History & Culture

Colville National Forest Heritage Collection

View historic photos in the Colville National Forest Heritage Collection by Washington Rural Heritage

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Aerial view of a mountain peak with a rainbow

History of the Colville National Forest

An overlooked treasure..........

The Colville National Forest disproves the widely held notion that Washington State lies flat east of the Cascade Mountains. These million acres in the northeast corner roll like the high seas. Three waves of mountains run from north to south, separated by troughs of valleys. These ranges -- the Okanogan, Kettle River, and Selkirk -- are considered foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

The troughs between the mountains channel water into the Columbia River system. The Pend Oreille River flows north into Canada to merge with the Columbia. The major rivers in the national forest are following paths bulldozed by Ice Age glaciers. Mile-high ice sheets surging south from Canada drowned all but the tallest peaks several times during the last two million years. The ice ground off sharp edges, leaving the mountains well rounded.

Today's landscape emerged from the melting ice about 10,000 years ago. Animals and plants followed the retreating glaciers northward, and humans were not far behind. The first Indians probably began hunting, fishing, and gathering in the area about 9,000 years ago.  ...continue reading

 

Pioneer Park Interpretive Trail

Follow this trail through wooded bluffs above the Pend Orielle River to learn about the language and culture of the Kalispel people. Traditional tribal stories combined with archaeological finds to weave a picture of life here in the distant past.

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