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Museum of theColumbia

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Chelan County PUDEmail: ContactUs@chelanpud.orgPhone: (509) 663-8121Toll-free: (888) 663-8121www.chelanpud.org

Rocky Reach Visitor CenterPhone: (509) 663-7522www.chelanpud.org/visitor-center.html

facebook.com/VisitRockyReach

� e information in this guidebook is just a sampling of what there is to learn in the Museum of the Columbia. Visit each display to dive even deeper into the records of discovery and development of this area. � e details and artifacts in each display help bring history alive.

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We’re so glad you have taken the opportunity to learn about this amazing, historic valley. � ese exhibits show the exciting past of the Columbia River and its surrounding territory. On your journey through time, you’ll get to see the way the beautiful plateau was formed, how the fi rst people survived off the land, and who the settlers were that brought new technology and innovations to the area.

� is museum guide will help you navigate through the displays. It’s a summary of each section of the museum, but your curiosity shouldn’t stop here! � ere’s even more information available at each display.

Step into thepast

Can you find it?For even more fun, keep an eye out for certain artifacts as you explore the museum. � ere are 17 pictured and numbered in this guide. Check them o� as you � nd them and bring your guidebook to the Visitor Center front desk for a gold seal naming you a Certi� ed Explorer.

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Adz (adz): A large ax-like tool with a thin curved blade used for shaping wood.

Archaeology (ar-kee-all-oh-jee): A science that studies the way people lived in the past through looking at the physical artifacts they left behind, such as the shelters, clothing and cooking utensils.

Archaeological site (ar-kee-ah-loj-i-cal site): A collection of artifacts, in their original location, indicating past human life or events.

Basalt (ba-salt): Dark gray or black volcanic rock made up of three minerals called plagioclase, augite and magnetite.

Breech-clout (breech clowt): A long section of cloth or tanned animal skin worn between the legs and held up by a belt, with the front and back � aps hanging in front and behind.

Chelan County PUD (sheh-lan): � e public utility district, founded in 1936, that operates three hydro projects in Chelan County.

Chelan Falls Hydro Plant: � e dam and powerhouse located at the southeastern edge of Lake Chelan and owned and operated by Chelan PUD.

Expedition (ex-peh-dih-shun): A journey taken with a speci� c purpose in mind.

Fossil (fah-sill): A � at imprint of plant or animal remains on rocks or other surfaces.

Geology (jee-ah-lah-jee): A scienti� c study that looks at the earth’s history, physical make up and inevitable changes.

Glacier (glay-sher): A great block of ice that is slowly moving to lower elevation, scouring the landscape and creating hills and valleys.

Hydroelectric power (hi-dro-ee-lek-trik pow-er): Electricity gained through the fall or � ow of water.

Legend (le-jend): A traditional story considered historical (but not necessarily accurate) that has been passed down through generations.

Words you’ll see in themuseum

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Myth (mith): A story, generally believed as true and usually about the past, that explains the world or some part of it.

Pemmican (pe-mi-ken): Any combination of dried salmon, meat and berries pounded together with � sh oil or animal fat and pressed into cakes to form a nutritious dehydrated food concentrate eaten in the winter or taken on journeys.

Petrifi ed (pet-ri-� ed): When dissolved minerals seep into logs buried in sediment and preserve the shape by replacing wood � bers with chemical compounds.

Petroglyph (pe-tra-glif ): A design that is pecked or carved into the surface of stone.

Plateau (pla-tow): An large � at land surface with at least one side signi� cantly higher than surrounding terrain.

Regalia (reh-gail-ee-ah): Clothing decorations that indicated ranking in or association with a particular group.

Rock Island Dam: A Chelan PUD dam that began operating in 1933 as the � rst dam on the Columbia River, and that has been expanded and improved since its original construction.

Rocky Reach Dam: One of Chelan PUD’s three hydro projects, � nished in 1961 on the Columbia River, and the location of the Museum of the Columbia.

