Lake Roosevelt Currents and Undercurrents An Administrative History of Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area

¹ Paul Pitzer, Grand Coulee: Harnessing a Dream (Pullman, Wash.: Washington State University Press, 1994), 10, 15-16, 18; Michael C. Robinson, Water for the West: The Bureau of Reclamation, 1902-1977 (Chicago: Public Works Historical Society, 1979), 1. Pitzer provides a detailed analysis of the controversy of the 1890s through the 1930s concerning the best method for bringing water to the Columbia plateau. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Annual Project History, Columbia Basin Project, 1933 also discusses in some detail the various surveys and reports that resulted in the recommendation of the pumping plan. Billy Clapp, a lawyer from Ephrata who is credited with the idea of a dam at the Grand Coulee, traced his idea to his understanding that glaciers had once dammed the Grand Coulee. Dam proponents of the 1930s, including engineers, often saw dams as imitating nature rather than subduing it (Richard White, The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River, (N.Y.: Hill & Wang, 1995), 57.

² Pitzer, Grand Coulee, 58-59; Earl Clark, "Rufus Woods: Grand Coulee Promoter," Montana The Magazine of Western History 29 (1979): 45, 47. In 1921, Washington Water Power applied for a permit to build a dam at Kettle Falls; such a dam, supported by private power interests, would have substantially reduced the maximum height of Grand Coulee Dam (Robert E. Ficken, Rufus Woods, The Columbia River, and the Building of Modern Washington, Pullman, Wash.: Washington State University Press, 1995), 100.

³ Pitzer, Grand Coulee; 69, 75, 77-80; Robinson, Water for the West, 51.

⁴ Michael C. Blumm and F. Lorraine Bodi, "Commentary," in Joseph Cone and Sandy Ridlington, The Northwest Salmon Crisis: A Documentary History (Corvallis, Ore.: Oregon State University Press, 1996), 99; Pitzer, Grand Coulee, 233-37, 241, 245; Craig Sprankle, USBR, Coulee Dam, personal communication to Kathryn L. McKay, 13 Sept. 2000. The Tennessee Valley Authority managed reclamation, land use, power generation and sale, fisheries, industrial development, urban growth, and agriculture. The last serious effort to create a Columbia Valley Authority was in 1950.

⁵ Pitzer, Grand Coulee, 84, 89, 112, 150, 181, 191, 213.

⁶ Pitzer, Grand Coulee, 120, 126, 163.

⁷ WPA, "Coulee Clearing Project," press release, 1940: 5, Vertical File 343, WPA Coll., WSU.

⁸ Verne F. Ray, "Ethnic Impacts of the Events Incident to the Federal Power Development on the Colville and Spokane Indian Reservations" (Port Townsend, Wash.: prepared for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Spokane Tribe of Indians, 1977), 48; George A. Shipman, "The Grand Coulee Dam Area: A Preliminary Report" (Ephrata: USBR, 1953), 6; Grand Coulee Dam Bicentennial Association, From Pioneers to Power: Historical Sketches of the Grand Coulee Dam Area (Nespelem, Wash.: Rima Printing and Graphics, 1976), 261-62; Fred C. Bohm and Craig C. Holstine, The People's History of Stevens County (Colville: Stevens County Historical Society, 1983), 108-09; WPA, "Coulee Clearing Project," press release, 1940: 5, Vertical File 343, WPA Coll., WSU.

⁹ Ed Frostad, quoted in Michael Schmeltzer, "Coulee's Casualties Gone, Not Forgotten," Spokesman-Review, 7 July 1985, E-1.

¹⁰ USBR, Project History 1938, 66; Pitzer, Grand Coulee, 215-16; Bert A. Hall, Final Construction Report on Lake Roosevelt Reservoir (Coulee Dam, Wash.: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 1952), 24. Because it was often easier to purchase whole tracts of land, the federal land does not conform neatly to the 1,310-foot taking line; it is more of a patchwork. The 1,310-foot contour line was employed fairly closely in purchasing reservation lands. The taking line for off-reservation lands, however, was a series of tangents, not the 1,310-foot contour line. For detailed information on the land acquisition, clearing, relocation of roads, etc., see Hall's 1952 report.

