Reading the Ancient Earth of the Yakima Valley

The investigations now being made in the Yakima valley by Professor Israel C. Russell, of the United States Geological Survey, promise to be productive of interesting knowledge concerning the ancient history and formation of that region. While the fact was long ago established that the entire section lying north of the Blue Mountains and between the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains formed, in prehistoric days, the bed of one of the great lakes, which at that time almost entirely covered the western portion of the American continent, no authorized exploration of the ancient lake bed or careful classification of its fossils has ever before been attempted. The time of this lake dates back to the younger days of the world, when the great basin, including Utah and Nevada, was covered with a vast body of fresh water. After the lapse of centuries, when the lakes had been released from their icy bondage, alternate seasons of volcanic disturbance and ages of peace left their records in the layers of ashes and lava and fertile sediment found in the now dry beds of the ancient lakes. When the great mountain barrier was broken by some convulsion of nature and the waters of the vast lake began to find their way to the sea, the Columbia was born. In the ages which have passed since then, this stream and the Snake River have cut their way from the surface of the earth to a depth, in some instances, of 200 feet or more, and the highlands thus left have become the arid regions of the northwest. A most interesting question which Professor Russell hopes to solve is in reference to the bodies of artesian water which are known to underlie different parts of the northwest, and when this is done, much will have been accomplished toward solving the irrigation problem of eastern Washington.