The French Coulee, a deep, dry ravine found in mid Washington State, exposes an interesting geological formation of columnar jointing. Devils Postpile and Devils Tower are two of the most famous parks that exhibit these pillar-like columns, some of earth's natural wonders.
     This mysterious area near Vantage, Washington, known as channeled scab-land, was explained with the help of two geologists, J. Harlen Bretz and Joseph T. Pardee. Evidence shows that a cataclysmic event scoured the Northwest from Idaho to Washington's Columbia River. Glacial Lake Missoula, the size of today's Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, combined, was dammed up with glacial ice 10,000 to 15,000 years ago. The ice dam finally floated up, releasing an incomprehensible 386 million cubic feet of water per second at speeds up to 50 miles per hour. The great force carried away everything in its path right down to the bedrock. The French Coulee area, near Interstate 90, was stripped of its soil, leaving a boulder strewn valley, dry waterfalls and dramatic canyon sidewalls.