¹¹ Russell A. Bankson, "The 1310' Level," Spokesman-Review, 25 Dec. 1938, Magazine Sec.; B. E. Stoutemyer, USBR District Counsel, to H. V. Clotts, Assistant Director, Indian Irrigation Service, 19 August 1935, file 1.3 Colville Correspondence 1931-44, box 714, RG 75, NARA-PAR; Hall, Final Construction Report, 15; "Meeting with Mr. Emmet E. Willard, Secretary's Field Representative, Portland Concerning Coulee Dam, & Chief Joseph Dam," minutes, 1972: 22-23, file A94 BIA, LARO.HQ.ADM; Pitzer, Grand Coulee, 218; Bohm and Holstine, People's History of Stevens County, 115.

¹² USBR, Project History 1942, 64; O. A. Dolven and Curtis O. Ness, "Bureau of Reclamation Reservoirs and the Environment," pp. 596-600, in William C. Ackermann et al, eds., Man-Made Lakes: Their Problems and Environmental Effects (Washington, D.C.: American Geophysical Union, 1973), 597; Michael Schmeltzer, "Coulee's Casualties Gone, Not Forgotten," Spokesman-Review, 7 July 1985, E-1; Russell A. Bankson, "The 1310 Level," Spokesman-Review, 25 Dec. 1938, Magazine Sec.

¹³ HRA, Historic Resource Study, 146-147.

¹⁴ Bohm and Holstine, People's History of Stevens County, 1983, 115; Gary D. Williams and Alan S. Newell, Historic Resource Study: Coulee Dam National Recreation Area, Washington (prepared by Historical Research Associates for the NPS, 1980), 149; Lewis Nullet and Joan Nullet, comps., A Brief History of Kettle Falls: The First 50 Years (n.p., 1992), 104; WPA, "Coulee Clearing Project," press release, 1940: 5, Vertical File 343, WPA Coll., WSU.

¹⁵ Jim DeSautel, in Ray Young and Robert E. Pace, "The Price We Paid" (video produced by Media Services, Yakima Indian Nation for the Confederated Colville Tribes Business Council, 1977).

¹⁶ WPA, "Coulee Clearing Project," press release, 1940: 5-6, Vertical File 343, WPA Coll., WSU; Williams and Newell, Historic Resource Study, 251; Russell A. Bankson, "What Is Next?", Spokesman-Review, 1 Jan. 1939, Magazine Sec.; Ray, "Ethnic Impacts," 49-51, 53; CCT, "Critique and Review of ‘Draft EIS - Columbia Basin Project,'" 1975: 12-13, file 15, box 3 of 3, LARO #95 Cat. #3250, LARO.HQ.PAO.

¹⁷ Verne F. Ray, "Salmon Fishing by the Colville Tribes," in CCT et al. v. The USA, Indian Claims Commission Docket No. 181-C, n.d.: 1-2, 4, 6; Jerry R. Galm, ed., A Design for Management of Cultural Resources in the Lake Roosevelt Basin of Northeastern Washington (Cheney, Wash.: Eastern Washington University Reports in Archaeology and History 100-83, 1994), 5.8, 5.11, 10.2.

¹⁸ Craig Sprankle, USBR, Coulee Dam, email to Kathryn L. McKay, 13 Sept. 2000.

¹⁹ Warner W. Gardner, DOI Solicitor, Opinion (Memorandum for Assistant Sec. Chapman), 29 Dec. 1945, file 2, box 3 of 3, LARO #95 Cat. #3250, LARO.HQ.PAO; Louis Balsam, Colville Indian Agency, to Commissioners of USBR and OIA, 1 Aug. 1939, file Coulee Dam - Proposed Flood Water Area, box 1211, RG 75, NARA-PAR.