Silica (si-li-ka): A chemical compound that replaces wood � bers to produce a petri� ed tree.

Sternwheeler (stern-weel-er): A steamboat that is powered and driven by a single paddle wheel at the back.

Tule (too-lee): A nickname for two types of plants, hard-stemmed and soft-stemmed, that grow in shallow marshes and lakes.

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� e study of geology includes looking at rocks and landscapes, and � guring out the history behind di� erent parts of the earth.

Here you can spot di� erent types of rocks from all over the Wenatchee Valley and see what caused signi� cant changes to the surrounding hills, valleys and plateaus. � e most obvious cause of geological changes is the Columbia River. � e constantly � owing water wears away at the river banks, and repeated � ooding and droughts have caused erosion and landscape shifts.

River ofchange

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Subtle changesYou’ve probably spent time on a sandy beach, rocky hillside, or freshly-tilled garden. � at rock or handful of sand at your feet could have at one time been part of a great mountain boulder or bits of broken shells and rocks from the ocean � oor.

Over time, rivers, lakes and springs push rocks together, move soil and bring it slowly to the ocean � oor where it’s packed together. It’s compressed so tightly, in fact, that the atoms combine and form new rocks and minerals. � is process happens so slowly that geological changes can hardly be tracked over a person’s lifetime.

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It’s amazing that at one time these petri� ed trees once stood tall and strong in a forest or on a mountainside. But after their fall and entrapment in basalt, the wood � ber was slowly replaced by a chemical compound called silica.

� e bright colors in petri� ed wood come from mineral impurities. Not all the petri� ed trees found around Wenatchee are native to the area, or are still in existence today. Some may have taken many years to travel to this region, then been buried in the basalt � ows. Others may have originally grown here and died out over time.

A basaltentrapment

Rivers, wind and animal life all tear down and erode landscapes. But if they’re all working to wear away at the earth, then why isn’t the world a sandy, level planet? One answer is volcanoes.

Early lava � ows built up the plateau, moving as fast as 30 mph. At that pace, lava would take only a few days to cover

the entire valley. As the lava � owed and cooled, it blocked and rerouted rivers, forming lakes. Sometimes volcanoes repeatedly spilled

lava, piling on large amounts of basalt. Other times the landscape would have time to recover and change before another layer of lava would again cover the area.

Volcanoes

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Even events that happen 200 miles away can a� ect the terrain in the Wenatchee Valley.

An immense � ood that happened long ago in the eastern Spokane area brought large boulders to rest in the valley. Glaciers traveling through the region also helped shape and mold the landscape. Ancient � oods, shifting tides, and erupting volcanoes all shaped the mountains, hills, plateaus and valleys around us.

The Spokaneflood

If you look closely at these minerals and rocks found in the Wenatchee Valley, you can see the imprint of a leaf in one of the rocks. Imprints like this one are called fossils.

Fossils occur when parts of plants, animals or other organisms such as insects, are preserved in the earth. In this set of displays, you can also see an example of basalt and other types of lava rock.

Localfinds

The SpokaneCan you find it?

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finds

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Latin Name: Felis Concolor (“cat of one color”)Coloring: Varies from reddish-brown, tawny (tan), and gray with a black tail tipPrey: Deer, elk, moose, mountain goats, wild sheep, raccoons, coyotes, rabbits, hares, rodents, occasionally pets and livestockSize: Up to 180 lbs and 8 ft in length – North America’s largest cat Known for: Agility, strength, ability to jump

– Source: Washington State Department of Fish and

Wildlife

� e cougar is a relative of the docile house cat, but this North American native is far from timid. While cougars can attack livestock, pets and even people, they are an important part of the ecosystem because they remove the sick and weak animals from herds.

A cougar can spend up to an hour stalking its prey and can cover as much as 15 miles! � e cougar preying on the weaker animals prevents those animals from having young, which means only faster and tougher animals survive to reproduce. � is keeps the herd strong as qualities like agility and strength are passed on to future generations.

