The Kettle

Kettle Falls

ca. 1900

www.nwcouncil.org/history/KettleFalls.asp

Seven hundred river miles from the Pacific on the upper Columbia River lies Kettle Falls, one of the most prehistorically and historically productive salmon fishing locations in all of the Northwest. People gathered from all over. Fishing at Kettle Falls by humans dates to at least 9,000 BP. Sockeye and Chinook were the primarily targeted species. This far up river, after a significant struggle behind them, the salmon were lean, their meat firm and lower in fat content, allowing them to preserve especially well. Then in 1941, the flood waters rising behind the newly constructed Grand Coulee dam covered and forever obscured this important location with current day Lake Roosevelt. Not only were the falls inundated, but so were hundreds of archaeological sites along the former river shoreline and on the glacial lake terraces directly above. The majority of the lake's shoreline is now public lands managed by the National Park Service as Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. The NPS hires archaeologists to manage sites within the park; enter myself into scenario and why I ended up here all summer. Ah, Kettle Falls. Where the weather is hot, the lake is cool, the beer expensive and the women are classy. For Stevens County.

I live in a little FEMA style trailer/cabin right behind the Kettle Falls campground that is my 'seasonal government housing'. It is approximately 150 yards from my office, so at least the morning commute isn't a stress.

I moved here the week after I graduated with my MA. The beginning of this year was one continuous blur of thesis writing, editing, grieving, editing, power point presentation-ing, defending, wifing, working, going on an Alaskan cruise, graduating, having family in town, throwing a party, and then moving away from my previous life and garden to Kettle Falls. But, not before getting to meet the sweet, precious, baby-girl Molly Alana, Erin and Doug's beautiful first born, gracing us with her presence March 16th, 2009. Way to go Erin, seriously. This is how you know we are grown up, this is how, this is how......what a blessing. Makes me want one, or two.

Talk about shifting gears. But without the clutch in all the way. This summer is turning out to be an exercise in isolation, but overall I am really enjoying myself. The environment is beautiful, I have all sorts of time for soul searching, its hot and it smells really good. Plus, I have Fae-dog to share life with.....thank goodness. And, a two hour conversation about nothing and everything all at the same time with my parents is never more than one push of a button away on my cell phone.....also, thank goodness. And, CamE came back safe to the sacred soil.......thank goodness. And, we have tickets to DMB at the Gorge......you get where I'm going here.

Work highlights since I got here include: having a pretty rad boss with a good sense of humor and correct political alignments (which is key, since he is literally the only person I interact with), getting to excavate actual 1x1 m units at Fort Spokane Historic District, and responding to a train wreck north of Kettle Falls that almost impacted a prehistoric archaeological site. Luckily it didn't slide down that far. It was caught by a historic site. Oh, the irony. The excavation is around a 2' by 3' brick cistern built into the ground behind where some barracks used to be. The Ft. was occupied by US soldiers from the early 1880s to 1899 to squelch Indian unrest in the region. It is presumed that the cistern structure held water and is associated with this occupation. Beyond that, not much is known. The Ft. had a complex and cutting-edge water and sewer infrastructure, so anything is possible. Maybe it was a holding tank for drinking water, maybe it held grey water? The Spanish-American War of 1898 drew the soldiers out of Ft. Spokane, never to return. The Ft. later became an Indian school from 1899-1914 and a sanitarium for tuberculosis from 1914-1929.


The cistern has since fallen apart and is slated to be restored to its original condition by a historic mason who specializes in rebuilding structures with like materials and craftsmanship. Also, a really neat guy I got to spend a few days with...a kindred spirit and highlight of my journey so far. Excavation is being conducted around the cistern to ensure that potential intact cultural deposits are not impacted from reconstruction activities, and to try to determine how and why the thing collapsed in the first place. Also, any clues to engineering methods and materials are also sought out. The back dirt around the cistern is filled with cool historic stuff, including wire-cut nails, glass, metal-sawn cow bones, burned and calcined bone, leather shoes parts, lots of metal cans, bullet casings and ceramics. A couple feet from the outer cistern wall, the edge of the original construction trench can be seen, and it has a crenulated edge as one would expect for a hole dug with shovels, by hand. The good old 1880s.

The train wreck was definitely something I wasn't expecting. North of Kettle Falls, a hillside wasted away under the tracks, sending two huge locomotive engines down the embankment, landing just above a previously recorded archaeological site. That is how I got to take a boat ride to a train wreck, and watch 5000 gallons of diesel fuel get pumped from sideways engines. This is why I love archaeology....because you NEVER know what kind of an adventure you will get sent out on.