale in horses, fishing
and hunting.
There is every evidence to show
that great Indian battles were fought
between the tribes along the Column