Cat of onecolor

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Petroglyphs could be considered the � rst gra� ti. � e drawings were carved into rocks and cave walls to tell a story or send a message.

� ese petroglyphs were found near Rock Island, before the dam was built. You can see more petroglyphs next to the canoe display. What do you think the creator of these petroglyphs was trying to say?

Petroglyphs

Archaeologists believe this home of 25 to 50 people is about 2,500 years old. � at’s more than ten times older than the United States of America.

� e residents survived primarily on � sh, deer, elk, roots and other native plants. Any food they saved for the winter had to be stored in pits or raised high from the ground so that animals couldn’t steal it. � e main focus was survival, which meant Stemilt villagers had to adapt to each season’s weather. Nothing went to waste after a hunt or harvest. � e people took only what they needed. Anything that wasn’t edible like bones, reeds or fur was used to make tools, clothing and shelters.

The Stemiltvillage

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Archaeologists seek to � nd out how people used to live. � ey discover possible historic sites with a walking survey, where they watch for tool fragments, food remains, parts of shelters, � re pits or anything that might indicate a person or group of people used to live there. Of course, archaeologists are looking for places that have ties to history, and not just the leftovers of a recent camper’s weekend.

An archaeological site can be at surface level or underground and is any place where some past human activity occurred. It’s not necessarily where people permanently lived. It could

be where early Native Americans prepared food, made tools, hunted and gathered, or held ceremonies. At this display you can follow the excavation of an archaeological site.

Archaeological sites

be where early Native Americans prepared food, made tools, hunted and gathered, or held ceremonies. At this display you can follow the excavation of an archaeological site.

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Imagine if almost everything you owned – furniture, bedding, cupboards, even your house – was made completely out of wood because you didn’t have access to other supplies. � at’s how it was for early Native Americans living on the Columbia plateau.

� ey made shelters, sleeping mats, plates and even clothing out of thick, dried, lightweight stems from a plant called tule. � is shelter shows how they roped the stems

together to protect their families against the elements. Eventually indigenous people of this region were introduced to wool and canvas, but before that happened they � gured out a way to � ll many of their needs with the plants that grew around them.

Tule

together to protect their families against the elements. Eventually

Imagine if almost everything you owned – furniture, bedding, cupboards, even your house – was made completely out of wood because you didn’t have access to other supplies.

� is display shows what you might see at an archaeological site. Each layer represents a time period. Archaeologists carefully use trowels and brushes to uncover evidence of past humans. � ere are systems to record the artifacts they � nd and catalog them for further study. Each one of the arrowheads in this display tells a little bit about the animals the people were hunting.

Uncovering the past

trowels and brushes to uncover evidence of past humans. � ere

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Just like we have seasons for spring cleaning or back-to-school shopping, the Native Americans in the area had certain jobs they needed to do to prepare for the coming weather. Spring meant digging for roots and celebrating the “Root Feast.” In summer, Native Americans � shed, hunted and dried meat for the winter. Autumn brought harvests of local berries and was the time to make shelters for winter. Because of the cold weather that prevented food gathering, early residents passed the winter time with dances and ceremonies inside large mat or tule houses.

The fourseasons

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Instead of gra� ti, petroglyphs, like these found in Orondo, Wash., could be thought of as road signs or billboards used to pass on information. � ey could mark places where hunting was good, or tell a story of events that took place. � ese particular petroglyphs were discovered around 1945, later stolen by an unknown person or persons, then rediscovered and donated to Chelan County PUD.

The Orondopictograph

Have you ever noticed how di� erent parts of the world have di� erent kinds of plants?

California and Hawaii both have palm trees, and in Washington we have pine trees. Di� erences in soil, weather and elevation are some of the factors that cause

the variations. While it may be harder to notice, there are certain di� erences in the parts of the Columbia plateau, just like there are di� erences between areas in the United States. � ere are six vegetation zones in the

Columbia plateau. Animals roam between the zones in search of food and shelter.

The vegetation

the variations. While it may

What do you think the carvings say?