²⁰ USBR, "Final Environmental Statement: Columbia Basin Project," vol. II, 1975: Appendices 72, 85, LARO.HQ.LIB; Louis Balsam, Colville Indian Agency, to Commissioners of USBR and OIA, 1 Aug. 1939, file Coulee Dam - Proposed Flood Water Area, box 1211, RG 75, NARA-PAR; Wilkinson, Cragun & Barker, Counsel for Spokane Tribe, "Memo re: Spokane Indian Hunting, Fishing and Boating Rights in the Lake Roosevelt Indian Zone," 20 May 1959, file A44 Triparty Agreement, LARO.HQ.ADM; T. J. Mutch, "Memo to the Files," 25 March 1969, file L54 Water Matters, LARO.HQ.ADM; Warner W. Gardner, Solicitor, Opinion (Memorandum for Assistant Sec. Chapman), 29 Dec. 1945, file 2, box 3 of 3, LARO #95 Cat. #3250, LARO.HQ.PAO. The total Indian lands acquired came to 20,103 acres (STI, "Statement of Spokane Tribal Rights and Policies on Roosevelt Lake," prepared for presentation to Secretary's Task Force on Roosevelt Lake, 1972: 7, file 8, box 3 of 3, LARO #95, Cat. #3250, LARO.HQ.PAO; Craig Sprankle, USBR, Coulee Dam, email to Kathryn L. McKay, 13 Sept. 2000. In 1934, the board of appraisers assigned prices ranging from $100 per acre for good irrigated land to $1.25 per acre for poor pasture land, with apricot trees $10 and Delicious apple trees $20 per tree. These figures did not include the value of young timber on the lands (L. M. Holt, Supervising Engineer, Indian Service Irrigation, to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 20 April 1934, file 1.3 Colville Correspondence 1931-44, box 714, RG 75, NARA-PAR). The appraisals were reviewed by the Office of Indian Affairs and were either approved or changed (T. J. Mutch, USBR, to Files, 25 March 1969, file L54 Water Matters, LARO.HQ.ADM).

²¹ W. S. Hanna, Supervising Engineer, USBR, to A. L. Wathen, Director of Irrigation, U.S. Indian Service, 1 Dec. 1937, file 1.3 Colville Correspondence 1931-44, box 714, RG 74, NARA-PAR; CCT, "Part 2: Environmental Impact of Grand Coulee Dam and the Third Powerhouse on the Colville Tribe and Its Members, with Critique and Review of Draft Environmental Impact Statement Columbia Basin Project," 1975: 3, 8-9, 11, file 14, box 3 of 3, LARO #95 Cat. #3250, LARO.HQ.PAO; Superintendent, Colville Indian Agency, to Tom Sussman, Staff Director, Practices and Procedures Sub-committee, U.S. Senate, 22 Jan. 1972, file 8, box 3 of 3, LARO #95, Cat. #3250, LARO.HQ.PAO.

²² Ray, "Ethnic Impacts," 56-57, 91; "Final Report, Colville/Spokane Task Force," 1980: 2-3, file N14 Animal and Plant Life, LARO.HQ.ADM; Young and Pace, "Price We Paid"; Williams and Newell, Historic Resource Study, 199, 216, 218, 233.

²³ Ray, "Ethnic Impacts," 41, 45-46; Verne F. Ray, "The Sanpoil and the Nespelem: Salish Peoples of Northeastern Washington" (Seattle: University of Washington Publications in Anthropology, vol. 5, 1933), 15, 17; "Plaintiffs' Brief in Support of Plaintiffs' Motion for Determination of Issues of Law," Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, et al., vs. United States of America, Docket No. 181-C, Before the Indian Claims Commission: 13, file 15, box 3 of 3, LARO #95, Cat. #3250, LARO.HQ.PAO.

²⁴ Lucy Covington, in Young and Pace, "Price We Paid."

