EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the last in a series of articles this week by Port Angeles writer/historian John Kendall on the Elwha River dams, their role in North Olympic Peninsula development and their legacy as they come down.
Parts 1 through 5 of this six-part series can be found by searching the word “historical” in the search engine on the home page.
By John Kendall
For Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — What secrets might land under lakes Aldwell and Mills yield?
According to Klallam tribal mythology, the tribe was created under what is now Lake Aldwell, the reservoir behind 108-foot-tall Elwha Dam, completed in 1913.
Once the lake is drained, the tribe could eventually get ownership of the land or it could be used as wildlife refuge or state park.
Robert Elofson, director of the river restoration project for the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, said the tribe may have a good chance at ownership.
As to details of the so-called “Creation Site,” “you won’t find anyone from the tribe who wants to discuss it because it’s a sacred site,” he said. “It’s a tribal matter.”
When Lake Mills — the reservoir for 210-foot-tall Glines Canyon Dan, built in 1927 — is drained, there is a possibility of finding Indian artifacts from camping and hunting sites, Elofson said, “but it’s not the tribe’s policy to look for artifacts. We don’t do artifact digs.”
Any found artifacts would become the initial responsibility of Dave Conca and his crew.
Conca is Olympic National Park park archeologist and acting cultural resource lead at the park.
“Our main concern is protection of any artifacts,” he said
“Out first option is to leave such things there.”
If tribal artifacts are found and moved, Conca and his crew will work with the tribe whenever appropriate.
Lake Mills is in Olympic National Park.
We asked Barb Maynes, public affairs officer for the park, about Aldwell, which is outside the park.
“The land is currently owned by the U.S. and is managed on an interim basis by the Department of the Interior-National Park Service,” she said in an e-mail.
“The following language is from our 2008 General Management Plan:
“‘Disposition and management of the Elwha project lands outside the park boundary will be determined through a public process after completion of this plan and the dam removal phase of Elwha River Restoration in accordance with the [Elwha Act] (PL 102-495), to ensure the long-term protection of river and fisheries values and ecosystem restoration, and to allow continued NPS management through this phase.’”
