THE GRAND COULEE BLUE ROCK WORM
I wonder how many of the younger generation have ever heard of our own natural history wonder, the Blue Rock Worm?
As I have been busy telling many of you, I arrived on the Grand Coulee scene in 1934 and came so suddenly that my washing had to be hung out to dry after I arrived. I was one of three teachers hired in October to help stem the rising tide of youngsters school bound in the new silver building on the hill.
With the washing dry and the class settled in, I found some time to hike in the surrounding area which abounded with buttercups, love darts, and blue and yellow bells come spring. It also abounded, much to my curiosity with little black rocks full of worm holes. They were unlike any I had ever seen before. I gathered several, studied them and began to ask questions. Why were they so full of holes, so obviously worm-eaten? No worm I had ever seen or ever heard tell of was tough enough to eat into a hard, black stone. The thing looked impossible, yet there was the evidence before my eyes. So I continued to ask, usually receiving no more than a lifted eyebrow, or a shrug of the shoulder.
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Until . . . finally, one day I chanced upon an old-timer, one of the few rugged individuals who had battled the equally rugged terrain and lived to tell about it. This is what he told me:
"Um-m-m. Yes, well," glancing sidewise at me, "You won't believe it, of course, you bein' a teacher and all."
"Believe what?" I asked, somewhat breathlessly, sensing a new revelation.
"That them holes was made by a worm."
"A worm? What worm? How can a worm eat a hole in anything that hard?"
"Dunno as I know 'zactly. But them holes was put there by the Blue Rock Worm some time ago."
"What do you mean - some time ago? How long ago? Have you ever seen one?"
"Well now, as to how long, I can't rightly say. only when I come here they was only a very few left. Most of 'um had come and gone before white people arrived, I guess. Folks said anyone who found a blue was lucky."
"What do you mean - lucky? Did you ever find one?"
"Yup, reckon I've found more'n one in my time. Folks as found 'um was plumb lucky 'cause they never needed no fish hooks after that."
This was incredible and i pursued the conversation.
"You have found some. Have you got one now? Why were folks lucky and why did they not need fishhooks?"
"No'm, I'm right sorry, but I haven't seen one of them blue worms for ten years or more now. And about the fishhooks, let me tell you, a blue rock worm was worth more than all your town made fishing tackle and bait put together. Why, if'n you had one, all you had to do was tie the worm securely on the end of a line, cast your line into the water, and in less time than it takes to wink at your girl that little old worm has found you a fish, hooked on to its gill and signaled you to pull him in. Fish couldn't see the worm comin' 'cause his blue color blended with the sky above."
This was too much -- but there was more yet.
"Y'know," he said, a bit differently, seeing I was about to protest. "Y'know one of the old bachelors that used to live hereabouts told me he not only had used blue rock worms to fish with when he first came here, but that he had actually trained one to tell the difference between a trout and a perch! 'N thet's the God's truth, 's' help me!"
Welthy Buchholz
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FROM U.S. TO US
Back when beef roast was 17 cents a pound and the latest movie starred Joan Crawford and Robert Taylor in "The Gorgeous Hussy", the little town of Coulee Dam was coming into existence. The United States Bureau of Reclamation had begun to build living quarters on the west bank of the Columbia below the construction site. These homes, called "Engineers' Town", were of a permanent construction.
The east side of the river, called Mason City, was built by a contractor to house his workers. This side also held the only business district of the town. All buildings were of a temporary construction, built to last four to five years. A good many of these houses are still in use as of 1976. The Bureau (also known as "Uncle", and "Us Brothers") maintained a strict policy on commercial leases. There was a store,a hotel, a dentist's office, a filling station, a theatre, a laundry, and bunk houses for 2,000 men, and a mess hall with a capacity of 1100. Functions of government were carried out by the Bureau.
The dam itself was finished in 1942, but the power houses and the pumping plant remained to be finished. The Bureau took over the construction from private contractors during the war-time years. More Bureau housing was needed and Mason City was taken over from the contractor. Trailers and demountables were brought in to handle the problem. They were placed in the additions which came to be known as "Hilltop" and "Airport".
