Lake Coeur d'Alene

Leaving Post Falls, the first sight we see is Lake Coeur d’Alene.  The formation of this natural lake has an interesting history that relates back to the Columbia River Gorge we described to you while we were back in Portland, Oregon and will continue as we travel down the road ahead on our trip through Montana following the Clark Fork River.

We are following in the path of the Missoula Floods, which occurred several times during the last Ice Age about 13,000 to 15,000 years ago.  During the Ice Age a huge lake called Glacial Lake Missoula was formed in Montana as an ice dam blocked the flow of water on the Clark Fork River.  Whenever the climate warmed periodically during the 2,000 years at the end of the last Ice Age, the ice dam would suddenly and catastrophically give way (and this is estimated to have occurred as many as twenty five times!)  Suddenly, water running 300 feet deep and traveling at 80 miles per hour (that’s thirteen times the amount of water flowing in the Amazon River) rushed across Montana, through Idaho and eastern Washington and down the Columbia River Gorge to the Willamette Valley in Eastern Oregon and out the Columbia River or practically the whole course in one day!  Just imagine the sound and fury of such an event!

The serene view of azure Lake Coeur d’Alene under sunny skies belies its fascinating birth during the death throws of the Ice Age.  Knowing this history explains some of the remarkable sights of geography we have seen.  Combining volcanoes, earthquakes and water events like these that shaped our world, I feel very minor in the scheme of the universe.  But I am grateful that people study these things so I can learn about them, especially as I see these miraculous sights traveling down the road and put together the larger picture.

Twenty-five miles long and between one and three miles wide, Lake Coeur d’Alene has long been useful to mankind upon his arrival on the scene.  The Native American Coeur d’Alene Tribe settled the area and were friendly with Frederick Post who established Post Falls.  With the growth of the lumber industry here, the lake was used for transporting logs to mills in Post Falls and later the growing town of Coeur d’Alene.  Interestingly, Ford Model T cars can be found on the bottom of the lake.  The cars sunk in the early 1900s as people attempted to drive across lake ice to save the distance of driving around the circumference of the lake in the winter.  Ferries once used to transport people around the lake are also found on the bottom-burned and sunk when they were no longer useful as ferries.  Now divers frequently enjoy these underwater sights.  But if we ever have another Ice Age, Mother Nature will probably clean house here (I mean “clean lake” here) in short order!