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Can you find it?

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Earlytransportation� is canoe, found in the Columbia River, was created from a solid log. � e builder shaped the outside � rst, using an adz, a tool similar to an ax. � en the inside was hollowed out using either an adz or ax, after weakening parts of the wood by burning it. � e canoe was then steamed and the sides pushed apart to make it wider. Before ferries, canoes like these were hired to transport supplies and sometimes wagons across the Columbia River.

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Life on theplateau� e � rst people living around the Columbia River made use of every resource available to them; from plants and the river, to big game, and talents and abilities of other community members. Everyone and everything had a purpose and an important role to play. Even the decorative beads, shells, dyes and feathers on clothing speci� ed a person’s nation, tribe and clan. At this display learn about Native American clothing, structures, food,

family and hunting technique.

Summer clothing: Sleeveless shirt/dress, skirt, apron/breech-clout, moccasins Winter clothing: Summer wear, plus sleeves, long mittens, caps, vests, capes, blankets, fur itemsDecoration: Fur, feathers, bone, wood, roots, bark, grass, clay, stone, metal, leather, shells, beads, natural dyes, paint, teeth, quills, parts of deer hooves, fringesFood sources: Hunting, � shing, gatheringStaples: Salmon, deer, fruits, roots, bulbs, vegetables, pemmican (pounded salmon and berry cakes) Preparation: Drying, boiling (using water-tight baskets and stones heated in the � re) Storage: Burying under rocks, stashing in dry caves, placing high in trees or arbors

FamiliesHouseholds could be large, including a husband, wife, children, grandparents and possibly unmarried aunts and uncles. Except for very young children and older grandparents, everyone pitched in to hunt and gather food. For big tasks or during ceremonies, everyone came together to help.

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Family and individual duties were very important to the people living on the Columbia plateau. In order to survive, everyone had a job. Not everyone had the same duties. Just like we have people who run businesses, enforce the law, manage restaurants and deliver the mail, those in the Columbia plateau tribes had certain tasks to complete for the good of the community. Men were often responsible for hunting, while women and girls prepared and stored food and created decorations for clothing.

Individuals and thecommunity

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The Rock IslandPetroglyphs

� is is another example of a petroglyph, or a design carved in rock. � ese particular petroglyphs, from Rock Island, are part of the most extensive petroglyph site on the Columbia River.

Unfortunately, when some people come across petroglyphs or the more fragile pictographs, they mark over the ancient pictures in some way.

It’s important to remember that discoveries like these are important clues to the Wenatchee Valley’s history, and should be treated with respect.

Petroglyphs

As what you wear says a lot about your personality, the area’s � rst people wore clothing with speci� c meaning.

Family members would spend a large amount of time designing not only clothing, but everyday goods as well, such as the items in this display. � e colors, designs, and decorations showed their clan and tribe. � ese pieces of regalia were valued highly in these communities and worn proudly.

Creations

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� roughout the year, families and communities around the world celebrate traditions and holidays. Native Americans called their gatherings ceremonies, which were very important to the people of the Columbia Plateau. Events were held to pray for, celebrate and give thanks for harvests. Sometimes they were held to honor outstanding deeds of community members or to show hospitality to outsiders. During some of these ceremonies, older members of the tribe would smoke a pipe, like the one in the display.

Ceremonies

A common tradition among Native American adult men and some women was smoking a ceremonial pipe. Sometimes the pipe was smoked for formal celebrations, and other times pipes were smoked during informal nightly camp� res. Each person took only a few pu� s of the special tobacco before putting the pipe away for next time. A Moses Coulee farmer found this particular pipe four and a half feet below a cave � oor. � at, plus the wooden casing and cloth the pipe was found in, means it was made a long time ago, and very important to the community members who smoked it.

The Moses Coulee pipe

their gatherings ceremonies, which were very important to

ago, and very important to the community

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Instead of having libraries � lled with books like we have today, the � rst people on the plateau shared and saved their history by telling the stories to younger generations.

