Lake Pend Oreille - History

History

Lake Pend Oreille was glacially formed during the ice age. It is also believed that the eastern side of the lake was in the path of the ancient Missoula Flood. The lake sits at the south end of the Purcell Trench, carved by glaciers moving south from Canada. The eastern side of the glacier is believed to have formed the dam for the Missoula flood, at the point where the Clark Fork river enters the lake between the Cabinet and Bitteroot mountains. The lake is made larger by the dam at Albeni Falls, just east of Oldtown, Idaho. The dam is 90 feet (27 m) high and produces over 200 million kilowatt hours of electricity yearly. It is run by the Bonneville Power Administration. Along with Flathead Lake, Crater Lake, and Lake Chelan, it ranks as one of the largest and deepest lakes in the Northwest.

The area around the Lake is the traditional home of the Kalispell Indian peoples. David Thompson established a North West Company trading post on the lake in 1809. A French Canadian fur trader in Thompson's party is believed to have given the lake its name. The words "Pend Oreille" are French for an ear-hanging or pendant. Ear pendants were characteristic of the Kalispell tribe. The lake is shaped much like a human ear when viewed from above or on a map.

During World War II, the south end was the second largest naval training ground in the world. Built as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the training station is now Farragut State Park. The lake is still used by the Navy's Acoustic Research Detachment to test large-scale submarine prototypes: the significant depth gives acoustic properties similar to the open ocean.