Living in Coulee Dam was much like living on a military base. Housing was allocated on a point system. In order to qualify at all one of the family had to work for "Uncle" or be service personnel such as a doctor or dentist. Points were given for salary, number of children, and children of opposite sex. Empty houses were put up for bid and the highest number of points got the prize. Families in Coulee Dam tended to be good sized. Whether there was any connection was never proved, although often discussed. Many families played "musical chairs" with the houses; it was one of the very few ways to claim status and drove the mailmen crazy. Rents ranged from $13 per month, which included utilities, for small trailers, to $87 for the best in "Eingineers' Town.
The Bureau carried on the town government, everything from garbage disposal to police protection. The school wastebaskets were stamped with the letters USBR, and so were the sheets in the hospital. The housing office decided when your living room needed painting and gave you a choice of four colors. Then you moved all your furniture to the middle of each room, covered it, and moved out for four days. Where you went was your problem. If you had small active children you wanted to fence in, that was your worry too. Fences were not allowed. The Federal guards acted as police force for the town, some of them being deputized in all three counties that have land within the townsite.
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In 1946 a group of men in Coulee Dam, among them Norm Holmdahl, Fred Sharkey, and Rod Hartman's father [Oliver R. Hartman], began to consider self government. This Town Planning Committee began to develop suggestions for leasing commercial lots to private investors. Nothing came of it. By 1950 the Bureau had put forth a plan to lease to private residents. The Town Planning Committee objected strongly to the proposal that in effect would force buyers to invest money in property which could only be sold with the Bureau's approval at a fixed price.
By 1952 the House Committee on Appropriations had gotten into the act with a strong suggestion that the Bureau "get out of the housing business".
That same year the Town Advisory Council was forced to express the wishes of the people to the Bureau. They were elected in procedures very similar to those followed in state elections. These men spent hour after hour of their own time on this council, whose function was only advisory.
The Bureau also hired an outside consultant, Dr. George Shipman of the University of Washington Institute of Public Affairs. He and his staff came to the area and conducted a thorough study of Coulee Dam and its neighboring towns, particularly Grand Coulee. Their task was to make recommendations to ease the transition from "government town" to "regular town". Among the factors complicating the whole picture was a business recession which had depressed the area. Along with the generally poor economic picture was a massive reduction in force that had seen area population drop from 10,500 in 1950 to 5,000 in 1952.
Dr. Shipman's report covered many different topics. He inquired into such things as the cost of maintaining parks, the "too small" lots in Coulee Dam, the poor sewage disposal in Grand Coulee and the comparative youth and size of families in the area. He recommended that the transition from government to private town take three to five years.
Two pieces of legislation were needed before Coulee Dam could function as an ordinary town. Nationally a law would have to be passed to permit the sale. There were surplus property disposal laws on the books at this time, but none fit this situation. At the same time a law would have to be passed by the Washington State legislature that would permit incorporation of the town lying in three counties. Our present school district has pupils from Grant, Douglas, Lincoln and Okanogan counties. While this legislation was being processed Dr. Shipman urged that the people of the entire community be brought into the picture as much as possible. Without their cooperation the change-over would be a failure which would be bound to affect operation of the Grand Coulee project. In other similar situations such as the turn-over at Richland, little attempt had been made to secure the cooperation of the residents, and the whole discontented mess went on for years.
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The Town Advisory Council tackled a myriad of problems. They were involved in property appraisal, lot-line re-location, dog control, signs for the drug store, and who that apple tree really belonged to, Mr. Funk or Mr. Tatone. Standing between the townspeople and the Bureau, they were in a very exposed position. None of these men got any pay. Such things as stamps and stationary came from contributions by the residents. Often they found themselves in conflict with the Bureau, which employed most of them. Property evaluation was a very thorny issue because of the lack of comparable property in the area. Another difficult area was that of building lots, and who would receive the money from their sale, the Bureau or the new town.
A bill, H.R. 1803, was presented to Congress in 1955, covering the sale of the town of Coulee Dam to the people who lived there. On a cold, dark, rainy day the Subcommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation came to Coulee Dam Community Building to hold a hearing on this bill. Testimony was taken from the Project Manager, the Town Administrator (a Bureau position), the Advisory Council, representatives from neighboring communities, civic groups and many townspeople who wished to speak on the proposed bill. One item in the bill seemed to puzzle the Congressmen, the request for a special rate on electricity. They were quite impressed by the amount of work done by the Council, and their knowledge of town problems. Later other hearings were held in Washington, D. C., and some of the councilmen were present to testify.