� e tales could be legends, where great heroes or events were remembered. Or they could be myths, stories that sought to explain events such as why and how the sun rises. A good storyteller was highly respected, and storytelling was considered an important art form.

Ancient stories

Imagine moving to a di� erent country (with a language you didn’t know) to work in a mining camp or to build a railroad so you could send money back to your family. � at’s exactly what many Chinese men and women did to provide a better life for their families back home.

With the expansion of mining and the railroad, there were many opportunities for work, even though it was hard. Chinese laborers worked in the mines, built railroad lines, logged, worked in laundries and gardened. Chinese

miners often bought land claims and equipment from white workers to � nd gold for themselves. � ere were major mining camps in Rock Island, Entiat, Orondo, Chelan Falls and Bridgeport.

Chinese in theUnited States

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In 1803, � omas Je� erson, the third president of the United States, made plans to send Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Lt. William Clark to explore the Missouri River and the Paci� c Northwest. � eir expedition, which took a little over two years, involved meeting and talking with Native

Americans, � nding river pathways for future transportation and expanding the American fur trade.

Lewis and Clarkexpedition

� e people featured in this museum probably never realized that they were going to be an important part of the Columbia Plateau’s history.

� ere were Native Americans, explorers, miners, farmers, businessmen, teachers and steamboat captains who all contributed to developing the valley. While they came from many backgrounds and countries, their combined exploration and cultivation formed the plateau into what it is today.

The faces of history

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Can you find it?

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� is bell, found in the Entiat Rapids, is similar to others used on steamboats, with one very noticeable di� erence. See the cracks and hole in the bell? � at was caused by a hard and sharp strike; possibly a bullet. � e scratch marks around the hole suggest that someone tried to repair the damage. Sometimes, if a steamboat captain engaged in unethical behavior, a personal enemy would shoot at the steamboat in protest. No one knows what steamboat this bell belonged to, or how it ended up alone in the Entiat Rapids.

The steamboat bell

What’s your guess on what caused the hole in the bronze bell?

� is bell, found in the Entiat Rapids, is similar to others

with one very noticeable di� erence. See the cracks and hole in the bell? � at was caused by a hard and

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After 1910, when the Great Northern Railroad expanded along the Columbia River, sternwheelers were no longer the fastest, easiest form of transportation. Even though the need for these boats had plummeted, the Bridgeport was built for Capt. Fred McDermott in 1917. It was the last sternwheeler used on the Columbia River and was abandoned in 1942.

The last of thesternwheelers

With the development of strong and sturdy steel bridges, the Columbia River takes only a minute to drive across. But for early settlers who for months had been traveling a dusty road in a covered wagon, arriving at the Columbia River presented a huge obstacle.

Earlyferries

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Launched: April 12, 1917Length: 121.5 feetBeam Height: 28.4 feetDepth: 6.4 feetConstruction Cost: $15,000Captain: Capt. Fred McDermottUse: Transporting apples from Bridgeport to PaterosAbandoned: 1942

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Eventually bridges were built, but for a while ferries were the only way to reach the Columbia’s opposite bank.

� ink about the problem that faced early wheat farmers: you need to get harvested wheat from your farm on a plateau to a sternwheeler on the Columbia River about two miles away.

Some solved this problem by hauling bagged wheat on horse-drawn wagons, but you have an extra challenge — there are two canyons that separate your farm from the river. What would you do?

In 1902, the farmers’ answer was to develop the Waterville Tramway. � e buckets in this display are from the original structure, which brought tools and supplies up to the farms on the plateau and brought bags of wheat down to the Columbia River. Eventually the railroad could transport the tools and wheat, but for seven years this tramway did the job. In time the tramway rotted or burned down, where the fallen metal buckets waited for their removal in 1976.

From farm to river

Luckily for the pioneers, there were those who built and ran ferries to transport wagons, animals, supplies and people across the river.