²⁵ "Thousands Bid Adieu to West's Historic Falls," June 1940, newspaper clipping, file Kettle Falls - The Falls, Stevens County Historical Society Archives. In 1989, CCT tribal members organized the first Salmon Days ceremony held since the 1930s ("Indians Gather At Hayes Island," [Colville] Tribal Tribune, 15 May 1989).

²⁶ "Minutes of Task Force Meeting, Sept. 19, 1972," transcript: 81, file 9, box 3 of 3, LARO #95 Cat. #3250, LARO.HQ.PAO. In 1994, residents of Coulee Dam paid a basic rate of $3.25 per month, while most reservation residents paid $12 per month (Roberta Ulrich, "Making Good on a Pledge," Oregonian, 30 Aug. 1994). The complicated and continuing story of compensation provided to the tribes for their losses resulting from the construction of Grand Coulee Dam is covered in detail in Chapter 4.

²⁷ USBR, Project History 1941, 259, 268; USBR, Project History 1940, 218; Hall, Final Construction Report, 257; "Clearing the Grand Coulee Reservoir," Public Works 73 (April 1942): 28, 30.

²⁸ USBR, Project History 1939, 275. Remnants of the peach orchards in the vicinity of the town of Peach are still visible at the LARO picnic area at Hawk Creek. The strip of land along the Kettle River was cleared to 1,295 feet instead of 1,290 feet (Kearney to Greider, 19 June 1941, file 3, box 3, RG 079-89-001, NARA-PSR).

²⁹ "Excerpt from Conservation Working Plan Report of Colville Indian Reservation, June 3, 1936," file Coulee Dam - Proposed Flooded Area, box 1211, RG 75, NARA-PAR; USBR, Project History 1939, 278; Williams and Newell, Historic Resource Study, 148.

³⁰ USBR, Project History 1940, 49-50, 228, 236, 238, 238-39, 249; USBR, Project History 1941, 58-59, 268, 270, 274, "Highway Relocation at Grand Coulee," Better Roads 11 (Nov. 1941): 13, 15; USBR, Project History 1939, 281; Vaughn L. Downs, The Mightiest of Them All: Memories of Grand Coulee Dam (Fairfield, Wash.: Ye Galleon Press, 1986), 94; Nullet et al., Kettle Falls, 110.

³¹ USBR, Project History 1941, 289; "Widening Columbia River Channel by Contract," Reclamation Era 31 (Jan. 1941): 7; USBR, Project History 1943, 83; USBR, Project History 1948, 72-73.

³² USBR, Project History 1940, 221, 225-26; Hall, Final Construction Report, 16, 253, 256, 284; USBR, Project History 1941, 259.

³³ WPA, "Coulee Clearing Project," press release, 1940: 3, Vertical File 343, WPA Coll., WSU.

³⁴ Pitzer, Grand Coulee, 218; Hall, Final Construction Report, 60. Frank Banks and the state WPA director Carl Smith felled the "last" tree, but crews later cut more than eighty additional acres.

³⁵ Pitzer, Grand Coulee, 211-12; USBR, Project History 1942, 291.

³⁶ Pitzer, Grand Coulee, 249-51; White, Organic Machine, 1995, 72.

³⁷ Hall, Final Construction Report, 24.

³⁸ Pitzer, Grand Coulee, xi, xii, 274, 278-79, 282-83; USBR, Project History 1950, 3. Within the past fifteen years, Reclamation prepared an Environmental Impact Study for irrigating the remaining acres in the project but, in the end, decided not to do so (Gary Kuiper, former LARO Superintendent, personal communication to Kathryn L. McKay, 1 March 2001).

³⁹ Pitzer, Grand Coulee, 317, 339-41, 345, 350-54; Robinson, Water for the West, 99-100; Craig Sprankle, USBR, Coulee Dam, emails to Kathryn L. McKay, 13 and 15 Sept., 2000.