A report by the Town Administrator, sent here to work himself out of a job, showed that by 1958 sales of homes and lots were well along. The townspeople were discussing the advantages and disadvantages of fluoridation and a Coulee Dam General Planning Committee was functioning. The big problem bothering the Council involved obtaining mortgage money by the residents. The National Park Service requested the rental of four houses to its employees. Dog control and kids in the swimming pool after hours were problems.
Today dogs and after-hours swimming continue to be a part of council problems. The councilmen continue to serve without pay; the mayor gets a small salary. Since the job of mayor requires a lot of time, he has usually been a retired person. The town continues to go its peaceful placid way and the most exciting thing that happens is the high school basketball team's trip to "State". The volunteer fire department continues to meet on Monday night, people don't bother to turn off their lights, and the mail ladies know everybody in town. It is still a town of high employment, high educational level, and pretty reasonable property taxes. A good part of this tranquillity can be traced to the good sense and good temper with which the transition was made.
Carol Netzel
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Minutes of Hearing: Before the Subcommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, house of Representatives
84th Congress H.R. 1803
MWAK: The Columbian: A newspaper published by Mason, Walsh, Atkinson, Keir; Volume 2, No. 45
SHIPMAN, DR. GEORGE: The Grand Coulee Dam Area - A Preliminary Report, September 21, 1953; Final Report and Recommendations, January 1954
Coulee Dam Advisory Minutes: 1952 - 1954
Coulee Dam Advisory Council: Miscellaneous Papers
Legislative History and Policies: Housing and Town Development in Vicinity of Grand Coulee Dam, 1947 - 1952, Published by United States Bureau of Reclamation
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49 HILLSIDE TRAILER CAMP
Life in the Bureau trailer camps of the late 1940s was far different from life in a mobile home park today. Our camp, located inside what is now the third powerhouse take-line, was a bare gritty place to live, no trees, no grass, no shrubs, just sand and gravel. The trailers were very small, about fourteen feet long and six feet wide. For those quarters we paid $13 a month, which included utilities.
You had your choice of two temperatures, too hot, or too cold. In winter turning up the space heater took off the chill, but that is about all it did. In summer the sun beat down on those metal roofs until the occupants resembled a well-done roast. Some of the residents had been able to afford air conditioners, a real luxury at the time. The wealthy ones had a lot of company in the summer. The only way to sleep warm enough in the winter was to put as many blankets under the bottom sheet as on the top of the bed. The cold air coming up from underneath was enough to put icicles on your back otherwise.
Speaking of ice, the trailers had ice boxes, which presented us with problems, what to do if we missed the iceman, and what to do if we forgot to empty the pan under the ice box. Our cooking arrangements weren't to hot either. We had two-burner hot plates. if you turned one burner on high, the other one only operated on low. The oven was a metal box which was placed over the hot plate. The whole set-up taught you a lot about careful meal planning.
The trailers did have a water faucet with cold water, and a sink that trained. If you wanted a bath, then it was off to the community facilities, which always had to be cleaned before use. Going out to the community restrooms in the middle of a cold winter night was not all that great either, especially when the wooden walkways got coated with ice.
Laundry was a challenge too. Laundromats were not in existence then, so if you had no washing machine, you might be lucky enough to rent one from a neighbor. These were stored at the wash-house, where you could dry your clothes too, provided you were willing to sit there while they dried. There were long heated closets along each side of the wash-house, fitted up with wire lines. If you hung your clothes there it was best to stay right with them, otherwise someone would shove all your clothes to one end and take the space for themselves.
Many people who lived in our camp had two or three small children and how they managed I do not know. When our first child was born my husband made a hanging shelf which was suspended over our bed. During the day we put his basket on this shelf; at night it went on the couch at one end of the trailer.
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Sleeping on these couches was a real art. Supposedly they folded out into a bed. In this position they had a distinct tilt toward the middle, where you rolled whether you wanted to or not.
There were other types of trailers, bigger, and with much nicer furnishings and - glory be -, indoor plumbing. But the rent for these was almost $50 a month, too expensive for us at the time. Living in a small one taught me to keep my dishes washed up and put away, let cold water faucets drip in very cold weather, and to hate varnished plywood.
Carol Netzel
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