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Although extremely dangerous, logging was an important industry during settlement of North Central Washington, particularly before 1900. Sometimes the log rafts were sent down the Columbia River to mills in Wenatchee, but the most successful lumber mills were the ones built on

the Wenatchee, Entiat, and Okanogan rivers, because they were so close to available timber.

Did you know that before electricity and freezers, early settlers � gured out their own way to have ice in the hot summers?

During the winter, they would use a saw, like the one here, to cut ice from a pond or lake and store it in a cave, or in the ground. To keep it from melting they’d surround it with sawdust or another insulating material. � en when summer came, the ice could be used a little bit at a time.

Ice harvest

Logging

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If all you’d seen for transportation was horse-drawn wagons and bulky sternwheelers, wouldn’t the development of the fast, e� cient, reliable railroad seem impossible?

What may have seemed impossible became a reality when the Great Northern Railroad reached Wenatchee on Oct. 17, 1892. Its tracks spread to connect with tracks coming from Seattle. Eventually other railroads ran through towns like Waterville, Oroville, Pateros and Mans� eld. � is made transporting wheat much easier, cheaper and faster than using sternwheelers.

Tracking towards thefuture

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� e steel railroad bridge at Rock Island was the � rst bridge built across the Columbia River in the United States.

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ModernbridgesDriving across the Columbia today is easy, but during Wenatchee’s early days, ferries were the only way to cross. With the town’s population growing, ferries grew less practical.

� e � rst bridge in the United States across the Columbia River was built in 1893 for the Great Northern Railroad, but the public needed a more accessible bridge for wagons and foot tra� c. A wagon bridge was built in 1908. � is bridge was replaced in 1950 with a new steel highway bridge. � e Olds Station concrete bridge (now the Odabashian bridge), the second across the Columbia in the Wenatchee Valley, was built in 1976.

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� e history of hydroelectric power starts long before Chelan County PUD.

Private power companies claimed it was too expensive to provide power to sparsely populated areas, so only cities had electricity. � e story of public power in Chelan County and the Mid-Columbia region is the story of people who believed in extending the reach of electricity to all.

In 1936 county residents voted to form a public utility district so that farmers could have access to electricity like their city neighbors. � e PUD served its � rst 10 customers in 1947 and bought out the private power company’s electric distribution system in 1948. By 1953 the PUD had leased part of Rock Island Dam and was expanding it to power the potlines of a new aluminum smelter and purchased the dam in 1956. A year earlier it bought the Lake Chelan Hydro Project. Another milestone was the start of construction of Rocky Reach Dam in 1956, which was expanded to 11 generating units in 1971. Local development of more clean, renewable, a� ordable hydropower continued with completion of the second powerhouse at Rock Island Dam in 1979.

Lights On!

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Before Chelan County PUD was formed, not many people in the smaller communities outside Wenatchee had access to a� ordable electricity. In 1936, local voters decided to change that.

� is display shows the desk of Jack Shreve, the PUD’s � rst employee, where distribution system plans and the � rst contracts were mapped out.

Today power generated at the Lake Chelan, Rock Island and Rocky Reach dams serves homes and businesses in Chelan County and goes to utilities that serve customers across the West.

Power to the people

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Did you find all the scavenger hunt items?1. Trowel in “Uncovering the Past”

2. Native American crafts in “Attitudes and Beliefs”

3. Opal in “Geology”

4. Pictographs in “� e People”

5. Mortar and pestle in “Archeology”

6. Train wheel in “Great Northern Railroad”

7. Pencil sharpener in “How It All Began”

8. Moccasins in “Clothing”

9. Mining � gurines in “Chinese Miners”

10. Model train in “Great Northern Railroad”

11. Stone sculpture in “Archeology”

12. Golden eagle in “� e Tule”

13. Native American regalia in “Attitudes and Beliefs”

14. Antique toaster in “How It All Began”

15. Candlestick in “Steamboat”

16. Conglomerate rock in “Geology”

17. Pipe in “How It All Began”

Remember to get your Certified Explorer seal!