Grand Coulee Dam

Listen while you read: Woody Guthrie!

Well, the world has seven wonders, the travelers always tell
Some gardens and some towers, I guess you know them well
But the greatest wonder is in Uncle Sam's fair land
It's that King Columbia River and the big Grand Coulee Dam

She heads up the Canadian Rockies where the rippling waters glide
Comes a-rumbling down the canyon to meet that salty tide
Of the wide Pacific Ocean where the sun sets in the west
And the big Grand Coulee country in the land that I love best

In the misty crystal glitter of that wild and windward spray
Men have fought the pounding waters and met a watery grave
Well, she tore their boats to splinters but she gave men dreams to dream
Of the day the Coulee Dam would cross that wild and wasted stream

Uncle Sam took up the challenge in the year of '33
For the farmer and the factory and all of you and me
He said, "Roll along, Columbia. You can ramble to the sea
But, River, while you're ramblin', you can do some work for me

Now in Washington and Oregon, you hear the factories hum
Making chrome and making manganese and light aluminum
And there roars a mighty furnace now to fight for Uncle Sam
Spawned upon the King Columbia by the big Grand Coulee Dam

~  Woody Guthrie

A little over a year ago, the Bonneville Power Administration celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Grand Coulee Dam in the state of Washington. And it was 75 years ago that they hired Woody Guthrie to work for them for a month, writing songs to promote the dam project. He wrote 26 songs for them, including the one featured here, and called them The Columbia River Songs. For his efforts, he was paid $266.66. Do the math. That's a little over $10.25 per song. His granddaughter, Anna Canoni, who is also a director of the Woody Guthrie Foundation, says that she believes that was the only time Woody was paid to write songs.

"Grand Coulee Dam" can be found on This Land Is Your Land: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 1, released in 1941.

Seeing the Grand Coulee Dam, I have to admit, was a bit of a disappointment. Whereas Hoover Dam and Glen Canyon Dam and others have a certain architectural and aesthetic beauty, Grand Coulee appears very functional, practical, and not at all aesthetically beautiful. I feel kind of bad even saying that, as it appears that I have sunk to superficial ideas of value. I appreciate the power and importance of Grand Coulee Dam. I just wish the photo ops were more satisfying. That's shallow, I know.

Anyway, a visit to Grand Coulee provided respite from a 98 degree day, as the Visitor Center was quite cooling. And then we headed south to the Yakima Valley, where we met up with friends from back east for dinner. Today, we cover a lot of ground, including Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and the Columbia River Gorge. Looking forward to many photo ops!